Archdiocese of Baltimore, Episcopal bishops release coronavirus reopening guidelines

From Maryland-

The Episcopal dioceses are taking a similar approach. The bishops of Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., pledged to coordinate their reopening efforts as the political leaders of the region have been doing, and announced a phased reopening plan for when services are allowed to resume.

“The hard truth is that we will not be able to welcome all people into our places of worship for the foreseeable future,” the bishops wrote in the announcement. “Thus we must prepare for different stages of regathering, following the guidelines of civic leaders.

"Moreover, the process of regathering may not be uniform, but vary according to county or region, and we must also prepare for the possibility of suspending in-person gatherings again should cases of infection rise.”

Phase one, while stay-at-home orders and other crowd restrictions are in place, consists of virtual worship, bible study and other activities.

More here-

https://www.capitalgazette.com/coronavirus/bs-md-archdiocese-baltimore-coronavirus-parishes-20200505-xqyyfli3mff5hpvfoeyy6vjaxi-story.html

DC-area episcopal bishops set plans for resuming public worship

From Washington D.C.-

Episcopal churches in the D.C. area, including the Washington National Cathedral, are making plans for an eventual return to public worship, based on guidance from civic leaders and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Episcopal bishops of Maryland, Virginia and D.C. said there will be a phased regathering, requiring 6 feet of physical distancing between congregants, and all congregants will have to wear masks.

There’ll also be restrictions surrounding the celebration of communion. And the bishops said the regathering plans could be suspended if there’s a rise in coronavirus cases.

More here-

https://wtop.com/coronavirus/2020/05/church-leaders-plan-a-phased-regathering/

Catholic, Episcopal churches release plans to phase in worship

From Baltimore-

The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland's plan also follows the governor's vision for reopening. The diocese has four phases, with the first phase being the current situation.

|| Episcopal Diocese of Maryland's plans for reopening ||

Phase two is similar to the Catholic Church in resuming in-person gatherings with limited attendance.
Phase three would see larger gatherings, youth groups and other classes resuming.

Phase four, which wouldn't take place until there's a vaccine, would resume gatherings with no limitations, no facial covering requirement and no restrictions on sacraments.

More here-

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/catholic-archdiocese-of-baltimore-episcopal-diocese-of-maryland-church-plans-phase-in-worship/32368588#

‘No fingers in the cup’: Coronavirus prompts Maryland Episcopal Church leader to suggest communion changes

From Maryland-

The leader of the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Maryland is asking congregants to alter some of their worship practices to minimize the chances of contracting or spreading COVID-19, the coronavirus first reported in China in December that has spread to 70 countries, including the United States.

The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton issued a statement encouraging the more than 44,000 members of his 117 congregations to refrain from shaking hands while “passing the peace” during services.

And he discouraged the practice of “intinction,” a ritual observed in many Episcopal churches in which congregants dip a piece of communion bread into a common cup. The process poses a risk “especially when the bread is handled with unwashed hands of children and adults," he wrote.

More here-

https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-episcopals-coronavirus-20200302-mmmpdygscvf25lkrljy6rabq2a-story.html

‘We all face adversity': Baltimore County homeless who have died are remembered on longest night of the year

From Baltimore-

Candles flickered in the dark outside the Baltimore County courthouse after the sun went down Saturday, the beginning of the longest night of the year.

“God, open our eyes to see, and our hearts to care,” the group assembled there prayed aloud.

They were there to remember the 42 people who died in the county this year while homeless. Earlier, the group had gathered at Trinity Episcopal Church on Allegheny Avenue for a service in their honor.

The remembrance was part of the National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, held annually on the first day of winter in communities across the country.

More here-

https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-homeless-remembrance-20191222-cq2ugprkifgvnamfntz2ke4ive-story.html

Emmanuel Episcopal holds Underground Railroad program

Maryland-

The spire of Emmanuel Episcopal Church is a beloved landmark at the top of the hill that overlooks Cumberland downtown.

According to local oral history, Emmanuel was an important landmark for African Americans escaping slavery.

The tunnels under the church were a station on the Underground Railroad and provided refuge for those on their way to Pennsylvania.

Emmanuel held a celebration of the Underground Railroad in the local area as well as a commemoration of the anniversary of Emancipation Day on Nov. 1. Maryland was one of the earliest states to abolish slavery — a full year ahead of the 13th Amendment.

