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[Episcopal News Service] Episcopalians in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia are helping to clean up the damage and assess losses after flooding hit the region for the third time in four years. Heavy flooding also occurred in 2021 and 2022. The Diocese of Lexington, which covers eastern Kentucky, has been the site of flooding before. Southeastern Kentucky experienced catastrophic flood waters in 2022, but flooding was higher in some places this year than in 2022, the Rev. Becca Kello, the diocese’s canon missioner, told Episcopal News Service. “The floods rose a little bit slower this time, so people knew more what they needed to do,” she said, helping to account for significantly fewer deaths than the 40 who died in 2022. Flooding also occurred in a different part of the diocese this year, Kello said, with Pike County among the hardest hit. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on Feb. 18 announced that the death toll in that state from rain, subsequent flood waters, and then freezing temperatures and snow stands at 14 people. Three people died in West Virginia when a truck in which they were riding was swept off the road and into a nearby river. The Rev. Rob Musick is a chaplain at the University of Pikeville as well as priest-in-charge of St. James in nearby Prestonburg, Kentucky. He told ENS that while the downtown area of Pikeville was spared – thanks in large measure to a project that moved the river years ago – surrounding areas were devastated. “Water in some areas was over the tops of buildings,” he said. “It’s a total loss for some communities.” One student, who lives about an hour away in West Virginia, had water up to the roof of her house. Musick noted that during his time at the university, the region experienced significant flooding; in 2010, 2021, 2022 and again this year. With the university closed, he is leading students in cleaning out houses so people can begin to assess their losses and make plans to rebuild. Pike County is part of Kentucky Appalachia, which has suffered from poverty for generations, he said, so the option of rebuilding somewhere else isn’t available to them. Those who lived in now-destroyed mobile homes often had no flood or renters’ insurance so have lost everything without any means to replace it, he said. Luckily, Kello said, churches across the diocese appeared to be spared, although the priority for diocesan leaders has been checking on the safety of parishioners. Many people live in the valleys between Kentucky’s “hills and hollers,” she said, which puts them at greater risk as water rushes downhill. The Diocese of West Virginia, which includes the entire state, has determined that all its churches were spared but still is awaiting word on the status of the Highland Educational Project, the Rev. Jordan Trumble, canon for communications and congregational development, told ENS. The project has been an outreach ministry of the diocese for more than 70 years, she said, serving one of the poorest counties in the United States. It not only provides direct services to area residents but also hosts mission groups from across the country and is the site for a summer reading camp for children. Bishop Matthew Cowden has reported that roads in McDowell County, where the project is located, all are washed out. The diocese is working on a plan to collect and deliver supplies when the roads are open, Trumble said. In addition, several parishes are taking up their own collection of supplies for affected areas in McDowell County and surrounding areas. Some stores in that area have been flooded, and those that are open are quickly running out of supplies, she said. Like eastern Kentucky, West Virginia is mountainous, with towns built at the foot of the hills. That means, Trumble said, that when rain falls and rivers rise, people always are at risk. And this winter has been an especially wet one, with January snow followed by recent rains, and then more snow. The Ven. Josh Saxe, archdeacon for community resilience and disaster response ministries, is leading the diocese’s recovery efforts, Trumble said, adding that previous work in helping church communities develop resiliency in the face of natural disasters has paid off this week. The diocese also has been working with Episcopal Relief & Development to help provide funds to affected areas, and it also is collecting money through its website. “We are continuing to assess needs and plan for long-term recovery in these areas,” Trumble said. Lexington’s Kello said that residents of these areas understand what it’s like to live there, but life has become much harder with what she called mega-climate events occurring more often. “People are capable of navigating floods,” she said, “but not these kinds of floods.” — Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.

Lydia Gilbertson shares her journey with body image and how understanding the God story has helped her to appreciate her body in a new way

The World Council of Churches (WCC) stands in solidarity with the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem in the face of an unjust foreclosure order issued by the Municipality of Jerusalem, said Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC general secretary.

