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<article class="media media--image display--large"> <div class="image-container"> <div class="field field-media-image"> <img loading="eager" width="430" height="323" alt="Hope Community CRC in Surrey, B.C." class="lazyload" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/default_mobile/public/2025-01/crc-news-graphics_2025-1-22_pickleball-at-church.jpg?itok=AD3Zs6-B" /> </div> <div class="field field-image-caption">Hope Community CRC in Surrey, B.C.</div> </div> <div class="field field-image-credit">Victoria Veenstra</div> </article> <br /> Hope Community Church offers its building as a place where people can enjoy physical activity away from the rain in Surrey, B.C.

<article class="media media--image display--large"> <div class="image-container"> <div class="field field-media-image"> <img loading="eager" width="430" height="323" alt="Indigenous Family Centre director Shannon Perez (left) with Marlene Wolters, a member of the Canadian Indigenous Ministries Committee. They show off craft supplies at IFC that will be used for summer programming." class="lazyload" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/default_mobile/public/2025-01/crc-news-graphics_2025-1-22_indigenous-family-center-supports-parents.jpg?itok=AWfPCHCD" /> </div> <div class="field field-image-caption">Indigenous Family Centre director Shannon Perez (left) with Marlene Wolters, a member of the Canadian Indigenous Ministries Committee. They show off craft supplies at IFC that will be used for summer programming.</div> </div> <div class="field field-image-credit">Victoria Veenstra</div> </article> <br /> Every summer the Indigenous Family Centre organizes special programming for the families it serves, helping them step beyond the city and enjoy nature together.

[Melbourne Anglican] Muslim, Jewish, Arab and Palestinian people in Australia might be unable to practice their religion freely because of escalating hate crimes and racism across the country, faith and human rights groups say. The groups, including Human Rights Watch, Jewish Council of Australia, Australian National Imams Council and Amnesty International, denounced a recent series of hate crimes in a joint statement and warned that acts of Islamophobia and antisemitism, and anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism stoked fear in those communities. The groups said the incidents also prevented those communities from practicing their culture and enjoying their human rights. The recent attacks, including the vandalizing of a childcare center and two synagogues in Sydney, come after intensifying hate crimes against Jewish, Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities. The organizations called on political leaders to stand up against the recent crimes and acts of discrimination, saying this racism included politicians’ denial of the seriousness of Islamophobia and racist language in the media. “Political leaders … should not seek to politicize racist attacks for political gain. Nor should political leaders cause further community division or vilification in their response to attacks. Human rights protections should not devolve into a game of political point scoring,” the groups said. They urged governments at all levels in Australia to support efforts to address antisemitism and Islamophobic acts and racist discrimination The groups also called on them to consult with human rights experts and affected communities, and to ensure that any restrictions on rights were legitimate, necessary and proportionate. In December, religious leaders from across Australia expressed solidarity with the Jewish community and denounced antisemitism after a synagogue in Melbourne’s south-east was firebombed. They urged Australians to reject hatred and violence to keep Australia a safe, flourishing and healthy democracy. Faith bodies, including the Victorian Council of Churches and the Islamic Council of Victoria, said they wanted people to embrace unity instead.

<article class="media media--image display--large"> <div class="image-container"> <div class="field field-media-image"> <img loading="eager" width="430" height="323" alt="Jonathan Eig" class="lazyload" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/default_mobile/public/2025-01/crc-news-graphics_2025-1-22_january-series-eig.jpg?itok=_JWFkeSA" /> </div> <div class="field field-image-caption">Jonathan Eig</div> </div> <div class="field field-image-credit">calvin.edu</div> </article> <br /> Jonathan Eig opened the 2025 Calvin University January Series with a discussion on Martin Luther King, Jr. – a deep thinker, brilliant strategist, and committed leader.

<article class="media media--image display--large"> <div class="image-container"> <div class="field field-media-image"> <img loading="eager" width="430" height="323" alt="" class="lazyload" data-src="/sites/default/files/styles/default_mobile/public/2025-01/crc-news-graphics_2025-1-22_january-series-komarnicki.jpg?itok=6W5BBMZy" /> </div> </div> <div class="field field-image-credit">Calvin University January Series</div> </article> <br /> In his January Series presentation, filmmaker Todd Komarnicki spoke about creativity, perseverance, and storytelling.

Students from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey are in Rome for a weeklong visit, with a full programme that includes lectures, tours of the Vatican, and opportunities to interact with leaders from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

In a world often divided by barriers of race, politics, and faith, the late Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick stood as a beacon of hope and unity. His life’s work, deeply rooted in the principles of justice and inclusivity, touched countless lives and shaped the global Reformed community in profound ways. Kirkpatrick served as president of […]

The post A Faithful Servant of Unity and Justice: Remembering Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick appeared first on WCRC.

