Christ Church Cathedral was founded in 1839 when Houston was the capital of the Republic of Texas. It was the first religious congregation in the city and is the only one still located on its original site. Among the founding members were the Republic’s attorney general, the secretaries of...

By now, most of the clergy and leaders in the Diocese of Texas have heard Mary Parmer’s story. After an invitation from a friend to attend a service at St. Stephen’s, Beaumont, Parmer left her evangelical background and fell in love with the Episcopal Church. For the past several years, she has...

Singer Ana Hernadez was helping to provide music during a small Christmas-morning service when one of the hymns made her weep. After the service, the organist said, “You know what’s amazing? I push buttons on the organ, and water comes out of your eyes.” Sheridan is a freelance writer and...

We go to Scripture for many reasons: sometimes we are seeking answers, sometimes comfort, sometimes guidance. We turn to Scripture because we feel that we are supposed to (after hearing yet another gentle reminder from our clergy) or because we feel we have nowhere else to go. We look to...

Wonder That is what I was asked to write about, and I am sure, from the description I was given, it was to be a positive theme of some kind. I have some of those to write, but what kept coming back to me was more of a twist, a more challenging one. I could not help coming back to my...

Why is a tightrope walker an “artist in residence” at a great urban cathedral? De Santis is the new editor of Episcopal Journal, a national Episcopal newspaper. She is the former editor of the Ecumenical News International news service.

When Emmy-nominated costume designer Cliff Chally offered to make a replacement set of vestments at his church in Los Angeles, he wasn’t planning a new career. But that’s exactly what happened. Today, bishops from San Diego to Jerusalem wear his custom designed robes, and altars are adorned...

January 1, 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the document which students in the U.S. learn “ended” slavery. As Americans celebrate this accomplishment, we also must recognize that it did not, in fact, end slavery. Slavery is alive and well today in our country...