It was a sure bet that the Republican majorities in both houses of the General Assembly, working in tandem with a new Republican governor, would seek this year to cut […]
Participating in Moral Monday impressed me with a sense of fraternity and hope in the face of policies and legislation that seem increasingly unjust and discriminatory, besides being detrimental to […]
On Tuesday, June 25, President Obama spoke of our moral obligation to address climate change on behalf of future generations. He has not waited for Congress and we should not […]
North Carolina Republican leaders who were waiting for a signal from the U.S. Supreme Court to forge ahead with a photo ID law for voters have gotten their wish. Sadly, […]
Upwards of 70,000 jobless North Carolinians are about to see their finances go from bad to worse as they lose their unemployment benefits. Those are the benefits that can help […]
NCCC Volunteer Program Associate Sandy Irving was arrested at the June 24 Moral Monday. Thirty-five years ago today, I became a mother—and in these last 35 years, I’ve spent a […]
North Carolina’s state government leaders will make some heavy-duty decisions over the next few days. A new state budget is supposed to be in place by July 1, and the […]
David LaMotte, the Council’s Consultant for Peace, celebrated Father’s Day last Sunday with his four-year-old son and 82-year-old dad. David then traveled to Raleigh with his father so that the […]
“Outside agitators.” The very term reminds those of us of a certain age of the Civil Rights Movement, when anybody coming from outside the South to suggest that the South’s […]
A funny thing happened to House Bill 998, the Tax Simplification and Reduction Act, on its way through the state Senate. It got simplified. House Republicans had approved the bill […]
While the U.S. does not condone torture, it has become clear that torture has been done by our citizens and in our name. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) […]
http://youtu.be/76z_kJURad4 Bishop Tonyia Rawls, a member of the NC Council of Churches Governing Board and founding pastor of the Unity Fellowship Church Charlotte, speaks powerfully in this video about why […]
Faith leaders from across the state and from different traditions continue to speak out in support of Moral Mondays, the weekly NC NAACP-led demonstrations in Raleigh. Within days of each […]
“Moral Monday” demonstrators at the General Assembly bring a wide range of grievances. They charge the legislature’s Republican majorities with failing to uphold the interests of North Carolinians who count […]
A brief summary of significant points in the Senate budget with additional commentary by Steve Ford.
A group of clergy members is working to mobilize 1,000 of their colleagues to gather at Raleigh’s Bicentennial Mall on Monday, June 10 at 5 p.m. and raise their voices […]
The Coalition on Human Needs is sharing sequester impacts and challenging people of faith to raise their voices for the less fortunate. Real cuts are harming our most vulnerable children. We […]
The North Carolina NAACP, building on four weeks of Moral Monday demonstrations, has launched a 25-city statewide tour reaching from Elizabeth City to Hendersonville. The Forward Together Movement Local Organizing […]
For all the Christian emphasis on forgiveness and redemption, many if not most churchgoers likely are comfortable with the old maxim, “Do the crime, do the time.” Law-breaking has its […]
The North Carolina General Assembly has no more critical task than enacting budgets that set state government’s scope and mission – programs to serve the public that must be financed […]
Moral Mondays continue (though they will take the day off on Memorial Day). This week’s protest had the largest number of participants (around 600) and of people taking part in […]
We can’t go about our business as a society without messing up the environment to some degree. The challenge is to keep that damage to a minimum, ideally through steps […]
All people affected by this week’s devastating storms, particularly those in Moore, Oklahoma, need our prayers. In addition, donations can be made to organizations providing assistance, including denominational relief agencies, […]
Faith leaders in Asheville are adding their voices to those outraged by the actions of NC legislators. Rev. Joe Hoffman, pastor of First Congregational United Church of Christ and an […]
Pediatrician and author Perri Klass has written a powerful essay on childhood poverty as a disease. She writes in part: Toxic stress is the heavy hand of early poverty, scripting […]
As many of you already know, Rev. William Barber and the state NAACP are organizing weekly protests at the General Assembly, voicing opposition to the direction our state is being […]
The Rev. Joseph Brown, Sr. is Presiding Elder, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. He is a former Council president and a past recipient of the Council’s Distinguished Service Award. Rev. […]
Tune in as George Reed, our Executive Director here at the NC Council of Churches, explains the legislative process in North Carolina. How can “ordinary citizens” get involved? What strategies can we use to be as effective as possible? Listen as George crams 25 years of experience into one jam-packed hour.
