Latest News

Churches and Christian communities worldwide are invited to use the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2027 resources to prepare for joint prayers for Christian unity in January and throughout the year.

World Council of Churches (WCC) president from North America Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith met with Pope Leo XIV earlier this month. She took time to share her experience. 

[Episcopal News Service] Representatives from 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion, including The Episcopal Church, are expected to travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland, from June 28-July 4 for the 19th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Church of Ireland is ready to welcome them. “We have a reputation for hospitality. We hope that people feel the warmth of that when they come,” Ireland Archbishop John McDowell, whose province includes both Ireland and Northern Ireland, said June 18 during a media briefing organized by the Anglican Communion Office. The Anglican Consultative Council, often referred to as ACC, is one of four “Instruments of Communion” by which the 42 autonomous, interdependent provinces of the Anglican Communion engage across differences in common mission based in their shared historical roots in the Church of England. The other three Instruments of Communion are the Primates’ Meeting of provincial leaders, the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops and the archbishop of Canterbury, who serves as a kind of “focus of unity.” The Episcopal Church’s representatives to ACC-19 are Puerto Rico Bishop Rafael Morales Maldonado; the Rev. Ranjit Mathews, canon to the ordinary of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, and Yvonne O’Neal, a lay leader from the Diocese of New York. Mathews attended the last ACC meeting, held in 2023 in Accra, Ghana. Morales and O’Neal will be attending their first meeting as Episcopal members. The weeklong meeting also will be the first Anglican Communion meeting attended by Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, who took office in January. In her role, she serves as president of the Anglican Consultative Council. ACC-19 is scheduled to discuss potential changes to the leadership role of the archbishop of Canterbury, based recommendations known as the Nairobi-Cairo proposals.  The first proposal offers an updated statement of what binds the 42 provinces to each other as the Anglican Communion. The second proposal seeks to broaden and diversify the leadership of the Instruments of Communion in ways that could diminish that archbishop of Canterbury’s status as a “first among equals.” The two principal proposals were developed by a body known as the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order, led by Bishop Graham Tomlin of the Church of England. Tomlin said during the June 18 media briefing on Zoom that the Anglican Communion’s “center of gravity” has shifted over the past century, with significant growth in African and Asian provinces. “With that growth can also come some tensions,” Tomlin said. Citing theological divisions, some conservative Anglican bishops have warned of “impaired” communion with provinces like The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada that are more progressive on issues of LGBTQ+ inclusion. It remains to be seen whether the Nairobi-Cairo proposals could mend those relations. Longstanding ties between the Anglican provinces faced new uncertainty in October 2025, shortly after Mullally was named as the next archbishop of Canterbury, when a faction of conservative provincial leaders said they were rejecting the archbishop’s authority and intended to form their own global body to rival the Anglican Communion. Support for that faction, however, appears to have fizzled, at least based on the large number of provinces expected to attend the upcoming Anglican Consultative Council meeting. Only four provinces will be absent, according to Anglican Communion officials. They include the provinces of Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda, which have shunned these meetings for years. The fourth is the Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, which ministers in a country torn apart by war and violence. The other 38 provinces have accepted the invitation to send up to three representatives each. Maggie Swinson, a Church of England lay leader who serves as chair of the ACC, was encouraged by the positive response. “For me, what this indicates is there is a desire for us to talk about these things rather than shut doors and disengage,” she said. Bishop Anthony Poggo, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, underscored the theme of ACC-19: “Called to One Hope.” “In a fragmented world, it is important that the church is called by Christ to be one,” Poggo said during the media briefing. In his travels, he sees Anglicans around the world who are active in the faith and doing “wonderful things” in their communities. “It gives me hope,” he said, and he expects those stories will be elevated at the ACC meeting. – David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].

A WACC-supported project led by MEGEIN in Nigeria has raised awareness about women’s digital communication rights to support their online engagement and create safer online spaces.

As Colombia approaches the second round of its presidential elections, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is inviting its member churches and all people of goodwill to pray for peace in the nation. 

Today, CWS highlights the imperative to uphold global commitments to asylum and protection, while honoring the courage of the 41.6 million refugees around the world who have been forced to flee violence and persecution in search of safety.

The post World Refugee Day 2026: Upholding Asylum and Protection appeared first on CWS.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay welcomed the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, and expressed hope that a comprehensive agreement will be negotiated within the ceasefire.

[Church of England] The Church of England has apologized for its role in historical adoption practices, particularly in mother and baby homes. Mothers and adoptees who came into contact with these homes have described the profound and lasting impact of these experiences. Published alongside new research into these homes, the apology recognizes the impact on people affected and sets out the church’s commitment to listening, learning and responding with honesty and compassion. “We are profoundly sorry for the pain, trauma and stigma experienced – and still carried – by many people because of historical adoption practices in homes affiliated to the Church of England,” Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally said. “We have heard first-hand the accounts of mothers who were separated from their babies in circumstances where they had very few meaningful choices. Read the full article.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay strongly condemned actions undertaken by Israeli authorities on 15 June against property belonging to the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Silwan, East Jerusalem. 

[Diocese of Newark] When a lifelong soccer fan who also happens to be an Episcopal priest volunteers as a host city ambassador for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it should surprise no one that he sees the role as a ministry. In each of the tournament’s 16 host cities, ambassadors work in small teams, welcoming visitors, answering questions, handing out stickers and other World Cup-branded items, and creating a hospitable environment for fans from around the world. The Rev. Asa David Coulson, rector of Grace Church in Nutley, signed up for 10 shifts of seven to eight hours each, serving both in New York City and at New Jersey locations such as the Hoboken NJ Transit Terminal, where he greets fans traveling to matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. He sees it as a blend of his religious calling and his favorite sport. “Talking with my peers who are on my team, almost all of us are doing it because we think it’s very important right now for people in the United States, as citizens, to be hospitable, to kind of counterbalance some of the inhospitality that’s happening,” Coulson said. “Everyone who I’ve talked to about that has said that same sort of thing, that, ‘I just wanted to make sure that people knew they were welcome here,’ because we all had a fear that maybe people wouldn’t feel welcomed.” Coulson says he has been a soccer fan “forever.” “I played through high school, and then I wasn’t good enough in college,” he said. “I’m a season ticket holder for the Philadelphia Union, to the chagrin of the Red Bulls fans in the congregation, I’m sure. I’m also an official supporter of the U.S. national teams, both men’s and women’s, and I have a British Premier League team that I like too. “I also like LEGO quite a bit,” he continued, “and they made sets for the World Cup, and I have some of those that I’m putting together when I’m watching matches. “So, yeah, you could say I’m a little bit of a soccer fan.” Coulson first got the idea to volunteer at the World Cup while watching the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. “I noticed they had volunteers, right? And so because I knew the World Cup was coming, and I like soccer, I googled how to do that, and I found the host committee and applied, so that’s how I started the process.” The process of being selected as a host city ambassador was long and thorough, including in-person interviews, multiple training sessions both in-person and online, and a background check. Of roughly a million applicants across all host cities, about 65,000 were selected. “There was a lot of pre-work for almost six months prior to the tournament starting,” Coulson said. “You had to be willing to do it and dedicated to completing your online modules and going into the city.” Read the full article here.