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 folks in North Carolina who want to make it harder rather than easier for people to vote – a category that features top officials of the state Republican Party […]
Early in my tenure as the Executive Director of the NC Council of Churches, I needed a pithy answer to the question: “What do you do?” I honed the response: […]
Immigration is one of the most important issues in the 2016 presidential race, as it has been in previous election cycles. Debates about our response to immigrants and refugees coming […]
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 […]
Even for ardent voting rights advocates, there’s little comfort to be gained from a federal appeals court’s finding that the N.C. General Assembly engaged in a multifaceted scheme to discriminate […]
If you’ve ever wondered how it feels to live the adage, “two steps forward, one step back,” welcome to North Carolina. We’re having a 2-step forward celebration after three long […]
The N.C. General Assembly’s 2016 regular session, which drew to a sudden close on July 1, will be remembered as much for what didn’t happen as for what did – […]
“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 […]
This past week has been filled with what feels like a continuous barrage of tragic news: the shootings in Orlando and subsequent lack of gun control measures by Congress, World […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
After Sunday morning, no one can dispute we are under attack. The real attack, however, is not the one involving assault rifles like the ArmaLite Rifle – 15 (Yes, I […]
In the coming days, there will be many questions about the who and why of the devastating tragedy in Orlando. What is not in question is how. Another hate-filled rampage […]
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, […]
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 […]
Take heart, fair-minded North Carolinians. The state’s not-always-pristine but still vaguely operative image as a place where “the weak grow strong and the strong grow great” is in the process […]
A federal judge’s ruling that upholds changes in North Carolina election laws, despite their effect of making it harder for some citizens to vote, seems to rest on his conclusion […]
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, […]
Remarks from an April 19 press conference in opposition to HB2. There are lots of ways to read the Bible. Some of us read it like a self-help manual; not […]
On this Earth Day 2016, let us celebrate that the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has left out the mid-Atlantic region from its final draft proposal for new […]
Here’s a funny thing about House Bill 2, the “bathroom bill” (now law) that’s causing North Carolina so much grief: The Charlotte ordinance that the General Assembly was in such […]
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 […]
This week, NC Interfaith Power & Light joined 120 religious traditions and organizations across the nation representing tens of millions of Americans – including the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Jewish […]
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 […]
Remarks delivered on March 30 by Volunteer Program Associate Sandy Irving at the Raleigh public hearing on Medicaid reform. As Medicaid reform is being planned, please consider including Medicaid expansion […]
Yes, it was a pretty neat trick — one bill that manages to expose many vulnerable North Carolinians to unfair, hurtful treatment, that threatens to put a dent in the […]
Almost 24 years ago, leaders of the North Carolina Council of Churches approved a policy statement opposing discrimination against beloved children of God based on their sexuality. Progress has been […]
Remarks offered at the March 9, 2016 Vigil on Breaking the Silence on Torture co-sponsored with NC Stop Torture Now and the Movement to End Racism and Islamophobia. Every year, […]
After a panel of federal judges threw out North Carolina’s congressional district map because it trampled the rights of African-American voters, the General Assembly followed orders and redrew the map. […]
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 […]
After a five-year exercise in seeking to put a lasting stamp on North Carolina government and policy, the General Assembly’s majority Republicans have provoked a parade of lawsuits challenging a […]
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; […]
It was just one little comment, perhaps ventured with the flicker of a wry smile. But we can doubt that Tom Farr saw the humor in being ribbed by a […]
The ongoing legal challenge to North Carolina’s voter ID rule, now playing out before a federal judge in Winston-Salem, could end up reminding us that it’s not the job of […]
Were you watching? This week President Obama gave his final State of the Union speech. He touted the success of the Paris conference in bringing 195 countries together to agree […]
Few of the decisions made by the men and women of our General Assembly are so prone to self-serving, partisan abuse as the setting of boundaries for voting districts. When […]
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 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all […]
Excerpted from In Those Days and In These, an Advent Devotional Guide from the NC Council of Churches In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a […]
In the game of bridge, when a trump card is played to win a trick, that’s known as a ruff. In the game of politics, when Donald Trump uses tricks […]
Dozens of people gathered at Durham’s Judea Reform Congregation on the evening of December 10 to mark lives lost or forever changed by gun violence. Speakers shared personal stories and held […]
December 10, 7 p.m. Judea Reform Congregation 1933 West Cornwallis Road, Durham The NC Council of Churches, partnering with North Carolinians Against Gun Violence and the League of Women Voters, […]
The following are remarks offered by Executive Director Jennifer Copeland at a press conference announcing a collaborative voter registration drive that will extend into February. Eighty years ago, faith leaders of […]
Excerpted from In Those Days and In These, an Advent Devotional Guide from the NC Council of Churches Jesus said, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and […]
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 […]
Photo by I. Prickett, UNHCR Against the toxic brew of fear and political opportunism that has enveloped America’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis stand principles of compassion and common […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Here we go again. The intersection between faith and politics has been a complicated one all the way back to the passage of the […]
The notably dapper Thom Goolsby, member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, made a mark of sorts with his put-down of the NAACP-led Moral Monday protest movement […]
The following was originally presented as part of an NAACP panel discussion on October 8. The givens in the title are: We are pursuing justice. We want to pursue justice […]
The senators and representatives who make up North Carolina’s General Assembly let their 2015 session run on far longer than it should have. Let’s be glad that the curtain has […]
