Worship

Preparing the Way: Blessed Are the Peacemakers

March 22, 2013 By Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

From the Easter Sunday chapter of Preparing the Way: A Social Justice Study for Lent. We’re offering this free resource to you and your congregation as we walk through the season of Lent together. Download the full PDF here. Scripture: Matthew 5:9-12 (NRSV) “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. “Blessed are […]

Preparing the Way: Blessed Are the Peacemakers

March 22, 2013 by Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

Preparing the Way: The Price of Faithfulness

March 15, 2013 By George Reed, Former Executive Director

From the Palm Sunday chapter of Preparing the Way: A Social Justice Study for Lent. We’re offering this free resource to you and your congregation as we walk through the season of Lent together. Download the full PDF here. Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11 (NRSV) And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount […]

Preparing the Way: The Price of Faithfulness

March 15, 2013 by George Reed, Former Executive Director

National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath — March 15-17

March 12, 2013 By Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

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 difference between automatic and semi-automatic. Just as taking away guns does not inherently make us safe from harm, we need to move beyond the lie […]

National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath — March 15-17

March 12, 2013 by Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

Preparing the Way: Let the Oppressed Go Free

March 12, 2013 By chris

From Chapter 5 of Preparing the Way: A Social Justice Study for Lent. We’re offering this free resource to you and your congregation as we walk through the season of Lent together. Download the full PDF here. Scripture: Deuteronomy 24:14-15 (NRSV) You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who […]

Preparing the Way: Let the Oppressed Go Free

March 12, 2013 by chris

Preparing the Way: Nourishing God’s Children, Body and Soul

March 7, 2013 By Willona Stallings, Former Program Coordinator – Partners in Health & Wholeness

From Chapter 4 of Preparing the Way: A Social Justice Study for Lent. We’re offering this free resource to you and your congregation as we walk through the season of Lent together. Download the full PDF here. Scripture: Matthew 7:9-10 (NRSV) “Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give him a […]

Preparing the Way: Nourishing God’s Children, Body and Soul

March 7, 2013 by Willona Stallings, Former Program Coordinator – Partners in Health & Wholeness

Preparing the Way: Who Is Our Neighbor?

March 2, 2013 By chris

From Chapter 3 of Preparing the Way: A Social Justice Study for Lent. We’re offering this free resource to you and your congregation as we walk through the season of Lent together. Download the full PDF here. Scripture: Luke 10:25-37 (NRSV) Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus… [And] wanting to justify himself, he asked […]

Preparing the Way: Who Is Our Neighbor?

March 2, 2013 by chris

Sí, se puede: Celebrating Holy Week & National Farmworker Awareness Week

March 1, 2013 By chris

Holy Week this year is also National Farmworker Awareness Week (March 24-31). It seems like no accident that the week in which we celebrate Jesus’ service and sacrifice for humanity is the same week that we celebrate the extraordinary gifts that farmworkers offer to our communities. It’s a time when we both remember and look for hope […]

Sí, se puede: Celebrating Holy Week & National Farmworker Awareness Week

March 1, 2013 by chris

Bulletin Insert from PFADP

February 21, 2013 By Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

Our friends at People of Faith Against the Death Penalty have provided a bulletin insert for churches interested in helping work to repeal the death penalty. PFADP, which began as a program of the Council, has been a leader in this movement. There has not been an execution in North Carolina since 2006, and leadership by […]

Bulletin Insert from PFADP

February 21, 2013 by Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

Preparing the Way: Caring for Creation – A Lenten “Carbon Fast”

February 21, 2013 By Susannah Tuttle, Director of Strategic Engagement

From Chapter 2 of Preparing the Way: A Social Justice Study for Lent. We’re offering this free resource to you and your congregation as we walk through the season of Lent together. Download the full PDF here. Scripture: Psalm 103: 8-14 (NAB) Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger, abounding in kindness. God does not […]

Preparing the Way: Caring for Creation – A Lenten “Carbon Fast”

February 21, 2013 by Susannah Tuttle, Director of Strategic Engagement

The Green Bible is a Must Read

February 17, 2013 By Kathy Shea, Former Senior Advisor - NCIPL

If you haven’t discovered The Green Bible yet, you are in for a joyous surprise. This 2008 edition of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible is made unique by its emphasis on ecological and environmental themes. Using the technique we all remember from the red letter versions of the King James translation, The […]

