St. Pierre's Episcopal Church Gautier, MS

[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal leaders are offering support for Haitian immigrants in their communities while calling on Congress to help protect them from deportation after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end federal protections. In Springfield, Ohio, which became a flashpoint during the 2024 presidential campaign over the city’s growing Haitian migrant community, some Haitian families had begun attending worship services at Christ Episcopal Church. The Rev. Michelle Boomgaard told Episcopal News Service that attendance noticeably declined after the Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling. Some Haitians already had legal residency through other federal programs. Others have begun applying for asylum or green cards, which should again provide them with at least temporary protection from deportation, Boomgaard said, as returning to their home country isn’t a safe option. “At the end of the day, the situation in Haiti has not improved.” More than 300,000 Haitians had been allowed to live and work in the United States for years under a program known as Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, that has long been supported by The Episcopal Church. It allows the Department of Homeland Security to declare certain foreign nationals protected from deportation if they would face hazards in their home countries from conditions such as natural disasters, civil unrest or other violence. Those protections were thrown into limbo when the Supreme Court ruled that President Donald Trump’s history of racist and discriminatory statements toward Haitians and other immigrants did not negate the presidential authority to end TPS protections for those immigrants. The ruling also directly affects a small group of Syrians, and it could make it easier for the Trump administration to roll back TPS for immigrants from 10 other countries. The Episcopal Church’s Washington, D.C.-based Office of Government Relations released a statement on the day of the ruling, lamenting that “families who have built their lives, raised children, worshiped, worked and contributed to their communities in the United States may now face the loss of work authorization and protection from deportation.” On July 16, the Office of Government Relations’ Episcopal Public Policy Network followed up with an action alert calling on Episcopalians to urge their representatives in Congress to enact legislative protections for Haitian families. It warned that Haiti “continues to face a profound humanitarian and security crisis” with “widespread violence, kidnapping, political instability, and limited access to basic services.” “Conditions remain so dire that many advocates, faith leaders, and humanitarian organizations have warned that there is no realistic opportunity for a safe and orderly return for Haitian nationals at this time,” the action alert said. On July 2, New York Bishop Matthew Heyd joined a grew of faith leaders in speaking in support of TPS a vigil outside a federal building in Manhattan. In addition, a group of about 20 Episcopal bishops launched a letter-writing campaign this month calling on Senate leaders and the Department of Homeland Security to renew TPS for Haitians. “They are our friends, they are our neighbors, they are our congregants, they are our clergy,” Massachusetts Bishop Julia Whitworth said July 20 in a Facebook video about the bishops’ effort. “This is personal, and it’s urgent.” General Convention has long supported immigration policies that treat migrants with dignity. In 2015, it approved a resolution pledging to support Temporary Protected Status “for all immigrants fleeing for refuge from violence, environmental disaster, economic devastation, or cultural abuse or other forms of abuse.” The Diocese of Haiti is part of The Episcopal Church’s Province II, and Haitian immigrant communities in some American cities have grown large enough to support sizable Episcopal congregations, like St. Paul’s et Les Martyrs d’Haiti in Miami, Florida,  and the Haitian Congregation of the Good Samaritan in New York City. In Elizabeth, New Jersey, Haitians helped revive the dwindling congregation of St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, according to a Religion News Service report, though fear of federal immigration authorities this year has kept many families away. When Trump first took office in 2017, his administration tried to end protections for many of those with TPS, saying the status never was intended to offer immigrants permanent residency. Then during the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump specifically targeted the growing Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, using dehumanizing and false rhetoric about Springfield residents eating pets. After returning to office in January 2025, Trump has prioritized sharp reductions of both legal and illegal immigration and now is following through on efforts to end TPS for Haitians and other immigrant groups. An estimated 15,000 Haitian migrants had moved to Springfield since 2020, seeking jobs that local leaders were desperate to fill in the city’s ongoing effort to reverse decades of economic decline. In a small city with a population of less than 60,000, that sudden influx of new residents strained resources and services, though a network of Springfield organizations, including Christ Episcopal Church, coordinated efforts to better welcome these newest neighbors and ease their transition into the local community. Since the Trump campaign’s attacks on those Haitian migrants, “folks in Springfield definitely feel like they have a target on their backs,” the Rev. Michelle Boomgaard, rector of Christ Episcopal Church, told Episcopal News Service in an interview this month. Now, the church and other community groups are scrambling to assist those who fear deportations after losing TPS. “These are human beings and neighbors and friends and people we wave and say ‘hi’ to,” she said. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

