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40 Days of Engagement on Anti-Racism—the United Church’s popular education and action program—returns in October 2025.

More than 80 representatives from national councils of churches in southern Africa, the All Africa Conference of Churches, World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee members from Africa, and partners are meeting in Johannesburg for a conference inspired by the centenary of the 1925 Life and Work inaugural conference.

[Episcopal News Service] Nebraska Bishop J. Scott Barker issued a letter on June 11, one day after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers raided an Omaha meat production plant and detained dozens of workers.  The full letter follows. Beloved in Christ – Tuesday’s raid at an Omaha meatpacking plant by immigration enforcement officers brought an issue that’s daily in the national headlines directly to our community. As of this morning, 76 individuals who have been living and working in Nebraska, some for many years, are being kept in an unknown location after being detained. Currently, they are unable to communicate with their families and appear to be without access to legal representation. They represent a tiny portion of the many thousands of people who have been arrested and deported over the last few months. Immigration management and border security are real and complex issues. As followers of Jesus, we know it is no “solution” to turn away sisters and brothers in desperate need, to demonize particular races and cultures, or to break families apart. We can and should expect more than this shameful response from our leaders and of our nation. We cannot lose sight of Jesus’ teachings and witness, nor forget the Baptismal Covenant promises that every Episcopalian makes as an adult profession of faith. Our commitments to “seek and serve Christ in all persons” and to “respect the dignity of every human being” extend especially to people on the margins of society who Jesus commends to our care: the poor, the sick, those persecuted and imprisoned, the outcast. Jesus teaches that every human being God places in our path is a neighbor, and that our duty as his followers is to love our neighbors as ourselves. I hope you will pray for your neighbors this day, especially for those detained yesterday and for their families who are suffering and scared in their absence. I hope you will offer some care this day, in charitable giving or hands-on service, especially directed toward the improvement of the lives of those who’ve recently made their way to this country and this state to find safety and opportunity for themselves and their families. And I hope you become an advocate this day, working to ensure that our immigration laws are sensible and just, and that law enforcement officials do their work without unnecessary abuse or cruelty. Write your elected officials and speak out in the public square. In one of the most memorable and sobering of his parables, Jesus identifies himself with the marginalized and imagines that the citizens of heaven came to that reward because of the way they treated him. “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Today – and always – may we do our part to love and serve the one whose name we bear. Faithfully Yours in Christ – + Bishop Barker

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive and central committees are about to convene in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the central committee meeting 18-24 June, and the executive committee 16-17 June. 

