For several years now, the North Carolina Council of Churches has gathered with our colleagues and friends to stand with the families and friends of those who died on the […]
A group of Protestant churches in North Carolina has filed an amicus brief supporting a gay plaintiff’s Title VII claim against the Catholic school that fired him in 2014, according to Law360. Lonnie […]
The annual HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) Moral March and People’s Assembly 2021 is happening virtually and online this year. Due to Covid, we cannot gather on Fayetteville Street, but there […]
In 2017, womxn and allies around the globe collectively rose up to stand against the threat to womxn’s and human rights everywhere. We marched, organized, called voters, wrote to our elected […]
During both the pre- and post-Civil War eras, lynching was used with impunity by patrols of KKK members to intimidate, terrorize, incarcerate and kill black people. Then as now, unpunished […]
Approved unanimously on June 4, 2019 by the Governing Board of the North Carolina Council of Churches. In response to recent ecclesial decisions that directly affect people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, […]
The Liberating Theologies conference is a one-day experience exploring varying theologies with an emphasis on liberation and inclusion for the oppressed and marginalized. This event is for you if you […]
The Liberating Theologies conference is a one-day experience exploring varying theologies with an emphasis on liberation and inclusion for the oppressed and marginalized. North Carolina has been a political, social […]
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 […]
Black History month is North Carolina Council of Churches’ history starting in 1935 because our history is founded on the black experience as seen through the eyes of the white […]
On April 26, 1865, my great-great-grandfather was camped a mere five miles from where I now live in Durham, NC. He was from the upstate of South Carolina, as am […]
Five years ago, President Obama created the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program to enable young people brought to this country as children to come out of the shadows […]
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 […]
Wednesday’s federal-policy-by-tweet announcement that children of God who are transgender could no longer serve in the military may have distracted attention from another action by the federal government. The Department […]
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 […]
We were delighted to meet many of you at the Wild Goose Festival last week. Council staff members enjoyed spending time with friends from across the country, hearing your stories, […]
With so many issues confronting us, our nation’s involvement in acts of torture is fading from the public’s priorities for concern. Five years and $40 million in the making, the […]
“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 […]
For at least the next month, drivers along I-40 West between Statesville and Hickory will see an important reminder of God’s directive to be a welcoming presence to the most […]
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 Republicans who took control of North Carolina’s General Assembly with the elections of 2010 were, it could be said, licking their chops. They knew that when they came to […]
UPDATE In separate, party-line votes on June 8, the state House and Senate rejected Gov. Cooper’s attempt to convene a special session for the purpose of redrawing legislative voting districts. […]
Photo courtesy of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. Under President Trump’s recent executive orders, many people’s lives have changed, especially the lives of those who have come to North Carolina […]
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 […]
We were already living in a time of profound consequence. President Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement means that while the needs of our endangered climate are increasing, […]
As followers of the Prince of Peace, Christians are not always particularly peaceful people, which is what makes North Carolina’s return to the national stage as a foothold for intolerance […]
Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court affirms what many in North Carolina knew – the state’s congressional districts were deliberately drawn in 2011 to mute the voices of minority […]
Multi-faith pilgrims on a moral high road unified to honor God’s creation at the Peoples Climate March last month on the National Mall. The event, which came as a crescendo […]
If you’re part of the Christian tradition then you have probably heard the story of the good Samaritan more times than you can count. A man is traveling along a […]
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee of the North Carolina General Assembly discussed SB 145, an anti-immigrant bill that would expand the 287g program, thereby allowing local law enforcement to […]
In the final hours of the first day of the Triduum, these intense three days when Christians rehearse the events between Maundy Thursday and the Easter Vigil, the juxtaposition of […]
Sermon preached by the Rev. Jennifer Copeland on April 1, 2017 at First United Methodist Church, Mocksville for the Western North Carolina Conference United Methodist Women’s Legislative Day. For God’s […]
Call it a head-on collision between politics and principle. Is anyone surprised that politics prevailed? Yet here’s the twist that perhaps makes the outcome somewhat understandable, if no less regrettable. […]
This week, Donald Trump issued an executive order to turn back the clock on the climate progress we have made over the past decade. In addition to directing the EPA to […]
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 […]
They might not care for the image, but Republican members of the N.C. General Assembly act as though they were drunk with power. They have the votes not merely to […]
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 […]
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 […]
Did you miss our webinar, ““Loving Our Neighbors in a New Administration?” If so, please watch the one-hour video below to learn ways to protect immigrants and refugees in the […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director I came to North Carolina in 1978 to work with the Baptist State Convention after completing a law degree and becoming a member of […]
President Trump’s recent executive actions impacting refugees and immigrants have faithful people increasingly interested in how they might support our sisters and brothers being impacted. Court decisions have offered a […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director As the legislative session continues, there’s been a marked increase in the number of bills being introduced. Here are summaries of several which will […]
