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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
NCIPL is hosting Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, world-renowned climate scientist and educator with a deep faith in God, the first week of April 2016. Go here for a complete list of the wonderful events planned with […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
Excerpted from the NC Council of Churches Lenten Guide, “Love One Another: Reflections on Race, Power, and Privilege” Isaiah 55:1-9 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you […]
By Brian Hollingsworth, Partners in Health and Wholeness Intern, Wake Forest University School of Divinity …When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it […]
When we set out to prepare this year’s Lenten guide, the contributors were told they could choose whichever lectionary passage they wanted to write about for their given date as […]
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; […]
Preached at the Christian Unity Service of Holy Cross Catholic Church, Durham Matthew 5:1-16 The sermon you have just heard is only one-seventh of the real thing. You heard 16 verses, […]
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 […]
Earlier this month, more than 170 friends and allies gathered at Durham’s St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in support of our refugee sisters and brothers. We prayed and sang and then broke […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
How desperate would your life need to be for you to leave everyone and everything you knew in pursuit of a better one? To venture into a new place where […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
By Hana Suckstorff, Duke Divinity School Intern Our brothers and sisters in South Carolina are dealing with the aftermath of what meteorologists are calling a 1,000-year rainfall event. As of […]
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 […]
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 […]
Last week, the European refugee crisis reached a tragic peak. More than 11 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes due to violence and persecution. Many of these people […]
The Rev. Michael Lapsley, survivor of a bombing by South African apartheid agents, will visit North Carolina this September to speak with university students, congregations, and members of the general […]
The offices for the NC Council of Churches sit half a block from Hillsborough Street—the street that automatically conjures up images of NC State, as well it should since the […]
Photo credit: Episcopal News Service We join with our Episcopal brothers and sisters in celebrating the election of the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry as their 27th Presiding Bishop. Those of us […]
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 “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 This past Tuesday, more than 200 people celebrated the career of NC Council of Churches Executive Director George Reed before his retirement at […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Recently, more than 75 people of faith, including students, teachers, clergy, and youth, joined together at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Durham to learn more about issues affecting immigrant children […]
By Reuben Gelblum, NCIPL Intern Thank you to everyone who helped make our Spring Into Action kickoff week a success! You all participated from all over the state, listening in […]
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 […]
In these opening years of the twenty-first century, the need for a more sustainable food system has increasingly become a focus of our national conversation. As a Christian, sometime in […]
In these challenging days in North Carolina, there is nothing more important for people of faith who support progressive and prophetic public policies to do than to take part in […]
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 […]
Apparently I scare Civitas. Maybe it’s my upbringing. I was raised by a single mom (my parents divorced when I was a toddler) who was fortunate to have a solid […]
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 […]
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 […]
On the third Sunday of Advent, the New York Times ran an essay by Arthur C. Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute. (It was reprinted by the Raleigh News […]
Last week, the largest detention center in the United States opened. The 50-acre center, located in Dilley, TX, will hold up to 2,400 migrants who have crossed the border illegally […]
The past two months the NC Coalition for Justice for Immigrants has been busy with its annual clergy breakfast series. This year we hosted five events across the state, as […]
The immediate impact of the most recent court decisions regarding marriage is that same-gender couples who want to get married in North Carolina now can, clergy who want to perform […]
Health Care for All NC is continuing the important work for Medicaid expansion in North Carolina. The group is hoping concerned residents will add their names to a petition calling on […]
November 4 is Election Day. Because of changes in election laws, it is important that people in our pews know when and where they can vote. All of the following […]
North Carolina’s upcoming general election – Election Day is Nov. 4 – will be the first held under a revamped set of rules making it less convenient for some citizens […]
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 […]
We have all been touched by news of the growing Ebola crisis in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Nigeria, a crisis that so far has resisted efforts at containment. Those […]
News about children at the border – what’s happening to them, what politicians believe or say about them, where they are going, what will happen to them — continues and […]
This past week I have been focusing on the crisis of the thousands of refugee children at the border who are being held in detention centers. I have blogged about praying for […]
