Council Voices

Inspired by events 250 years ago, when Boston’s Old North Church signaled the start of Paul Revere’s ride, churches bells across the nation were rung in support of democracy on Friday, Oct. 18. The bells of several Presbyterian churches and those of other denominations across North Carolina were rung as part of an event called […]

RNS) — As churches across the country observe Good Friday, more than 100 congregations will also ring their bells to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Boston Old North Church’s Lantern service, which marks the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. The “Let Freedom Ring!” project, initiated by the Center for Media and Democracy, invites […]

“It’s alright to pray for lawyers. It’s alright to clap for lawyers — even in church.” Rev. Jim Wallis offered that quip as he stood in the pulpit of National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., on Thursday (April 3) during a vigil on the eve of a legal hearing. The next morning, a judge […]

On the eve of Friday’s hearing of a religious freedom lawsuit filed by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and more than two dozen faith partners in response to the recission of the Department of Homeland Security’s “sensitive locations” policy, people of many faiths gathered at National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., for a heartfelt prayer vigil. Watch the 75-minute […]

Fighting the evil of racial injustice requires the energy and improvisational skill of a jazz musician, a minister and leader of faith-based groups in North Carolina told guests at an Episcopal symposium to face and heal racial divides. The Rev. Dr. Hanna Broome, president of the North Carolina Council of Churches, delivered the keynote address […]

As a Baptist youth minister, L.S. is used to kids opening up about their hopes and dreams—and their fears. A Latina girl recently told the youth group she was scared federal immigration officials would detain her father, which sparked a bigger conversation about the cruelties of deportations.  Attendance is down among Latino worshippers at L.S.’s […]

Presidents Day sure hits differently this year. The long weekend is supposed to celebrate the presidency and, in a bigger sense, our country’s long tradition of peacefully transferring power between political parties.  Instead, President Donald Trump kicked off the festivities by comparing himself to French dictator Napoleon and implying his illegal attempt to fire thousands of government employees […]

Three North Carolina faith groups representing 20 denominations and thousands of congregations have sued the Trump administration, saying its decision to send immigration agents into churches and synagogues violates their Constitutional right to religious freedom. The N.C. Council of Churches, based in Raleigh and representing more than 6,000 churches and synagogues across the state; the […]

More than two dozen religious groups, including the North Carolina Council of Churches, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Homeland Security challenging the Trump administration’s reversal of a policy that barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting raids at houses of worship. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., is seeking injunctions […]

Several religious organizations, including Christian and Jewish denominations and conferences, have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s decision to allow immigration enforcement agents to enter houses of worship. In a joint complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the more than two dozen religious bodies argued that allowing raids by […]

More than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security over President Donald Trump’s decision to allow law enforcement raids and arrests in churches and other sensitive locations. “Plaintiffs’ religious scripture, teaching, and traditions offer clear, repeated, and irrefutable unanimity on their obligation to embrace, serve, and defend the refugees, […]

More than two dozen faith groups from a range of religious traditions sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to fight back against a policy that may make immigration raids in churches more common. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims that ICE raids in houses of […]

During Diabetes Awareness month (November) – and every month – someone is having a limb amputated due to diabetes every three-to-four minutes here in the United States. These patients often come from traditionally underserved populations, including Black and Latinx communities, that disproportionately experience the clinical and economic burdens of diabetes.   Getting ahead of rising patient risks can […]

Recruiting participants for a citizen science project produced a more diverse group when people were signed up through partner organizations, such as schools and faith-based organizations, than when they joined on their own. We used this approach to recruit volunteers for Crowd the Tap, a citizen science initiative that crowdsources the locations of lead plumbing in homes. We […]