My faith tradition professes that our worth is in our faces because our faces look like God’s face. We are created in the Image of God, making each human face […]
This August and September, NCIPL will host an eight-week forum series detailing the important issues facing us this election. These events will highlight our voter reflection guide, feature expert speakers, […]
Introduced Bills CRIMINAL JUSTICE HB 834 – Ban the Box would prohibit the state from asking a job applicant about his/her criminal history until that applicant had been selected for […]
INTRODUCED BILLS CRIMINAL JUSTICEHB 781 – Limitations on Use of Solitary Confinementactually contains several items related to prisons: Solitary confinement couldn’t be used for inmates with serious mental illness unless […]
INTRODUCED BILLS CRIMINAL JUSTICE/PRISON REFORM HB 460/SB 545 – Fair Chance Hiring would require state agencies to reduce barriers to hiring people with a criminal history. Specific provisions include: Prohibits […]
INTRODUCED BILLS GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION With the passing last month of the first anniversary of the shooting deaths of 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, the […]
INTRODUCED BILLS ECONOMIC JUSTICE HB 46 – Economic Security Act of 2019HB 46 is a collection of issues long of concern to workers and worker advocates. Specific provisions would: Increase […]
When the news reporter approached me, I was milling about in the grass, adjusting my pastoral stole, preparing to be present with some of our local teachers at a press […]
Join the Council and Raising Wages NC for a statewide lobby day at the North Carolina General Assembly. Make your voice heard by encouraging your representatives to support a raise […]
Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbors work for nothing and does not give them their wages. Jeremiah […]
Sermon originally delivered at the Jack Crum Conference at Highlands United Methodist Church in Raleigh on Saturday, April 21. The primary text was Isaiah 55:1-9. My parents have an amazing […]
2018 is shaping up to the be the Year of the Woman. From the halls of government to stages and theaters from coast to coast, from marches and protest to […]
The NC Council of Churches’ 2018 Critical Issues Seminar will focus on women. The theme for this daylong event is “The Wisdom of Women” and will cover topics such as […]
Originally appeared in the Durham Herald and signed by both Larry Hall, Secretary of the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director of the NC […]
Jesus had a lot to say about money, possessions, care for those who are impoverished, and care for those whose bodies are hungry or sick. And those things he said […]
With Republicans on Capitol Hill and in the White House desperate to post a big legislative win, their push for so-called tax reform – the label being used to sugar-coat […]
The optics, as they say, are terrible. But in a state whose motto is “To Be Rather Than to Seem,” it’s even more important to look at the substance. And […]
The Council is partnering with Raise the Wage NC to encourage faith communities to hold a Labor Sabbath this Labor Day weekend, September 1-3. Faith leaders can adapt their holy […]
More than 10,000 individuals and 50 organizations have signed a petition asking Governor Cooper to revoke the world’s largest wood pellet manufacturer’s flawed air quality permit in Richmond County. At […]
Yesterday, the Senate unveiled a revised version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act. According to a report from our friends at the North Carolina Justice Center the changes, and their […]
Just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus […]
It is becoming a national trend for politicians to “divide and conquer” by attacking the wind industry while supporting other forms of clean energy. This is fracturing the renewable energy community as folks […]
“Biomass” may sound like a clean idea, but it actually means cutting down and turning trees into fuel pellets to be burned for energy — creating more carbon pollution than […]
Presented with a new state budget that, whatever its occasional virtues, is mainly about easing tax burdens on the well-off while grinding opponents of legislative Republicans into the dirt, Democratic […]
Late yesterday afternoon the Congressional Budget Office released their score of the Senate’s proposed health care plan and the numbers are extremely troubling. As our friends at the North Carolina […]
I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit Cuba on two occasions: the first in 2000 on a mission trip with a Baptist church and the second last September […]
Members of the United States Senate have released their proposed health care plan, all 142 pages of the “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017” developed in secrecy, with a score […]
By now the strategy is familiar – the strategy used by the N.C. General Assembly’s Republican chiefs to try to make a fundamentally flawed state budget appear, well, not that […]
The General Assembly leaders meeting to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget are working with two deeply flawed proposals. As our friend Chris Fitzsimon at […]
A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I headed north for my sister’s graduation. Being only a few hours away from Niagara Falls at that point, we decided to […]
For more than two decades, the NC Council of Churches has called for access to health care for all. The score from the Congressional Budget Office makes it undeniably clear […]
Plenty of analysis is already happening around the 2018 budget proposal out of the White House. The Washington Post provides two helpful graphics here and here. More is being written […]
So, the question as always comes down to one of vision. The elected chieftains who decide how much money North Carolina’s state government will spend, what it will be spent […]
