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Indigenous communities in Paraguay’s Bajo Chaco region are strengthening their resilience through sustainable farming, leadership development, and climate adaptation. With support from CWS and local partners, families are overcoming challenges like drought while building a more secure future. In Paraguay, families are forging a more resilient future. Through the Comprehensive Rural Development Project, nine indigenous communities in the Bajo Chaco ... Read More

During a prayer held at the St Hippolyte Roman Catholic Church in Geneva, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its ecumenical partners focused on the beginning of Lent for many western Christian traditions, as well as the Lenten campaign Seven Weeks for Water, led by the WCC Ecumenical Water Network.

More than 170 faith-based groups—including the World Council of Churches—released a joint statement on 4 March entitled “Joint Interfaith Statement to the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”

The World Council of Churches shared insights connected to Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day during an event on 28 February.

[Episcopal News Service] Churches across The Episcopal Church marked Ash Wednesday with services and the imposition of ashes in churches, parks, online, on city streets and other locations. Some churches and clergy offered “Ashes to Go,” in which ashes are available for people on-the-go to receive in various locations beyond church buildings. The practice of placing ashes – made from burning the prior year’s Palm Sunday fronds – in the sign of the cross on the foreheads of worshippers is to remind them of their mortality and serves as a mark of penitence. It also gives the day its name. The Book of Common Prayer makes the imposition of ashes optional, although most Episcopal churches offer it. The ashes are imposed with the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period in which Christians engage in penitence and often acts of self-denial, including fasting, suggested by Christ’s 40 days in the desert. Among the earliest Christians, it was the time when people who wanted to join the church were prepared for Baptism, which would take place at Easter. Here are some places across The Episcopal Church where Ash Wednesday was observed, as noted on social media. St. Paul’s Within the Walls in Rome offered a service online. Puerto Rico Bishop Rafael Morales and other clergy of the Diocese of Puerto Rico took ashes to drivers and pedestrians on the streets of Rio Piedras. Clergy from St. John’s, Tallahassee, Florida, offered ashes at the State Capitol, also in Tallahassee.   View on Threads   New York Bishop Matthew Hyde imposes ashes at New York City’s Grand Central Station. A variety of other churches also offered Ashes to Go in their communities. — Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has released a seminar report entitled Indigenous Spiritualities, Land Rights, and Climate Justice. Edited by Lori Ransom, WCC indigenous peoples consultant, the report serves as a platform for the clear, urgent, and much-needed voices of Indigenous peoples to expose the climate catastrophe through which we are living.

<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/2025-03/crc-news_2025-3-5_day-of-prayer-12.jpg?itok=UUgpI4UJ" /> </div> </div> </article> <br /> Synod has designated the second Wednesday in March as the denomination’s Annual Day of Prayer. Join us.

In her National Affirming/PIE Day message, Moderator Carmen Lansdowne highlights the incredible affirming work happening across the United Church.

Legacy Black United Methodist churches embrace traditions and innovative new ministries to serve their congregations and communities.

<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/2025-03/crc-news_2025-3-5_planting-hope-in-syria.jpg?itok=Q4c47FjW" /> </div> </div> <div class="field field-image-credit">worldrenew.ca</div> </article> <br /> The United Nations estimated, as of May 2024, that 16.7 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance across Syria.