House Bills Senate Bills Notable Quotes Arizona-like Immigration Bill Introduced In the wake of failed attempts by Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, states and localities have increased their own […]
A leader against economic injustice and two longtime advocates on the Council’s board have received the North Carolina Council of Churches’ highest honors.
Gene Nichol received the Faith Active in Public Life Award. Barbara Volk and Sydnor Thompson II were recognized with Distinguished Service awards. All three were presented at the Council’s 2013 Legislative Seminar which took place April 11 at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Raleigh.
Speaking to 200 social justice advocates, Gene Nichol delivered a powerful luncheon address at the Council’s 2013 Legislative Seminar held April 11 at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Raleigh. […]
The Council’s 2013 Legislative Seminar on April 11 featured a workshop about voting rights. It was provided by Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina, a group that advocates for voting rights and for proper safeguards against the influence of self-serving special interests in the political system.
The debate over whether voters should have to show a photo ID has raged from state to state, with backers saying such IDs are needed to combat voter fraud.
Nobody wants to see even one vote cast illegally, and it’s true that most voters already have photo IDs. However, those who don’t have them tend to be among society’s vulnerable.
In keeping with its mission of supporting peace, unity and social justice, the Council recently has signed on to three letters involving issues being addressed at the federal level. We […]
It has been a difficult week for anyone who lives from a place of compassion. For people of faith who believe in a kind and loving God and who may […]
Many of you who attended the 2013 Legislative Seminar expressed an interest in having portions of the day available online, and we have started that process. Audio from the Rev. […]
There’s no telling how the tax cookies will crumble by the time the 2013 General Assembly closes shop. But chief bakers in both the House and Senate seem intent on […]
A misguided push in the General Assembly to get capital punishment back on track is generating a well-deserved pushback. People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, a group that for […]
The National Council of Churches, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and others are sponsoring an Interfaith Call-in Day to ensure that the voices of faithful Americans are heard throughout […]
Next week, the United States Senate is expected to take up legislation intended to curb gun violence. Given recent mass atrocities at the hands of gunmen along with the daily loss […]
In 2008, the Council co-sponsored an event called Jesus for President, which took place at First Baptist Church on Wilmington Street in downtown Raleigh. About 500 twenty-somethings came together to […]
On March 23, the Affordable Care Act celebrated its third anniversary. The North Carolina Council of Churches has long supported universal health care, and we remain committed to that goal […]
Gun bills that extend the availability and use of guns flood the General Assembly.
Our state and nation are in a time of civil discord. My own preacher, the Rev. Betty Connette, challenged us a few weeks ago to be Citizens of Heaven and to […]
The folks at North Carolinians Against Gun Violence have called House Bill 17 a “Recipe for Disaster.” That about sums it up. This is the bill that would allow anyone […]
If ending gun violence were easy, nightmares like Sandy Hook would never happen. Young lives would not end on urban streets in a hail of bullets. We wouldn’t need to parse the […]
As you probably know, the Voting Rights Act is being challenged in the US Supreme Court, and General Assembly leaders in Raleigh are renewing their push to pass laws that […]
There will be no more important and overarching issue before the General Assembly this year than tax reform. Proposals being floated by legislative leaders would reduce or eliminate personal and […]
On March 1, new federal cuts will begin to take effect. If nothing is done, many hundreds of thousands of people will be hurt by across-the-board cuts to education, job […]
Payday Lending What It Is, How It Harms People, Why We Don’t Need It Back Payday lending, sadly, could be coming back to North Carolina. It was banned […]
If you are interested in attending, but have not pre-registered, you may call our office at 919-828-6501 on Tuesday, April 9 until 5:00 p.m. Gene Nichol, Director of the Center […]
If you are following the actions of the 2013 NC legislature, you know that the idea of accepting federal funds that will cover health insurance for hundreds of thousands of […]
Yesterday morning the Senate Rules Committee unveiled a committee substitute for SB 10 which would effectively kick off all of the members of several influential commissions, including the Environmental Management Commission, the Coastal Resources Commission, the Utilities Commission, and the Lottery Commission, and then enable the General Assembly and the Governor to appoint new members.
