We wanted to share with you an important statement signed by Archbishop Duncan and other religious leaders: “Marriage and Religious Freedom: Fundamental Goods That Stand or Fall Together.”

But the Lord’s greatest promise was not merely about architecture, but it was a promise that He Himself would be there, abiding with His people. “I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst” (2:5). He would be their protection outside the city, since Jerusalem had no walls of defense. And His very presence would be within the city as He once again came to dwell among them.

Here is one testimony, from St. Brendan’s in the City, offered by Jason, a 26 year-old with a life filled with broken relationships, addiction and prison, who has been touched and transformed by Jesus Christ through the ministry of His people.

Last week, we held our first Clergy Day as 60 of our priests and deacons gathered at The Falls Church. We began with the Eucharist and I preached on 2 Timothy 4:1-5, focusing on Paul’s two commands: “preach the Word” and “do the work of an evangelist.” We then spent all but the last hour of our time together sharing about the joys and challenges of our ministries in these two areas and praying for each one to be more effective in proclaiming the Gospel. (That’s the priority I’m hoping we’ll live out in this Diocese: give most of our time to the central work of our mission and let the business matters fill in as needed.)

Christ the Saviour Anglican Church (XTS) began without a building or a priest, but with a group of parishioners from a Mount Vernon, Va., Episcopal Church meeting one night a week for Bible Study around the dining room table of one of the participants.