Remarks delivered at the Workers’ Memorial, April 28, at the Old Capitol Building, Raleigh Micah 7:1-4, 6:8 God has always had a preferential option for the marginalized and the down […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [The deadlines for the introduction of most new bills have now passed, and we are in Crossover Week. By the end of the week, […]
How many times do we have to say it? Well, it’s worth repeating – especially in the aftermath of recent income tax filing deadlines, when the subject becomes a sore […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [For the latest committee referrals and re-referrals, go to the General Assembly website www.ncleg.net. There you can also find the texts of bills, procedural […]
In this Easter season of the Christian church, we have just celebrated Resurrection Sunday and the joy we feel that Jesus overcame death. However, my preacher, the Rev. Betty Connette […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills BUDGET AND TAXES H 540, Teachers & State Employees Pay Raise, would give annual raises of $2,400 to teachers and other […]
North Carolina’s failure under Republican leadership to improve low-income residents’ access to health care via the Medicaid program has been like a persistent, throbbing pain in the state’s civic and […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Bills are being introduced at a rapid pace as the Senate’s deadline for new bills has passed and the House’s deadline on non-money approaches. […]
Every state legislator should be required to listen to the stories shared at a press conference organized this week by North Carolina advocates for health care. Anyone opposed to Medicaid […]
For those who could not be with us at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Raleigh, video from portions of the day is available on our Facebook page. The morning […]
Thank you to those who have registered for the 2017 Legislative Seminar. We are looking forward to having you join us this Monday, March 27, at St. Mark’s United Methodist […]
Thank you for every call, email, and letter to Congressional leaders that led to today’s decision to pull the American Health Care Act without a vote. Those committed to a […]
The budget blueprint for 2018 released by President Trump on Thursday cuts a wide swath through programs that serve women, people of color, those of low income (for poor women […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills CRIMINAL AND JUVENILE JUSTICE H 233, Ban the Box, would govern how state and local governments could use criminal histories in […]
Around the release of the alt-health plan currently making its way through Congress, several elected leaders have gone where elected leaders sometimes go – blaming the poor for being poor. […]
Remarks delivered by Executive Director Jennifer Copeland at a press conference on fair wages on March 8, 2017. Today is a day without women. Across the world women have been […]
Despite evidence that the Affordable Care Act is more popular and more needed than ever, some Republicans in Congress have proceeded with partisan plans to repeal Obamacare while dismantling Medicaid […]
The political situation at the national level has occupied the time and attention of many faithful progressives. Each day has brought with it more reasons to be concerned for our […]
The fight over North Carolina’s House Bill 2 – the law that notoriously stamps the state’s seal of approval on discrimination against lesbian, gay and transgender folks – has devolved […]
Remarks delivered by Executive Director Jennifer Copeland at HKonJ 2017. Picture this on the marquee in front of your favorite house of worship: Pulpit for Sale! For the right price […]
Sometimes God whispers. Whether through hymns or homilies or kids dancing their way down the aisle to children’s chapel. Sometimes God shouts. Through the amplified suffering of others, known or […]
Second in a series of three blogs. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2) The idea […]
Our friend Rob Schofield over at Policy Watch wrote a column on Tuesday that was as vitally important in its truth-telling as it was hard to read for the future […]
At another time in my life, I would not have spent most of Saturday occupying my tiny square of personal space in the heart of Washington DC, literally shoulder to […]
Dear Mr. Trump, You ARE my president. I did not vote for you, but you were elected, and that makes you my president because I am a citizen of these […]
Groups at the state and national level continue to mobilize around concerns about President-Elect Donald Trump’s stated policy objectives and choices for cabinet posts. The NC NAACP, Interfaith Power & […]
St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Durham and the NC Council of Churches invite you to join us for a brief service to pray for justice and reconciliation in our nation […]
Looking ahead to 2017, there is much more work for the Council to do than we ever imagined. Please join us. Your financial support helps us continue what began in […]
We are living in unsettling times. Progress we once thought inviolable now feels threatened. One constant is the NC Council of Churches and our commitment to a more just, united, […]
The response to our sign-on ad was overwhelming and inspired the staff of the Council to create the video below. Clergy who would like to have their names included in […]
Those of us aligned with the Council of Churches share a political outlook whose priorities include equal rights, equal opportunity, environmental stewardship, ample investment in public services and fair allocation […]
The NC Council of Churches has never taken peace for granted. Indeed, along with our work in opposition to violence, there has long been the recognition that peace manifests itself […]
We work toward a church that is all-loving. That’s what we’ve always done and that’s what we’re going to keep doing. Stay connected with the Council to learn about opportunities […]
