Steven Balke

We'll know a lot more once we know his preference for Neapolitan or Deep Dish.

Missed opportunity... Pope Malört I would have been catchy. Just saying...

I've found this one beneficial to add to my prayers. 🕯️⚓

Prayer for those who influence public opinion, from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, p. 827

Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray was a human rights activist, legal scholar, feminist, poet, author, Episcopal priest, labor organizer, Non binary woman of color. S/he was the first POC to earn a JSD from Yale and a co-founder of NOW. Their writings were a cornerstone of Brown v. Board of Education.

I love working for The Episcopal Church. My notes at the end of staff meeting look like

Making With Brandon Pope and Jenn White, 48 episodes, 7 ratings & reviews. WBEZ's critically-acclaimed bio-podcast series explores how an icon is made. Providing an unmatched view from the beginning, all the...

Shared the Ida B. Wells episode already, but on second thought a great #BlackHistoryMonth discipline would be to listen to all of WBEZ's excellent series, Making, each episode featuring a Black icon that shaped our society.

www.podchaser.com/podcasts/mak...

I've pointed out to people that you are praying for the president, not to the president.

For any govt official, intercessors are praying for them to carry out their duty wisely and rightly for the people entrusted to their care. It would seem the current president needs that prayer as much as any.

Sanctuary Diocese - Episcopal Diocese of Chicago Introduction In 2019, the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago’s convention approved Resolution F-182, “On Becoming a Sanctuary Diocese.” The resolution stated, “As people of faith and conscience, we pledge t...

Episcopal Diocese of Chicago Sanctuary Committee is doing important work sharing "Know Your Rights" seminars and repurposing its Emergency Fund to help migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. They're happy to share their insights with others helping out 🕯️ ⚓

episcopalchicago.org/sanctuary-di...

Factsheet: Trump’s Rescission of Protected Areas Policies Undermines Safety for All This factsheet explains the protected areas policy, the laws that currently apply to these areas, and the steps advocates and communities can take to help immigrants maintain access to essential commu...

As we're trying to figure out best policies for our spaces here, the guidance coming from the National Immigration Law Center has been very helpful:

www.nilc.org/resources/fa...

🕯️ ⚓

Episcopal Migration Ministries to lay off 22 after Trump’s order effectively ends new refugee resettlement [Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church’s long-standing history of helping refugees resettle in the United States will begin to wind down next month, an early casualty of the new Trump admini…

Simplistic spin-doctoring of the facts.

A bishop preached holy scripture in a church at the president. He didn't like it.

EMM is one of the 10 agencies with a federal contract to help resettle refugees. He has now suspended all federal assistance.

episcopalnewsservice.org/2025/01/31/e...

Ida B. Wells used truth as a weapon When Ida B. Wells was just 21 years old, authorities kicked her off a train for sitting in the all-white “ladies’ car.” She sued. She wrote about the experience in her local church newspaper. “I felt ...

Civil rights hero, journalism hero, American hero, Ida B. Wells.

Her story told by WBEZ Chicago in series of interviews. Sermon worthy material here 🕯️⚓

www.wbez.org/making/2022/...

Made of Honor - Hidden Brain (podcast) 00:47:30 - Stories help us make sense of the world, and can even help us heal from trauma. They also shape our cultural narratives, for better and for worse. T…

When I get into North vs. South, Red States vs. Blue States debates, I refer back to this interview with social psychologist Ryan Brown. This history of Honor Cultures and Dignity Cultures gave me a really useful perspective on the roots of our social divisions ⚓

www.listennotes.com/podcasts/hid...

"We become morally better as we learn to see others deeply, as we learn to envelop others in the kind of patient, caring regard that makes them feel seen, heard, and understood. This is the kind of attention that implicitly asks, 'What are you going through?' and cares about the answer."

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How America Got Mean In a culture devoid of moral education, generations are growing up in a morally inarticulate, self-referential world.

Still relevant a couple years later, this compelling article by David Brooks that examines the decline of moral formation. It makes a strong case for why people are lonelier, sadder, and angrier and what steps we can take to heal.

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Using an evening or Sat. block as one of the 10 must be offset somewhere.

Treat family/personal life as a committed block same as church. Schedule them just the same.

Luckily, I had a rector who supported/insisted on this. I would have burned out in my first two years otherwise.

Did not invent this, but saved me as a curate: rethinking the week as "blocks" of time. Morning, afternoon, evening: you have 21 blocks/week.

Tasks must fit into 10 blocks, which can change each week.

Do not just add tasks into open blocks. If you add a block for work, it comes off somewhere else.

a cartoon of spongebob writing on a piece of paper with the words chat take note of this important information ALT: a cartoon of spongebob writing on a piece of paper with the words chat take note of this important information

Was it helpful?

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Wonderful news at St. James Cathedral, Chicago. The Very Rev. Lisa Hackney-James is the Dean we prayed for and need for the ministries before us:

conta.cc/4jzVhSM

#SaintJamesCathedral
#IAmStJames
#Episcopal

The U.S. Surgeon General Has One Last Piece of Advice As he prepares to end his second term in office, Dr. Vivek Murthy reflects on the nation's biggest impediment to health.

Dr. Vivek Murthy did so much good work during his term as Surgeon General, not the least of which was using his platform to promote the values of spiritual, communal, physical, and mental health as part of a whole wellbeing.

time.com/7205289/vive...

I absolutely quoted Bishop Budde's words and commended them to everyone.

Perfect prayer to go out on our Annual Meeting at St. James Cathedral, Chicago, "A Prayer for Servant Leadership" by The Rev. Dr. Valori Mulvey Sherer. Let's take this show on the road ⚓

#Episcopal
#SaintJamesCathedral
#IAmStJames
#ServantLeadership
#LoveYourNeighbor
#Prayer

Congratulations and thank you for serving. God's blessing on your call.

A good number of visitors, saying "it's been forever since we've been to church, this gave us the nudge to come back" and "we wanted to hear what you have to say here" (checking on if Bishop Budde is an outlier or the norm).

Not that quoting scripture from the floor of congress is even an issue. They're fine with the congressional chaplain opening every session with prayer, quoting scripture just about every time:

chaplain.house.gov/index.html

I love Episcopal polity

No I hear you. Frequently when I preach about guns, sexuality, and immigration, someone tweets me that I should "lose my non-profit status." That's not how it works.

It's funny that no one complains about you getting political from the pulpit when you're saying something they agree with.

Answers Background 1. Where do the restrictions on religious organizations’ participation in the political process come from? The Internal Revenue Code prohibits

There is no rule against "getting political" in sermons. The IRS Johnson Rule only concerns partisan action trying to exert influence on an election in favor or against a candidate. Churches are allowed to call out injustice in this government all they want.

www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/u...

All of the above! Nehemiah, 1 Corinthians, and Luke are all on point for Sunday. It is also our annual meeting, so I'll sure be talking about our shared responsibility in the next year to build the compassion, mercy, and love this world will need.

Ordainiversary today! It has always been my honor to have been ordained on the Feast of Florence Li Tim-Oi, a vocational inspiration to the church.

livingchurch.org/news/news-an...

#Episcopal #TEC ⚓

The Brief and Tumultuous Life of the New UC Logo - 99% Invisible If you’re not from California or missed this bit of news, the University of California has a new logo. Or rather had a new logo. To be more precise, they had a new “visual identity system,” which is t...

Old episode of the podcast 99% Invisible about tradition and innovation, intention, design, messaging, and public reaction. It's about the controversial UC logo, but I hear many correlations to tradition and innovation in #TEC ⚓ Thoughts anyone?

99percentinvisible.org/episode/epis...