Stories & News

The Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas presents the first in a series on Reconciliation as an agent for change.

In our own season of continued crisis, the Book of Ruth reminds us what it looks like to walk beside each other in both good times and bad.

Because of his faith, [Bartimaeus] sees more than the sighted. And he not only sees Jesus, but follows him “on the way,” renouncing what little he has. Bartimaeus, it seems, may understand the demands of discipleship more than the disciples do.

Over the last 18 months, and in partnership with Trinity Church Wall Street, Episcopal Relief & Development's emergency response has reached 1.5 million people in 43 countries through COVID-19 prevention and control messaging campaigns, food and cash transfers, distribution of personal protective equipment and handwashing materials, support to survivors of gender-based violence, and pastoral and staff care.

The story in Job this week casts a focus on themes of transactional entitlement — reward-punishment — in contrast to service and stewardship. The Psalm, in praise of God’s abundant and generous creation, and the Gospel, on Jesus’ example to give of himself in servitude and gratitude, provide some insight into our human and self-limiting capacity to recreate God’s kingdom — on earth, as it is in heaven.

So, then, is God looking for us or are we looking for God? Do we play hide-and-seek with God? Does God play hide-and-seek with us? Just how does this mysterious exchange of life between God and us play out?

Episcopal Relief & Development and Trinity Church Wall Street are continuing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic globally. The partnership, supported by a $1 million renewal grant from Trinity Church Wall Street, builds upon an original $1 million grant awarded last year that reached over 2.1 million individuals in 38 countries with expanded relief efforts and strengthened resilience activities.

The Trinity Retreat Center has released the schedule of its in-person retreats for 2022.

This week’s Gospel reading is a familiar and tough reading for those of us who live with more than just our basic needs, who seem to lack nothing. It highlights how our attachment to possessions keeps us from following Jesus and serving others — our true treasure and calling as Christians. This is a difficult message. Yet, the good news is that, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” God is always calling us to shed what separates us from one another and from the Holy One.

Iglesia de Santa Cruz and Bushwick Abbey, two small congregations in Brooklyn, work with Trinity Church Wall Street to use their property assets to improve ministry.