Gracia Violeta Ross, WCC programme executive for HIV, Reproductive Health, and Pandemics, offered two presentations in Bolivia, the first a training for leaders living with HIV on planning and project design for community-based organizations, and the second a keynote speech, entitled “40 years of the HIV response in Bolivia, progress and challenges,” offered at an art museum’s exhibition closure in Santa Cruz, which is the largest city in the country, with 42% of HIV cases in Bolivia,

Washington, D.C.—Church World Service today expressed deep concern over a number of new executive orders from the Trump Administration reversing decades of precedent for welcoming those fleeing violence and persecution. This includes an executive order indefinitely suspending the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), as well as multiple actions that will limit access to asylum protection for people seeking safety. ... Read More

[Episcopal News Service] Washington Bishop Mariann Budde, in her Jan. 21 sermon at Washington National Cathedral’s Service of Prayer for the Nation, called on all Americans to strive for a renewed unity based in honesty, humility and respect for human dignity – and she directed her final words to President Donald Trump, who was seated in the front row. “Millions have put their trust in you,” Budde said to Trump, who was joined at the Episcopal cathedral’s service by Vice President JD Vance and their spouses. Budde then alluded to Trump’s speech the day before, at his Jan. 20 inauguration. Trump, who survived an assassination attempt during the 2024 presidential campaign, had said he felt “saved by God to make America great again.” “In the name of our God,” Budde continued, “I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.” Some gay, lesbian and transgender Americans fear for their lives, Budde said, and a similar fear looms over hard-working immigrant families in communities across the country. “They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” Budde said. “They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara and temples. “I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.” Budde’s sermon echoed the concerns stated by Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe and House of Deputies President Julia Ayala Harris in their Jan. 21 letter to the church, issued in response to Trump starting his second term with a barrage of executive orders, many of them targeting migrants, refugees and other immigrants. The orders signed by Trump included measures seeking to suspend the federal refugee resettlement program, declare a national emergency at the U.S-Mexico border, block an “invasion” of migrants into the United States, end the right to birthright citizenship that is guaranteed by the Constitution and resume a policy of making asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for their cases to be heard. Other executive orders were related to the federal work force, the economy, energy policy and the environment, and they included some measures targeting transgender people. The government, under Trump, intends to recognize only two sexes, male and female, and he seeks to end protections for transgender inmates in federal prisons. “We read this news with concern and urge our new president and congressional leaders to exercise mercy and compassion,” Rowe and Ayala Harris said in their letter, which focused primarily on immigration policy. UPDATE: As Trump demands apology, Budde explains her call for mercy toward those living in fear Before the inauguration, Trump started his day Jan. 20 by attending a worship service at another Episcopal church, St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square. It sometimes is referred to as “the church of the presidents” because of its location across the street from the White House. Nearly five years ago, in June 2020, Trump drew widespread condemnation for posing with a Bible in front of St. John’s after ordering his security detail and law enforcement officers to forcibly push back protesters who had gathered outside the White House as part of an ongoing anti-racism demonstration a week after the killing of George Floyd. At the time, Budde and other church leaders condemned the use of force against protesters and the photo-op, which they said ran counter to Christian teachings. Budde’s sermon at Washington National Cathedral was not so pointed, though she again sought to underscore universal values shared by most world religions over the politics of hate and division. “We have gathered this morning to pray for unity as a people and a nation,” she said, “not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good. … It is not conformity. It is not victory. It is not polite weariness or passivity born of exhaustion. Unity is not partisan. “Rather, unity is a way of being with one another that encompasses and respects our differences, that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect, that enables us in our communities and in the halls of power to genuinely care for one another, even when we disagree.” Washington National Cathedral is the seat of The Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop and of the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Plans for the cathedral’s post-inauguration service were announced in October, before Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November to win the presidency for a second time. The service was not open to the public because of security concerns, and the cathedral’s nave was only partially filled with the service’s invitees, who included House Speaker Mike Johnson and some of Trump’s cabinet nominees. It was livestreamed and is available as a video on the cathedral’s YouTube channel. National Cathedral Dean Randy Hollerith also participated, along with the Rt. Rev. Ann Ritonia, The Episcopal Church’s bishop suffragan for armed forces and federal ministries. “As we mark the transition of political leadership and begin a new chapter in the story of America, may these sacred texts, songs and petitions from the many faith traditions of our country inspire and challenge us to care for one another and live according to the highest ideals to which God has called us,” Hollerith said in his welcoming remarks. “Thank you for being here, and please know that we are a house of prayer for all people, and you are always welcome.” The service was joined by leaders from a diverse group of faith denominations, […]