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World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep sorrow at the passing of Rev. Neville George Callam, honouring his life and ministry as a pastor, church leader, ecumenist, and servant of the wider Christian community.

On Tuesday, 18th August 2026, the Kenyan GRAPE programme of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), in collaboration with St. Paul’s University in Limuru, convened a Water conference under the theme: Flowing toward dignity: Rethinking Water Access as Economic Policy.  The conference brought together representatives of the university, churches, Muslims, civil society and water […]

The post GRAPE Kenya Water Conference, Flowing Toward Dignity: Rethinking Water Access as Economic Policy appeared first on WCRC.

Lucy Khoneizer shares how she unexpectedly became a carer and five ways churches can better care for carers

[Episcopal News Service] Northern Indiana Bishop Douglas Sparks and Indianapolis Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows offered prayers as the state continues to experience thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, tornadoes and severe flooding. The storms began on Aug. 11, killing at least seven people, displacing at least 1,000 people and causing power outages. Sparks has been communicating with clergy, lay leaders and Episcopal Relief & Development to assess how best to assist with relief efforts across the South Bend-based Diocese of Northern Indiana, especially Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties, which were the most heavily impacted. None of the churches have sustained major damage, but some remain without power. No injuries have been reported. Two of Sparks’ biggest concerns, however, are caring for the elderly and feeding people who can’t store food.  “Those most affected are the elderly in many of our faith communities. They don’t have family members who can rush over and are often living by themselves,” Sparks told Episcopal News Service in an Aug. 18 phone interview. “There are people in our faith communities who went to the store and got their groceries, then the storms hit, and all of their perishable food is gone. With Episcopal Relief & Development, we’re trying to gauge how much resources we need to cover food expenses as best we can.”  Baskerville-Burrows is out of state but has been regularly communicating with diocesan staff. “My heart is with you all in Indiana. Watching the impact of the floods and storms over the last few days has been so hard to watch from afar,” Baskerville-Burrows said in an Aug. 17 video message posted to the diocese’s YouTube channel. “My staff and I are keeping track and will be calling clergy and lay leaders,” she said. “We’re trying to make sure that you’re doing OK.” The Diocese of Indianapolis will provide updates on its website and social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Some parts of Indiana reported receiving more than 12 inches of rain over two days, according to the National Weather Service. Most of the severe flooding is occurring along the White River, a two-forked river that’s the main tributary to the larger Wabash River. Indianapolis, Indiana’s capital and most populous city, sits along the White River’s west fork. In Anderson, located 43 miles northeast of Indianapolis, the White River rose to a record 24.93 feet, surpassing the record previously set during the Great Flood of 1913. Flooding in the Mississinewa River has also severely impacted residents in eastern Indiana and killed at least one person, a teenager. The flooding also has forced hundreds of people to evacuate. First responders have been rescuing stranded people and animals by boat. In Carmel, a northern suburb of Indianapolis, a bridge over Blue Woods Creek collapsed after floodwaters broke it in half and washed a section of it away, forcing a major road to close. Hamilton County Commissioner Christine Altman confirmed the bridge as a “total loss.” The city’s main sewer line that carries 90% of Carmel’s wastewater has a “90% chance” of collapsing, threatening an environmental crisis, according to officials. St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Carmel collected funds to support local recovery efforts during its Aug. 16 morning worship service. Fishers, a Hamilton County suburb just east of Carmel, on Aug. 15 declared a local disaster emergency, which will remain in effect until Aug. 22. The city launched a 24/7 hotline and an online form to assist residents with non-emergency issues. On Aug. 11, the same day the floods started in central and southern Indiana, multiple tornadoes and a derecho – a fast-moving, straight-line windstorm that causes hurricane-force winds, heavy rain and flash floods – struck northeast Illinois and Northwest Indiana. The storms killed at least three people, including an unhoused woman who was struck by roofing material in Gary. About 301,000 households lost power then, and 93,000 households remain without power as of Aug. 18, according to the Northern Indiana Public Service Company.  In South Bend, about 66 miles east of Gary, Diocese of Northern Indiana staff sheltered in the basement of the Cathedral of St. James during the storm. “People are dealing with a mixture of challenges at this point,” Sparks said. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun declared a statewide disaster emergency on Aug. 13 and deployed the Indiana National Guard to provide additional relief assistance to the northwest cities of Gary, Hobart and Munster in Lake County, near Chicago, Illinois. National Guardsmen are also now assisting with flood relief efforts statewide. In an Aug. 17 email, the Diocese of Indianapolis shared a list of local flood relief resources, including information from the American Red Cross of Indiana, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, and Indiana 211. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Indianapolis set up a web page sharing the most effective ways to help, including where to donate money and supplies, and where to volunteer for relief assistance. “When our neighbors are hurting, we are called to draw near,” St. Paul’s said in an Aug. 16 Facebook post. “This is what it means to live our mission: Sharing Christ’s Love. Creating Community. Striving for Justice. In a moment of crisis, we show up for one another – with compassion, generosity and hope.” Episcopal Relief & Development’s website includes information on how to respond immediately after a disaster. In her video message, Baskerville-Burrows said she’s “been heartened by the many ways in which you have shown up for each other.” “I’ve seen pictures and videos of you filling sandbags, canceling plans for your Sunday events and being present to those most in need at this time and making adjustments on the fly as we deal with the impact of the waters that continue to rise,” she said. The Diocese of Northern Indiana is accepting donations to the bishop’s discretionary fund that will be used for relief efforts. Across the Midwest, a developing El Niño weather pattern has brought above-normal temperatures, storms, flooding and high winds throughout the […]

