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Everyone deserves access to clean water, yet for millions around the world, safe drinking water and proper sanitation remain out of reach. From collapsed infrastructure and poor management to conflict and climate change, several factors contribute to families being unable to access their right to safe water. Rising global temperatures and extreme weather events are making clean water scarcer and ... Read More

There’s a Ukrainian proverb that goes, “To see a friend, no road is too long.” For Global Ministries, a joint mission between the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ, there is no road too long…

The post As war continues in Ukraine, so does the outpouring of help — and hope — from Global Ministries and its partners appeared first on United Church of Christ.

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep alarm and grief over the deadly attack on Gaza carried out by Israeli forces on 17-18 March, killing more than 400 people.

Nathan Sadler reflects on the 2025 Wales Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast

As climate change continues to devastate vulnerable communities worldwide, the World Council of Churches (WCC) called on the UN Human Rights Council to address the "climate-debt-tax-human rights nexus as a moral imperative." The statement, delivered by Rev. Peter Adenekan during the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, highlighted how debt obligations are preventing governments in developing countries from meeting basic human rights and responding effectively to the climate emergency.

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church has named Christopher Lacovara as its new chief financial officer, replacing Kurt Barnes, who is retiring from the top churchwide leadership position after 21 years. Lacovara, a longtime Episcopalian with decades of financial management experience, was nominated by Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris, and Executive Council appointed him in a voice vote March 17 during an online meeting. The vote in open session followed a discussion in closed session that lasted about a half hour. “I am pleased to welcome Chris as our next CFO,” Rowe said in a church news release after the vote. “He is a committed Episcopalian with a clear understanding of the financial issues facing our congregations and dioceses and brings significant expertise from his work in finance, law and the nonprofit sector. I look forward to working with him as we position The Episcopal Church for the coming decades of mission and ministry.” Lacovara has previous experience practicing law in the nonprofit sector and served most recently as chief financial officer, general counsel and director of real estate development for the New York nonprofit Community Access. He also spent two decades on Wall Street as an investment banker. His academic credentials include bachelor’s degrees from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York; a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science; and a Juris Doctor degree from the Columbia University Law School in New York. Under the Episcopal Church’s Canons, the presiding bishop and House of Deputies president, as chair and vice-chair of Executive Council, respectively, make a joint nomination for the position of chief financial officer, and then the Executive Council votes to appoint. Once hired, the chief financial officer reports to the presiding bishop. One of the top responsibilities of the chief financial officer is the ongoing management of the churchwide budget, with support from the Finance Office staff and in consultation with the presiding bishop, other executive church leaders and Executive Council, which is the church’s governing and oversight body between the triennial meetings of General Convention. As chief financial officer, Lacovara will advise General Convention and Executive Council in adopting and revising the churchwide budgets and then will work to match actual revenues and expenses as closely as possible to the budgeted amounts. The chief financial officer’s 2024 salary was $296,317, according to the church’s annual summary of officer pay. The job was advertised with a salary range of $190,000 to $225,000, though Lacovara’s starting salary has yet to be finalized. The search process for the position was facilitated for the church by the human resources and executive search firm Pappas & Pappas. Through a range of recruitment strategies, the firm identified 121 potential candidates, including 30 that it described as “diversity candidates” based on LGBTQ+, race or veteran status, according to a written summary shared with Executive Council. It screened 40 individuals from the potential candidate pool and eventually presented six “high-potential candidates” to churchwide leaders for consideration. Five from that group met the church’s diversity objective. “Chris Lacovara’s depth of experience and his commitment to The Episcopal Church make him the right person to lead our financial strategy at this pivotal time,” Ayala Harris said in the church news release. “His appointment reflects a careful and collaborative search process, and I am confident that his leadership will help ensure the church’s resources are stewarded wisely in service of our mission.” Lacovara is a member of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Bedford, New York. He and his husband, Sam Green, live in Westchester County, New York, with their children. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.

