Episcopal Charities

10/15/2026

Today, we celebrate the feast day of St. Teresa of Ávila. St. Teresa was a Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, reformer, and author of spiritual classics such as "The Interior Castle" and "The Way of Perfection".

Her writings blended the mystical and the practical for her audiences. She taught monastics the way of humility, brotherly/sisterly love, and detachment from material belongings. Using metaphor, she also helped her readers visualize their spiritual journeys and encouraged them toward deeper contemplation and union with the Divine.

In a poem often attributed to St. Teresa, we are reminded that we are Christ's hands and feet on earth. This is the reality of the Incarnation. Every time we partake of the Eucharist, we remember Christ's sacramental presence in the Bread and W**e. Christ's same presence lives in us. It permeates all of creation. To be the Body of Christ is to recognize and revere Christ's presence in all things, to look with compassion on this world.

“Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which
He looks Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which
He walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which
He blesses all the world.”

10/13/2026

Behind every grant is a leader carrying extraordinary work.

That’s why Episcopal Charities invests in leaders as people. Through our Inner Capacity Building Program, leaders from our partner parishes, nonprofits, and Catalyst projects gather to deepen their spiritual and emotional capacity. A leader’s health shapes the culture of everything they lead.

On November 5, our partners will come together for our Fall 2026 Inner Capacity Building Gathering. We’ll be joined by Bill Benjamin of the Institute for Health and Human Potential (IHHP). Bill will speak on what makes a high-performing team and why it rests on two pillars: connection and courage.

We’re grateful to Bill for sharing his wisdom, and to our partners for the work they carry every day.

10/10/2026

Episcopal Charities grieves the thirteen lost at Fort Hood. We also refuse to watch the death of a human being become content for social media. Every day, Episcopal Charities stands with people whose dignity this world finds easy to throw away: young people living with gun violence on their blocks, families going hungry, immigrant neighbors living in fear. As an organization, we fund the work of violence prevention because we believe violence is never healed by more violence, and certainly not by live-streaming it. With our Presiding Bishop, we choose a different way - the way of love, which sees the value and dignity of every human life, created in the image of God.

(RNS) — ‘The public ex*****on even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people,’ Archbishop Paul S. Coakley said in a statement.

10/09/2026

Six more parishes across the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago are getting a closer look at how their buildings use energy. 🌱

Last year, five congregations welcomed an energy auditor and got to work. They installed smart thermostats, sealed drafty windows, renegotiated utility contracts, and began exploring solar. This year, six congregations will take the same step:

Emmanuel Episcopal Church
St. Hugh-Elgin, IL
St. John's Episcopal Church - Naperville
The Annunciation of Our Lady Episcopal Church
Christ Episcopal Church Waukegan
Iglesia Episcopal Cristo Rey (Chicago)

This work is made possible through our partnership with Eco DioChicago and funded by our Catalyst Project Fund. Caring for creation and caring for our neighbors go hand in hand.

10/07/2026

This Sunday, Episcopal Charities Executive Director Matt Berryman joins Christ Church, Winnetka, as guest preacher!

Matt will preach at both 8 AM and 9:30 AM Eucharist services and, at 10:45 AM, he will share about Episcopal Charities and its work across northern Illinois. Founded in 1960, Episcopal Charities serves as the social outreach arm of the Diocese of Chicago. With support from donors across the diocese, Episcopal Charities funds nonprofit agencies, parishes, and grassroots organizations throughout the region and helps build our leaders’ internal capacity.

📍 470 Maple Street, Winnetka, IL 60093
🌐 https://www.christchurchwinnetka.org
⏰ Eucharist: 8 AM | 9:30 AM
📚 Connections: Faith, Unfiltered with Episcopal Charities: 10:45 AM

Join us in worship and conversation!

10/06/2026

Every Thursday, a line forms outside Trinity Episcopal Church in Aurora.

Gale is at the front with the coffee. She's volunteered for 30 years and knows most guests by name. "Make them feel like they're somebody special," she told us. Her fellow volunteer Marcia added, "And they are."

Since 1985, the Sandwich Board has served lunch every week, rain or shine. Today, eight congregations partner to feed about 350 neighbors each Thursday.

We asked longtime leader Linda Barber what she looks forward to most. "Closing the door," she said. If the doors could close for good, it would mean no one was hungry.

Until then, the doors open every Thursday.

Read the full story on our website!

10/01/2026

This Sunday, churches worldwide will observe the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis’ love extended across class, religion, and racial boundaries. His reverence for everything led him to call animals, plants, and all of creation “brother” and “sister.” St. Francis helped reform the Roman Catholic Church in the thirteenth century through his example of personal poverty. Through his witness, Francis models a life of Christ-like love and radical sacrifice for us Christians today.

We invite you to recite the following prayer, often attributed to St. Francis:

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that I receive; it is in pardoning that I am pardoned; and it is in dying that I am born to eternal life. Amen.”

Credits:
Prayer: A Prayer attributed to St. Francis. This prayer appears in the Book of Common Prayer, under “Prayers and Thanksgivings”.

Image: St. Francis Venerating the Crucifix by El Greco (via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain). Edited to separate layers for layout.

09/29/2026

People are putting their values into action. We see it every day in the parishes and partners we support across the Diocese of Chicago. 🤝

Learn how to get involved, visit www.episcopalcharities.org

09/24/2026

“Instructions for living a life:

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”

As Mary Oliver said, “Attention is the beginning of devotion.” Before we can truly love, we must first pay attention.

Across the diocese, our partners show us every week what faithful attention looks like. We are often astonished. And we believe these stories are worth telling.

What has astonished you lately? Who needs to hear about it?

Credits:
Poem: Excerpt from “Sometimes” by Mary Oliver. This poem appeared in “Red Bird” by Mary Oliver, published by Beacon Press, 2008.