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Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to continued support for the Nigeria Crisis Response, to aid those affected in three central African countries by the warfare in Goma and the surrounding area, to aid those affected by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and to aid those affected by the war in Ukraine, among others.

The United Church of Canada welcomes the news of the recent arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with highly documented crimes… continue reading

The Annual Conference office has announced the daily line up of preachers for the 2025 annual meeting of the Church of the Brethren, as well as the daily themes and scripture texts and the worship planning team and music leadership.

[Diocese of Los Angeles] The March 12 opening of Orchard View Gardens, the 66-unit senior housing complex at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church in Buena Park, California, marked the culmination of more than a decade of work toward developing affordable housing on the church’s property. The completion of the project is also another major milestone in the diocesan mission to create affordable housing on underutilized church land throughout the diocese.   “The person of faith looks at the world as it is and imagines the realm of God,” said Los Angeles Bishop John Harvey Taylor at the event. He thanked all who made the dream of affordable housing at St. Joseph’s a reality. “Whenever church people look at empty property, whenever they take stock of available energy and financial resource and they apply those things to caring for those most in need, including by giving them a place to lay their heads at night, God takes delight,” he said. In addition to Taylor, speakers at the opening included Alexa Washburn, chief development officer at National CORE, an affordable housing nonprofit; Doug Chaffee, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and District 4 supervisor; Joyce Ahn, mayor of Buena Park; the Rev. Cindy Voien, rector of St. Joseph’s; the Rev. Michael Bell, director of housing and business development at Episcopal Communities & Services, also known as ECS; Alyssa Cotter, executive director of the Hope through Housing Foundation; and others from supporting organizations and government bodies. All members of the Buena Park city council were present and honored at the event.   Voien said that St. Joseph’s land has been reserved for holy purposes since 1957, and with opening of Orchard View Gardens, “a holy purpose has been found, a holy dream upheld, and we rejoice that the day of fulfillment has come.” Now that land is the site of 66 affordable apartments available to seniors earning less than 60% of the area’s median income. Twelve of the apartments are reserved as supportive housing for seniors who have experienced homelessness.   “When people become disconnected or displaced or even homeless because housing costs too much, we become a fragmented, damaged community, and we stand in need of reconciliation,” Voien said. “To house people who are getting edged out of the general housing market is to embrace what we have in common and to bless the entire community.”   Orchard View Gardens was the second affordable housing development created through a collaboration between National CORE and the Diocese of Los Angeles. The development also was supported by ECS and the Hope through Housing Foundation, which will provide support and services to residents of the apartments.   In Orange County, one-quarter of the homeless population is aged 55 or older, said Washburn. Tragically, that percentage continues to rise. “But when we align our efforts around a shared goal, one that’s rooted in compassion, dignity and care for our vulnerable neighbors, incredible things happen,” she said. “This community will provide seniors with a stable, affordable home, a place where they can feel safe, secure and supported.”   The development is a step towards the diocesan goal, set by Taylor, to create affordable housing developments on at least 25 percent of the diocese’s 128 church campuses.   “Thanks to the welcoming spirit of St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, the visionary work of National CORE and the indispensable support of our partners at Episcopal Communities & Services, a whole new community of our neighbors will have a place to lay their heads for years to come,” Taylor said.   The development was funded through the low-income housing tax credit, the city of Buena Park, Orange County Community Services, Special Needs Housing Program and Orange County Housing Finance Trust.   Voein said that it was only the cooperation of many organizations and entities that made the project possible. It took “a lot of people working in their own capacity and in jobs God called them to work to get this done,” Voien said.   The Rev. Michael Bell, director of housing and business development at ECS, helps congregations in the diocese discern whether affordable housing is the right step forward, and helps them move through the process.   Bell shared the story of his own father, who after a successful career faced potential homelessness late in his life, before discovering an affordable housing development for seniors.   “I have to imagine he, in spirit, is really pleased with what we all, you all, have accomplished here, because it will have an impact on people like him and families like ours that we will never meet,” Bell said.   Bell said that completion of the Buena Park development will give hope to other congregations considering the long and daunting journey to developing affordable housing.   “If we can get through the anxiety of scarcity and get into the potential of a dream and hear from each other how it’s possible, we can do this again in other places,” Bell said.   The development has been in the works for over a decade, and the dream of affordable housing at St. Joseph’s has been around much longer. Exploration of developing through National CORE began in 2016 under former rector the Rev. Mary Trainor, an honorary canon in the Diocese of Los Angeles. The initial idea of an affordable housing project on the land began before Trainor’s time as well, when Ed Little, now retired bishop of Northern Indiana, was rector.   “The people of St. Joseph looked at the real estate and imagined how it might be used for the glory God,” Taylor said. Trainor and Voein, he said, along with hosts of lay leaders, have “tended the vision like a precious seed.”   It has been a long process, with plenty of ups and downs but Voien said it has “never been on the back burner” for St. Joseph’s congregants. Through the long planning, approval and funding stages, the congregation […]