More here-

https://www.times-news.com/community/emmanuel-episcopal-holds-underground-railroad-program/article_8c85f22f-1d97-5bfa-9faa-439828ded174.html

Episcopal Diocese of Maryland presents dialogue on reparations

From Maryland-

The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland Truth and Reconciliation Commission hosted the “2019 Trail of Souls Dialogue on Reparations” on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. 

Featured speakers included: Morgan State University School of Community Health and Policy Associate Professor Lawrence Brown; President of the D.C. chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians Rev. Gayle Fischer-Stewart; and Messiah College Assistant Professor of Theology Rev. Drew Hart.

Episcopal Bishop of Maryland Eugene Taylor Sutton and Maryland Institute College of Art Professor of Spoken Word Kenneth Morrison also spoke at the event.

Sutton opened the discussion on reparations by arguing for the need to reframe slavery as a form of thievery that continued long after the Fourteenth Amendment was passed. 
He contended that reconciliation will never occur unless large-scale restitution to black individuals occurs first. 

More here-

https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2019/11/episcopal-diocese-of-maryland-presents-dialogue-on-reparations

In slavery, her family was owned by his. Now they attend a Baltimore church seeking to atone for its past.

From Baltimore-

The Rev. Natalie Conway’s tenure as the new deacon of Memorial Episcopal Church in Baltimore’s Bolton Hill was by all accounts going well last year when she received news that sparked a personal crisis and sent shock waves through the congregation.

One of Conway’s siblings, who was conducting genealogical research on their family, told her that some of their forebears had been slaves on a local plantation — and the people and the land were owned by none other than the extended family of Memorial’s founding pastor, 19th-century cleric Charles Ridgely Howard.

If that weren’t disorienting enough, a current parishioner at Memorial — a man Conway had known for years and respected — was a descendant of the slaveholding clan.

The cascade of revelations at first overwhelmed the lifelong Episcopalian and native of Baltimore.

More here-

 https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-church-slavery-atonement-20190912-3tllerewzzh7nnqsa5entffssy-story.html

Episcopal Bishop Says Whites ‘Need’ Reparations For Their ‘Soul,’ Tucker Wants To Start With $51 Million In Church Coffers

From Baltimore-

Fox News host Tucker Carlson challenged Episcopal Bishop of Maryland Eugene Taylor Sutton on the issue of slavery reparations during Wednesday night’s edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
Sutton appeared before the House Judiciary subcommittee earlier Wednesday and suggested that white people “need” reparations for their souls and to “be able to look” black people “in the eye.”

“I’m actually talking to my white brothers and sisters,” he said. “You need more than we do. You need this for your soul. You need this to be able to look black persons in the eye and say ‘I acknowledge the mistake and I want to be part of the solution to repair that damage.'”

“What does that do to your soul, to know that some of the benefit that you get from your white skin and background is not accrued to everybody?” he asked later during the hearing.

More here-

https://dailycaller.com/2019/06/19/eugene-taylor-sutton-tucker-carlson-reparations/ 

and here-

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/slavery-reparations-hearing-house-committee-lawmakers-debate-bill-today-2019-06-19/

and here-

https://www.bizpacreview.com/2019/06/19/boos-erupt-after-gop-lawmaker-calls-reparations-unconstitutional-meeting-called-back-to-order-766736

Bishop Sutton to offer testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday during hearing for H.R. 40

From Maryland-

On Wednesday morning June 19 (Juneteenth), Bishop Eugene Taylor Sutton will testify in the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties during a hearing on bill H.R. 40, which calls for a commission to be set up to “To address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.” (see full text of bill here) The bill has 57 co-sponsors and falls under the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution and Civil Justice.

More here-

https://marylandepiscopalian.org/2019/06/17/bishop-sutton-to-offer-testimony-on-capitol-hill-wednesday-during-hearing-for-h-r-40/?fbclid=IwAR32lIf8JIZm-1yVlBBHXONTQnSC4ltrFmwzJBqNBENLAM_wVmn3mbqWsw4

Former bishop who killed Baltimore cyclist must use ignition interlock, undergo treatment for at least 5 years

From Baltimore-

Heather Cook, a former Episcopal bishop who was released from prison this week after serving 3½ years for killing a Baltimore bicyclist while driving drunk, must participate in Maryland’s ignition interlock program and undergo treatment and testing for alcohol and drug addiction for at least five years.

Cook, 62, learned of these and other conditions of her five-year probation at a meeting with parole and probation officials within hours of her release Tuesday, according to David Irwin, her attorney.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Timothy J. Doory imposed the conditions on Oct. 27, 2015, as part of a seven-year sentence he gave Cook for the crash that killed Thomas Palermo, a software engineer and married father of two young children, the previous December.

