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The World Council of Churches (WCC) shared insights at a conference, “Taking Action Through Money: Our Finances at the Service of Climate Justice,” hosted in Paris by the Protestant Federation of France on 7 November. 

The Africa and African Diaspora Conference, held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 26-30 October was in many ways “a walk of faith,” said Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith, World Council of Churches (WCC) president from North America-Turtle Island.

The Armenian Apostolic Church hosted the 2026 Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions, bringing together general secretaries from church families worldwide for shared reports, theological reflection, and common witness.  Rev. Philip Peacock, WCRC general secretary and Rev. Dr Hanns Lessing, WCRC executive secretary for communion and theology, represented the World Communion of Reformed Churches […]

The post WCRC Leadership Joins Global Church Leaders at 2026 Conference of Secretaries in Lebanon appeared first on WCRC.

Young people and faith communities are already restoring nature, from indigenous trees in Kenya to riverbank cleanups in Canada, and they now ask for a share in the decisions. That was the message at a World Council of Churches (WCC) session at the UN biodiversity conference in Yerevan, Armenia, on 26 October, part of the Ecumenical Decade of Climate Justice Action (2025–2034).

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin has filed a “friend of the court” brief in a federal appeals court in support of seven immigrants who sued the Trump administration over the conditions of their confinement in the biggest immigrant detention facility in California. In the legal brief, dated Nov. 6, the diocese said its own volunteers regularly visit detainees at the California City Detention Facility in Kern County and affirm that conditions there are in some ways even worse than those described in the lawsuit. Food and water are often unfit for consumption. Medical care is lacking. The living spaces are often cold. And detainees are kept isolated from the outside world. “For some of these people, a diocese volunteer is the first visitor they have had in over a year of detention,” the Diocese of San Joaquin said. “They are held in conditions we would not inflict on the worst felons.” Yet these detainees typically have not been accused or convicted of any crime. “The men and women held inside were, until recently, our neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family members,” the diocese said. “They are guilty of nothing more than doing what liberty-loving immigrants have done since this country’s founding.” The detainees are represented by a legal team that includes the American Civil Liberties Union. They filed their lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Northern California in November 2025, and in February 2026, that court partially granted the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the private company, CoreCivic, that manages the detention facility. The defendants have appealed the lower court’s ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Although the Diocese of San Joaquin is not a party to the lawsuit, its legal brief is considered by the court while weighing both sides. The diocese chose to go on record in support of the plaintiffs “not out of politics, but out of deeply held, core theology,” Bishop Greg Kimura said in a written statement, a version of which he incorporated into his Nov. 6 address to the Central Valley diocese’s convention. The diocese “has the infamy” of having four immigrant detention facilities within its boundaries, Kimura said. The standing committee and diocesan council voted unanimously to file the “friend of the court” brief citing the diocese’s volunteers’ experiences ministering to detainees at those facilities. “No other diocese has this experience and the on-the-ground witness to these inhumane conditions, specifically at Cal City. Therefore, no other diocese has the same moral authority to call for equal justice under law,” Kimura said. “God has called our diocese to be prophetic. … It is our baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of every human being. This is our moment to act with boldness on those things we say we believe.” The diocese’s legal brief cites the work since 2019 of the diocesan San Joaquin Refugee and Immigration Support and Empowerment commission. Shortly after the California City Detention Facility opened in August 2025, volunteers from congregations across the diocese began visiting detainees, typically four to six men and women a week. “They do not choose the people they see, and they do not excite hope where there is none. They listen,” the diocesan brief said. “In all, they have sat with close to one hundred people.” Those volunteers can attest to inhumane conditions at the facility, the diocese said. “The district court’s findings [in favor of the plaintiffs] are not only amply supported by the record but, if anything, understate the gravity of the situation,” the diocese said. The volunteers have continued to visit the facility throughout the court proceedings, including now, as the government’s appeal is pending. “The pods are still cold. The food still goes uneaten. People still ask the volunteers for help reaching a nurse, and people are still agreeing to removal because they cannot bear to stay.” The legal brief underscores that the diocese’s advocacy for the rights of immigrant detainees is rooted in Christian teachings. “They proclaim that God creates every person as a beloved child of God, of immeasurable worth, whatever that person’s immigration status. For Christians, living out these commandments is not optional; they believe they will one day be judged before the throne of God on how faithfully they have done so.” Episcopalians across the country have joined similar calls for an end to the Trump administration’s expansion of the federal detention system to accommodate Homeland Security’s push for mass deportations, a central campaign promise in the president’s second term. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

Find the highlights from all three days of the meeting.

The post Highlights from the Council of the General Synod: November 6-8 appeared first on Anglican Church of Canada.

On the final day of its November meeting, CoGS appointed a liaison to the National Youth Council, heard from its partners and looked ahead to General Synod 2028.

The post Highlights from the Council of the General Synod: November 8, 2026 appeared first on Anglican Church of Canada.

CoGS heard plans for Church House, explored questions of church law and approved the 2027 budget on the second day of its November meeting.

The post Highlights from the Council of the General Synod: November 7, 2026 appeared first on Anglican Church of Canada.

Despite the lack of facilities, three United Methodist congregations near Cairo provide physical and spiritual nourishment to those who need help.

During their fall meeting, United Methodist bishops discussed artificial intelligence, immigration and the recent Leadership Gathering. They also took lessons from the Lord’s Prayer.