Exploring the mental wellness barriers within faith circles reveals complex layers. Mental illness in churches often encounters stigma, a roadblock to open dialogue. Mental wellness isn’t always seen as a legitimate medical condition, but rather a spiritual shortcoming. This misunderstanding can hinder access to appropriate mental healthcare. Many churches are stepping up by integrating mental wellness discussions into their activities. Pastors are beginning to address mental illness openly, striving to break the stigma.

This is why I shall happily – though not without a certain unavoidable self-consciousness – wear funny clothes as I take vows and have a Bishop ask God’s blessing over me on Saturday. They show beyond doubt who I am serving.

Our Church Speaks: A podcast of saints from every era and place.

The Deaf Community is one of the least reached people groups in the world. In the USA, a recognized estimate is only 2-5% of deaf claim any religious faith at all. There are many factors giving rise to this alarming statistic but one of them is not being able to envision the concept of God, or the incarnate Jesus, as relatable or accessible to deaf people.

Vocational Deacons Day was a day of blessing for eighteen Deacons who attended; a time of sharing, listening, encouraging, and prayer for our Vocational Deacons from across our Diocese.

On January 14, Bishop Chris Warner installed Fr. Richard S. Beyea, III as the new rector for Christ the Saviour Anglican Church, Mt. Vernon VA.

Let World Mission Sunday be a day of inspiration, collaboration, and purpose as you celebrate and support global missions.

As Sprit-filled and biblically-informed Anglican Christians, we believe God is the author and preserver of life. Because of this, we know that all human life is a sacred gift from God and that it must be protected from the moment of conception to natural death.

Altogether, this logo is meant to be a picture of the Incarnation: God made tangible in a particular time and place, among a particular people with particular stories. It's a creative imagining of the Message paraphrase of John 1:14: "The Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood." 

The Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic is thrilled to congratulate winners of the 2023 Archbishop’s Annual Summer Essay Contest: The Venerable Canon Justin Murff (currently serving as Interim Rector at Incarnation Anglican in Williamsburg, VA) and Todd Milton, parishioner at Church of the Good Shepherd in Lynchburg, VA.

Our recent annual Diocesan Synod was such an encouraging experience. The theme for our Synod was “Called to Go” and focused on the outward movement of the church into the world. As the missiologist Rolland Allen wrote, “The Holy Spirit is a missionary Spirit relentlessly driving the church outward to witness.”

November is Native American Heritage Month; this is an excellent time to be intentional about hearing the stories and understanding the experiences of Native American or First Nations people. 

Anglican Frontier Missions Presents:
Fulfilling the Great Commission Anglicanly:
A Four-Session Introductory Study on Global Missions

If you were unable to attend the October event titled “ Imago Dei in the Church: Autism and Communities of Belonging”  sponsored by Access and Women’s Leadership Networks of the Next Generation Leadership Initiative, the recording is now available! ‘

Sat., Dec. 2, 4 p.m.
Doors open at 3:30 p.m.
The Falls Church Anglican
Falls Church VA

Church of the Good Shepherd, Lynchburg, VA is a place where many weary, hurting people have come to find rest and hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. We often hear that the grieving, the wounded, and the weary receive comfort and healing by coming to Sunday worship and partaking in the liturgy. 

In Acts 1: 8-9, Jesus said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus calls us to be his witnesses wherever he puts us and to whomever he sends us.  One such witness, and a personal hero in the faith to me, was Charles Simeon. Simeon was a British Anglican evangelical pastor who lived in Cambridge England in the early 19th century.

Many of the churches in the Diocese have very intentional logos used as a part of their church’s story and mission. All Saints’ Church in Woodbridge, VA shares about their logo below.

The Jerusalem Cross: All Saints’ Church

What a joy it was to hear that space full of God’s people singing his praises, to baptize two dear boys, to break off piece after piece of homemade, gluten free Communion bread and place it in waiting palms: “the body of Jesus, given for you.”