Presiding bishop releases Christmas message, encourages support for 3 Episcopal ministries; Episcopal News Service (ENS), December 23, 2025

ENS Staff, Episcopal News Service (ENS); Presiding bishop releases Christmas message, encourages support for 3 Episcopal ministries

"Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe released a Christmas message on Dec. 23 focused on the many people “on the move” in the story of the Nativity to see the newborn Jesus, including “my favorites” the three Magi...

The following is Rowe’s full Christmas message.

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Dear people of God in The Episcopal Church,

If you imagine yourself as a character in the Gospel Nativity readings, you’ll soon realize that the first Christmas was not about staying home by a warm hearth with chestnuts roasting and stockings hanging. Everyone in these passages is on the move, mostly without warning and against their will. Joseph and Mary are summoned from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census. Shepherds, at the behest of an angel, leave their sheep in the fields to see what all the fuss is about. And the three Magi, my favorites, are just sitting there minding their own kingdoms when a star intrudes on their lives and leads them on an unplanned and uncomfortable trip far away from home.

The Anglican poet T.S. Eliot wrote a poem about that arduous journey from the perspective of one of the Magi, recounting, among other things, the difficulty of getting camels to do as they are told. The three kings’ encounter with the newborn son of God was hard, disruptive, and unsettling. And when they returned home—by a different road to elude capture by Herod—it no longer felt like home. In Eliot’s retelling, the first Christmas turned the Magis’ lives upside down, and they had mixed feelings about the whole experience.

You might be greeting Christmas this year with the awe of the shepherds or the wariness of the Magi. Either way, the Gospel reminds us that Jesus came both to experience all of the joy, uncertainty, and brokenness of our humanity, and to bring God’s kingdom near. The birth of the Christ Child heralds a new reality in which the last shall be first, the hungry will be fed, and the stranger among us shall be welcomed as a beloved child of God.

This Christmas, I hope that you will join me in proclaiming these good tidings by supporting the most vulnerable among us with a donation to one of these Episcopal Church ministries:

Episcopal Migration Ministries, which works with dioceses and ministry networks to serve migrants and protect their rights.

Good Friday Offering for the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East, which supports lifesaving ministry in Gaza and across the Holy Land.

Episcopal Relief & Development, which works for lasting change in communities affected by injustice, poverty, disaster, and climate change.

I am grateful to be on the journey of faith with you. May God bless you and all those you love this Christmas and always.

The Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe
Presiding Bishop
The Episcopal Church"

Presiding bishop defends decision not to resettle Afrikaners, calls church a ‘bulwark against injustice’; Episcopal News Service (ENS), May 21, 2025

David Paulsen, Episcopal News Service (ENS); Presiding bishop defends decision not to resettle Afrikaners, calls church a ‘bulwark against injustice’

"“The problem with any kind of Faustian bargain like that is that the devil always wins,” Rowe said. “We knew that if we did this, we were going to be asked to do something else we couldn’t do. This was the line that we had to draw. And we’ll continue to do that. We’ll continue to tell the truth and be on the side of moral decision-making, and that’s what this is about. Just because the Trump administration and others have lost their way doesn’t mean the church has.

Malavé’s organization is a plaintiff with The Episcopal Church and 25 other groups seeking to restore “sensitive locations” protections that the Department of Homeland Security previously had granted to houses of worship, before Trump took office in January 2025. The plaintiffs have argued that ending those protections from enforcement actions have hindered congregations’ efforts to welcome and minister to immigrant communities.

“We must, as followers of Jesus, be faithful to our call,” Malavé said. Christianity offers “a world view in which every human being is loved, accepted and cared for.”

Rowe agreed, adding that The Episcopal Church and other plaintiffs are “making pretty conservative arguments” based in constitutional principles of religious freedom, freedom of speech and the rule of law.

At the same time, The Episcopal Church has not joined a separate lawsuit contesting the Trump administration’s suspension of the refugee resettlement program. Rowe explained that the church needs to be strategic and “can’t be part of every lawsuit” but will continue to take faith-based stands as a “bulwark against injustice.”

“This is not about party politics. This is about moral decision-making,” Rowe said. “This is not about being a Republican or Democrat. This is not anti-Trump. … This is about our baptismal covenant and respecting the dignity of every human being.”"

Episcopal Church refuses to resettle white Afrikaners, citing moral opposition; NPR, May 12, 2025

Jack Jenkins , NPR; Episcopal Church refuses to resettle white Afrikaners, citing moral opposition

"In a striking move that ends a nearly four-decades-old relationship between the federal government and the Episcopal Church, the denomination announced on Monday that it is terminating its partnership with the government to resettle refugees, citing moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa who have been classified as refugees by President Trump's administration.

In a letter sent to members of the church, the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe — the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church — said that two weeks ago, the government "informed Episcopal Migration Ministries that under the terms of our federal grant, we are expected to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees.""