The Green Bible is a Must Read

February 17, 2013 by Kathy Shea, Former Senior Advisor - NCIPL

Lectionary: Celebrating Abrahamic Faiths (4th Sunday in Lent)

February 17, 2013 By chris

From Acts of Faith: Free Lectionary Resources for Prophetic Worship

Date: 4th Sunday in Lent - March 10, 2013
Topic: Celebrating Abrahamic Faiths
Focus Text: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

From the pastoral reflection: “Nadia dramatically called us into the reality of her life and away from our being disengaged onlookers. Angrily, she described the early morning hours onslaught as she, her husband, and three little children huddled on their bedroom floor, bullets ricocheting around the room for half an hour. They assumed they would die in the hail of gunfire. But surviving the experience, the family began cleaning up their devastated home and quickly recognized the telltale imprint of American military hardware: spent shells that they knew came from American-made equipment."

Lectionary: Celebrating Abrahamic Faiths (4th Sunday in Lent)

February 17, 2013 by chris

From Acts of Faith: Free Lectionary Resources for Prophetic Worship

Date: 4th Sunday in Lent – March 10, 2013
Topic: Celebrating Abrahamic Faiths
Focus Text: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Preparing the Way: The Abundance of Enough

February 14, 2013 By Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

From Chapter 1 of Preparing the Way: A Social Justice Study for Lent. We’re offering this free resource to you and your congregation as we walk through the season of Lent together. Download the full PDF here. Scripture: Exodus 16:4-8; 13-18 (NRSV) Then the LORD said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for […]

Preparing the Way: The Abundance of Enough

February 14, 2013 by Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

Preparing the Way for Lent: Introduction

February 7, 2013 By Rose Gurkin, Former Program Associate for Administration

From the Introduction of Preparing the Way: A Social Justice Study for Lent. We’re offering this free resource to you and your congregation as we walk through the season of Lent together. Download the full PDF here. Lent is the season of the Christian Year that includes the six weeks from Ash Wednesday until the […]

Preparing the Way for Lent: Introduction

February 7, 2013 by Rose Gurkin, Former Program Associate for Administration

Make it an Adventure

January 30, 2013 By Shannon Axtell Martin, PHW Regional Coordinator

There are few things I love more than setting out on a grand adventure. I know there are folks out there who prefer the safety, security, and dependability of home. But…there is that thrill of anticipation, that rush of excitement when something new is coming. There is the surge of nervous energy when a risk is taken, […]

Make it an Adventure

January 30, 2013 by Shannon Axtell Martin, PHW Regional Coordinator

Lectionary on Gun Violence

December 15, 2012 By Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

The horror of what has occurred in Connecticut is unimaginable, and the days ahead will be a test for all of us. The Council’s resources include a lectionary on gun violence which might prove helpful to people of faith going forward. While this resource cannot possibly explain how something like this happens, it provides a […]

Lectionary on Gun Violence

December 15, 2012 by Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

Christian Scriptures and Farmworkers

November 18, 2012 By chris

From the laws and histories of ancient Israel to the life of Jesus and the letters of Paul, themes related to the treatment of farmworkers emerge consistently throughout the Judeo-Christian scriptures. Many of these passages suggest that a community’s relationship with God is in fact defined at least in part by its treatment of foreigners, laborers, the poor, and the marginalized. Below is a brief selection of Bible verses that support the idea that farmworkers should be treated fairly.

Christian Scriptures and Farmworkers

November 18, 2012 by chris

Sharing the Story: Empowerment through Radical Hospitality

November 15, 2012 By chris

Thank you for your decision to conquer evil with good. You have decided to defeat opposition and resistance with diligence and perseverance. But above all, thank you for allowing love and hospitality to prevail over hate and hostility. When I arrived to this country it was precisely people like you, women and men of faith that practiced hospitably and your Christian love, who left an impression and transformed my life forever. Please don’t have any doubt that God uses every gesture of Christian love and radical hospitality that you make towards an immigrant in order to transform lives.

