— Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-1944)

The United Nations Climate Change Conference known as COP 25 went into overtime, running two days later than scheduled, but ended on Dec. 16, 2019, without taking the actions scientists say are necessary to avoid a catastrophic future. The U.S. and other wealthy, high-emitting countries refused to implement carbon pricing or address the losses and damages that smaller, poorer states are suffering. But while political leaders fell short of those goals, the delegation from The Episcopal Church and its interfaith allies showed the international community at COP 25 (the 25th Conference of the Parties) in Madrid, Spain, that the church remains committed to a swift and just transition away from fossil fuels and will continue pressing those in power to act. Read the full story by clicking HERE.

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PHOTO: A security officer stands in front of climate activists during the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 25) in Madrid, Spain, on Dec. 11, 2019. Credit: Susana Vera, Reuters.

In fifth grade, most kids are focused on their friends, their favorite TV shows, pushing the limits of their parents’ authority and maybe a sport or two. But, student Dana Marsh in 1976 was singing in the Washington National Cathedral in front of the president of the United States and the queen of England. Back then, 11-year-old Marsh and his classmates from the renowned St. Thomas Choir School in New York had been invited, along with other choirs, to sing at a service celebrating the U.S. bicentennial attended by President Gerald Ford and Queen Elizabeth II. Marsh was the treble soloist. Such is the kind of opportunity afforded to students at St. Thomas, the only boys’ choir boarding school in the U.S. and one of only three in the world. The school, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and is connected to St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, enrolls boys from grades three through eight to study in a rigorous academic program and sing in the acclaimed St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys. Read the full story by clicking HERE.

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PHOTO: Students typically enroll at 8 or 9 years old. They have a demanding music education of vocal lessons, instrument lessons and six years of music theory, enabling them to sing an annual repertoire of nearly 400 songs at a professional level at services and concerts. Credit: Ira Lippke/St. Thomas Choir School.

After 20 years of clarity about her call to the priesthood, Gayle Pershouse Vaughan was finally, in 1986, endorsed for postulancy — the first step toward ordination — by her sponsoring parish, Christ Church in Cambridge, Mass. The diocesan Commission on Ministry approved her application two years later, only to have it rejected by the bishop at the time, the late David E. Johnson, with no explanation given. The reason, according to Pershouse: She had refused Johnson’s sexual advances. She did not tell anyone this at the time. Thirty years later, Pershouse would at last find herself standing in front of an altar, wearing a simple white alb, about to be ordained. Read the full story HERE.

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PHOTO: The Rev. Gayle Pershouse Vaughan is presented to the congregation at the Parish of the Epiphany in Winchester, Mass., on Nov. 10, 2019, after her ordination as deacon. To the right is the Rev. Pete Jeffrey. Credit: Tracy Sukraw, Diocese of Fort Worth.