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Religion Communicators Council 2025 Wilbur Award Honorees March 18, 2025 Audio Productions – News Stories – Faith & Values + Human Interest Wilbur For many Missouri Catholics, abortion rights means choosing between faith, politics NPR, Katia Riddle, Catherine Laidlaw, Jason DeRose Excellence Once officially atheist, today’s Cuba hosts a rich diversity of faiths AP, Walter […]

[Episcopal News Service] At Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the 11 a.m. Eastern service on March 16 was a special observance of the fifth anniversary of the church’s shutdown during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It included readings that dealt with illness and loss, prayers for healthcare workers and those who died, and music that often is used at funerals, including “O God our Help in Ages Past.” The Rev. Jonathon Jensen, the church’s rector, told Episcopal News Service that he started wondering last fall why his congregation, or any congregation in The Episcopal Church, had yet to liturgically mark something that had impacted so many people for so long. So, he and Alan Lewis, the church’s director of music, started making plans to do it. They chose March 16 because five years earlier it was on Sunday, March 15, 2020, that in-person worship was suspended at Calvary, and it remained that way for about 14 months, Jensen said. The remembrance formed the first part of the service and began with the clergy and choir all wearing masks. “I hadn’t worn a mask in a couple of years,” he said. “I had forgotten how hot it was, how itchy, how hard it is to breathe.” The choir sat apart from each other as they had in the days of social distancing, and paper signs reminding people to stand 6 feet apart lined the center aisle. Jensen said that people told him those elements were “more powerful than they had imagined, and they had forgotten what it was like.” After the offertory, masks came off and the choir returned to their usual place near the altar. The service included elements that Jensen said were intentionally tactile and sensory, as a contrast to the COVID-era practice of staying away from others. That included the offer to anoint people with oil, and while that is available every week, about 20% of the congregations took part that day. “That never happens on a Sunday,” he said. In his sermon, Jensen described how he learned to preach to a pole in an empty nave during early online worship, “hoping somebody on the other end was watching.” He mentioned the losses people suffered, from missed graduations and kids learning behind screens to postponed weddings and funerals held online – including his own father’s funeral. Another impact is reflected, he said, in a recent Pew survey that showed that 72% of Americans said the pandemic did more to drive the country apart than to bring it together. One thing he believes the church can do is to help people heal. He hoped this service and its offering of “a ritual, a liturgical acknowledgement of the death, literally and metaphorically, that we experienced,” was a start, he said. Other remembrances in Georgia, Church of England St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia, used a different medium to mark the anniversary – a 4-by-5-foot icon featuring a variety of COVID-era images, including washing hands, worshipping online and getting a vaccine. The Rev. Patricia Templeton, St. Dunstan’s rector, commissioned the icon in memory of her husband, Joe Monti, who died from Covid in 2023. Monti taught moral theology and Christian ethics at the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, for 27 years before he retired in 2009. The icon was created by Kelly Latimore, a noted icon writer known for his icon of Matthew Shepard displayed at Washington National Cathedral. The murder of Shepard, a gay college student, in 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming, sparked a national outcry against homophobia and violence against LGBTQ+ people. Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright blessed the icon on March 16. During that service, parishioners were invited to put a bit of gold leaf on their thumbs and press it to the icon to add to the halos of people portrayed in it. Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell officiated at an online service on March 25 that marked five years since the Church of England began hosting a virtual, national worship service it calls Church at Home. The Church of England has offered a weekly online service from a variety of churches nationwide since March 22, 2020, when former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby officiated at the first one. In 2024, the services drew over 21 million views. The virtual anniversary service included some notable recorded elements from the past five years, including the Rev. Richard Allen leading the confession from a lifeboat in Cornwall’s Trelawny Benefice, and hymns from St. Martin’s Voices, one of the United Kingdom’s most notable choral ensembles, singing in a stable, where a donkey famously interrupted filming with its chorus of braying. The service also included a reflection from the Rev. Gill Behenna, national Deaf ministry advisor for the Church of England and one of its regular sign language interpreters. Cottrell said that these services “have connected us as a Christian community and as an online community.” About 30% of Church of England congregations continue to offer a regular Church at Home service. — Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