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[Episcopal News Service] Washington National Cathedral has announced it will host the funeral for South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Olin Graham next week, including a tribute from President Donald Trump. The service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Eastern July 28. A native of Central, South Carolina, Graham served as U.S. senator from the state from 2003 until he died unexpectedly on July 11 at 71 from an aortic tear caused by cardiovascular disease. At the time of his death, Graham served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Appropriations Committee, Environment and Public Works Committee and as chair of the Budget Committee. “The cathedral is proud to serve as a sacred space where people gather during times of both celebration and sorrow. We believe that God is present with us in all of life’s moments,” the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral, said on the cathedral’s web page announcing Graham’s funeral details. “Our prayers are with Senator Graham’s family at this difficult time.” Hollerith will officiate the service. Before he was elected to the U.S. Senate, Graham was a U.S. representative for South Carolina’s 3rd District and a South Carolina state representative. He also served in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a colonel in 2015. Graham, a Southern Baptist, never married and had no children. His younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone, was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to serve the remainder of Lindsey Graham’s term, which ends in January. Graham was campaigning for reelection in November before his death. The service will be by invitation only. The public is invited to watch the service online via the Washington National Cathedral’s YouTube channel.

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[Anglican Communion News Service] Several Anglican churches worldwide are preparing to observe the Feast of Creation in Christ this September. In July, the Church of England General Synod approved the addition of the observance into its liturgical calendar. The Feast of Creation in Christ, also known as the Season of Creation, is a worldwide ecumenical Christian observance that begins with the Day of Prayer for Creation on Sept. 1 and ends with the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology, Oct. 4. Several Anglican churches have already begun to institute the festival, including The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. The growing momentum for this new liturgical festival was reflected in a resolution that passed during the Anglican Consultative Council, which met June 28 – July 4 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The resolution encourages the adoption of the Feast of Creation in Christ in member church calendars, while also leaving space for churches to draw on ecumenical materials or develop their own. Read the entire article here.