[Diocese of Los Angeles] Peacefully protesting ICE raids roiling Los Angeles, a downtown interfaith vigil drew an estimated 1,000 attendees — including dozens of clergy and Mayor Karen Bass – and closed with a prayer by Los Angeles Bishop John Harvey Taylor. “Holy God, Ice-T said it best. Ice-T said, ‘Los Angeles is a microcosm of the United States. If L.A. falls, the country falls,’” Taylor told the June 10 assembly in downtown’s Grand Park, eliciting applause and cheers. “So we’re here tonight to lift up our city on a cloud of prayer. Multicultural, polylingual, pluralistic – Los Angeles is America the beautiful. The most American city of them all, and by your grace, it will not fall. We’re here tonight to beseech you to lift the city of angels on the wings of angels.” “[W]e pledge to be peaceful witnesses,” Taylor continued, following Mayor Bass, Roman Catholic Archbishop José Gomez, and some 10 other faith leaders in praying for non-violence and an end to ICE raids. “We can resist unjust authority without lifting a hand against our neighbor. These federal troops coming to Los Angeles – God, you know the mayor had it under control. But it’s not the soldiers’ and Marines’ fault. It wasn’t their idea. They’re not our enemies. They are brave United States volunteers … And we beseech you to still the hand of anyone tempted to use violence against those who protest peacefully.” Mayor Bass, before offering a prayer, decried federal actions that are creating fear in families. “As I look out at this crowd, this represents the beauty of our city; everywhere, everybody represented, everybody standing together. We stand together and our message is to stop the raids. … We cannot accept the uncertainty that has been created in this environment here today led by the leadership in Washington, D.C.” Taylor’s prayer preceded remarks from Los Angeles Rabbi Susan Goldberg of Nefesh, a progressive Jewish congregation that worships weekly on the Echo Park campus where the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is headquartered. Goldberg then led a blocks-long procession of vigil attendees, reaching the nearby federal building before an 8 p.m. Civic Center curfew was enforced. (See L.A. Times report here.) Taylor continued: “God of mercy, we’re also going tell the story of our neighbors who are undocumented workers – our friends being taken from their places of honest labor, ripped from the arms of their families and churches. Thirteen million of them nationwide, paying their taxes, caring for those they love, part of the foundation of the United States economy.” One such first-hand story was recounted by Yurien Contreras, whose father, Mario Romero, is among those detained by ICE on June 6 and unable to communicate with his family. “I’m here today on behalf of my father and the dozens of workers who should be released to their families,” she said. “My siblings – ranging in age from four months to 20 years – and I need our father back, especially my four-year-old brother who suffers from a disability. “What happened that day was a very traumatic experience, watching my father being taken away, chained by the hands, feet and waist, and unable to do anything,” Contreras said. “It was a very traumatic experience that affected us emotionally and physically. My family and I haven’t been able to communicate with my father. “What happened was an injustice,” Contreras said. “They [ICE] simply arrived at their workplace and kidnapped dozens of workers. … I want my father back. I want the workers to return to their families. We demand the release of all workers now! We call on all elected officials … to step up and defend L.A.’s status as a sanctuary city by prohibiting any collaboration or protection of ICE by local law enforcement, show up in detention centers and pressure for oversight to protect the rights and due process of those kidnapped, follow the cases of all of those detained during the racist raids and ensure they have access to all the resources that Angelenos have worked hard to provide.” Organized by L.A. Voice and PICO California in partnership with other community and faith groups, including the Episcopal diocese, the vigil was moderated by Jesuit priest Brendan Busse of Dolores Mission and opened with an invocation by Father Greg Boyle, the Jesuit founder of L.A.’s Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit specializing in rehabilitation of former gang members. Rabbi Sharon Brous of L.A.’s IKAR congregation called vigil-goers to the physicality of using their bodies to stand up to oppression, much as people of Jewish faith and heritage have done historically. “We will not answer violence with violence,” she said, drawing comparisons between the Trump administration and the “authoritarian” Pharaoh who oppressed Jews in biblical times. Aziza Hassan, co-director of NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change, offered her prayer as a faith leader “and a Muslim mother… to open our hearts to one another. … Children belong in the arms of their caretakers. … Let us not swerve from justice. … In the words of the Holy Koran, don’t let hatred lead you to be unjust.” Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) spoke next, expressing gratitude to local rapid response networks “who’ve stood up in this moment.” Her remarks were followed by the “We Who Believe in Freedom” chorus of “Ella’s Song,” led by Aquilina Soriano Versoza, executive director of the local Filipino Worker Center. Sikh leader Valarie Kaur offered a riveting reflection on the resilience of her immigrant grandparents in California’s Central Valley, describing them as “sage warriors who put their love into action.” “We’ve all become sage warriors,” Kaur said, assuring the affected families that “We’ll make our bodies a shield for you.” Mercedes Nava of the Community Coalition recounted in Spanish, through an interpreter, her experience of sitting at a local bus stop and watching the arrest of two young women. “They could be […]

Christian Aid acknowledged the work of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel during a special ceremony and high tea on 12 June at the Church House, Dean’s Yard. 

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, CWS has expanded its support to reach some of the country’s most vulnerable populations. Through the Caring Hearts project, we’re partnering with local organizations to provide essential aid and emotional support to older adults living in remote villages of Odesa Oblast.  On February 24, 2022, the world watched in horror as Russia ... Read More

In Tanzania’s Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Matisho Justina transformed her family’s future by planting fruit trees through the CWS Wezesha Project. Her success not only brought fresh food and self-reliance to her household but also inspired a wider movement of sustainable agriculture in her community. What if a fruit tree could change everything? For Matisho Justina, a refugee living in Nyarugusu ... Read More

During a service of reflection on the 80th anniversary of Christian Aid, held at Westminster Abbey on 12 June, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay offered a sermon on “Hope: God’s Life-Line.”

The National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA brought church leaders, ecumenical and interfaith partners, UN representatives, and advocates for justice and peace together for its Impact Week 2025 in New York City.