Excerpted from a message from Colleen Hintz, designer and creator of Bishop Singh’s new vestments. The vestments were a gift from the Episcopal Bishops of African Descent, replacing vestments lost in a house fire last year and marking Bishop Singh’s new start with our dioceses. 

Sign’s new vestment marks his start with the dioceses.

I wanted to share at least part of what was going on in my head as I created your set.

The beauty of the Phoenix rising is, for me, so connected to your reality and all you have been through both personally and professionally. I do believe the Presiding Bishop chose wisely in asking you to take on this unique episcopacy in Michigan. I see you empowering so many with the presence of the Phoenix. I love how the tears of the Phoenix are both yours and theirs to experience. I love how the jewels become sparks lighting the way along the water’s journey. I love how the waters intertwine, interconnect, come close together and move far apart while all at the same time being part of the greater whole.  I see you helping them to experience that reality to the fullest.

The rising phoenix in Sign’s vestments.

I will admit that when it was all finished, I realized there is an error within. Each strand goes over then under then over then under, and on and on throughout the entire chasuble. That is until at one point, there are two overs…

While it was possible to fix, I chose to leave it because of a childhood experience that stays with me to this day.

The blue strand goes over then under the head dress matching the chasuble.

As a young student, I was driven. I wanted only A’s and 100’s. Nothing else was good enough. I can still hear my high school chemistry teacher telling me “girls don’t deserve A’s in chemistry” which only drove me harder. That all was to change when my Girl Scout troop went to NYC the summer of my 15th year on this planet. I can still remember touring the UN. A new Persian rug had just been gifted to the UN and had been hung in a stairwell. It was very large and very beautiful. The guide shared the story that it had taken 3 artisans some 2+ years to create and commented that there were 3 errors within. I immediately tried to find them. She chuckled at me and said I would never find them but each artisan had left their first error in recognition of the reality that only God is perfect… I can still feel that hitting me square in the gut. I didn’t have to be perfect. Only God was!  Even to this day, I prefer to leave my first mistake to honor that reality.

May you wear the set with great joy,

Learn more about Colleen Hintz on her website, www.fruitofthevine.us.

Dear Saints,

Earlier this week, our nation received news about a likely decision forthcoming from the United States Supreme Court. This impending decision to overturn Roe v. Wade after nearly 50 years will have painful repercussions across our country – for the people forced to carry unplanned and dangerous pregnancies against their will, for those of us whose religious liberties are not as protected as others, for those whose protections of privacy now stands poised for contestation – same-sex marriages, access to birth control, and so much more.

As Episcopalians, we commit every day to respect the dignity of every human being – one’s dignity requires the existence of choice over control, freedom over force, and abundant love over fear.

The Episcopal Church is consistent in our support for access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion access, which is the agency of a woman and her loved ones. I commend to you this resource released yesterday by the Episcopal Public Policy Network, including a resolution passed by the General Convention in 1967.

I am aware that while we may see mixed reactions to this potential decision, many are now afraid for their safety and that of their loved ones. I pray for our church, our world, and the communities we serve. As we give thanks for our mothers, may we wisely achieve God’s dream for a world in which no child is afraid or hungry, no person is enslaved, and where our love for one another flows fearlessly.

Yours in Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Prince G. Singh
Bishop Provisional
The Episcopal Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan

Greetings beloved friends, 

We are gathering for Easter in the midst of so much loss. Two years of this pandemic has drained so much of our energy, individually and collectively. Globally, we have lost more than six million people. We are living in the midst of many wars including the war in Ukraine, where violence is seeming to have the last and sometimes the only word. 

In the midst of so much that is broken in our human community we are reminded of this incredible story of resurrection where women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, and other women, went to a tomb to care for a body. A dead body. Jesus’ body. They ended up awakening to a new world view that was not familiar to them. It is not familiar to us.

That is the real story of Easter, where God breaks through and gives us a new way to be. Providence is what we associate with the gift of God. When God invites us to a new way of being, that is providence. Jesus died and was raised from the dead: providence. 

Second thing I noticed in the story is also the deep courage of women who went to a tomb when there was so much controversy, so much fear, so much to be depressed about. But they moved, even in and through their grief to claim a deep resilience and courage that we are given as a gift. 

Finally, I think there is this deep sense of amazement that everyone is awakened to in the story of resurrection. Where people who were totally afraid were overcome with an unencumbered joy. The joy of knowing God is with us in a very real way. Not as a baby that is vulnerable anymore, but as the risen Christ giving us the strength to face our fears, our challenges, and overcome everything that stymies us, and release us to this grace of joy.

So, my beloved friends, as you gather for your celebration of Easter this year, I pray that you will be filled with the reassurance of providence, a deep assurance of the courage that we have as followers of Jesus, and live into your joy abundantly

Blessings as you celebrate Easter. And may you be filled with that deep intertwining peace of the risen Christ who has risen on a new year. Alleluia. Christ has risen indeed. Amen.

Saludos queridos amigos,

Nos reunimos para la Pascua en medio de tantas pérdidas. Dos años de esta pandemia han drenado mucha de nuestra energía, individual y colectiva. A nivel mundial, hemos perdido más de seis millones de personas. Vivimos en medio de muchas guerras, incluida la de Ucrania, donde la violencia parece tener la última y a veces la única palabra.

En medio de tantas cosas rotas en nuestra comunidad humana, recordamos esta increíble historia de resurrección en la que las mujeres, María Magdalena, Juana, María y otras mujeres, fueron a una tumba para cuidar un cuerpo. Un cadáver. El cuerpo de Jesús. Acabaron despertando a una nueva visión del mundo que no les era familiar. No nos resulta familiar.

Esa es la verdadera historia de la Pascua, en la que Dios irrumpe y nos da una nueva manera de ser. La providencia es lo que asociamos al don de Dios. Cuando Dios nos invita a una nueva manera de ser, eso es la providencia. Jesús murió y resucitó de entre los muertos: [eso] es la providencia.

La segunda cosa que noté en la historia es también el profundo coraje de las mujeres que fueron a una tumba cuando había tanta controversia, tanto miedo, tanto para deprimirse. Pero se movieron, incluso en y a través de su dolor, para reclamar una profunda resistencia y valor que se nos da como un regalo.

Por último, creo que existe ese profundo sentimiento de asombro que a todos nos despierta la historia de la resurrección. Donde la gente que estaba totalmente asustada se vio invadida por una alegría desbordante. La alegría de saber que Dios está con nosotros de una forma muy real. No como un bebé que ya es vulnerable, sino como Cristo resucitado que nos da la fuerza para enfrentarnos a nuestros miedos, a nuestros retos, y superar todo lo que nos estorba, y liberarnos a esta gracia de la alegría.

Así que mis queridos amigos, al reunirse para la celebración de la Pascua de este año, rezo para que se llenen de la seguridad de la providencia, una profunda seguridad del valor que tenemos como seguidores de Jesús, y vivan en su alegría en abundancia.

Bendiciones en la celebración de la Pascua. Y que se llenen de esa profunda paz entrelazada de Cristo resucitado que ha resucitado en un nuevo año. Sin duda, cristo ha resucitado. Amén.