One of the most insidious proposals coming up in the General Assembly session is the one to require people to show photo IDs in order to vote. It has the […]
You probably already know that the General Assembly goes into session on Wednesday, January 30. They’ve already had a one-day organizational meeting. You probably also already know that this will […]
Register for the 2013 Conference on the Common Good set for Monday, February 18 at Wake Forest Divinity School.
I was thrilled to attend the Raleigh City Council meeting on January 15 where Council members passed a Bring the War Dollars Home proclamation to send to our North Carolina […]
Sunshine, wind and waves are all free gifts from God and expressions of God’s amazing power and love. North Carolina is blessed with all three in abundance. That puts our […]
Congress is overwhelmed with lobbyists for corporations, Chambers of Commerce, AARP, the Department of Defense, etc. But those living in poverty are short on lobbyist as the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ […]
The challenge of faith communities is not to deduct a set of moral principles from scripture that houses a model for a fair tax system. There are no formulas or bureaucratic maps that arise out of biblical texts that we might apply to our current context and tax system that will magically make the system fair. Rather, the biblical texts provide a framework to understand the Christian witness towards the common good and a Christian ethic of love and care for the vulnerable and exploited.
In the weeks just before November’s general election, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association paid to place full-page ads in newspapers including the [Raleigh] News & Observer to The New York […]
Our middle son and I went to early vote on Saturday, taking advantage of his visit home for fall break. He is 18, and this is his first general election. […]
Since 1965, my first year of medical school, I knew that coal kills (see Alan Lockwood’s The Silent Epidemic: Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health). Since 1989, when I […]
Ed: This post is part of a new series called “Reclaiming the Bible’s Prophetic Voice,” in which Council staff consider the biblical and theological roots of their work. You can […]
Over the past few months, North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light has been a proud part of a coalition of nonprofits and businesses participating in a statewide ad campaign emphasizing […]
Half in Ten reminds us that one in five children in the US lives in poverty (sadly, it is one in four in North Carolina) yet the presidential candidates are […]
You probably know how the phrase “canary in the coal mine” came into being, but it doesn’t hurt to repeat it. Before there were other ways of monitoring for dangerous […]
Laypeople, clergy and organizational leaders can urge Congress to protect programs vital to vulnerable people as well as to protect the country’s economic security by e-mailing their elected leaders or signing […]
The General Assembly on Monday overrode Governor Perdue’s vetoes of three bills. By doing so they gutted the Racial Justice Act, revised the budget for 2012-13, and moved ahead with fracking. The outcome was not in doubt in the Senate. In fact, several Senate Democrats had excused absences and didn’t even show up for the votes. The drama was in the House.
The News & Observer
Death penalty opponents and advocates of the state’s Racial Justice Act have embarked on an intense petition drive, letter-writing and email campaign, targeting five Democrats in the state House of Representatives.The goal is to persuade the representatives to sustain the governor’s Thursday veto of the legislature’s overhaul of the Racial Justice Act.
The News & Observer
The N.C. Council of Churches rejoices in the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act, affirming the decades-long concerns of the council for those without health care.The NC Council of Churches rejoices in today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which affirms the decades-long work and concerns of the NCCC […]
The following is from the NC Coalition for a Moratorium and the Carolina Justice Policy Center. The fate of the Racial Justice Act probably rests with the three representatives listed […]
The General Assembly has passed S 820 and sent it to the Governor. This is the bill that would move North Carolina farther down the road toward extraction of natural […]
One of my friends just posted this amazing YouTube video of Severn Suzuki who, at age 12, addressed the United Nations at the first Earth Summit in Rio twenty years […]
The House of Representatives has voted 73-47 to gut the Racial Justice Act. The vote was on S 416, a bill originally about using tire retreads on school buses. The […]
Statement Affirming the Principles of Concern for the Poor and the Vulnerable as Made More Visible by the “Occupy” and Other Movements Approved June 5, 2012 by the Governing Board […]
Two time-sensitive issues for advocates: 1) A vote to override the Governor’s veto of the Racial Justice Act could come up any time. 2) There is a lobby day tomorrow […]
The General Assembly leadership is committed to having this short session truly be short, and there’s talk of adjourning by early July. In fact, an adjournment resolution was introduced yesterday with a target date of June 19. This session, which starts in May of even-numbered years, is primarily to tweak the second year of the budget adopted the year before. In addition, certain bills which were introduced last year (mostly ones which passed in one house) can be considered. For a new bill to be introduced this year, it must fit into one of a few specific categories, with most new bills having to do with budgetary matters or coming from a study commission which met during the interim. Finally, pending veto overrides are also thought by the House and Senate leadership to be eligible for consideration.