[Anglican Communion News Service] The secretary general of the Anglican Communion, the Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo, was welcomed in Lae, the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea, March 21 by the Rt. Rev. Nathan Ingen, bishop of Aipo Rongo and acting primate of the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. Poggo’s visit March 21-24 formed part of his recent tour of the Oceania region. Papua New Guinea includes five dioceses: Aipo Rongo, Dogura, New Guinea Islands, Popondota and Port Moresby. While the majority of the population identify as Christians, only 3.2% identify as Anglican, according to the 2000 census data. Poggo undertook visits around Oceania primarily to encourage the Anglican Communion and related agencies and to learn more about the Anglican church in the regions. Reflecting on his visit, Poggo said, “I have greatly enjoyed and appreciated my time in Papua New Guinea. It has been particularly valuable for me to visit churches, meet with the leadership network here and to learn more about the community-based philanthropic initiatives that are happening here regarding education and health. I thank God for the vibrant spirituality I have witnessed in the people I have met in Papua New Guinea and pray that my visit has inspired them as it has me.” After arriving at Nadzab Tomodachi Airport, Poggo was welcomed with gifts and celebration by church representatives and the Tufi Maising singing group before visiting Dennis Kabekabe Conference Center. During his time in Lae, Poggo and the four bishops of Papua New Guinea planted tree seedlings to commemorate their meeting. Across the Anglican Communion, trees are often planted as a symbol of the importance of caring for the environment, nurturing future generations and celebrating the strong connections between branches of a global Anglican Communion, rooted in Christ. Planting trees is also something that the Anglican Communion Office has been encouraging through the Communion Forest initiative, which aims to significantly increase the number of Anglican tree-growing and ecosystem conservation, protection and restoration activities around the world and to deepen care for creation within the life of the church and its members. Poggo also visited the Anglican Health Office, a body of the Anglican Health Service, and saw the good works they are doing to improve the physical, psychological, social and spiritual health and wellbeing of everyone in the communities they serve. The Anglican Health Service includes 119 facilities in Papua New Guinea, which the government helps to fund and the church builds. Most of these clinics are in rural areas where medical assistance is otherwise difficult to access and acuity levels range from rural hospitals through health centers and aid posts to village clinics. Providing for those over 15 years of age, the Adult Literacy Program in Papua New Guinea is a pilot program funded by the Anglican Mission Board of Australia, which educates adult students in English, math, social inclusion and religious education with the goal of enabling students to read and write within nine months. This program is vital for those who have not already attended school for reasons such as getting married at an early age but still wish to pursue education. Within this pilot program, there are currently three schools in Port Moresby and three in Popendetta, and the students only have to pay for their school materials — travel is covered by the program. Poggo was particularly pleased to see the project and spend time with those involved. “One of the things that I admired while I am here is the adult literacy initiatives carried out by the church,” he said. “This is an encouragement to me, personally, as someone from South Sudan, where literacy levels are very low. The program aimed at helping people learn to read and write is so important to me.” On March 23, Poggo attended a morning service of confirmation at All Souls Anglican Church in Lae. Bishops or clergy from the five dioceses of Papua New Guinea assisted with the service and welcomed the new confirmation candidates. The service included a welcome address by the acting primate and bishop of Aipo Rongo, the Rt. Rev. Nathan Ingen; a sermon by Poggo; communion and confirmation of several of the parish’s young people, who also led the prayers. Ingen said in his address, “We are truly honored to have you among us as we gather for this sacred occasion of worship, celebration and the confirmation of our candidates. Bishop Poggo, your presence here today is a great blessing to our parish, our diocese and the entire Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. As secretary general of the Anglican Communion, you carry the important responsibility of fostering unity and strengthening the mission of the church worldwide. We are grateful for your leadership and your commitment to the growth of the Anglican family across all nations.”

[World Council of Churches] The Second Africa-Europe Ecumenical Forum on Migration took place March 17-21 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, organized by the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe.  The forum built on the outcomes of the first forum held in Hamburg, Germany, in March 2023. A communiqué released by the forum reads, in part, “We affirm that migration is an integral part of humanity, yet it remains an area fraught with injustices. We remain steadfast in opposing the criminalization and weaponization of migration and resisting migration management policies that disregard human dignity and safety.” The forum discouraged exploitative migration practices that hinder many from experiencing the love and goodness of God. “We noted the growing frustration among a significant proportion of young Africans who are seeking every possible avenue to migrate in pursuit of employment and better living conditions,” the communiqué said. Read the communiqué here. Read the entire article here.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing held its fourth meeting, mapping its future in what its leaders defined as “a new world order.”

The Kingdom of Bahrain hosted an Intra-Islamic Dialogue Conference under the patronage of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The event, with over 400 participants, aimed to foster unity and consensus within the Islamic world in response to contemporary challenges.

The Second Africa-Europe Ecumenical Forum on Migration was held 17-21 March in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, organized by the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME). 

<article class="media media--image display--large"> <div class="image-container"> <div class="field field-media-image"> <img loading="eager" width="430" height="323" alt="" class="lazyload" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/default_mobile/public/2025-03/crc-news_2025-3-26_classis-heartland-videos_0.jpg?itok=KHV5lZVR" /> </div> </div> </article> <br /> With little time to see what’s happening in other congregations, churches in Classis Heartland appreciate video stories showing God at work.

NEW YORK, NY (ABNS 3/27/25)—The Board of Managers of the Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board (MMBB) of the American Baptist Churches is currently conducting a search for the next Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization. Highlights from the detailed position specifications for the CEO search include: Position Summary: The CEO of The Ministers and Missionaries […]

The post MMBB Announces Search for Next Chief Executive Officer appeared first on ABCUSA.

Prof. Rastko Jovic, from Serbia, reflects in a WCC video interview about the World Council of Churches (WCC) Just Community of Women and Men programme—and how using theology to underscore justice will inspire churches globally.