Many of us have been following with great interest the resistance of Native Americans in North Dakota to the Dakota Access Pipeline. For the crime of defending their lands and […]
By Nina Voli, Duke Divinity School Intern Historically, the celebration of Halloween has its origins in the Celtic festival of Samhain, a pagan commemoration of the end of the harvest […]
Remarks delivered by Executive Director Jennifer Copeland at a press conference with the NC NAACP in Raleigh on October 13. Vote your values is a rallying cry issued early and […]
This sermon was preached on August 6, 2016 at the Church Women United Leadership Conference. Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let […]
Sorry for the sugar-coating, but the state Senate’s attempt to enshrine its preferred tax policies in North Carolina’s constitution is arrogant, presumptuous, wrongheaded and profoundly undemocratic. Who will be penalized […]
“Don’t charge interest when you lend money to any of my people who are in need.” –Exodus 22:25 – Contemporary English Version Payday lending is a debt trap for the […]
There wasn’t a lot to like about what occurred the other day in a state Senate committee. First, legislative rules – notoriously rubberized – were stretched to the point where […]
Why are health care premiums steadily going up? Gallup polls at the end of 2015 found that 74% of Americans say the amount they pay in premiums had gone up […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director of the NC Council of Churches The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote tomorrow afternoon on a proposed constitutional amendment which would solidify […]
Let’s assume the worst, which for the moment would mean that the N.C. Senate’s version of a new state budget sails through to enactment without change or compromise. The sun, […]
Well, did anyone really expect North Carolina’s General Assembly, in finalizing a new state budget, suddenly to see the light and swerve toward more effective, fairer government? The same General […]
The update is compiled on a volunteer basis by George Reed, the Council’s retired executive director. Weekly Update May 25, 2016 (Legislators’ identifications are listed only the first time they […]
The update is compiled on a volunteer basis by George Reed, the Council’s retired executive director. Weekly Update May 17, 2016 The deadline for introduction of most new bills into […]
Worker Memorial Day is April 28, a day when we remember workers who have lost their lives providing goods (buildings, roads, food, clothing, etc) and services (caring for our children, […]
North Carolina’s House Bill 2 – rammed through the General Assembly and signed into law in less than half a day – manages to rope together a herd of provisions […]
Remarks by Jennifer E. Copeland to Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, delivered in Washington, DC, as part of a national coalition to address predatory lending. Representatives […]
Registration for 2016 Critical Issues Seminar workshops is now available online. If you have not yet registered, please use the form below to do so and include your selection for […]
I do not believe that I am the only one who feels a little hopeless right now. Members of the news media bombard us with news of the attack on Brussels, […]
If Donald J. Trump successfully concludes his so-far-dominant push to become this year’s Republican presidential nominee, North Carolinians will have played a role. Some will view that role as a […]
The following was adopted by the Governing Board of the North Carolina Council of Churches at their meeting on March 1. Go here to download the text. As people of […]
It took nine years to get payday lenders out of North Carolina. Now we face a dangerous threat that could set the stage to bring payday lending back to our […]
Join us for the Council’s 2016 Critical Issues Seminar, focused on Race, Power, and Privilege, on Saturday, April 23 at St. Matthew United Methodist Church, 600 East Florida Street, Greensboro. […]
Join the NAACP, NC Council of Churches, and other coalition partners for the Tenth Annual Moral March on Raleigh. Historic Thousands on Jones Street 2016 takes place on Saturday, February 13; […]
A lot of times in the work that we do at the Council we preface our comments, blogs or presentations with the words, “it’s complicated”. The Syrian refugee crisis is […]
For those of us who want to see North Carolina governed with the interests of all its residents in mind – not mainly the interests of the well-off and privileged […]
Excerpted from In Those Days and In These, an Advent Devotional Guide from the NC Council of Churches John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Last week brought the welcome news that Wake County’s commissioners had voted unanimously to raise the county’s lowest-paid workers up to what commissioners calculate […]
Pope Francis has offered us a message encouraging us to actions that reflects a commitment to dignity and respect for all workers. As the Advent season approaches, gift giving becomes […]
Jesus does not care about your latte. Your frappuccino, cappuccino, or mocha, either. At least, he doesn’t care about the cup it is served in and whether it’s branded to […]
Health Care for All NC and the NC Council of Churches have received a grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. The $25,000 grant from the Trust will allow […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director, NC Council of Churches Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, one of the Council’s eight member congregations, has become the first […]
The proverbial elephant labored and, against all hopeful expectations, brought forth a mouse. The “elephants” who run the Republican-controlled General Assembly labored and now have brought forth, if not a […]
When North Carolina legislators by the narrowest of margins 10 years ago approved a state lottery, capping a long debate over the wisdom of state-sponsored gaming, they set aside warnings […]