The film “Nun Dul Dega Eomne” (Nowhere to Lay My Eyes) earned the prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 79th Locarno Film Festival, held 5-15 August.

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church is relaunching its creation care grant program, now with an emphasis on supporting local ministries connected to the church’s expanding eco-region framework. The church will accept proposals from now until Oct. 26 for grants of up to $15,000 to fund projects involved with “nature restoration, regenerative agriculture, climate advocacy, and environmental justice,” according to an Aug. 18 church news release announcing the latest round of grants. Applications for the grants, the first to be awarded from the creation care program since late 2024, will be collected by the churchwide creation care office and evaluated by the 12 eco-region networks, which include 55 Episcopal dioceses. Proposals should “align with network priorities, demonstrate understanding of local issues and context, show potential for partnerships with organizations doing similar work and include meaningful involvement and feedback from people who would benefit from the project.” Proposals from dioceses that are not yet connected to an eco-region also will be considered. “As we watch myriad climate concerns take hold across the lands and waters where Episcopalians dwell — from forest fires and water shortages to tornadoes, floods and sea level rise — people of faith are committed to organizing ourselves in our regions to bring healing to the world God loves,” said the Rt. Rev. Cathleen Bascom, the church’s eco-region network coordinator and a former bishop of Kansas. General Convention endorsed the formation of eco-region networks in a 2024 resolution that focused on the need for collaboration on conservation, renewable energy and food-based ministries. Under Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, who took office in November 2024, development of the Episcopal Eco-Region Network Initiative has been one of the church’s primary creation care initiatives. It is now facilitated through a partnership with the Center for Religion & Environment at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. “By bestowing creation care grants this year through our eco-region networks, we seek to address specific environmental challenges and encourage projects informed by local wisdom that will build regional collaboration,” Bascom said in the church news release. The new approach to the grant process has been received with enthusiasm by Episcopalians who are actively engaged in creation care ministries, according to the Rev. Stephanie Johnson. A priest in Connecticut, Johnson also is co-convener of the Episcopal Church Green Caucus. “There’s real excitement in talking about the grants,” Johnson told Episcopal News Service. “I love this model of really getting into these local communities.” Providing modest grants at the local level allows leaders to tailor their work to the needs within their contexts, she said, while pursuing opportunities for growth and sustainability. The Green Caucus also hopes the new granting process will encourage more Episcopalians and dioceses to form or join an eco-region. Those networks encourage greater creativity in addressing regional issues, Johnson said, and within the regions, “they might have a project that you and I could never imagine.” The Episcopal Church has awarded more than $1 million in grants over the past decade as part of its commitment to creation care ministries. In its last round of grants, authorized by Executive Council in November 2024, the church gave $100,000 to eight projects. The 2025-27 churchwide budget plan approved by General Convention calls for $375,000 in creation care grants during this triennium, with $125,000 budgeted in each of the three years. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