Cook’s parole and probation officer has the discretion to refine those and other terms of Cook’s probation, but not to add new ones, Irwin said Thursday.

More here-

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-cook-probation-terms-20190516-story.html

Report: Ex-bishop Heather Cook to advocate for female inmates, addicts after release from prison

From Baltimore-

Former Episcopalian Pastor Heather Cook, who was released from prison Tuesday, said in a new interview that she plans to advocate for women in prison and for those recovering from addiction.
Cook — the first female bishop in the Diocese of Maryland — was convicted of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence after she struck and killed cyclist Thomas Palermo in 2014.

She served a little over half her seven-year sentence and will be on supervised parole and probation for five years.

She served a little over half her seven-year sentence and will be on supervised parole and probation for five years.

More here-

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-heather-cook-interview-20190515-story.html

Ex-Episcopal bishop who killed bicyclist gets out of prison

From Baltimore-

A former Episcopal bishop who fatally struck a bicyclist while drunk and texting behind the wheel was released Tuesday from a Maryland prison after spending more than three years behind bars.

Heather Cook was the second-highest-ranking Episcopal leader in the state when the fatal crash occurred two days after Christmas 2014. Thomas Palermo, a software engineer and a married father of two, was fatally struck by Cook's vehicle as he rode his bicycle in Baltimore.

She served just over half of the seven-year sentence she originally received for Palermo's death, according to corrections spokesman Gerard Shields. She had earned good behavior credits and authorities have described her as a "model inmate" at the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women.

More here-

https://www.foxnews.com/us/ex-episcopal-bishop-who-killed-bicyclist-gets-out-of-prison 

and here-

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/heather-cook-released-from-jail/27467514

Amid rising attacks on places of worship, how religious leaders are responding

From PBS-

The deadly California synagogue shooting is the latest in a series of attacks that raise profound questions about keeping sacred spaces safe. Judy Woodruff talks to the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati's Shakila Ahmad, Rabbi Devorah Marcus from Temple Emanu-El of San Diego, Ted Elmore of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and Bishop Eugene Sutton of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

More here-

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/amid-rising-attacks-on-places-of-worship-how-religious-leaders-are-responding

Former bishop who killed cyclist in 2014 will be released from jail

From Baltimore-

A former Episcopal bishop who killed a cyclist in 2014 will be released from jail in May.

According to officials, Heather Cook will be released from jail and placed on probation until October 2022, meeting regularly with an agent and being supervised. 

That means Cook will have served 3 1/2 years of her seven-year sentence after she was convicted of killing bicyclist Thomas Palermo on Dec. 27, 2014. 

At the time, Cook was the second ranking official in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. 

Cook pleaded guilty in September 2015 to auto manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, driving while texting and leaving the scene of an accident. She kept going and then returned to the scene more than a half hour later.

More here-

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/ex-bishop-who-killed-cyclist-in-2014-to-be-released-from-jail/27326703 

and here-

https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2019/04/30/former-bishop-heather-cook-who-killed-cyclist-while-drunk-driving-to-be-released-from-jail-next-month/

Common ground: Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles and St. Stephen Lutheran Church become one congregation in Arbutus

From Baltimore-

Two congregations gathered in one church on Sunday, March 3. They gave thanks, broke bread, and then packed up.

So began the procession.

Congregants picked up hymnals, candles, communion supplies and other items from the sanctuary and walked out the doors of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles, located at 4922 Leeds Ave., singing as they strolled the 0.9 miles to St. Stephen Lutheran Church, at 901 Courtney Road.

Once inside the sanctuary, the space was rededicated as the new home for the two Christian communities, joined together as The Churches of Holy Apostles and St. Stephen.

“It was negating of ego and tradition and self,” said the Rev. Jim Perra, 38, the Episcopal priest from Holy Apostles who now oversees the new church community. “I think it’s breathtakingly beautiful that they made this hard and difficult choice.”

More here-

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/arbutus-lansdowne/ph-ca-at-church-0313-story.html

'Slave meal' at Black History Month celebration at Havre de Grace church offensive to some; organizer apologizes

From Baltimore-

The idea of serving an “authentic slave meal” at an event Saturday to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Booker T. Washington has angered some people.

St. John’s Episcopal Church in Havre de Grace is hosting the event to honor Washington, an educator, author, orator and presidential adviser to “Learn, Appreciate and Celebrate Black History,” according to a flyer.