Cyrus Baldwin King, a gentle spirit with an iron resolve, was a hero of North Carolina’s peace and justice movement. The Council of Churches is honored to join in the […]
Tune in to WUNC’s “The State of Things” on Tuesday, June 24, to hear David Gushee ahead of his evening presentation in Raleigh. “The State of Things” airs at noon, and […]
The NC Council of Churches aims to exert a positive influence on public policies that have implications for what is commonly known as social justice. What this often boils down […]
The Council has published two new resources for people of faith interested in supporting North Carolina’s public schools. One is an abbreviated version of the Council’s materials for holding a […]
Education figured prominently in the news over the past few days, both nationally and locally. As a country, we marked the 60th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, the […]
When the line to check in at a church-sponsored conference on a beautiful Saturday morning in April stretches out the door, it’s a sign that the event has generated an […]
I recently took a wonderful walk down Memory Lane for me, though it was also poignant at times. On a Saturday, the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina sponsored a remembrance of […]
Please join us in thanking Sen. Burr for his vote to release portions of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s report on torture. Many of you have joined us over […]
*To see registration form, scroll down to the middle of the page. Registration for the Council’s 2014 Critical Issues Seminar on Public Education with a guaranteed lunch has been extended for […]
A vote is imminent on releasing the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on torture, and we need you to contact Sen. Richard Burr and urge him to support the […]
The North Carolina Soul Repair conference took place March 6 and 7. It was sponsored by many faith communities, including the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in North Carolina, Quaker House, […]
In an earlier blog, I noted a congregation’s questions about becoming a partner with HKonJ. If you haven’t seen that blog, please click here. It contains information that will be […]
I had two conversations recently with members of a congregation which was voting on whether or not to join the HKonJ Coalition. Those conversations have reminded me that it’s helpful […]
A newcomer to Raleigh sooner or later comes up against a riddle: How can the city have two First Baptist Churches? Here’s a non-surprise: The answer is rooted in the […]
A cross-section of North Carolinians and progressives from other states flooded downtown Raleigh on Saturday as part of HKonJ 2014. Longtime activists from across the state walked with college students, parents […]
Join the NC NAACP, the North Carolina Council of Churches, and coalition partners for this weekend’s Moral March on Raleigh and HKonJ People’s Assembly. Events include: A Mass Meeting and […]
Our country’s annual salute to the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. honors him as the foremost crusader in the grand civil rights movement of the mid-20th century – the […]
It’s now just four weeks until this year’s HKonJ People’s Assembly. There is nothing more important for people of faith to do this winter as we work for prophetic social justice than […]
Elections in the United States must be carried out in line with rules meant to ensure honesty and accuracy, and to expose candidates to timely judgments about their merits. But […]
The North Carolina Council of Churches could not do its work without the support of faithful individuals who share in our commitment to prophetic vision of social justice. With our […]
Does hunger cause people to work harder, or to make better decisions as to how to spend what little money they may have? OK, let’s say the pangs of an […]
Date: Advent 2 – Dec. 8, 2013
Topic: Responsible Leadership
Focus Text: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
If we are willing to read Psalm 72 with the early church as pointing to Christ and his kingship, we may see in the ministry of Jesus concrete steps which the church can take in serving the poor and needy among us in our local communities. In Jesus’ ministry and teaching, we come to glimpse a picture of the Kingdom of God with its eternal justice for the poor.
My morning devotional was about All Saints’ Day, a time for remembering those who have come before us. There is no doubt that Christians have a great inheritance from those […]
The political stakes and motives are plain to see. President Obama and his Democratic allies on Capitol Hill are locked in a desperate struggle with the Republicans who control the […]
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break […]
I spent August 2011 through August 2012 working as a chaplain resident at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem. During my residency I took care of the everyday pastoral care needs […]
Congress is back in session. Are you concerned about how your federal tax dollars are being spent, are you confused or both? President Obama notes that the average CEO has […]
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh is inviting people of faith to an Interreligious Prayer Service for Peace in the Middle East. It takes place Saturday, […]
Bishop Joseph Gossman, who died yesterday, was a great friend of the North Carolina Council of Churches. He led the Diocese of Raleigh into full membership in the Council in […]
Click here to download now. The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, in partnership with the North Carolina Council of Churches, Action for Children-NC, The Covenant with North Carolina’s Children, NAACP-NC, […]
Click here to download now. The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, in partnership with the North Carolina Council of Churches, NAACP-NC, and Southern Coalition for Social Justice, has […]
The News & Observer
These are difficult times. We pray that our lawmakers and governor will demonstrate compassion for our fellow North Carolinians who need food, clothing, health care and shelter and for the many charitable nonprofit organizations that provide this support.
