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Harrisburg (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren has found that we can bring peace and justice ministries into our neighborhood by providing space in our building for organizations that will provide such services.

Faith leaders need help in recognizing the signs that a parishioner may be contemplating suicide. To help address this need, the E. Stanley Jones Foundation and the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries have developed a free online training course for clergy and lay leaders.

[World Council of Churches] The Council of Bishops of the Zambia Anglican Council issued a pastoral statement on post-election tensions in their south-central African country. “Our concern is Zambia. Our concern is justice. Our concern is peace. Our concern is unity,” the Sept. 21 statement said. “Our concern is the dignity and well-being of every Zambian, regardless of political, ethnic or tribal affiliation.” Last month, incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema and the United Party for National Development won the general elections, though his main competitor, Brian Mundubile, claims that the counting of the votes had been rigged. After the election, government authorities raided a house, resulting in an exchange of gunfire that killed former Zambian minister Mutotwe Kafwaya. Eleven people were also arrested in this raid, including senior opposition figures. They were accused of planning a coup with the help of foreign militia, which they have denied. Retired Botswana Bishop Trevor Mwamba, a Zambian national who now leads Zambia’s United National Independence Party, was among the arrested opposition figures. He remains in custody as of Sept. 18, according to a report from The Telegraph, a British news outlet. “Where prosecution is not warranted, alternative lawful resolutions should be pursued without unnecessary delay,” the statement said. “Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice must not only punish wrongdoing; justice must also protect the innocent from arbitrary treatment.” Read the full article here.

On July 7, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Houston resident and father, was fatally shot by federal immigration agents in the city’s East End. Just days later, ICE fatally shot another man, Johan Sebastián, in Biddeford, Maine. On September 20, an ICE officer shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez as he was making a DoorDash delivery — one of at least two ...

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[Anglican Communion News Service] Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally has called the next Primates’ Meeting, to be held Feb. 28-March 5, 2027, in Johannesburg, South Africa. This will be Mullally’s first Primates’ Meeting as archbishop of Canterbury. The last meeting took place in 2024 in Rome, Italy. The Primates’ Meeting is an “Instrument of Communion” that seeks to foster unity and collaboration between Anglican churches worldwide. The meeting provides space for prayer, fellowship and consultation on shared priorities in church and world affairs. Read the full article here.

[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Adam James Shoemaker was ordained and consecrated the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Long Island on Sept. 19, making him the first Episcopal bishop of Arab and North African descent in The Episcopal Church’s more than two centuries of history. Nearly 2,000 people attended the service in person at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus in Brookville, New York. As bishop of the Garden City-based diocese, Shoemaker now leads more than 120 congregations across Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. This next step in his pastoral ministry is also a return home for Shoemaker, who was raised in Huntington. “Returning home to serve as bishop of the diocese that first formed me in faith is an extraordinary gift,” Shoemaker said in a statement ahead of his livestreamed installation. “My own story has taught me to cherish the differences that make us who we are, and in these first months back on Long Island, I have seen again how our diversity is one of this diocese’s greatest strengths.” Shoemaker, 47, was born as Adam James Haggagi in New York, New York, to Jamie Stanforth, an Egyptologist of Jewish descent, and Hamada Haggagi, an Egyptian Muslim. After his parents divorced shortly before his first birthday, Shoemaker lived with his mother and grandparents on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He was baptized at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles near General Theological Seminary, where he would eventually earn a diploma in Anglican Studies. A few years later, Jamie Stanforth married Thomas Shoemaker, and they moved to Long Island. Adam Haggagi’s last name was then legally changed to Shoemaker. Shoemaker’s life experiences as an Egyptian American growing up in one of the most culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse regions in The Episcopal Church have shaped his faith journey to focus on racial justice and reconciliation and embracing diversity in the church. “I think my story has humanized so many of the differences that can sometimes divide – sometimes in tragic ways – and given me a heart for all that diversity,” Shoemaker told Episcopal News Service after he was elected bishop in April. “It’s been a lifelong journey for me to come fully into my sense of self. It’s been a journey of prayer and introspection.” In his note to the Diocese of Long Island, which was published in the installation bulletin, Shoemaker thanked his six half-siblings, who all live in Cairo. Shoemaker was elected bishop on April 18 by nearly 300 clergy and lay delegates gathered at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City. He succeeded the Rt. Rev. Lawrence C. Provenzano, who had served as bishop of the Diocese of Long Island since 2009. Prior to his election, Shoemaker served congregations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Massachusetts. He had also served as a Young Adult Service Corps volunteer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe was chief consecrator at Shoemaker’s installation. Co-consecrators included Provenzano, former Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry, Maine Bishop Thomas J. Brown, Virginia Assistant Bishop Gayle E. Harris, Texas Assistant Bishop Héctor F. Monterroso and the Rev. Katrina D. Foster, bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. South Carolina Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley preached. She and Shoemaker worked together closely when he was rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, one of three historically Black Episcopal churches in Charleston. While at St. Stephen’s, Shoemaker and Woodliff-Stanley also worked closely with the rectors of Charleston’s two other historically Black Episcopal churches to form the Three Churches United. The coalition hosts and participates in events and initiatives as part of the diocese’s commitment to racial justice and reconciliation work. The ordination service’s liturgy featured music and readings in languages reflecting the Diocese of Long Island’s diversity, including Spanish and Mandarin. The liturgy included readings from Isaiah 2:2-4, Ephesians 2:13-22 and Luke 10:1-9. While a student at General Theological Seminary, Shoemaker met his wife, the Rev. Courtney Davis-Shoemaker, priest-in-charge at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Charleston. They have three children: Malcolm, Aubrey and Hannah. Shoemaker additionally holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Duke Divinity School, a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School and a bachelor’s degree from Boston University. “I am humbled and grateful to begin this ministry alongside the people of Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk, and hopeful for what God will do among us,” Shoemaker said in his statement.

An ecumenical collaborative document is addressing spiritual violence against Indigenous Peoples in Canada—and suggesting ethical guidelines and calls to healing.

Small churches are an asset for The United Methodist Church, argues a new report from Wesleyan Impact Partners. The report profiles nine U.S. congregations that are outsized in their community impact.

Join us as we unpack our landmark research mapping the size, shape and identity of UK evangelicals

Rev. Janet Anstead is general secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches. During a meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity Reference Group, she took time to reflect on the commitment of churches tor reconciliation, and on her vision of how people are ultimately healed and transformed on a grassroots level.