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Leaders met in São Paulo, Brazil, August 10–12.

The post Joint statement from the Anglican Primates of the Americas appeared first on Anglican Church of Canada.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) will host a webinar series, starting in September, exploring the Theology of Companionship: a way of walking together with mutuality, shared vulnerability, and accountable relationships—even across unequal power.

The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), together with the World Council of Churches (WCC), Lutheran World Federation, World Methodist Council, Council for World Mission and United Society Partners in the Gospel, is preparing to welcome students for the ecumenical school on Governance, Economics, and Management for an Economy of Life (GEM School). Scheduled for […]

The post GEM School and NIFEA Events Head to Panama for a Landmark 10th Anniversary appeared first on WCRC.

The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations is appealing for churches everywhere to join a Worldwide Prayer for Ukraine on 24 August, which also marks the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence.

The editorial team of Ralf Becker, Rev. Karen Hinrichs, Prof. Dr Heinrich Schäfer, and Dr Theodor Ziegler are presenting “If you want peace, go and talk to your enemy: An Ecumenical Peace Treatise–2026.”

URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs issued the following statement in response to recent Jewish settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Taybeh, the only remaining Christian village in the West Bank, includes Christian archaeology dating back to the Roman era and early Christianity. Located in the Ramallah area of the West Bank, the village’s population has dwindled to 1,200 people, all of them Christians. During the 1980s, the population was around 3,000 people.

[Episcopal News Service] The last congregation to worship regularly at the historic Grace Episcopal Church in Riverhead, New York, shut down in 2017 because of dwindling membership. Then in 2023, the Diocese of Long Island halted any use of the building out of safety concerns from the deteriorating structure. But rather than tear the building down, the diocese chose to invest in extensive renovations that built upon the diocese’s evolving Episcopal ministry to the local Latino community in Riverhead. This month, the diocese officially rededicated the renovated building and reopened it as the renewed home of Iglesia San Francisco, a mission congregation made up predominantly of Spanish-speaking families and farmworkers on Long Island’s East End. The Rev. Luis Fernando López, who has served the diocese as a missioner in East End since March 2025, will move into the church’s renovated rectory while serving as the congregation’s priest-in-charge. “This is a day of thanksgiving for our congregation,” Lopez said in a diocesan news release before the Aug. 9 rededication. “Our people never lost faith. We continued to worship, to pray and to serve our neighbors wherever we gathered. Returning to this church gives us a renewed home for our ministry and a place where we can continue welcoming all who seek God’s love.” The original structure was built in 1871, but Grace Episcopal Church’s deep roots on the East End of Long Island weren’t enough to stem the gradual erosion in membership that led to the congregation’s 2017 closure. In the years since, the site has served as a hub of activity for the diocese’s ministry to farmworkers in the area. The diocese put the building to use as a ministry center and meeting place in support of its long-running partnership with Rural & Migrant Ministry, a nonprofit agency that works throughout New York state to give voice to the concerns of farm laborers. When the diocese was forced to halt use of the building in 2023, it began considering an extensive renovation project that would go beyond merely reopening the church campus. The church was restored for worship while adapting its spaces for ministries led by Iglesia San Francisco. Goals for the church and chapel included “enhancing their beauty, functionality and hospitality,” the diocese said. The parish hall, too, was transformed into a gathering space that can host parish meetings, celebrations, educational programs and community events. And exterior work has included a new roof, accessibility ramps and other safety and accessibility upgrades. The diocese has celebrated the building’s reopening as a sign of Iglesia San Francisco’s  commitment to its mission and the community. “Even when they could not gather in their church building, the people of Iglesia San Francisco continued to be the church — serving their neighbors, worshipping together and sharing Christ’s love,” Long Island Bishop Lawrence Provenzano said in the diocese’s news release. “Today we celebrate not only the renewal of this sacred space, but the flourishing ministry that has never ceased.” – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

In a message of greetings to the Ecumenical International Youth Day event on 13 August, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay reflected on the day’s theme, “Creating Healing Spaces: R.E.S.T. – Restore, Empower, Strengthen, Thrive.”

The United Methodist Church’s Southeastern Jurisdiction has approved the union of the North Georgia and South Georgia conferences.