Sharing the Story: Empowerment through Radical Hospitality

November 15, 2012 by chris

Mini-grants to Support Congregations in Promoting Health

October 30, 2012 By Willona Stallings, Former Program Coordinator – Partners in Health & Wholeness

Partners in Health and Wholeness (PHW), the Council’s faith-based health initiative, is now offering mini-grants to support congregations in your efforts to promote healthy, active lifestyles. In order to qualify, a congregation must first become PHW-certified – i.e., offer healthier church meals; name a health contact person; maintain tobacco-free buildings and take part in other […]

Mini-grants to Support Congregations in Promoting Health

October 30, 2012 by Willona Stallings, Former Program Coordinator – Partners in Health & Wholeness

Praise Dancing Reaps Benefits

June 14, 2012 By Joy Williams, Former PHW Regional Coordinator

Mary Swann and Yvonne McGraw have taken an active leadership role in forming the Pee Dee Baptist Association Health Coalition. They have been gathering at least once a month since December 2011 to talk about health and faith. During their most recent gathering in May, members of the coalition did something different. They praised dance for […]

Praise Dancing Reaps Benefits

June 14, 2012 by Joy Williams, Former PHW Regional Coordinator

Being Crazy Christians

April 27, 2012 By Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

It was a beautiful day spent at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem on April 19. I was there for the annual NC Council of Churches Critical Issues Seminar; this year’s theme was, Eating Well for Ourselves, For Our Neighbors, For Our Planet. The Right Rev. Michael Curry, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, […]

Being Crazy Christians

April 27, 2012 by Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

Lectionary: Interfaith Connections (4th Sunday of Easter)

April 18, 2012 By chris

From Acts of Faith: Free Lectionary Resources for Prophetic Worship
Date: 4th Sunday after Easter, April 29, 2012
Topic: Interfaith Connections
Focus Text: John 10:11-18
From the pastoral reflection: In 21st century North Carolina we have many and various ways to come into contact with “other sheep.” Will we stick to our own kind, work to create a Christian enclave where we feel safe and secure, free from any risk? Or, will we be the welcoming face, the open hands, the purposeful feet, and the compassionate voice of Christ in the world so that all may know the love of God?

Lectionary: Interfaith Connections (4th Sunday of Easter)

April 18, 2012 by chris

Celebrating With My Community

April 16, 2012 By Allison Reeves Jolley, Former Outreach Coordinator - NCIPL

It’s funny when strangers strike you as family. That is what happens, for me at least, each time I attend another Earth Sabbath Celebration. After a few months of travelling what feels like “out of town” from Durham to the monthly Celebration in Raleigh, on April 2, I found myself with the newly formed Durham Earth […]

Celebrating With My Community

April 16, 2012 by Allison Reeves Jolley, Former Outreach Coordinator - NCIPL

The Story of Two Sons

April 1, 2012 By chris

Rev. Jill Edens, United Church of Chapel Hill

Though the disciples have left everything to follow Jesus, the discussion as they travel to Jerusalem reveals that they are profoundly unready for what is to come. In this pivotal moment we encounter blind Bartimaeus who Mark holds up as a model for discipleship: “As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’”

The Story of Two Sons

April 1, 2012 by chris

Rev. Jill Edens, United Church of Chapel Hill

Earth Sabbath Celebrated in Asheville

March 8, 2012 By Allison Reeves Jolley, Former Outreach Coordinator - NCIPL

“My heart is moved by all that I cannot save.” Fifty-three enthralled participants at the Earth Sabbath Celebration at Asheville’s St. Mary’s Church sang those words in February. Our hearts were opened, and many were moved to tears. Sandra Smith, founder of Holy Ground, led a remarkable celebration of interfaith spirituality that included silence, music, […]

Earth Sabbath Celebrated in Asheville

March 8, 2012 by Allison Reeves Jolley, Former Outreach Coordinator - NCIPL

Eating Well: A Lenten Practice

February 15, 2012 By Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

As Lent quickly approaches, you may be thinking about a fast or discipline on which you will focus. Oftentimes Lenten practices revolve around food – giving up chocolate or alcohol or kicking the coffee habit. The purpose of Lenten fasting is not to punish you or make you suffer but to draw you closer to […]

Eating Well: A Lenten Practice

February 15, 2012 by Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

Announcing the “Eating Well” Curriculum!

February 2, 2012 By Leslie Ware, Anti-Torture Project Coordinator

I’m pleased to announce the North Carolina Council of Churches has a new curriculum in the works! “Eating Well: For Ourselves, For Our Neighbors, For Our Planet” is an introduction to the issues surrounding the way we grow, harvest, and eat our food. Designed for groups of all ages, “Eating Well” uses games, activities, prayer and […]

Announcing the “Eating Well” Curriculum!

