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Episcopal services of remembrance planned as US marks 25 years since 9/11 attacks

September 09, 2026

[Episcopal News Service] It has been 25 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and Episcopal congregations in New York, Washington, D.C., and beyond are hosting commemorations this week as part of the nationwide tributes to the attacks’ 2,977 victims. St. Paul’s Chapel near Ground Zero in lower Manhattan will hold its annual tolling of the bells on Sept. 11. A variety of other events are planned in and around the city, from the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine to an Episcopal church in suburban Pelham. And on Sept. 13, Washington National Cathedral invites the public to a Holy Eucharist that will mark the somber anniversary of the morning on Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 hijackers affiliated with Al Qaeda commandeered four commercial jets, crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in rural Pennsylvania. “Twenty-five years on, we live in a world shaped by 9/11. Our lament for those we lost and those who still suffer will never end, and our grief is particularly sharp on this historic anniversary,” Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe said in a written statement to Episcopal News Service. “We also mourn that, since that day in 2001, our common life has been deformed by division and fear of one another. Sometimes it seems that the chasm has become unbridgeable. “As Episcopalians, however, we know there is a better way. We saw it then in the extraordinary witness of first responders, and especially in the heroic relief ministry at our own St. Paul’s Chapel in lower Manhattan. We see it now across our church in countless ministries of reconciliation, peacemaking, and in our commitment to interfaith cooperation with our Muslim siblings in faith.” Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan has a series of events planned, coinciding with its proximity to the site where two of the hijacked jets crashed into the World Trade Center’s twin towers. In the aftermath of the attack, the Trinity-affiliated St. Paul’s Chapel, barely a block from Ground Zero, opened its doors to first responders and relief crews working at the ruins of the collapsed towers. In St. Paul’s churchyard, the ringing of the chapel’s Bell of Hope will begin at 8:46 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 11, marking the time when the first tower was hit. The service will continue for 45 minutes, followed by a musical reflection inside the chapel at 10 a.m. The names of the victims will be read at a 1 p.m. ceremony. Then at 6 p.m., a choral service of remembrance will be held at Trinity Church “to honor the lost and to affirm the enduring promise of the light that awaits beyond darkness.” In the upper Manhattan neighborhood of Morningside Heights, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine will offer a Eucharist at 12:15 p.m. honoring the fallen, an annual service that often is attended by firefighters coming from an earlier memorial service at a nearby firefighters’ memorial. This year, the cathedral also opened its doors for a BBC crew to record a service for broadcast this week marking the 9/11 attacks’ 25th anniversary. That broadcast recording was coordinated with St. Paul’s Chapel and Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue, St. John the Divine Dean Winnie Varghese told ENS. “It was very moving to have people from another country acknowledge a tragedy of this scale that happened here,” Varghese said. “They created some space in a wonderful way to speak to the complexity of it.” The cathedral will also screen the documentary “9/11: Reclaiming Ground Zero” at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 11, followed by a discussion of the planning involved with redeveloping the former site of the World Trade Center’s twin towers. At 11:15 a.m. Sept. 13, Washington National Cathedral’s commemorative Eucharist will feature tolling of the cathedral’s bourdon bell and a Litany of Remembrance. The cathedral will also display its Pentagon Memorial Cross, which was carved from pieces of the rubble and given to the cathedral by Alvin Neider. The service will be livestreamed on YouTube. “Even in the face of unimaginable evil and suffering, God calls us to be repairers of the breach and restorers of paths to dwell in,” Rowe said in his statement about the 25th anniversary. “I pray that this commemoration of 9/11 renews our commitment to answer that call in our own lives and communities, and together as the body of Christ in the world.” The following are some of the other commemorations to be hosted by Episcopal churches: New York, New York: St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue will offer a vigil service at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 10 on the theme “Grief is the price we pay for love.” It will feature the St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys and will be livestreamed. Garden City, New York: The Diocese of Long Island’s Cathedral of the Incarnation will hold a Day of Remembrance from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 11 “to gather, remember and find solace.” Services are also scheduled at noon and 6 p.m. Pelham, New York: Christ Episcopal Church, just north of New York’s Bronx borough, has scheduled a Requiem Mass in remembrance of the 9/11 victims at 5:15 p.m. Sept. 11. The Plains, Virginia: Grace Episcopal Church will hold a service of remembrance at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 11. “Together, we will remember and honor the lives lost on that day, hold in prayer all those whose lives were forever changed, and look toward a future grounded in peace, hope, and reconciliation,” the congregation said in inviting the public to attend. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: The Diocese of the Susquehanna will welcome worshipers at Cathedral Church of the Nativity at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 for a memorial Evensong service. Norwalk, Ohio: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church will commemorate the 25th anniversary with a worship service at 6 p.m. Sept. 11. Columbus, Ohio: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church has scheduled a “morning of reflection” on Sept. 11, marking the times when the hijacked planes crashed. An ecumenical service of […]