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[Episcopal News Service] New York Bishop Matthew Heyd has issued a statement condemning the attempted deportation of a lawful permanent U.S. resident for his involvement last year protesting the war in Gaza while he was a graduate student at Columbia University. Mahmoud Khalil, who is Palestinian, was arrested March 8 by immigration agents and is being held in a federal facility in Louisiana while he fights deportation. The Trump administration has produced no evidence that Khalil engaged in criminal activity, and as a green card holder, his lawful permanent residency can only be revoked for specific causes with approval of an immigration judge. “The Episcopal Diocese of New York rejects the detention and threat of deportation of Mahmoud Khalil,” Heyd said in a statement posted to Facebook. “In accordance with our faith and civic creed, we uphold the belief that difference and dissent should be safe. We reject deportation based on political viewpoint – whether we agree or disagree.” Antiwar protests at Columbia University and other campuses across the United States generated widespread headlines and controversy in spring 2024 as the Israel-Hamas war dragged on, decimating the Palestinian territory of Gaza, killing thousands of Palestinians and displacing many of the densely populated territory’s 2 million residents. In the United States, campus authorities faced pressure on both sides; to protect students’ right to peacefully protest while also ensuring the safety of Jewish students when those protests may have crossed a line into antisemitism and threats of violence. Since taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump, saying he is combating antisemitism, has threatened to deport foreign-born campus protesters who opposed Israel’s war on Hamas, which Israel launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israeli communities. The Trump administration has specifically scrutinized Columbia University’s handling of the protests, and on March 7, the administration announced it would cut $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the university. On March 12, Trump personally courted controversy by using the term “Palestinian” as an apparent slur against one of his political opponents, New York Sen. Charles Schumer, the Democratic leader, who is Jewish. “Schumer is a Palestinian, as far as I’m concerned. He’s become a Palestinian,” Trump said in responding to a question about Democrats’ opposition to his tax plan. “He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore. He’s a Palestinian.” Khalil appears to have been targeted for arrest by the Trump administration because of his involvement in a group known as Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which has been accused of glorifying Hamas’ attack on Israel. Before his arrest, Khalil told the Associated Press that much of the focus on him was related to the group’s social media posts, in which he not been involved. Then on March 8, Khalil was in his university-owned apartment when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told the Associated Press. The ICE agents said Khalil’s student visa had been revoked, even though he has a green card, not a student visa. Greer said that when she informed the agents by phone that Khalil was a lawful permanent resident, they responded they would be revoking that status instead. Greer said the agents also threatened to arrest Khalil’s wife, who is a United States citizen and eight months pregnant. A Homeland Security spokesperson later alleged that Khalil had “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” But when NPR interviewed Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar on March 13, he was unable or unwilling to specify what Khalil had done that was “aligned to Hamas.” Edgar also repeated the apparent falsehood that Khalil was in the United States on a student visa, a status that offers less protections from deportation than a green card. A green card holder is “not a U.S. citizen, but you’re the next level down, meaning that you have the rights to live, work, travel in the United States,” Kelli Stump, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told NPR in a report on Khalil’s case. Khalil, 30, reportedly completed his master’s degree in December from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. For now, he remains in federal detention, and a judge has temporarily halted the government’s attempts to deport him while the case is being reviewed in court. “In the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, our First Amendment right to freedom of expression faces growing threat,” Heyd said in his statement on the case. “We ask for his immediate release, and his return to New York.” The bishop also affirmed the Diocese of New York as a “sanctuary diocese” in which “we care for our neighbors.” “Today, we stand with our neighbors at Columbia University. We also encourage Columbia to protect its students when they are threatened. Higher education depends upon the ability to speak honestly and freely, without fear of retribution; and on attracting people of diverse and international viewpoints. As Christians, we’re calling on our neighbors to be neighbors.” – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

The recording below is of the Time of Prayer and Reflection which took place on Friday, February 7.      26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.           1 Corinthians 12:26 (NIV) The February 7, 2025 Call to […]

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The World Council of Churches (WCC), in collaboration with UN agencies and interfaith partners, invites global faith-based actors, civil society leaders, policymakers, and international affairs experts to register for the 11th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs, to be held on hybrid mode in New York City on 3 April.

The post RCA’s North Grand Rapids Classis Welcomes Ministers from the CRCNA appeared first on Reformed Church in America.

The keynote speakers for the 2025 National Older Adult Conference (NOAC) have been announced. The event takes place Sept. 1-5 in Lake Junaluska, N.C., a Spirit-filled gathering of adults 50 and older. This year’s theme is “Alive in the Spirit!” (Romans 15:13).