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On September 11, 2001, Rowan Williams was at Trinity Church in lower Manhattan during the attack on the World Trade Center. The next day he delivered the Hobart Lecture, a first reflection on a day that defied words.
On Wednesday night he returns, twenty-five years later, as the former Archbishop of Canterbury, to give the 2026 Hobart Lecture at St. Thomas Church. You can register for the lecture here to attend either in person or online.
The Archbishop’s subject will be solidarity, the theme of his latest book. He describes it not as a feeling but as work: the ongoing, mutual labor of recognizing one another. That work offers a spiritual question for us and a civic crisis for the world.
We saw it last night, when the Cathedral hosted the annual Haitian Evensong. Protections for Haitian immigrants have been removed and Haiti itself, including our sister diocese there, remains in danger.
Solidarity is a spiritual practice. This week gives several places to offer it:
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Forum on Faith, also on Wednesday. A day-long interfaith gathering, where we are sponsoring a track on artificial intelligence. You can register for the day here.
- Interfaith leaders' breakfast at Ogilvie House, which the Rev. Al Sharpton and I are hosting together.
So many people’s work is making these events possible. Canon Sam Owen planned the evensong with the Cathedral. I’m grateful to Canon Carl Turner, the Rev Dr. Luigi Gioia, and St. Thomas for hosting the Hobart lecture; to Bishop Shin and Ashley Gonzalez for organizing; to the Rev Dr. Chloe Breyer for organizing our participation in the Forum on Faith; and to the Rev. Anne Marie Witchger and Ashley for organizing the interfaith breakfast.
The Archbishop states, solidarity begins with recognition. This week, I hope we can all can look again at someone we have stopped seeing, and hold them in
our prayers and in our care.
Blessings for the week ahead.
Grace & Peace,
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