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Worldwide Zoom sessions hosted by the International Rural Churches Association (IRCA) are an opportunity to learn what is happening in rural communities around the world and to support rural… continue reading

The Rev. Michael Adam Beck knows all about being lonely, and he thinks he can help a lot of other people like him get to a better place.

A new book by the director of Fresh Expressions for The United Methodist Church diagnoses humanity as suffering from deep loneliness. The Rev. Michael Adam Beck believes he has the cure.

[Anglican Taonga] The Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia’s Tonga Episcopal Unit climate resilience mapping project (CIVA-QGIS) has gone global in a report that’s headed to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2025. A community resilience mapping system designed by the Diocese of Polynesia and operated by young Anglicans in Tonga (known as CIVA or QGIS) is being featured in a U.N. report as a case study of Pacific communities’ successful responses to climate risks such as sea level rise and extreme weather events. The Tonga case study sets out how the Anglican Church’s CIVA/QGIS project maps each household in a community to ensure all are resilient to climate disasters. It also mobilizes church youth to support people at risk in a disaster scenario. It is now featured in a key report from the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the “human right to a healthy environment.” The Anglican case studies join the many governmental, Indigenous peoples’ and NGO submissions that will make up the special report on “Human Rights and Ocean Health” to the 58th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva this year. Elisiva (Siva) Sunia, a CIVA/QGIS practitioner from Tonga, prepared the Tongan QGIS portion of the  Anglican Communion’s submission – with help from Fe’iloakitau Kaho Tevi, advisor to the bishop of Polynesia – as part of her follow-up from her work in Colombia last October, where she was an Anglican Communion delegate to the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16). Sunia reports that positive aspects of this church’s contribution at COP16 were: – Playing our part within the unified Pacific regional approach, “One Pacific – One people, One Ocean.” – Highlighting the value of traditional ecological knowledge in biodiversity conservation. – Advocating the role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in finding nature-based solutions in fisheries, forestry and tourism. While Indigenous and local communities have knowledge and commitment to building resilience, Sunia said the COP16 outcome was disappointing in terms of financing to support their biodiversity efforts. “These issues underscored the urgency of securing sustainable solutions tailored to Pacific realities, ensuring that our communities remain resilient in the face of growing environmental threats,” she said. Overall, Siva reports that the Anglican Communion delegation ensured one key message came through clearly from our region – “Pacific churches play a crucial role in climate resilience – leveraging their strong community presence to promote awareness, disaster response and policy advocacy.” She added, “By innovating strategies such as sustainable farming and renewable energy adoption, and empowering youth and grassroots movements, churches can strengthen our communities’ climate resilience efforts.” The Anglican Communion submission also includes a case study from an Anglican Church of Melanesia project, which mobilizes scores of church volunteers in Malaita (in the Solomon Islands) to monitor ocean level changes that can affect community housing and food sources. The two Anglican Communion case studies are part of a wider submission jointly produced by the Anglican Communion, Franciscans International and the Philippines-based Centre for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED). Fe’iloakitau Kaho Tevi says these contributions to the U.N.’s climate work demonstrate the Anglican Communion’s serious concern about climate change and its actions to support local initiatives. He says the case studies’ emphasis on solutions is a crucial part of the Diocese of Polynesia’s mission to build safe and resilient churches. “For our Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia it demonstrates a shift from our climate change work that looked at our Pacific communities’ vulnerability, to a focus on building our communities’ resilience,” he said. “That shift is undergirded by Archbishop Sione Ului’lakepa’s 2024 General Synod charge calling on our whole Church to move “From Lamentation to Hope.” The full report from the Anglican Communion, Franciscans International and the Centre for Energy, Ecology and Development is downloadable here during 2025.

[World Council of Churches] As Feb. 24 marks the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, World Council of Churches general secretary the Rev. Jerry Pillay noted with sadness that the war continues without any immediate signs of an end. “The futility of this war is written in the enormous cost of lives among civilians and many children, and the vast toll of destruction and displacement,” he said. “Essential civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and water supplies, have been damaged or destroyed, often in targeted attacks.” The invasion, its attendant war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the mounting toll in lives, communities and future hopes destroyed, has continued, Pillay reflected. Read the entire article here.

Politics-informed developments in the United States of America this year so far confirm that rights and entitlements can be rolled back with the stroke of a pen. And there is a significant segment of society that is happy to cheer on a blanket erasure of...

Peter Martin of Hope Lebedyn shares some inspirational stories of mission and salvation to mark the three-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine

A publication by the Bahá’ís of Chile examines how reconceptualizing human identity based on the oneness of humanity is essential for fundamental societal change.

Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany In a Word, It’s All About Love At the center of the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us the instructions on how to make this happen, and the key word is “love.” In biblical Greek, […]

New York City–Church World Service today decries the Trump administration’s decision to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 500,000 Haitians living in the United States. The decision – which goes into effect in August – will place Haitians who have found safety in and worked in our communities for decades at risk of deportation back to a country experiencing devastating ... Read More