In consultation with the chancellor and elected leaders of the diocese, Bishop Lee has determined that diocesan convention will be held online this year as part of our effort to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state’s Restore Illinois plan permits gatherings of more than 50 people only in Phase 5, after a…
After weeks of consultation with diocesan leaders and other dioceses across the Episcopal Church, Bishop Jeff Lee today shared the Diocese of Chicago’s plan for re-opening our churches with clergy leaders via Zoom. The guidelines are based in large measure on meeting public health criteria spelled out in Restore Illinois, the state’s five-phase plan to…
The Rev. Ellen Ekevag studies organization development in her spare time. As one does. Actually, the interest is not unusual for someone who serves as associate for ministries on Bishop Jeff Lee’s staff and is steeped in the methodology of the College for Congregational Development, which applies the insights of organization development to building…
Dear People of God: Like many of you, I spend more time online these days. Recently, the hopeful face of a young black man named Ahmaud Arbery has appeared again and again in the newspapers I read and the social media feeds I scroll. In February, Arbery was jogging unarmed near his home in Georgia…
Dear People of God in the Diocese of Chicago, Yesterday, Governor Pritzker issued a modified stay-at-home order that allows Illinois residents to leave their homes “to engage in the free exercise of religion,” so long as services “comply with Social Distancing Requirements and the limit on gatherings of more than ten people in keeping with…
In a video message on April 24, Bishop Lee announced that, in keeping with Governor Pritzker’s extension of Illinois’ stay-at-home order, all in-person worship, meetings and events across the Diocese of Chicago will continue to be suspended through the end of May. He also discussed the work that he and the other leaders of the…
