World Day of Prayer (WDP) is a global ecumenical movement, celebrated in more than 170 countries, led by Christian women who welcome all to join in prayer and action for peace and justice. World Day of Prayer is celebrated annually on the first Friday of March; for 2023 that is today, March 3.
John 20 gives us one of those timeless settings. The disciples had gathered in a house. Doors were locked. Questions were spiraling. The fear was palpable. Jesus had been crucified just a few days prior and the disciples still hadn’t really figured out what their next move should be. So, they sat. Confused. Doing nothing except worry about how the entire world had changed.
Mid-Kentucky Presbytery is one of the 18 national Interfaith Power & Light 2023 Cool Congregations Challenge awarded a $500 runner-up award. The annual contest accepts applications from religious congregations and organizations around the United States doing work to address global warming by reducing their carbon footprint as they create models of sustainability within their communities.
For the first time in 500 years, an ecumenical peace pilgrimage was undertaken earlier this year to South Sudan by Catholic, Anglican and Protestant church leaders. The delegation included Pope Francis; the Most Rev. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury; and the Rt. Rev. Iain Greenshields, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
The tenor of Lent is one of “complicated joy,” according to the Rev. Carlton Johnson, associate director for Theology, Formation & Evangelism for the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
Third Act, whose members are age 60+, is organizing a Day of Action that will give people, regardless of age, an opportunity on March 21 to pressure the “Big Four” banks (Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo) to stop bankrolling the expansion of the fossil fuel industry.
Dozens of white clergy from churches and mid councils, elected officials and other leaders in Lansing, Michigan, recently gathered at Reachout Christian Center Church to apologize to the African American community for slavery and its aftermath. Among the participants was the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, director of the PC(USA)’s Center for the Repair of Historic Harms.
From youth empowerment programs to leadership and family support initiatives, Ciudad Nueva is working hard to enact long-term change in the Rio Grande neighborhood of downtown El Paso, Texas.
To the people on the edge of exile, the prophet Isaiah makes a startling promise: You shall be the ones to repair your world. Of course, the energy of God will be a solid partner. Despite God-energized human efforts, sadly, conditions of exile still exist — joblessness, food scarcity, hopelessness and oppressive racial tension, to name a few.
