[Episcopal News Service] This is the story of two congregations, two languages and one teen who helped bring them together to launch a new ministry.
[Morristown Green] Editor’s note: If you have traversed South Street lately, you have seen a metallic structure that looks like a cross between an alien spaceship and a Gothic tower with orthodontics. We asked a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church to explain…
The much anticipated preservation work on the St. Peter’s Church tower on South Street has started with the erection of scaffolding around the tower.
[Morristown Green] Hannah Kraft didn’t set out to launch a bilingual vacation Bible camp at her Morristown parish, but the successful new summer program at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church was the payoff for her curiosity.
[Episcopal News Service] Wearing a traditional black clerical shirt and collar, and less- traditional black shorts and sandals, the Rev. John Mennell sits near a portable altar, waiting for stragglers. About a dozen people — one with a leashed dog named Gideon at her feet — sit facing him in two rows of folding chairs. Backed by the sounds of diners chatting outside a nearby eatery and passing vehicular traffic, Mennell rises and greets worshipers at the corner of Church Street and South Fullerton in Montclair, New Jersey, to the July 28 Worship Without Walls.
[Cape May County Herald] The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey Choir Camp will present its Choral Evensong Aug. 1 at 4 p.m. at the Church of the Advent, corner of Washington and Franklin streets.
Entering its 25th year, the Choir Camp brings together students from around the state, including Asbury Park, Point Pleasant, Woodbridge, and Englewood. Diane Caruso, music director of Trinity Church in Asbury Park, and Mark Trautman, music director of St. Paul’s Church in Englewood have taken on the leadership roles as the camp undergoes a rebuilding phase.
The Rev. Mariano Gargiulo, Rector of St. James' Church in Ridgefield, is quoted in this article.
[The Star-Ledger] With one offhand phrase — "Who am I to judge?" — Pope Francis Monday brought encouragement and guarded hope to gay priests and lay people who have felt ostracized by the Roman Catholic church’s strict stance on homosexuality.
John Simonelli, chair of The Oasis, the Diocese of Newark’s LGBTi Ministry, is quoted in this article.
[The Record] Pope Francis, in an unprecedented and candid press briefing Monday, appeared to break from the views of his predecessor by saying he accepts gay priests, perhaps opening the way for more inclusion of gays in the church, some experts said.
Editor's note: The original St. Philip's Academy was started by Trinity & St. Philip's Cathedral in Newark.
Fiorella Serrano concedes it will be hard to break the habit of what she says when she answers the phone at school.
“I am so used to saying St. Philip’s Academy, and now its Philip’s Academy Charter School,” said the longtime teacher and parent at the Newark school. “Just seeing that name come off the gym wall was something.” The name change may be the least of it, as St. Philip’s Academy – a Newark private school for 25 years – officially becomes the public Philip’s Academy Charter School this fall with the state’s approval of its final charter last week.
The change represents New Jersey’s first -- and so far only -- charter conversion from either a private or traditional public school.
The Rev. Diane Riley, a deacon in the Diocese of Newark, is quoted in this article.
[The Star-Ledger] After the passage by the House of Representatives last week of a farm bill that does not include funding for the federal food stamp program, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) visited the state's largest food bank this morning to highlight his support for the program, which he cast in stark and unambiguous moral terms.
The Rev. Diane Riley, a deacon in the Diocese of Newark, is quoted in this article.
[NJ Spotlight] As Congress debates the best way to pass a federal farm bill, advocates for New Jersey’s food-aid recipients are concerned that efforts to slash funding for nutrition programs could overburden family budgets at a time when the state’s economy remains fragile and its unemployment rate remains above the national average.