[Religion News Service] On Friday evening, Aug. 14, Philomene Philostin, a local youth pastor, business owner and nonprofit leader, stood on the street corner outside Springfield, Ohio’s City Hall, crying out in Haitian Creole. Pastor Fontil Daity, a Haitian immigrant who leads a local Pentecostal Haitian church, interpreted in English: “Haitians! Haitians! … We cannot take it anymore. We ask for God in heaven to hear our cries!” About 75 people gathered around them in the sweltering heat, many holding signs that read, “Love your neighbor” — a reference to the biblical command to love one’s neighbor as oneself. Philostin told Religion News Service she initiated the gathering in response to a new flurry of ICE raids in the city starting the day before. The peaceful protest wove together prayers and testimonies from community members, lawyers and faith leaders. Daity, singing in Haitian Creole, then in English, led attendees in the hymn “Precious Lord Take My Hand.”   For many of the more than 10,000 Haitians in the city of about 58,000, their faith in God — and the support of local immigrants’ rights organizers and faith leaders — is what’s sustaining them as they reckon with the end of Temporary Protected Status. Many of Springfield’s Haitians attend evangelical, Catholic, mainline and Pentecostal churches across the city. And in the months of dread and uncertainty before a federal judge cleared the way on Aug. 4 for the termination of Haiti’s TPS protections, faith leaders and congregations from within and beyond the Haitian community have emerged as pivotal actors in the support networks for affected families. Now, those networks are adapting in real time to respond to what they see as a human-engineered spiritual, moral and humanitarian crisis, especially as ICE activity stepped up over the weekend. A DHS spokesperson said they would not disclose details of its operations. That crisis had a face on Aug. 14 in the early morning. Charles Beaubrun Ardouin, a Haitian immigrant and Springfield resident who spoke at the protest that evening, was driving through the city dropping at least five other Haitian men off after their night shift at a local automobile factory when he was stopped by several ICE vehicles, he told RNS. Ardouin, a U.S. citizen, said about 10 agents — most wearing masks — demanded identification for everyone in the vehicle. After detaining the other men, ICE agents reportedly told Ardouin they would be taken to Butler County Jail in Hamilton, Ohio. Ardouin said all the men have pending asylum cases. “These people are coming to the United States of America for freedom. They’re coming for work. All they want is due process,” Ardouin told RNS. “The first time I came to the United States of America, I felt freedom. But now, I [feel] fear.” Pro-immigrant faith leaders had long been bracing for a Minneapolis-style ICE crackdown against the Haitian community in Springfield. Instead, ICE has shifted tactics: Beginning just over a week after the termination of TPS for the country’s 330,000 Haitian recipients became enforceable on Aug. 5, ICE has conducted several rapid, small-scale ICE detentions. And since late July, ICE  has sent many Haitian residents in Springfield letters ordering them to report to the Blue Ash ICE office over an hour away, near Cincinnati. There, many former TPS holders, all of whom came to the U.S. legally seeking safety from disastrous conditions in Haiti, have reported being given the choice between self-deporting with $2,600, or being released with ankle monitors — which many in Springfield referred to as “shackles” — and a restriction to limit travel to within a 75-mile radius of their address. Without work permits, the Haitian residents are struggling to pay for rent and groceries. Some are hiding in their homes, too afraid of ICE to shop at local businesses or attend church. Others have had their drivers’ licenses expire or become nonrenewable. Parents are filling out legal paperwork to give power of attorney to neighbors and friends in case they get separated from their children, especially those born in the U.S. who have legal citizenship. This weekend, local Haitian leaders shared reports that one, possibly two, Haitian immigrants had committed suicide. RNS was unable to independently verify those claims. “Jesus says, ‘Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ And all that we can do is to go to Him right now, because we don’t have any other choice,” faith leader and executive director of the Haitian Supporter Center, Viles Dorsainvil, told RNS. On Aug. 14 in the afternoon, hours after the ICE raid Ardouin witnessed, staff and volunteers met with clients at the support center located in a Church of the Nazarene church. Beneath papered-over windows, boxes of diapers and food donations — Cheerios, black beans, ramen noodles — crowded one corner of the main room. In a three-hour span, nearly a dozen Haitians stopped in seeking help. One woman asked what her next steps should be after her cousin was detained. Several people arrived with ankle monitors, looking for legal assistance with next steps. As desperate as the situation has become in Springfield, Haitian community members do not want to return to Haiti. “They choose the ankle shackles because the whole world, they know going back to Haiti is being placed in a death sentence,” said the support center’s administrative assistant, James Pepitho Fleurijean. Armed gangs control most of Port-au-Prince and are expanding their reach into neighboring regions. Gang violence in Haiti has resulted in over 2,000 deaths in this year alone. “There are so many people that went back to Haiti, and when they get there, and you know the rest of the story: People have been kidnapped, people have been killed, young ladies have been raped,” Fleurijean said. In his office, Dorsainvil, a former TPS holder who moved to the U.S. from Haiti in 2020, sat at his desk answering a stream of phone calls and messages. He described living in Springfield […]

When a group from Westboro Baptist Church staged themselves with hateful signs and chants in front of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C., on a Sunday morning, May 24, the earliest arrivers to church strategized quickly about…

The post When agitators interrupted worship, two churches leaned into the power of song and community appeared first on United Church of Christ.

Hayden Panettiere, a decorated actress, author, producer, and model died on Sunday, August 16 at the age of 36 in Greenville, South Carolina. Tributes have been pouring in from co-workers, and other stars after the news of her passing became…

The post The UCC produced “An American Christmas” starring late actress Hayden Panettiere appeared first on United Church of Christ.

The Rev. Barbara Brown Zikmund, an esteemed historian, author, educator, and ordained minister in the United Church of Christ died Monday, August 18 at the age of 87. To say her life and work in the church had an impact…

The post Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Rev. Barbara Brown Zikmund appeared first on United Church of Christ.