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 […]
Last in a series of three blogs. Above all, these strangers bring to us the Christ. When we welcome a stranger we welcome Jesus, and when we welcome Jesus we […]
Compared with some of the provocatively, even outrageously unsuited people whom President Trump has chosen for high office, Neil Gorsuch barely moves the needle. But that’s not to say Americans […]
For more than 80 years the NC Council of Churches has stood for essential human rights and common decency grounded in the Gospel imperative to “love God and love neighbor.” […]
This Sunday’s Gospel reading was the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:1-12. Jesus says blessed nine times, but he never says blocked or banned. When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the […]
The Council has had a busy weekend. Much of the staff was helping with the Beyond Gun Violence Conference at United Church of Chapel Hill, but we also had folks […]
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 […]
First in a series of three blogs. God calls people of faith to remember that they once were strangers in a strange land and they must, must welcome the stranger […]
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 […]
Pizazz. Laughter. Friends. Singing. These words describe the Healthy Churches 2020 National Conference. But, did you know that a faith and health national conference even exists? Healthy Churches 2020 held […]
Excerpts from Dr. King’s remarks delivered on May 14, 1963 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, Ohio. The American dream reminds us that every man is the heir of […]
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 […]
Two of the Partners in Health and Wholeness program’s regional coordinators have been honored recently. Joy Williams has been named a 2017 Rural Health Fellow by the National Rural Health […]
As we watched the egregiously unqualified Donald Trump campaign for and win election to the White House, any good news on the government and politics front was likely to be […]
Excerpted from How Will We Welcome the Prince of Peace? An Advent Guide for Lectionary Year A from the NC Council of Churches. Now after they had left, an angel […]
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 […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Updated December 21, 9:50 p.m. Special Session #5 of the General Assembly adjourned this evening without passing anything. The Senate moved first. But the […]
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, […]
I recently heard the song, “Sweet Little Jesus Boy” for the first time in a beautiful recording by Straight No Chaser. For days the lines, “We didn’t know who you […]
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 […]
Today when I logged onto Facebook, among all the heartbreaking news in our world (some from credible sources, others questionable), I was taken with a graphic shared by Hacking Christianity, a blog […]
Earlier this month, the North Carolina Conference hosted its annual Pilgrimage event, a time when several thousand middle and high school students come together for a weekend to hear from […]
Almost 400 years ago, in what is now Massachusetts, a group of newly arrived immigrants from Europe received lifesaving hospitality from a group of indigenous Americans. Tomorrow, we celebrate and […]
On the weekend of December 2-4, the Council has called on NC faith leaders to shape their worship service around the theme “Love One Another.” On the same weekend, we […]
The North Carolina Council of Churches is calling on people of faith and leaders of the faith communities across NC to shape their worship services the weekend of December 2-4 […]
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 […]
As the 2016 campaign season grinds along the final stretch toward Election Day on Nov. 8 – and with thousands of North Carolinians already having cast their ballots – we […]
We are “sore afraid.” But not like the shepherds in the hills around Bethlehem on the night angels proclaimed the birth of Jesus. The angels assuaged their fears with Good News […]
Who can blame North Carolina’s restaurant and hotel operators for wishing the whole House Bill 2 controversy would just vanish into thin air, as if it had never existed? They’d […]
When ultra-visible organizations with major economic leverage press for political change, sometimes the right thing to do is to tell them to take the proverbial long walk off a short […]
The impacts of climate variability and change affect everyone, but they disproportionately affect vulnerable populations with the least resources to prepare and recover from the damage. Understanding where these concerns […]
The Republican Party developed a national strategy to seize and hold legislative power, and in North Carolina executed it with relentless precision. Six years into that process, however, the adverse […]
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 […]
There was a time, back in the range of 2008, when Pat McCrory looked as though he probably would do a pretty good job if elected as North Carolina’s governor. […]
Today, June 20, is World Refugee Day, a day when people all over the world celebrate the courage, strength and resiliency of our neighbors who were forced to flee their home […]
By Fady Hanna, Duke Divinity School Intern The tragic mass murder in Orlando this past weekend is yet another reminder of the challenges that we as Americans must rise to […]
Let’s face it. We, that would be all of us who proudly claim the title of American, must do more to forestall the situations and grievances and opportunities that can […]
At the beginning of 2016, ICE (Immigration and Custom Enforcement) stepped up deportations of undocumented Central Americans in North Carolina. Last week it was announced that another wave of deportations […]
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 Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman delivered the sermon during worship at the Council’s 2016 Critical Issues Seminar on Race, Power, and Privilege. Video of his extraordinary message is below: […]
Tuesday, May 17 Noon At the beginning of 2016, ICE (Immigration and Custom Enforcement) stepped up deportations of undocumented Central Americans in North Carolina. Now is the time for faith […]
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 […]
The Council is joining EqualityNC and the Equality Federation to bring noted Christian ethicist David Gushee to Durham on April 24 to speak about Christian ethics and the recently passed House […]
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 […]