[Episcopal News Service] The Trump administration, in its escalating crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration, has halted government funding for migrant shelters, including one operated by the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande’s Borderland Ministries, while suggesting without evidence that the diocese and other organizations sheltering migrants may have broken the law. Rio Grande Bishop Michael Hunn, in an online video, expressed outrage at receiving a letter from the Department of Homeland Security informing the diocese it was halting the federal assistance to investigate potential wrongdoing. The diocese’s Borderland Ministries shelter at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church had temporarily housed up to 25 asylum-seekers at a time in cooperation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the previous administration. “I’m insulted by the insinuation that we have been involved in anything illegal or immoral,” Hunn said in the March 14 video, posted to YouTube. “We in the Diocese of the Rio Grande have been practicing our constitutionally guaranteed faith. We are following Jesus Christ by welcoming the stranger and loving our neighbor, and we have done so in partnership with the federal government.” Other shelter operators participating in the federal grant program have received similar letters, according to the Associated Press.  The letters demand that grant recipients provide the identities of the migrants they have assisted and sign a statement affirming they have not broken the law. The letters say all funding will be withheld until compliance with the new requirements. Hunn, in a March 17 interview with Episcopal News Service, said the diocese is consulting with attorneys about the best way to respond. The information that the government is requesting about migrants should already be known to Customs and Border Protection, he said. “They gave us that information” upon bringing migrants to the shelter, Hunn said. “It’s their information that they already have.” The request “doesn’t make sense,” he added, “unless they want to have a chilling effect on people doing this work.” The Diocese of the Rio Grande’s shelter has not housed any migrants since December 2024, due to a sharp decline in border crossings and changes in policy under President Donald Trump, who returned to office in January. The shelter is part of a network of shelters in El Paso that have worked with Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, to respond to past surges in migrants claiming asylum and legally entering the country along the U.S.-Mexico border. Under the Biden administration, placements at El Paso shelters were coordinated by an organization called Annunciation House based on information it received daily from Customs and Border Protection. The federal agency then arranged transportation for the migrants from detention facilities to community shelters like the one at St. Christopher’s. Asylum-seekers are legally allowed to remain in the United States while they wait for their cases to be heard. The diocese’s Borderland Ministries has an agreement with St. Christopher’s to reimburse the congregation for using the space. The shelter’s work was initially funded entirely by donations from individuals and congregations. More recently, the Biden administration used federal funds to reimburse the El Paso shelters for some of their costs through Homeland Security’s Shelter and Services Program. The Associated Press reported the program was awarded $641 million in the 2024 fiscal year to dozens of state and local governments across the country and to other organizations like the Diocese of the Rio Grande to help respond to the surge of migrants into the United States. Unauthorized border crossings hit a record high in December 2023, according to the Associated Press, though the numbers dropped sharply after the Biden administration enacted new border restrictions. Such reductions in migration have caused other Episcopal ministries to scale back their efforts. In January, the Diocese of West Texas decided to close its shelter, the Plaza de Paz Respite Center. “The decision was made following a months-long downward trend in migrant neighbor arrivals at the shelter,” the diocese said in a written statement to ENS. “In addition, the future of federal grants awarded to the diocese for the operation of the shelter remains uncertain, fueling concerns about the facility’s sustainability amid rising costs.” “Though shelter operations will cease, it does not mean the end of the diocese’s Immigration + Refugee Ministries,” the diocese said. “The program will continue to provide training, calls to action, and serve as a resource for churches to respond faithfully to the needs of the immigrant community.” Trump has issued a series of executive orders related to immigration since January 2025, including restrictions on the asylum process. He and other officials in his administration also have falsely claimed that disaster relief dollars had been diverted to migrants. The Shelter and Services Program was funded by Customs and Border Protection and facilitated, not funded, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, according to Reuters. The government’s March 11 letter to the Diocese of the Rio Grande is signed by Cameron Hamilton, FEMA’s acting administrator. It raises what it says are “significant concerns” that federal funding “is going to entities engaged in or facilitating illegal activities.” “The department is concerned that entities receiving payment under this program may be guilty of encouraging or inducing an alien to come, to enter or reside in the United States in violation of law; transporting or moving illegal aliens; harboring, concealing or shielding from detection illegal aliens; or applicable conspiracy, aiding or abetting, or attempt liability.” None of that is true at the Borderland Ministries shelter, Hunn said. “Border Patrol and ICE would bring to us asylum-seekers who were legally present to be in the United State,” he said in his video. “We would care for them up to three days and then take them to the bus station or the airplane to get them to where they were going.” Hunn estimated the diocese has offered temporary shelter to 1,700 of those migrants over the years. “We always checked the documentation to […]