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[Episcopal News Service] Episcopalians in the Diocese of Venezuela are still physically and emotionally recovering from back-to-back earthquakes that devastated the northern state of La Guaira and Caracas, the nation’s capital, nearly a month ago. The recovery process, according to Litoral Ecuador Bishop Cristóbal Olmedo León Lozano, who serves as provisional bishop of Venezuela, will take “a long time.” “There is uncertainty regarding Venezuelans’ emotional and spiritual well-being – uncertainty stemming from the pain of losing a family member and from not receiving immediate aid or the specific type of aid they need. …They are living in a state of despair,” Lozano told Episcopal News Service in a July 15 in-person interview in Spanish. He was chaperoning a delegation of young Episcopalians from his diocese at Evento de Jóvenes Episcopales in Rionegro, Colombia. He has been regularly communicating with clergy and lay leaders in the Diocese of Venezuela.  The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck Venezuela near Caracas, the capital, 39 seconds apart on June 24. At least 5,200 people have died, and at least 16,740 people were injured, according to the latest government reports. Most Episcopalians in Venezuela are accounted for and safe, according to Lozano and the latest written report by Pragedes Coromoto Jiménez de Salazar, the diocese’s communications director and a member of the diocesan standing committee and diocesan convention. One married couple died and another member died from a heart attack shortly after the earthquakes. Some parishioners at Iglesia Anglicana Episcopal La Reconciliación in Caracas have relatives who died or remain missing. La Reconciliación, the diocesan center, which is also in Caracas, and Iglesia de San Andrés in Catia sustained minor structural damage. The Rev. Ana Graciela Anthony, president of the diocesan standing committee, is in the process of inspecting the damaged buildings’ structural integrity. The diocesan center is now open as a collection center with supplies for rescue personnel and anyone in need. Episcopalians have volunteered to drive around the city on motorcycles to distribute some of the supplies. Episcopal Relief & Development also launched a disaster fund to support on-the-ground immediate and long-term recovery support led by partners in Venezuela. The biggest immediate physical need, according to Lozano, is medicine, which is financially inaccessible to most Venezuelans. “It would be ideal for someone to purchase the medicine directly from a laboratory that distributes it to Venezuela so someone in the diocese can pick it up and hand it out,” Lozano said. However, “sending money to Venezuela is difficult because of time delays, exchange rate differences and other restrictions.” Due to U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, the diocese’s bank account is closed and unable to receive direct funds from donors in the United States. “We are waiting for a new account to be opened so we can begin moving the funds that are currently pending,” Lozano said. Venezuela’s borders are open to neighboring countries, including Colombia. The Bogotá-based Diocese of Colombia has been collecting money, medicine and other goods. Some church leaders from Colombia will meet soon with leaders in Venezuela to deliver the aid in person at the Venezuela-Colombia border. Locally, Lozano and church leaders in Venezuela organized a diocesan earthquake response team, which is now being led by the Rev. Jose Francisco Salazar. The Rev. Rodolfo Albarran, a deacon who leads the Misión Santos Ángeles Custodios, is coordinating pastoral, medical and community responses with public and private organizations. Albarran, Salazar and Jiménez de Salazar launched a project called Emotional and Spiritual Support in collaboration with the London, England-based Anglican Alliance. The project, according to Lozano, has mobilized a team of psychologists to provide psychological support to people who’ve lost loved ones in the earthquakes. The Anglican Alliance is funding the project. Rebuilding people’s livelihoods, Lozano said, will take “much longer” than rebuilding their houses. “You can build houses and people can live in them, but rebuilding the lives of those who lost their entire families is different,” Lozano said. “You can build a house and furnish it with a refrigerator, a stove and everything else, but that won’t replace the pain the people feel over not just the loss of their loved ones, but rather the way they lost them. “Nothing compares to the pain of losing a mother, a father, children, siblings, friends or other loved ones. That pain is far deeper and more intense than anything else,” he said. Venezuelan Episcopalians have joined Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Orthodox and other Christians in ecumenical prayer gatherings that meet three times a week via Zoom. About 50 people participate in these gatherings at a time. Lozano has also been regularly communicating with Archbishop Raúl Biord Castillo of the Catholic Archdiocese of Caracas and leaders of other Christian denominations in Venezuela. As soon as he’s able, Lozano will visit Venezuela to meet with clergy and laity. When praying for Venezuela’s recovery, Lozana said it would be best to focus on spiritual and emotional healing. “The best kind of constant prayer right now is one that asks God for spiritual and emotional stability and rebuilding,” Lozano said. “It means so much to the people of Venezuela.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.