February 2, 2012 by Leslie Ware, Anti-Torture Project Coordinator

Stand Up and Be Counted — Register for the Preach-In on Global Warming

January 13, 2012 By Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

There’s still time to get FREE hard copies of the 2012 Preach-In on Global Warming materials sent to you, but the deadline is close of business on January 17, 2012. What you get for registering through the NC IPL website is a package from national Interfaith Power & Light with a DVD (Preaching for the […]

Stand Up and Be Counted — Register for the Preach-In on Global Warming

January 13, 2012 by Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

Becoming the Church Together – A Sermon on Immigration

November 11, 2011 By chris

Last week, Council Program Associate Chris Liu-Beers was invited to Shaw Divinity School in Raleigh to preach during their weekly chapel service. Chris preached on immigration issues, with a focus on the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).

Becoming the Church Together – A Sermon on Immigration

November 11, 2011 by chris

November is American Diabetes Month

November 3, 2011 By Willona Stallings, Former Program Coordinator – Partners in Health & Wholeness

The American Diabetes Association has launched a new faith-based program called "Live Empowered" which is designed to assist churches with integrating diabetes awareness messages and life application principles into worship services. Also, in observance of American Diabetes Month, the American Diabetes Association is sponsoring "Super Diabetes Sunday" on November 13th. Super Diabetes Sundays will include materials and giveaways to help your congregation join the fight against diabetes.

November is American Diabetes Month

November 3, 2011 by Willona Stallings, Former Program Coordinator – Partners in Health & Wholeness

The American Diabetes Association has launched a new faith-based program called “Live Empowered” which is designed to assist churches with integrating diabetes awareness messages and life application principles into worship services. Also, in observance of American Diabetes Month, the American Diabetes Association is sponsoring “Super Diabetes Sunday” on November 13th. Super Diabetes Sundays will include materials and giveaways to help your congregation join the fight against diabetes.

Christ the King, Year A

October 15, 2011 By chris

In Ezekiel, we hear the cry of God for God’s sheep throughout the land and nations. As a shepherd, God makes connections across lands and regions where we have, time and time again, made divisions. For too long, we have defined health with a too limited view as to who my neighbor is and who my fellow sheep are.

Christ the King, Year A

October 15, 2011 by chris

Proper 24, Year A

September 8, 2011 By chris

The payment of taxes is one of the ways we demonstrate we are an extended family as citizens of this state and nation. While we hardly agree on how much we should be taxed, or how our taxes should be used, there is agreement that the burden falls to all of us in some measure. But here is where my family metaphor breaks down in discussing tax policy. Whereas we would never expect a family member with few resources to pay as much of his or her money for the family’s living expenses as another family member with greater resources, our current tax system does just that. Or worse.

Proper 24, Year A

September 8, 2011 by chris

Proper 21, Year A

August 22, 2011 By chris

This is the purpose of education wherever it takes place, moving beyond rote repetition to provide each learner the possibility of a future better than what might otherwise be expected. Psalm 78 invites humility, gratitude, and “the exercise of power in the form of love, not of force.

Proper 21, Year A

August 22, 2011 by chris

Proper 20, Year A

August 17, 2011 By chris

In Jesus’ economics, the one represented here by the generous landowner, all workers received the pay they needed in order to survive, even if it seemed unfair to those who had worked all day. Sabbath economics is Jesus economics. As Ched Myers notes, Sabbath economics is about the grace of receiving what the Creator (employer) gives and the responsibility not to take more than is needed. Wide gaps between rich and poor are not part of God’s plan, and God’s people are called to be part of God’s generosity so that all have enough on which to live.

Proper 20, Year A

August 17, 2011 by chris

Resources for Remembering 9/11

August 10, 2011 By chris

In one month, our country will mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks on our nation on 9/11. Many denominations, faith groups and religious organizations have prepared materials for use in community gatherings and worship services in congregations – click here for links to those resources. You will also find pastoral care materials and age appropriate resources for children.

Resources for Remembering 9/11

August 10, 2011 by chris

Proper 19, Year A

August 9, 2011 By chris

In a community of Christians, the hopeful possibilities present in conflict will only be realized when we deal with the tension in a productive way. When a congregation faces conflict openly and directly with the people involved, there is a good opportunity for the situation to result in positive change and closer relationships between people. When conflict is handled in a way that cuts off communication and silences questions, the conflict can escalate and become destructive.