In addition to a dramatic reading of “The Man – The Story” and a performance by Expressions of Faith Baltimore Gospel Choir, organizers will serve an “authentic slave meal.”

Alex Ibewuike, a 2008 Havre de Grace High School graduate who works as a consultant for the health care industry in Washington, D.C., said the point of the event is to celebrate black culture, black people, Black History Month and Booker T. Washington.

“There is nothing to really celebrate about a slave meal because that was something that people in that circumstance didn’t have a choice of what they had to eat,” Ibewuike said. “They were given slop and leftover intestines of animals, things people didn’t want to eat.”

More here-

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/aegis/ph-ag-slave-meal-0222-story.html

Mother and son share the joy of ordination in the Episcopal tradition

From Maryland-

On January 12, 2019, Benita Keene-Johnson and Joe Zollickoffer were ordained to the transitional diaconate. It was, by all accounts, a particularly beautiful and uplifting ordination with an inspired sermon by the Rev. Adrien Dawson, rector of All Saints’, Frederick, on the mission of the transitional diaconate.

Even more meaningful for Benita was the fact that her son, the Rev. Ramelle McCall, rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Baltimore, was there to see his mother, an ordained African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.) pastor, become a part of the tradition that brought him closer to God. And for Benita, her son was a guiding light on her journey to discern a call to ministry in The Episcopal Church. “I was so happy to see the support Ramelle has gotten as a person of color in this Church.”

Ramelle walked alongside his mother as she served in the A.M.E. Church but he did not consider himself a church person until he was in college. While attending Wake Forest University he developed a love of hearing great preachers. After returning to Baltimore, Ramelle began attending St. James’ Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, the former parish of our Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Curry and a long-standing African American parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. St. James became the parish to sponsor Ramelle in his call to ordination. He has been ordained seven years and in addition to serving as rector of Holy Trinity, serves as Diocesan Urban Missioner and serves at the churchwide level, most recently on the Interim Body on the State of the Church, per the 2018 General Convention.

More here-

https://marylandepiscopalian.org/2019/01/31/mother-and-son-share-the-joy-of-ordination-in-the-episcopal-tradition/?fbclid=IwAR2Oi03UcnTwSzThXzGCL4koSZce4AdKYrr63uTr07OUMdJA-mLSHs5uZBA

Former Episcopal Church bishop Heather Cook seeks to serve rest of sentence for drunken-driving death at home

From Maryland- (more links below)

Nearly three months after a Baltimore judge turned down her request for early release, former Episcopal Bishop Heather Cook asked again to serve the remainder of her prison sentence at home for the hit-and-run death of a bicyclist while she was driving drunk.

Cook, 62, is being considered for home detention status, according to a letter sent to the victim’s family from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and shared with The Baltimore Sun.

She was sentenced to seven years in prison after killing cyclist Tom Palermo with her car in December 2014 on Roland Avenue in North Baltimore while driving drunk and texting.

Palermo, 41, was a senior software engineer for Johns Hopkins Hospital, a husband and a father of two young children. His sister-in-law said she “vigorously” opposes Cook’s request.

More here-

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-cook-home-detention-20190129-story.html

and here-

https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2019/01/29/ex-episcopal-bishop-heather-cook-again-seeks-home-detention/

and here-

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/ex-bishop-who-struck-killed-bicyclist-seeks-home-detention

and here

https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2019/01/29/heather-cook-asks-for-home-detention-after-fatally-hitting-bicyclist-with-car-while-drunk/

and here-

https://www.carrollcountytimes.com/bs-md-cook-home-detention-20190129-story.html

Ex-Episcopal Bishop Heather Cook to remain in prison

From Baltimore-

A Baltimore judge denied this afternoon a reduction in Heather E. Cook’s prison sentence that would have meant almost immediate release for the former Episcopal bishop who killed a bicyclist while driving drunk in 2014.

Cook’s lawyers argued for mercy, saying the 62-year-old had been rehabilitated.

But Circuit Court Judge Timothy J. Doory refused. He cited the words of a mentor on the bench whose dictum was “concurrent time is no time at all.”

“Can I justify no time at all for leaving the scene [of a fatal accident]? I’m sorry to say, I cannot,” Doory said.

Cook had been asking that two of her four sentences be changed from consecutive to concurrent, a change which Doory said would essentially mean she was never punished for leaving the accident scene.

More here-

https://baltimorebrew.com/2018/11/05/ex-episcopal-bishop-heather-cook-to-remain-in-prison/ 

also here-

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-cook-sentence-hearing-20181031-story.html