Latest News

United Methodists are feeling the effects of the gutting of U.S. foreign assistance and speaking out about how such aid saves lives.

[World Council of Churches] The newly published resource “Hope for Children Through Climate Justice: Legal Tools to Hold Financiers Accountable” provides churches and communities essential legal tools designed to hold financial actors accountable for their role in perpetuating the climate crisis. Developed by the Churches’ Commitments to Children program of the World Council of Churches, the resource aims to equip people of faith and partners in WCC’s global constituency with the knowledge on climate litigation, a rapidly growing and impactful way of addressing the climate crisis and protect the rights of young people and future generations. In the foreword of the publication, the Most Rev. Julio Murray, the Anglican archbishop of Panama and moderator of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, points out that our faith calls us to speak truth to power and to seize every available legal measure to protect our planet and its inhabitants. “The urgency of this moment demands that we engage with the law not merely as a tool but as a moral imperative to safeguard human lives and uphold justice,” said Murray. “It is our hope that these resources will empower individuals and communities to advocate for justice effectively, ensuring that future generations inherit a world that is not only livable but thriving.” Read the entire article here.

The Global Food Initiative (GFI) has given its latest round of grants to support well drilling by the Haiti Medical Project, an agricultural training component for students at the Great Lakes Bible School in Rwanda, and “Farming God's Way” in the Church of the Brethren in Burundi.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), in a briefing organized by Sabeel, raised awareness of freedom of worship and the need to protect the Status Quo in Jerusalem. 

[Episcopal News Service] The House of Bishops gathered March 19-24 at Camp McDowell in Nauvoo, Alabama, for its annual spring retreat, which centered on discussions of witnessing to the Gospel amid today’s contentious political climate and The Episcopal Church’s future in a secular society. The spring meeting is one of two biannual in-person House of Bishops gatherings. Traditionally, the spring meetings are more retreat-like and tend to occur at church camps. The second meeting occurs in the fall during non-General Convention years, and have typically included participation from the bishops’ spouses. “It’s always an opportunity for bishops to gather, be in prayer together, to reconnect and to consider how we best participate in God’s mission,” Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe said during a virtual media briefing. “We were sure to find our grounding in prayer and also to consider the world around us, what’s happening and how we can most effectively both speak to the world around us and to our own diocese in our own context.” This was the first in-person House of Bishops gathering Rowe led as presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church and president of the house.  Each day, the bishops – 116 in person and three virtually – engaged in discussions on various topics ranging from using church property for mission to declining membership. The latest parochial report data shows that The Episcopal Church has decreased from about 2.3 million members to fewer than 1.6 million over the past two decades. “We really looked hard at the statistics – the current reality – what’s happening and where in the church and how we might think about how to address those issues both together as a House of Bishops, but also in our dioceses,” Rowe said. “We don’t have the same number of resources, but we all have enough gifts to share, and so those conversations are just getting started.” Like last year, the bishops also reviewed and discussed Title IV disciplinary canons and churchwide calls for greater oversight and transparency in disciplinary cases involving bishops. In February 2024, The Episcopal Church, under then-Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s direction, updated its website with a series of informational resources, including chronologies of active cases involving bishops under Title IV. The bishops heard other presentations from leaders on issues concerning the wider church, including theological reflections from fellow bishops. Notably, Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright earned a standing ovation for his reflection on Christian nationalism, which has been growing throughout the United States in recent years. “Christian nationalism is not an imperfect or evolving rendering of Jesus’ life and teachings, nor should it be characterized as simply a difference of theological or political interpretation or emphasis,” Wright said in his reflection, per his notes provided to Episcopal News Service. “This is a deeply embedded, well-funded, strategic and compellingly argued appeal.” During the 81st General Convention in 2024, the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies adopted Resolution A081, “Combat Rising Religious Nationalism,” which requires General Convention to acknowledge and urge The Episcopal Church and its mission-related entities to partner with the Anglican Communion to combat rising religious nationalism. The resolution encourages individuals, congregations, dioceses and other Episcopal affiliates to educate themselves on how religious nationalism harms marginalized groups. “The ‘Christian’ in Christian nationalism is not so much about a religious faith as an ideologically driven identity, even though religious beliefs are cleverly deployed to support its ideological stance on certain political and social issues,” Wright said, in his notes provided to ENS. “Therefore, Christian nationalism is theologically illegitimate and must be called by its proper names: idolatry, blasphemy and heresy.” Rebecca Blachly, The Episcopal Church’s chief of public policy and witness, presented the latest updates on immigration legislation in the United States since President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders in January 2025, including restrictions on the asylum process. She shared what could happen to immigration policies in the coming months and highlighted how the church is responding to the legislative changes through litigation, advocacy, education and prayer. More information is available on the Episcopal Public Policy Network’s and Episcopal Migration Ministries’ websites. The Episcopal Church’s immigration action toolkit can be viewed here. Blachly also invited the bishops to consider the different ways they can individually respond as church leaders, including making public statements and engaging with local and state government officials.  The bishops gathered both in small table conversations and as a large group to discuss each presentation. Alabama Bishop Glenda Curry said during the media briefing that the bishops also informally shared how they’ve been able to successfully make the Gospel’s message “more relevant or obvious to the world” in their dioceses. “Sharing programs and different ways that they’re trying to address their own context sometimes applies to everybody,” Curry said. “We’re looking for those places where the sharing of the Gospel is growing – the attraction to the church is positive. We’re looking for ways that we can build on each other’s experience.” Scott Bader-Saye, dean and president of the University of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, presented a theological reflection on faith in institutions. Bader-Saye, who is also a professor of Christian ethics and moral theology, described institutions, like churches, as nests that serve as containers holding the practices of people trying to accomplish a goal. Those “nests” can be adjusted and enlarged over time to accommodate new challenges and paradigms. During the media briefing, Indianapolis Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, vice chair of the House of Bishops, described Bader-Saye’s reflection as “sitting in a seminary classroom.” “There was so much depth to his presentation,” she said. “The way I might encapsulate it is that institutions are living, breathing things.” Each morning and at various times throughout the day, the bishops took time to worship together, meditate and reflect quietly. The Very Rev. Miguelina Howell, dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Rev. Ricardo Bailey, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, […]

Pastoral care, prayer and protests are some of the ways United Methodist congregations are supporting church members and others affected by the Trump administration’s drastic cuts.

A Federal Court in Seattle Issued Additional Preliminary Injunction in Case Challenging Refugee Ban Seattle, WA– Yesterday evening, a federal court in Seattle issued a second preliminary injunction in Pacito v. Trump, finding the government’s efforts to terminate its agreements with refugee-serving agencies to be unlawful. The government attempted to terminate these agreements just one day after the court’s previous order ... Read More

Washington, D.C.—Church World Service today expressed its alarm over the Trump administration’s decision to categorically revoke the humanitarian parole status that granted over 530,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHNV) nationals living in the United States protection from deportation and work authorization. The blanket revocations, which are set to go into effect on April 24, will place hundreds of thousands ... Read More

The National Council of Churches in Australia welcomed the World Council of Churches (WCC) for a visit that focused on the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity. 

The first time I heard the term persona non grata I was a child living in Jamaica, where I was born. The term was in the news because the Jamaican government had declared someone persona non grata. My mother explained…

The post Persona non Grata appeared first on United Church of Christ.