More than ever, North Carolina’s families need access to supportive workplaces that allow them to take time to care for themselves and for their loved ones. Amidst a global public […]
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 […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [For more information on bills, including committee referrals and re-referrals, texts of bills, procedural histories, and recorded votes, go to the General Assembly website […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 & […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Monday, September 7 is Labor Day when we should honor the workers in our community with dignity and respect. The Social Creed for the 21st century, a document endorsed by […]
The Sunday of Labor Day weekend is Labor Sunday, a day to celebrate workers and their contributions and to support their struggles. It is also a day to commit ourselves […]
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 […]
According to Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), “four million fast food workers across the country are struggling to make ends meet. Many workers are standing up for $15 per hour and […]
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 […]
Valentine’s Day marks one of the biggest shopping days of the year, especially when it comes to chocolate and flowers. But did you know that often your tokens of affection […]
On September 16, two former NC Council of Churches President were among a select group of 13 religious leaders who met with US Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez to discuss how […]
As Labor Day weekend quickly approaches, many people are thinking about beaches and barbeques. Amy Laura Hall, however, wants people to be thinking about something different: labor unions. Hall, a professor […]
“There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American whether he [or she] is a hospital worker, laundry worker, […]
Somewhat lost this summer amidst all the conversation about comprehensive immigration reform is a little-known bill called the “Agricultural Guestworker Act” (or “Ag Act,” HB 1773) that has already passed out of the House Judiciary Committee. This harmful bill is a thinly veiled attempt to strip farmworkers of the few rights they have on the job while propping up agribusinesses’ bottom line.
Salon
Every week prayers and gospel songs infuse the air and participants offer blessings to the latest batch of 100 or so activists entering the Raleigh General Assembly building to commit civil disobedience. If you’re not from here, it may all seem a little counter-intuitive: A movement for inclusive and just secular governance that is deeply inflected with Christian ethics and arguments.
The impact of Moral Mondays continues to extend beyond North Carolina. Two recent articles and an editorial in “The New York Times” are reaching a national audience. One of the […]
I finally had the chance to go my first Moral Monday earlier this week. Walking around Halifax Mall with our Executive Director, George Reed, I was struck by how many people we both knew. I’m deeply proud of the involvement by clergy and faith communities in particular. So many of our members are represented not only in the crowd but also in the faces of those participating in civil disobedience and getting arrested. As we celebrate Independence Day this week, we give thanks not only for the many freedoms our country offers, but in particular for the countless faithful voices speaking up and speaking out for those who are being pushed to the margins by this General Assembly.
Last week, members of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) joined allies and activists from across the state in protesting Reynolds American Inc.’s treatment of farmworkers. Last year, Reynolds earned $1.3 billion in profits, but the company has hesitated to take proactive steps in guaranteeing good housing and fair pay to the workers at the very heart of its supply chain. Here at the NC Council of Churches, we have long supported farmworkers’ rights to living wages and dignity on the job. No one should have to work in slave-like conditions to provide for their family. Corporations should take responsibility for their supply chains, and the people whose labor makes possible their profits.
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. He received the Council’s Faith Active in Public Life Award at the Seminar for his “courageous, dedicated, humane and compassionate witness in the political arena.” Rev. George Reed, the Council’s Executive Director, introduced Nichol by saying in part, “To know Gene is to see the embodiment of Catholic social teaching about social justice and the common good.”
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 […]
Kim Bobo, a religious and workers’ rights activist and executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice, will meet with other faith and worker rights activists in the Triangle this week to […]
It’s been 50 years since Edward R. Murrow’s landmark documentary Harvest of Shame that examined the lives of farmworkers. How much has changed since then? And how much remains the […]
Join us at the 2011 Farmworker Institute and Networking Event. Purpose: Farmworker advocates across the state will have the opportunity to network, learn, and update each other on the latest issues that affect North Carolina farmworkers.
There was a great turnout for Saturday’s HKonJ5. Thanks to all of you who attended and marched.
Watch video of HKonJ here.
The Historic Thousands on Jones St. (HK on J) rally and march will take place on February 12 in Raleigh. A coalition of nearly a hundred social justice and community development organizations, including the North Carolina Council of Churches, have banded together to promote this event for the last several years.
Farmworkers play a vital role in cultivating the food we eat everyday, and North Carolina has one of the largest farmworker populations in the nation. Even though 85% of our fruits and vegetables are harvested by hand, farmworkers remain largely invisible. This colorful and easy-to-read fact sheet was designed for congregations and community groups. Download a copy today.
While particular religious leaders have stepped into the fray of company/union conflicts in our state, the church as a whole has remained distant from the controversy of collective bargaining and unionizing. Often, mainline churches are host to corporate executives who may be community leaders and major donors, whom clergy are loathe to offend. Some churches remain aloof from so-called worldly or political concerns, imagining workplace struggles as beyond the domain of the spiritual.
