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This Earth Day, we’re highlighting the stories of everyday people around the world who are turning the tides against climate change. From drought-stricken Kenya to flood-prone Indonesia, communities are embracing climate-smart farming, disaster preparedness and women-led leadership to build a more resilient, hopeful future. Millions of people around the world are already living in areas affected by climate change. Environmental ... Read More

[Anglican Communion News Service] The Most Rev. Stephen Cottrell, archbishop of York, addressed reparatory justice and institutional accountability regarding the historic financial ties of the Church of England and the slave trade at a special April 14 gathering in New York. As part of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, the event was hosted by representatives from the Anglican Communion and Kenya, with high-level panel participation from Barbados, Jamaica and Ghana. The gathering focused on reparatory justice and institutional accountability regarding the Church of England. Opening the event, June Soomer, chair of the permanent forum and member of the St. Lucia Reparations Committee, underscored the urgent need for institutions to make commitments towards reparatory justice. Cottrell, followed with his address, beginning with a Ghanaian proverb: “Until the lion has told his story, the hunter will always be the hero.” He acknowledged the church’s historic complicity in the horrors of the slave trade and emphasized the moral and spiritual imperative of truth-telling, accountability and healing. “The church is committed to creating a space for truth-telling, reflection and accountability,” he said. “Inspired and motivated by the vision of a new humanity that God gives us in Jesus Christ, we acknowledge the moral responsibility we carry in the present for the failings of the past, particularly in light of the wealth handed down through generations. Our hope is that the work we are doing—to repair, to heal and to pursue justice – demonstrates how Christian faith can bring about real change in the world. As we pursue an ongoing, living process of listening, learning and acting, we also hope it encourages others to reflect on their own histories and responsibilities.” In 2019, the Church Commissioners, who manage the Church of England’s historic endowment, began a comprehensive investigation into the church’s financial and institutional links to slavery. The findings were sobering – investments in the South Sea Company, profits derived from the slave trade, and disturbing artifacts like “slave Bibles” with scriptures deliberately stripped of themes of liberation. In response, the church committed £100 million – $132 million toward a long-term impact investment fund, a grant program and a research initiative, governed by an independent oversight group. This effort, chaired by the Rt. Rev. Rosemarie Mallett, bishop of Croydon, includes descendant communities, historians and representatives of populations still affected by the legacy of slavery. At the U.N .event, Mallett also contributed to the panel discussion, featuring David Comissiong, Barbados’ ambassador to the Caribbean community and deputy chair of the National Task Force on Reparations; Ambassador Brian Wallace, permanent representative of Jamaica to the U.N.; Ambassador Harold Agyeman, permanent representative of Ghana; and Ambassador Yabesh Monari, deputy permanent representative of Kenya. “The dialogue at the U.N. represents a new phase of engagement and commitment from the Church of England,” said Mallett, “one rooted in the hope that – even after deep historical failure – reconciliation and justice are still possible.” While public apologies had already been issued by both the archbishop of Canterbury and the Church Commissioners, church leaders acknowledge that apology alone is not enough. The church is now engaged in a long-term journey of what it describes as “penitence, partnership and purpose.” Speaking about the Church of England’s connection to African chattel and reparation, the archbishop of York said, “I, we in the Church of England, have been humbled by the truth” regarding the investigation into the historic endowment fund that was linked to the legacy of slavery. He confirmed that the investigation “discovered other horrifying things along the way. Unanswered letters. A so-called ‘slave Bible’ with all mentions of liberation and the whole Book of Exodus missing. We discovered details of the mundane and bureaucratic normalization of evil, when it is enacted on such a scale, and for so many years. And how we, the hunters, were deaf to the cries of the oppressed.” “Jesus famously said that the truth will set you free,” Cottrell observed. “There is an irony here. The scriptures and traditions of the church that were twisted to legitimize enslavement, and also, when they could be read in full, provided narratives of liberation and resistance which gave enslaved people hope.” Cottrell stated his understanding of hopes of the Church of England in engaging with accountability and reparation where possible. “Because we exploited and bought and sold our own sisters and brothers, we, too, need to be liberated from our failings. We need to do this by being honest and penitent about what happened and then determined to build a better world. We want to work purposefully and collaboratively with others, such as our friends and colleagues from Kenya and Barbados, with whom we share the sponsorship of this event. And Jamaica and Ghana. And sisters and brothers across the world.” “We don’t have the answers,” he said, “but we believe we are, at last, asking the right questions. […] We know that we have much to learn. “I am here as a leader in the church that was involved in a most shameful, scandalous abuse and oppression of fellow human beings. It is deeply uncomfortable, because slavery still exists in our world today. […] But sisters and brothers, it is also deeply hopeful, because the scriptures and the example of Christ and those narratives of liberation that inspired enslaved people, inspire me and give us hope for our world and hope that we can do better.” Cottrell then observed that many other institutions, organizations, governments and individuals also may have profited from the “evil trade” and invited them to investigate as the Church the England has done. He then closed the address saying, “It is in that spirit that I come to you today, believing that a better future is possible, believing that the truth can set us free. Believing that it is possible to find reconciliation even after deep, dark failure.” To close this time of reflection, attendees will gather in prayer at the Ark […]