Proper 19, Year A

August 9, 2011 by chris

Proper 16, Year A

July 15, 2011 By chris

Much of the book of Romans is given over to some pretty heavy theological work. What is the meaning of God’s righteousness? Where does Israel fit into this? What about justification by faith? What happens to the Mosaic law? What role does grace play? Heavy questions facing the newly developing church in the First Century.

Proper 16, Year A

July 15, 2011 by chris

Why Acts of Faith is Important

June 28, 2011 By Lee Foster, Former Duke Divinity School Intern

Growing up in church, it would be fair for me to say that most sermons I heard were either concerned with A) theology or B) decrying certain practices in our contemporary Western culture. Neither of these is wrong or unimportant, as theology is the bedrock of faith, and there is much to decry in the world. The one thing I rarely heard preached on, however, was issues of social justice. And when preached on, it was through standard channels—witnessing/evangelism, donating food and clothing to our church’s pantry, and giving offerings. These are all well and good, but can we do more than these traditional categories?

Why Acts of Faith is Important

June 28, 2011 by Lee Foster, Former Duke Divinity School Intern

Proper 10, Year A

June 15, 2011 By chris

It's strange that despite earlier reforms, a country which took such richness from Appalachia left so little for the people. Great fortunes were built on the exploitation of Appalachian workers and Appalachian resources; yet the land was left without revenues to care for its social needs, like education, welfare, old age, and illness.

Proper 10, Year A

June 15, 2011 by chris

It’s strange that despite earlier reforms, a country which took such richness from Appalachia left so little for the people. Great fortunes were built on the exploitation of Appalachian workers and Appalachian resources; yet the land was left without revenues to care for its social needs, like education, welfare, old age, and illness.

Proper 8, Year A

June 8, 2011 By chris

The cup of water that Matthew asks us to offer is a dangerous thing. It assumes we have looked at our visitor and noticed his or her thirst. We are willing to be inconvenienced, to go to the well and draw the pure clean water and offer it in hospitality—which might lead us to pulling out a chair and inquiring about the rest of the family.

Proper 8, Year A

June 8, 2011 by chris

Proper 6, Year A

June 1, 2011 By chris

Key Fact: Over 1.5 million North Carolinians ages 0-64 do not have health insurance. That is approximately 1 out of every 5 people in our state. Children account for over 280,000 of the 1.5 million uninsured.

Proper 6, Year A

June 1, 2011 by chris

Pentecost, Year A

May 12, 2011 By chris

It seems to be a prayer that we who love Jesus may be at one with him and with the Father and that, somehow, the world’s believing in him depends on our witness to him in unity. That is to say, if his followers are splintered into many varying and conflicting entities, the witness that could draw people to him is greatly diminished. This is not an accident – this is crucial to Jesus!

Pentecost, Year A

May 12, 2011 by chris

Wild Goose Tix & Volunteering

May 3, 2011 By David LaMotte, Consultant for Peace

June 23, the first day of the Wild Goose Festival, is 50 days away, and excitement is definitely building. Tickets are on sale and volunteers are needed. Read on for more information...

Wild Goose Tix & Volunteering

May 3, 2011 by David LaMotte, Consultant for Peace

June 23, the first day of the Wild Goose Festival, is 50 days away, and excitement is definitely building. Tickets are on sale and volunteers are needed. Read on for more information…

Ascension of the Lord, Year A

May 2, 2011 By chris

As I look from my living room window at the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd, I am compelled to rush to my car radio to listen to the news for further updates, if any are currently on! Tidbits of information from the streets come my way and it is shocking what I hear. Roads are flooded cutting off routes of escape from the city west toward Raleigh, east toward Kenly, and some say you can't get through Rocky Mount.

Ascension of the Lord, Year A

May 2, 2011 by chris

Video from 2011 Legislative Seminar

April 21, 2011 By chris

Watch highlights from our 2011 Legislative Seminar, including: Distinguished Service Award, Faith Active in Public Life Awards and Closing Session.

Video from 2011 Legislative Seminar

April 21, 2011 by chris

Watch highlights from our 2011 Legislative Seminar, including: Distinguished Service Award, Faith Active in Public Life Awards and Closing Session.