In the final hours of the 2015 legislative session, the NC House of Representatives passed House Bill 318, a measure that would prohibit communities from being so-called “sanctuaries” for people living […]
Pope Francis has been an outspoken leader about the need to welcome immigrants and refugees in our communities. This past Thursday, he continued his positive track record of expressing compassion […]
These closing weeks, or days, of the General Assembly’s session are sometimes known as the silly season, when weirdness is the watchword at the maze-like Legislative Building on Raleigh’s Jones […]
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 […]
North Carolina has two legislative bodies, the 120-member House of Representatives and the 50-member Senate. They’re set up to be equal in power, although it could be said that the […]
A recent article in Raleigh’s News and Observer focused on the F-35 jet. The American Friends Service Committee calls this weapon system the “plane that ate the budget” and puts […]
Regarding the state of affairs within the N.C. General Assembly these days, one little set of numbers tells a big story: 112-0. That was the margin by which the House […]
We celebrate today’s Supreme Court ruling with our gay brothers and sisters who wish to marry and have their marriages recognized nationwide, with denominations and congregations that have authorized and […]
By Wayde Marsh, Duke Divinity School Intern “[Pope] Francis almost makes me want to convert to Catholicism.” This is the sentiment generally expressed by many of my colleagues at Duke […]
The North Carolina Council of Churches celebrates today’s Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act. For decades, the Council has supported universal health care, and while the current version […]
By Wayde Marsh, Duke Divinity School Intern On my way to work one day last week, I listened to WUNC as I usually do. I heard a lot about the […]
By Wayde Marsh, Duke Divinity School Intern “Islamophobia doesn’t just affect Muslims, it affects a broad range of people,” began Manzoor Cheema, a leader of Muslims for Social Justice and […]
By Wayde Marsh, Duke Divinity School Intern Storytelling is a central piece of community organizing because through it you offer your listener a way into your life in an organized […]
Gov. Pat McCrory tried to warn his fellow Republicans who call the tunes in the General Assembly. The rule of law was at stake, McCrory said, and the state would […]
By Wayde Marsh, Duke Divinity School Intern This past Tuesday, more than 200 people celebrated the career of NC Council of Churches Executive Director George Reed before his retirement at […]
For a boatload of lofty, noble and wise sentiments, look no farther than the opening fanfares of Chapter 113A, Article 1, N.C. General Statutes. The reference is to a law […]
Let’s admit it – we were fooled. We never realized that the N.C. House of Representatives, with Republicans firmly in charge, was a nest of liberals. At least that must […]
The rooster crowed. The sun came up. The rooster puffed his feathered chest as he beheld his magnificent handiwork. Phil Berger led the state Senate in cutting taxes. Revenues nudged […]
The last person to be put to death by the State of North Carolina – in other words, put to death on behalf of all of us who live here […]
Faced with darkness at home and abroad, may we do what we can to bring peace and ease. In both Nepal and Baltimore, lives have been lost tragically. Let us […]
A few weeks ago, The News & Observer published an article entitled “Many NC workers’ death go uncounted,” describing how often workplace deaths in North Carolina are uninvestigated, undocumented, and […]
The Council of Churches’ Legislative Seminar – its top-profile public event of the year – is meant to inform, and it’s meant to inspire. We’re not too bashful to say […]
Since taking veto-proof control of the NC General Assembly in the elections of 2012, members of the Republican majority have labored diligently to fix what they’ve regarded as a broken […]
Discussions in recent days of so-called religious freedom bills in Indiana, Arkansas, and now North Carolina raise issues – both legal and pastoral – which the NC Council of Churches […]
“Racial gerrymandering strikes at the heart of our democratic process, undermining the electorate’s confidence in its government as representative of a cohesive body politic in which all citizens are equal […]
Call it an exercise in futility? Well, no. There may not be a chance in the world that the General Assembly’s Republican chiefs will let the latest proposal to expand […]
Lots of us will have our attention focused on taxes over the next couple of weeks. This focus provides a unique opportunity for faith communities to help North Carolinians make […]
The mission of the NC Council of Churches extends into many areas that highlight the links between faith and public policies. And of the various events and activities sponsored by […]
The Council’s 2015 Legislative Seminar is about a month away, and we have an exciting program of preachers, workshops, and presenters planned. If you’ve already registered to be with us, […]
Join us on April 14 at Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary for the Council’s 2015 Legislative Seminar. Held every two years, the Seminar equips people of faith with the […]
It’s easy to imagine what the conservative Republicans who rule North Carolina’s legislative roost were thinking: “Here we’ve gone to all the trouble to take control of the General Assembly. […]
Our faiths call us to work for justice and show compassion for the “least of these.” Justice issues can also make such good economic sense that we cannot afford not […]
People of faith with Council connections have spoken out strongly on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on torture, calling for transparency. In particular, two recent opinion pieces call on Senator Richard Burr, […]
Our friends at NC Stop Torture Now are organizing a call-in to the offices of Sen. Richard Burr for Friday, February 6. Now that he is head of the Senate […]
This year’s summit will focus on issues affecting children and youth coming to our state from Central America. Rev. Julio Ramirez-Eve will preach during opening worship and music will be […]
When you think of hunger in our state — where one in four children lives in a food insecure family — we wonder what Jesus would have us do to “give […]
Education has been of central importance to the NC Council of Churches throughout our history. Part of our opposition to segregation was support for a fully integrated public school system. […]
Now that Epiphany is over, we are looking back on Advent and Christmas, and remembering our celebrations — special time with family, special foods or gifts. An article in the […]
Of the many decisions and activities that unfold in the arena of public affairs, the ones that tend to show up on the NC Council of Churches’ radar are those […]
On November 20, President Obama announced that his administration will make changes to immigration policy through an administrative relief program. This will include changing removal priorities, expanding Deferred Action for […]
