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Many of you — our dedicated readers, viewers and supporters — have reached out over the last several months asking why the Changes & Deaths list hasn’t been updated since last October. Today, we want to provide an explanation for…

The post An update on the Changes & Deaths list appeared first on United Church of Christ.

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal bishop in Utah has joined with her counterpart in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in opposing plans to build a massive immigrant detention facility in their state. Bishop Phyllis Spiegel of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah and the Rev. Meghan Johnston Aelabouni, bishop of the ELCA’s Rocky Mountain Synod, wrote an opinion article for the Salt Lake Tribute voicing their opposition to the federal conversion of an 833,000-square-foot Salt Lake City warehouse into a detention facility. In the piece, they invoke their Christian faith and community values, saying they are “called to love our neighbors and to welcome the stranger among us.” “A detention center of this scale risks defining Utah’s role in immigration policy through confinement rather than constructive solutions,” the bishops said. “As faith communities, we believe public policy should never lose sight of the people whose lives it affects. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’” The Trump administration has said it plans to spend millions of dollars expanding the federal system of detention facilities to house immigrants picked up in immigration enforcement raids to fulfill President Donald Trump’s demand for mass arrests and deportations. Those efforts, however, have run into local resistance in places like Utah. Episcopal leaders in other states and communities also have stepped up their opposition to detention facilities, citing their promise in the Baptismal Covenant to “respect the dignity of every human being.” In Newark, New Jersey, for example, Episcopal priests have rallied outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center there amid reports of mistreatment of the facility’s detainees. Newark Bishop Carlye Hughes and New York Bishop Matthew Heyd issued a joint statement calling for closure of Delaney Hall. “Delaney Hall is a symptom of dehumanization, a large and long-term chronic ailment of brutal times in our history,” Hughes and Heyd said. “We call for Delaney Hall to close and for those held there to be released as its main purpose is to enforce the dehumanization of them.” Other places where Episcopalians are opposing new detention facilities or the expansion of existing facilities have included the dioceses of Oklahoma, the Rio Grande and Virginia. In Utah, in addition to public opposition from faith leaders like the Episcopal and ELCA bishops, the federal government is facing a legal battle with those seeking to block the new detention facility in the state. Salt Lake City and County filed a complaint in federal court opposing the project last week. That legal fight has drawn support from a local advocacy group called Uproar Utah, as well as faith-based groups. “We cannot allow fear-based narratives to justify the suffering of families who have done everything right,” Liliana Bolaños, a program manager for Mormon Women for Ethical Government, said at a news conference last week according to the Salt Lake Tribune. “And we cannot look away from the human cost: the children left behind, the communities destabilized, the trauma that lingers long after detention ends.” – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

At a time when a world order based on international law rather than the law of the strongest is being undermined, the visible unity of Christians takes on a new significance, according to French theologian Rev. Dr Marc Boss, a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Club West for Teens opened in the basement of First Congregational UCC in West Brattleboro, Vermont, this past winter. The initiative, supported by the Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ’s Hope Fund, as well as crowdsourcing and individual…

The post In poorest Vermont community, a church teen center ‘rocks’ God’s love for all appeared first on United Church of Christ.

Another church convention closed in this season of church conventions, assemblies, general conferences, general synods, and annual meetings. The gatherings of these bodies include opportunities for worship, fellowship, education and awareness. The preached word is present. God is in the…

The post Doubling Down appeared first on United Church of Christ.

Each decade over the past 60 years has been hotter than the one before it, and the past 11 years have been the hottest on record. As heat season begins this year, extreme temperatures and drought are jeopardizing food production, health, and livelihoods, especially in low-income communities. Climate-related disasters displace more people every year than conflicts, and refugees and displaced people are the hardest hit, with an estimated three-quarters of the world’s refugees and displaced living in climate hotspots. CWS supports families affected by disaster and displacement with emergency response, recovery assistance and long-term resilience-building. 

The post Extreme Heat, Climate Change and Displacement: Who is at Greatest Risk? appeared first on CWS.

The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is pleased to introduce a growing collection of new worship resources for use across our global communion. These materials, which will be added to the WCRC website as they become available, are designed to enrich our shared life of prayer and worship. We encourage congregations and members to […]

The post New Worship Resources From WCRC and More to Share appeared first on WCRC.

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A high-level working lunch with Members of Parliament, organized in Luxembourg by Friends of The Global Fund Europe, acknowledged that the contribution of Luxembourg to the Global Fund is an example of international solidarity and commitment for Europe and for the world.

Portuguese and Spanish translations are now available for the publication HIV, Migration, and Forced Displacement: What Can the Churches Do?