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Voting has ended for four episcopal elections in the Africa Central Conference. UM News tracked the balloting and has coverage of the elected bishops.

Faith leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean will gather in Brasília, Brazil, 18-20 March, to reflect on the current reality of the climate crisis and to plan for an effective engagement in the run up to COP30, the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

“Since 1949, the RCC has presented the Wilbur Awards to recognize excellence in the secular media in communicating about faith and religion. This year’s Wilbur recipients continue that rich tradition of excellence.”

Take the first step towards becoming a confident and purposeful Christian public leader.

Take the first step towards becoming a confident and purposeful Christian public leader.

Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to continued support for the Nigeria Crisis Response, to aid those affected in three central African countries by the warfare in Goma and the surrounding area, to aid those affected by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and to aid those affected by the war in Ukraine, among others.

The United Church of Canada welcomes the news of the recent arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with highly documented crimes… continue reading

The Annual Conference office has announced the daily line up of preachers for the 2025 annual meeting of the Church of the Brethren, as well as the daily themes and scripture texts and the worship planning team and music leadership.

[Diocese of Los Angeles] The March 12 opening of Orchard View Gardens, the 66-unit senior housing complex at St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church in Buena Park, California, marked the culmination of more than a decade of work toward developing affordable housing on the church’s property. The completion of the project is also another major milestone in the diocesan mission to create affordable housing on underutilized church land throughout the diocese.   “The person of faith looks at the world as it is and imagines the realm of God,” said Los Angeles Bishop John Harvey Taylor at the event. He thanked all who made the dream of affordable housing at St. Joseph’s a reality. “Whenever church people look at empty property, whenever they take stock of available energy and financial resource and they apply those things to caring for those most in need, including by giving them a place to lay their heads at night, God takes delight,” he said. In addition to Taylor, speakers at the opening included Alexa Washburn, chief development officer at National CORE, an affordable housing nonprofit; Doug Chaffee, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and District 4 supervisor; Joyce Ahn, mayor of Buena Park; the Rev. Cindy Voien, rector of St. Joseph’s; the Rev. Michael Bell, director of housing and business development at Episcopal Communities & Services, also known as ECS; Alyssa Cotter, executive director of the Hope through Housing Foundation; and others from supporting organizations and government bodies. All members of the Buena Park city council were present and honored at the event.   Voien said that St. Joseph’s land has been reserved for holy purposes since 1957, and with opening of Orchard View Gardens, “a holy purpose has been found, a holy dream upheld, and we rejoice that the day of fulfillment has come.” Now that land is the site of 66 affordable apartments available to seniors earning less than 60% of the area’s median income. Twelve of the apartments are reserved as supportive housing for seniors who have experienced homelessness.   “When people become disconnected or displaced or even homeless because housing costs too much, we become a fragmented, damaged community, and we stand in need of reconciliation,” Voien said. “To house people who are getting edged out of the general housing market is to embrace what we have in common and to bless the entire community.”   Orchard View Gardens was the second affordable housing development created through a collaboration between National CORE and the Diocese of Los Angeles. The development also was supported by ECS and the Hope through Housing Foundation, which will provide support and services to residents of the apartments.   In Orange County, one-quarter of the homeless population is aged 55 or older, said Washburn. Tragically, that percentage continues to rise. “But when we align our efforts around a shared goal, one that’s rooted in compassion, dignity and care for our vulnerable neighbors, incredible things happen,” she said. “This community will provide seniors with a stable, affordable home, a place where they can feel safe, secure and supported.”   The development is a step towards the diocesan goal, set by Taylor, to create affordable housing developments on at least 25 percent of the diocese’s 128 church campuses.   “Thanks to the welcoming spirit of St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church, the visionary work of National CORE and the indispensable support of our partners at Episcopal Communities & Services, a whole new community of our neighbors will have a place to lay their heads for years to come,” Taylor said.   The development was funded through the low-income housing tax credit, the city of Buena Park, Orange County Community Services, Special Needs Housing Program and Orange County Housing Finance Trust.   Voein said that it was only the cooperation of many organizations and entities that made the project possible. It took “a lot of people working in their own capacity and in jobs God called them to work to get this done,” Voien said.   The Rev. Michael Bell, director of housing and business development at ECS, helps congregations in the diocese discern whether affordable housing is the right step forward, and helps them move through the process.   Bell shared the story of his own father, who after a successful career faced potential homelessness late in his life, before discovering an affordable housing development for seniors.   “I have to imagine he, in spirit, is really pleased with what we all, you all, have accomplished here, because it will have an impact on people like him and families like ours that we will never meet,” Bell said.   Bell said that completion of the Buena Park development will give hope to other congregations considering the long and daunting journey to developing affordable housing.   “If we can get through the anxiety of scarcity and get into the potential of a dream and hear from each other how it’s possible, we can do this again in other places,” Bell said.   The development has been in the works for over a decade, and the dream of affordable housing at St. Joseph’s has been around much longer. Exploration of developing through National CORE began in 2016 under former rector the Rev. Mary Trainor, an honorary canon in the Diocese of Los Angeles. The initial idea of an affordable housing project on the land began before Trainor’s time as well, when Ed Little, now retired bishop of Northern Indiana, was rector.   “The people of St. Joseph looked at the real estate and imagined how it might be used for the glory God,” Taylor said. Trainor and Voein, he said, along with hosts of lay leaders, have “tended the vision like a precious seed.”   It has been a long process, with plenty of ups and downs but Voien said it has “never been on the back burner” for St. Joseph’s congregants. Through the long planning, approval and funding stages, the congregation […]

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