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[Episcopal News Service — Rionegro, Colombia] “¡Somos luz, somos sal, juventudes Episcopales!” The young Latin American Episcopalians who attended Evento de Jóvenes Episcopales, or EJE26, sung those lyrics – Spanish for “we are light, we are salt, Episcopal youth” – several times daily throughout the July 13-16 gathering here at De La Salle Casa de Encuentros. The song encompasses the event, which was a celebration of Latino culture and youth empowerment through shared faith and learning. “I had a beautiful experience. My heart opened more during this retreat, and I’ve come to understand that my soul is a missionary soul,” Kelin Mendez, a parishioner at Mision Episcopal El Mesías in Tegucigalpa, Diocese of Honduras, told Episcopal News Service. The event is styled after the Episcopal Youth Event, or EYE, which has historically been held triennially in the United States. The first EJE gathering took place in 2019 in Panama City, Panama. At EJE26, delegates learned how to be active members of their churches and dioceses, focusing on forgiveness, discipleship and leadership. After participating in workshops and discussions on these topics, praying together and engaging in other fellowship-building activities at EJE26, delegates say they’re returning home with renewed and increased faith. “We are being sent out to fulfill God’s will,” Jonathan Lone, a parishioner at San Juan Apostol in Siguatepeque, Diocese of Honduras, told ENS. Every day started and ended with a worship service, and services also took place in between workshops and discussion sessions. For Colombia Bishop Pastor Elias Garcia Cardenas, having young Episcopalians from different countries gather to worship together unites them “as one family.” “When we are together, we are one Episcopal family,” Cardenas told ENS in a July 15 interview. “We are thankful that our young Episcopal family from Province IX and Province II could be here so that they could learn to be active in their communities and learn to be good disciples.” EJE26 brought nearly 100 youth and young adults ages 16 to 23 from South America, Central America and the Caribbean to Rionegro, a municipality in Colombia’s department of Antioquia, near Medellín, for the gathering. Delegations and volunteers came from five of the six Province IX dioceses and the dioceses of Cuba and Puerto Rico, which are in Province II. The Diocese of Venezuela didn’t send a delegation to EJE26. The South American country, which neighbors Colombia to the northeast, has faced numerous conflicts in recent years and is still recovering from back-to-back major earthquakes last month that killed more than 4,800 people. Cardenas, House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris and other church leaders dedicated prayer services to the Diocese of Venezuela during EJE26. “Our celebration was … marked by an empty place at the table. We deeply missed our siblings from Venezuela, who were unable to join us this year,” Ayala Harris said in a July 16 Facebook post. “They were present in our prayers throughout the gathering, and we continue to hold them close in our hearts. We are one church, and when one part of the body is absent, we feel that absence deeply.” Ayala Harris and Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe were part of a Q&A discussion about faith and leadership on July 14. The Cuban delegation also almost didn’t make it. They faced months of uncertainty over whether they could obtain their visas to enter Colombia. Six delegates made it, and they all told ENS they could “feel the love and welcome” when they were greeted by their fellow young Episcopalians upon arrival. That love and welcome, they said, continued through the week. “This was our first time ever leaving Cuba, and we still can’t believe we made it to Colombia,” Cynthia, a delegate whose last name is withheld for safety reasons, told ENS. “We didn’t expect to be welcomed with so much love by people who’ve never met us before, and we will forever be grateful.” “I am very thankful we were able to make this trip from Cuba,” Juan, last name also withheld, told ENS. “I am leaving Colombia with so much more faith and hope for the future.” When workshops, discussion activities and worship services weren’t in session, the delegates spent time getting to know each other. Some bonded through music, dance and games, while others ate meals together. During an extended afternoon break on July 15, many delegates watched and cheered for Argentina’s national soccer team during the men’s World Cup semifinals match against England. When Argentina won, shouts of joy could be heard as delegates gathered for worship. “The people we’ve met from other countries are all incredible. It was wonderful to get to know them,” Alison Cantarero, a parishioner at Iglesia San Bartolome Apostol in Honduras, told ENS. “We may have different cultures, dance styles, cuisine, traditions and Spanish accents, but we also have so much in common.” The gathering’s reception was so positive that a delegate from the Diocese of Puerto was met with cheers and claps after asking Rowe and Ayala Harris if The Episcopal Church would consider planning a combined EJE and EYE event. That way, she said, young Spanish and English-speaking Episcopalians can be more closely connected. All the delegates from Honduras said they exchanged contact information and social media handles with delegates from other dioceses to stay connected long after EJE. Building relationships beyond dioceses and countries is important, according to Cardenas, because “when Jesus calls us, there are no divisions. There are no races – no nations. Everyone is equal.” That’s why, Cardenas said, hosting events like EJE for young Episcopalians can help inspire and foster future church leaders. “The youth and young adults are the future. Here in the Diocese of Colombia, we have high hopes for our youth because we want to advocate for a vocation for Episcopal ministry,” Cardenas told ENS. “These young people will bring the fire and energy that the church needs. … This new generation is the future of The Episcopal Church.” […]

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The Grapevine, the monthly newsletter of the parish of St. John, Ocean Springs, is available online.

The Grapevine in available online.

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Yoga classes will start back on Wednesday, September 10

• Chair yoga - 10:30 a.m.
• Gentle mat yoga - 12:00 noon

Wednesday afternoons from 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Children (K – 3) are invited to participate.  For more information contact Mary Chaffe Brooks or Jonathan Mitchell.  Cherubs sing about once every 6 weeks, usually at the beginning of the 9:00 a.m. service.