EPISCOPAL GREETING

Greetings in the joy of Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

We greet you in the joy of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Mary’s baby!

Praise God for the powerful ways the Holy Spirit has guided and graced our 2025 Annual Conference series.

Still standing under the shared umbrella of Mental Health, Music, and Mission, we begin this year by placing

particular emphasis on music, lifting the theme “RiseUp and Sing” from Psalm 96:1.

 

Each of our six Annual Conferences carried this theme uniquely—through culture, creativity, and community—

together we experienced a symphony of the Spirit’s stirring. Prayers were poured out, participation was plentiful,

and praise was proclaimed in powerful ways through the preached Word.

 

Our emphasis on music is more than a moment; it is a mission. The Spirit calls us not only to rise up and sing during

our conferences, but to carry the chorus into the coming year. Some among us have begun fresh appointments;

others are serving under new leadership; many are preparing for future faithful transitions. All of this unfolds amid

a culture of challenge and change both within the AME Church and across the world. God has not given us a spirit

of fear. In the face of chaos, however, we choose courage over complacency, compassion over conflict, and Christ

over confusion.

 

Beloved, this is the season to sing. Our ancestors understood music’s might: when words failed and wounds ran

deep, singing shaped the atmosphere, anchored hope, and ushered in healing. Through spirituals sung in the

shadows of slavery and freedom hymns lifted in movements for justice, the faithful forged resilience and rekindled

joy. Singing served not just as sacred expression, but as a source of survival—proclaiming deliverance, resistance,

and faith in the face of pain. That same song yet empowers us, reminding us that when we rise up and sing, despair

is drowned by hope and fear yields to faith. As we step into the 2025–2026 Conference Year, let us stand as

instruments of inspiration, tuned to the Spirit’s leading, willing to weave God’s justice, joy, and jubilee into the

fabric of our communities. With one voice, one vision, and one vibrant faith, may we lift a new song unto the Lord.

 

To God be the glory, now and always,

Rt. Rev. Francine A. Brookins, Esq.
Presiding Bishop

Rev. Miriam J. Burnett, MD, MPH
Episcopal Supervisor of Missions