A Legislative Advocacy Toolkit is now available from the Council. The toolkit provides a wealth of information for people of faith who want to be effective as grass-roots lobbyists, especially […]
The Spring 2012 Church Council Bulletin includes photographs from the Council’s recent Critical Issues Seminar, an update on items of interest in the General Assembly’s short session, a statement on the passage of Amendment One, the Council’s spring appeal, and more.
The General Assembly convened this past Wednesday for its regular “short session.” As always, the primary purpose of the short session is to tweak the budget for the fiscal year […]
Several additional legislative days have been announced. Among them are: HKonJ, People of Color Justice and Unity Legislative Day is Wednesday, May 23. The opening session will be at Raleigh’s […]
In light of yesterday’s vote to add a discriminatory amendment about marriage to our state’s constitution, it is important to consider what was accomplished through this campaign and what it […]
Susannah Tuttle and I had the privilege of representing NCIPL at the annual meeting of Interfaith Power & Light last week in Washington, DC. We spent two days immersed in […]
Executive Director George Reed’s full interview with NC Policy Watch from Sunday is now available here. In it, Reed explains the Council’s opposition to Amendment One. People of faith who […]
Hear George Reed explain the Council’s opposition to Amendment One on Sunday morning’s News & Views hosted by Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch. The program airs at 7 a.m. […]
Council Friends— I am writing you with a last-minute appeal to get to the polls for next Tuesday’s election, when voters decide whether to amend the state constitution, defining marriage […]
Durham Herald-Sun
The ballot referendum that could cement the definition of marriage as “the only domestic legal union” into the state Constitution has turned a political debate into a religious one — and is mustering people of faith across North Carolina to the polls.Early voting is now under way for North Carolina’s May 8 primary. Between now and May 5, you can vote if you are already registered, and you can register and […]
The Affordable Care Act was approved two years ago. Join the virtual second-anniversary celebration through a conference call with Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin on Thursday, March 22 at 2 p.m. Hear all […]
Adopted by the Governing Board, NC Council of Churches, March 6, 2012 In 1998, the NC Council of Churches issued a statement entitled With All Due Respect. It decried the […]
Durham Herald-Sun
Pilgrim United Church of Christ will host a community series this month on “Faith and the Marriage Amendment,” about the proposed North Carolina Amendment 1. If the ballot measure passes May 8, the only valid domestic union recognized by the state will be marriage of a man and a woman.Read more: The Herald-Sun – Pilgrim UCC hosting series on Amendment 1
We hope you’ll join us on April 14 for the Fourth Annual Jack Crum Conference on Prophetic Ministry. This annual ecumenical event takes place at Raleigh’s Fairmont United Methodist Church […]
The NC Council of Churches, working in conjunction with the Coalition to Protect ALL NC Families, has developed a toolkit to help people of faith working against Amendment One. If […]
The Washington Post
WILMINGTON, N.C. — As the only Southern state without a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage, North Carolina is the next battleground, with religious groups on both sides bracing for a high-stakes fight on May 8.Against a recent string of gay-marriage victories in California, Washington state and Maryland, North Carolinians will be asked to vote on a constitutional amendment on May 8, the same day as the state Republican primary.
Same-sex marriage has been illegal in the Tar Heel State since 1996; Minnesota also has a marriage amendment planned for a vote in November.
Remember the words of Mordecai to Esther: “For if you keep silent at such a time as this…you and your father’s family will perish.” (NRSV-Esther 4:14) It is unbelievable and […]
The North Carolina Council of Churches advocates for just and compassionate public policy in North Carolina, and North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light, a program of the Council, brings that […]
The 2012 Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) People’s Assembly is this Saturday, February 11. We’ll gather at Shaw University in Raleigh starting at 9:30 and march to the Legislative […]
Back in November, I told you about the political battle that was ensuing over school lunches in our country. More specifically, the Obama Administration was calling for healthier meals made […]