Israel and Gavin introduce Visions of Justice and Hope, a resource designed to help churches and leaders navigate conversations on racial justice and unity.

The Rev. Karen Georgia A. Thompson, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ, is calling on the church to “pause, pray, and prepare to live love boldly.” In a time of political division, rising inequality, and social uncertainty, she emphasizes that the church’s role is not only to speak about justice but […]

The post Living Love Boldly: The UCC’s Call to Justice in a Polarized World appeared first on WCRC.

In a letter to Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep concern that the World Health Organisation (WHO) is facing threats of discontinued financial support. 

From 17-18 February, four master’s students from the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Institute at Bossey participated in a series of preparatory sessions ahead of their internships across various WCC departments.

[Episcopal News Service] Russia’s unprovoked invasion of its neighbor Ukraine is three years old this month, and Russian aggression dates back more than a decade to 2014, when Russia sent troops into the Ukrainian region of Crimea and said it was annexing the territory, in violation of international law. Russia’s three-year war on Ukraine has been devastating for the people of Ukraine, who have lived under constant threat of Russian bombardment and, in eastern regions, of Russian occupation. “The large-scale destruction and interruption of power and water supplies throughout the country will likely worsen the living conditions for millions of Ukrainians through a third winter of war,” the United Nations said in an October 2024 update. It also has been deadly for both sides. Ukraine reported a death toll of 43,000 soldiers as of December 2024. On the Russian side, 172,000 troops had been killed as of early January, according to one estimate. Verifying such estimates has been a challenge for independent observers and news outlets covering the war. The Trump administration recently began what it said were negotiations with Russia to end the war, without including Ukraine in those talks, and President Donald Trump falsely claimed that Ukraine was to blame for Russia’s war. Since Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 — and even before that attack — The Episcopal Church and its leaders have spoken out several times to condemn the Russian aggression and offer support for the Ukrainian people. Here are seven examples. January 2022: Executive Council adopts statement “Executive Council expresses grave concern about the escalation of tensions and military buildup along the border of Russia and Ukraine, and denounces any invasion which would cause great suffering and harm. … Executive Council condemns the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and laments the harms caused to that population and to all Ukrainians.” March 2022: House of Bishops condemns Russian invasion “We are gathered at a moment of profound jeopardy to the principles of international law and peace. As we meet and pray together as a House of Bishops, Ukraine — an independent, sovereign nation that has posed no threat to others beyond its borders — has been invaded by military forces of Russia, without provocation and without justification.” March 2022: Presiding Bishop Michael Curry supports Ukraine “[Ukrainians] have a right to defend their freedom and to protect it, and the rest of the world’s got to do whatever it can not to precipitate a worse war that will engulf the whole world, but to do everything possible to stand for human rights and decency. That’s not utopian thinking,” Curry, then the church’s presiding bishop, told Episcopal News Service. March 2022: Anglican Primates’ Meeting backs Ukraine in communiqué  “We are particularly aware of the humanitarian crisis and other catastrophic effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We call for an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. We know, from our experience in the different parts of the world we are from, that conflict causes lasting damage. The longer a war goes on, the longer it takes to heal shattered relationships and bring about reconciliation.” July 2022: 80th General Convention adopts Ukraine resolution “Resolved, that the 80th General Convention of The Episcopal Church condemn the aggression launched by the Russian Federation on the sovereign and independent nation of Ukraine on February 24, 2022; and be it further resolved that this convention call on the leaders of the Russian Federation and its supporters to cease their aggression and enter immediately into good-faith negotiations in which Ukraine’s sovereignty and security are assured and call those among the nations of the world who may have the capacity to influence the choices made by those directing this war urgently to do so.” February 2023: Episcopal Church issues statement after year of war “Thousands of people have died, with many more being injured or displaced as a result of this war. We lament the loss of life and the human suffering this conflict has caused.” June 2024: 81st General Convention adopts Ukraine resolution General Convention called “for the Russian Federation to end its attacks in Ukraine, and for a just peace to be negotiated respecting all of Ukraine’s pre-2014 territory as recognized by international law.”