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The United Methodist Youth Fellowship in the Philippines (UMYFP) recently conducted a “Pananaw” (Filipino term for ‘perspectives’) workshop is a three-day program centered on media literacy with focus on social media.

United Methodist organizers plan to make good on the original location of the COVID-delayed 2020 lawmaking assembly. They also hope to make up the budget deficit from earlier sessions.

[Office of the Archbishop of York] On May 9, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell offered his thoughts in the Yorkshire Post on the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe over the Nazis, which took place on May 8. In it he called for the active defense of international law and the rules-based order that followed the end of World War II. His remarks are printed below. Maybe it was for a school project, or maybe it was just over Sunday lunch, or on a family holiday. But I imagine most of us who did not live through the privations and suffering of WWII asked our older family members the same question: “What was it really like during the war?” My parents had been evacuated as children, my uncle had fought in Burma, and my grandmas had lived through two world wars. I knew that, to all of them, VE Day meant something. It wasn’t just the remembrance of an historical event, something confined to the past. To them, it was an ongoing celebration of a new, and present, reality. For they knew that Victory in Europe, 80 years ago, had given birth to a new world. We had fought, in the words of my wartime predecessor Archbishop Temple, against “an evil the magnitude and horror of which it is impossible to describe in words.” We fought to uphold the values that Nazism had sought to destroy – the idea that we are one humanity, that we belong to each other, and have responsibilities to each other, whatever our class, race, religion or nation – values which are deeply rooted in our Judeo-Christian tradition. But this struggle did not end with the defeat of Nazism. The fight for our neighbor continued, no longer on the battlefields of Europe, but on the political front. In the hope of creating a society that was better than before, a new world was born out of the rubble of war. At home, we established the modern Welfare State: the NHS, social housing, social security, child benefit and free legal aid, among many other things. As William Beveridge wrote in his famous Report, “a revolutionary moment in the world’s history is a time for revolutions, not for patching.” Globally, the rules-based international order took shape, so that law, not raw power, would govern relations between states. The United Nations was set up as a cornerstone, its goal to promote peace, defend human rights, deliver humanitarian aid, promote sustainable development and uphold international law. Without Victory in Europe, this new world would never have been born. Of course, it is not perfect – structures created by humans never are – but it is nevertheless a world founded firmly on the ideals we fought for. And I shudder to think what world we would be living in if victory in Europe had not been ours, but Hitler’s. In our opposition to what was worst in us, we discovered what is best. That is what VE Day was about for my family – and it is what it means to me. Not a mere memorial, but a living legacy. In routing darkness, it gave birth to a new day, full of joy, peace and hope, which still shines on us today. But, 80 years on, this legacy is increasingly under threat. Our government must actively defend international law and the rules-based order – whenever it is broken, whoever breaks it, whether friend or foe. If we don’t, the laws will lose all power to curb humanity’s worst excesses, and we will once again be shrouded in the darkness where only one law matters: Might is Right. VE Day is not simply a day of remembrance. It is a call to action.

In a report before the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, moderator of the WCC central committee, reflected on the urgent need for peace, the hope found in a common Easter, and the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others whose lives still inspire and uphold the ecumenical movement. 

[World Council of Churches] Churches in Haiti are communicating with hearts overwhelmed by the growing suffering of their people, according to the Rev. Eliner Cadet, president of the National Coalition of Haitian Pastors. Cadet appealed for Christian solidarity and support, for united prayer for the Haitian people, and for the return of peace, justice and human dignity. Cadet also urged “diplomatic support to encourage serious and coordinated international initiatives to put an end to the violence perpetrated by criminal gangs in Haiti,” Cadet said, as well as “intervention with international organizations: to call on the Dominican authorities, particularly the current president, to respect the fundamental rights of Haitians, even within the framework of a repatriation process.” Read the entire article here.

Adele Halliday, Anti-Racism and Equity Lead, is keynote speaker at the conference. General Secretary Rev. Michael Blair moderates one stream session.

In his report to the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee, WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay reflected on what it means—amid wars, rumours of wars, violence, trade wars, climate catastrophes, retaliations, and the quest for self-protection and preservation of identity—to be God’s family.

As Moravians with a deep heritage in ecumenical kinships, we join the National Council of Churches (NCC), of which we are a member body, in affirming the recent election of Pope Leo XIV.  As stated by the NCC: “The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) joins Christians globally–Protestant, Orthodox, and […]

Intercultural Ministries Frontliners: A volunteer opportunity for Church of the Brethren members as liaisons in their districts, working alongside the Intercultural Ministries office to help carry out the vision of togetherness as described in the compelling vision

Angela Burini shares her experience of living for God at work – through leading and leaving