[Melbourne Anglican] St. John’s in Camberwell, Australia, commemorated the 70th anniversary of a fire that destroyed the church by supporting a synagogue that recently suffered a similar fate. The church directed its offering from a March 16 commemorative service to Congregation Adass Israel, whose Ripponlea synagogue was firebombed in December 2024. The gesture recognizes a shared experience of religious buildings targeted by arsonists; St. John’s was almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1955. The Rev. Aaron Ghiloni said Christians should stand alongside those harmed for their religious beliefs, knowing that all were God’s children. In a statement to the congregation, the vicar and church wardens said the donation was appropriate as it resonated with the church’s own experience 70 years prior. The statement said while governments had a responsibility to protect all citizens, faith communities could work to build solidarity governments were unable to accomplish. Ghiloni said the 70th anniversary commemoration honored the resilience of the church community that faced devastation but chose to rebuild. “They could have merged with another church, but they chose to continue meeting and worshipping in the church hall during those years while rebuilding,” he said. Robin Carter, who was 12 when the fire occurred, remembers seeing the burnt shell of the church from her tram on the way to school. “Windows were blackened and the roof was gone. It was a really powerful memory that I’ve never forgotten,” Carter said. She said hundreds of parishioners turned up the next day to see the damage and rally support for the rebuilding effort. Carter said the church community had immediately decided to rebuild, setting up the hall as a temporary worship space by the following Sunday. She said parishioners cleaned approximately 30,000 bricks from the rubble to reuse in the foundation of the new church. Many also pledged to donate money for the next three years to pay for the construction of the new church building. The rebuilt church, designed by renowned architect Louis Williams, was completed in November 1957, just two years after the fire. Carter, who has been a parishioner of St. John’s for over 80 years, spoke about her memories of the church fire and rebuilding at the commemorative service. An article from The Argus, dated April 22, 1955, recorded the fire was set by John Thomas McPhee, who told police he lit fires because of the thrill of seeing the firecarts. McPhee was responsible for burning down three churches and two other buildings, causing nearly $160,000  in total damages, with St. John’s suffering $130,000 of that amount. The commemorative service also included historical displays, photographs and an 11-second color video of the church fire captured by a local resident.

[Church in Wales] Hundreds of young families from across the counties of Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire will receive essential supplies for their children thanks to a grant from West Wales Freemasons to the Plant Dewi charity. Plant Dewi is the Diocese of St Davids project supporting families in their communities. The £60,000 grant – or nearly $78,000 – from the Masonic Charitable Foundation will support the Baby Bundle Bank project to continue distributing much-needed essential items to families with babies under 12 months old who are struggling to purchase clothing, toiletries, blankets, cots, strollers, etc. In 2024 the Baby Bundle Bank gave out 308 bundles. This grant will enable the project to continue for another two years. The project will receive referrals from families and agencies across the region to ensure no baby has to go without. Around 30% of children in Wales live in poverty, and nearly 57% of referrals received for a bundle last year were from families facing financial difficulties. The check was presented to Plant Dewi manager Catrin Eldred by the West Wales Grand master, James Ross, at a ceremony at the St. Davids cathedral. Also attending was St. Davids’ Bishop Dorrien Davies.

Rev. Nicole Ashwood, World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive for Just Community of Women and Men, is part of a delegation attending the United Nations 69th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69). She took time to reflect on the delegation’s goals, why church involvement is so critical, and what it will take for transformation to happen.