The Most Revd and Rt Hon Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York and Primate of England, has visited the Episcopal Dioceses of Rhode Island and Pennsylvania in The Episcopal Church (TEC).

During the visit, Archbishop Stephen attended and preached at a service of Evensong at Christ Church in Westerly, Rhode Island, on Saturday, May 23 – the eve of Pentecost. The service was followed by a reception and dinner at the church. It was coordinated with The Compass Rose Society (CRS), a funding body that supports the life of the Anglican Communion

Opening the evensong service, the Revd (Father) Kevin Goodrich, Rector at Christ Church, expressed his delight to be ‘hosting such a distinguished guest’ as Archbishop Stephen and thanked the Compass Rose Society for making the events possible.

Archbishop Stephen read from Numbers 11:30 and John 7:38, then addressed the congregation: ‘My dear sisters and brothers, what a joy for me to be with you on the eve of the great feast of Pentecost and I bring you greetings from your friends in the Church of England. In his sermon, Archbishop Stephen spoke about the ‘God-blessed diversity’ of the Pentecost story.

Exploring the role of the Holy Spirit in church life and mission, he referred to ‘...an increasingly divided, polarised, impatient and intolerant world, where the echo chambers of social media and the commodification of truth, drag us into siloes where we become fearful of each other, and fearful of difference...’

He reflected that it is the Holy Spirit that ‘makes us into a new humanity, where the old divisions of gender, class and nation – and for that matter all the other barriers and exclusions we love to build – are reconfigured’.

Archbishop Shephen went on to say, ‘this astonishing resetting of the compass of human identity in Christ that is the content of the gospel we share, and the great hope for our humanity, especially in our current confused times. But it also tells us something about how we will go about this mission, endlessly translating the never-changing gospel of Jesus Christ into the ever-changing cultures, languages and traditions of the people and communities we encounter.’

On May 24, Archbishop Stephen joined Rt Revd W. Nicholas Knisely (Bishop of Rhode Island), the Rt Revd Sally French (Bishop of New Jersey) and the Rt Revd Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez (Bishop of Pennsylvania and Director of the Compass Rose Society) at Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral for a formal dinner in celebration of the work of the Compass Rose Society.

Regarding the dinner on May 24, Bishop Daniel Gutiérrez shared that it was a ‘wonderful evening at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral with clergy and laity celebrating the impact of the Compass Rose Society and the visit from the Archbishop of York and his talented wife to our diocese.’

See the Evensong service livestream from Christ Church, Westerly, Rhode Island, in The Episcopal Church.

Read the full sermon here.

Find out more about the Compass Rose Society here.