The Council for Racial and Ethnic Ministries (COREM) released what they are calling “A Prophetic Cry,” denouncing the policies and actions of the Trump Administration, calling them cruel and delusional.  “It is an exorcism attempt — meant to purge this…

The post ‘An exorcism attempt’: COREM statement calls out Trump administration’s harmful policies appeared first on United Church of Christ.

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Bruce Caldwell, who served as bishop of Wyoming from 1997–2010, died on April 13. He was 77. Caldwell, a 1978 graduate of General Theological Seminary, was rector of St. George’s Church, in Bismarck, North Dakota, when he was elected bishop. Shortly after he became bishop, Caldwell was asked to preside at the funeral at St. Mark’s in Casper, Wyoming, of a young man who had served as an acolyte in the diocese and was active in its campus ministry – Matthew Shepard. Shepard was tortured and murdered near Laramie in 1998 in a hate crime because he was gay. At an event that took place during the 2009 General Convention, Caldwell spoke in favor of “full inclusion for the LGBT community” in the life of The Episcopal Church, noting the impact Shepard’s funeral had on him. After he retired, he served as the interim dean of St. Mark’s Cathedral, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as assisting bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New York and as bishop provisional of the Diocese of Lexington. His wife, the Rev. Brenda Caldwell, died in 2023. He is survived by daughters Kela and Morgan and granddaughter Lydia. Final details of his funeral, which is expected to take place at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Minneapolis, are pending.

The Sisters of St Joseph of Peace, Catholic nuns located in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey (US), have spent the past four years filing shareholder resolutions related to Citigroup, urging the parent company of one of the world’s largest investment banks to rethink its financial ties to fossil fuel projects that harm Indigenous communities.

This year’s All Church Read invites all across the United Church of Christ to imagine the kind of world that could be created if every local church became a hub of justice-making in its community. With the book Building Up…

The post 2025 All Church Read to empower congregations in ‘building up a new world’: Curriculum, worship resources now available appeared first on United Church of Christ.

Global church leaders and economists, meeting under the banner of the 6th Meeting of the Ecumenical Panel on a New International Financial and Economic Architecture (NIFEA), have issued a resounding call for transformative change in the face of deepening economic, ecological, and social crises. Convened March 25–27, 2025, in Geneva, the panel gathered under the […]

The post NIFEA Panel Calls for Radical Economic and Ecological Transformation appeared first on WCRC.

Faith leaders warn that the global concentration of wealth and power has reached "unprecedented" and "alarming" levels, exacerbating inequality, undermining democracy, and accelerating climate catastrophe. The ecumenical call to action came in a joint communique issued today following a three-day meeting in Geneva of the Ecumenical Panel on a New International Financial and Economic Architecture (NIFEA).

Yusef Daher, coordinator of the Jerusalem Liaison Office of the World Council of Churches in Jerusalem, earned the Menno Simons Sermon Award for 2025. 

A "Faith and Order Update," presenting some of the main areas of the work of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order, has been published as the WCC looks towards the  Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order later in 2025, and in the year that marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.