Why the Church Needs Art

March 28, 2011 By David LaMotte, Consultant for Peace

This is an article I wrote for www.patheos.com on why the church needs art… A few months ago, my wife’s grandmother, known to the family as Grandma Polly, came to the end of a long and fascinating life. I was asked by the family to preach at the funeral. I struggled with whether or not […]

Why the Church Needs Art

March 28, 2011 by David LaMotte, Consultant for Peace

Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A

March 10, 2011 By chris

If there were such a thing as a six o’clock news cast in the first century, Jesus the felon would appear walking down the street escorted by the police of his day—handcuffed—if you will. The announcer would tell us that the vandal who destroyed Temple property and repeatedly broke Jewish laws; the welfare king who relied on the generosity of unsuspecting middle class women to promote his suspicious doctrine; the man known to frequent the establishments of tax collectors and prostitutes—and claimed to be God, had finally been apprehended and was awaiting sentencing. Yes, in the minds of this first century felon’s accusers, he was little more than a common criminal.

Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A

March 10, 2011 by chris

Wild Goose Festival

March 9, 2011 By David LaMotte, Consultant for Peace

The North Carolina Council of Churches is thrilled to co-sponsor the Wild Goose Festival this June, at Shakori Hills Farm, just outside of Pittsboro, NC. The festival celebrates uncommon ground in justice, spirituality, and the arts. It will offer a remarkable lineup of musicians, artists, speakers, performers and events over the course of four […]

Wild Goose Festival

March 9, 2011 by David LaMotte, Consultant for Peace

Journey to Lent, Journey to Learn

March 4, 2011 By chris

A Reflection on Public Education in God's World Today

Rev. Joe Brown, chair of the Council's Public Education Committee and a Presiding Elder in the AME Zion Church, is encourging congregations across North Carolina to use a Lenten Study Guide which has been created by members of the National Council of Churches Committee on Public Education and Literacy.

Journey to Lent, Journey to Learn

March 4, 2011 by chris

A Reflection on Public Education in God’s World Today

Rev. Joe Brown, chair of the Council’s Public Education Committee and a Presiding Elder in the AME Zion Church, is encourging congregations across North Carolina to use a Lenten Study Guide which has been created by members of the National Council of Churches Committee on Public Education and Literacy.

Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A

March 3, 2011 By chris

The blind beggar healed on the Sabbath was a threat to them! His healing, his liberation was an assault on their traditions, their values, their power, their very lives. They felt attacked. And when we are threatened, we are reactive! We do not want to let go, holding tenaciously to what we know to be true. One slip, one exception, and everything we know would crumble. Must one person’s liberation be another person’s threat?

Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A

March 3, 2011 by chris

Ash Wednesday, Year A

January 5, 2011 By chris

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 every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Ash Wednesday, Year A

January 5, 2011 by chris

2011 Ecumenical Prayer Calendar

January 3, 2011 By Rose Gurkin, Former Program Associate for Administration

This Prayer for Unity and monthly prayer calendar include by name the judicatories and congregations that are members of the North Carolina Council of Churches and the names of their current leaders. Your pryers for reconciliation are invited for all Christian bodies in and beyond the state.

2011 Ecumenical Prayer Calendar

January 3, 2011 by Rose Gurkin, Former Program Associate for Administration

Epiphany Sunday, Year A

December 6, 2010 By chris

I grew up in the South where my Church seldom addressed justice issues. Most of the sermons were about personal behavior and the plan of salvation. In fact, there was a common vocabulary used in churches that suggested Christians should not be “worldly.” It was as if the task of the Church was to save people from the world rather than transform the world. This was a theological way of escaping the justice issues of our racist, segregated society.

Epiphany Sunday, Year A

December 6, 2010 by chris

Third Sunday in Advent, Year A

November 26, 2010 By chris

For 10 years I have served a very poor church. The church's total income is way below the poverty level, especially for a family of 45. Many of the folks who worship with and have leadership at the church are homeless or unemployed. Many have black or brown skin. Monthly fellowship meals are really a feeding of the hungry as the majority of guests at every meal are without work. The church pays utilities for a day shelter for the homeless in its small basement. With only weekly offerings for income, somehow the church has no debt and a little surplus. It must be that God cares about the poor and still makes a way out of no way.

Third Sunday in Advent, Year A

November 26, 2010 by chris

For 10 years I have served a very poor church. The church’s total income is way below the poverty level, especially for a family of 45. Many of the folks who worship with and have leadership at the church are homeless or unemployed. Many have black or brown skin. Monthly fellowship meals are really a feeding of the hungry as the majority of guests at every meal are without work. The church pays utilities for a day shelter for the homeless in its small basement. With only weekly offerings for income, somehow the church has no debt and a little surplus. It must be that God cares about the poor and still makes a way out of no way.

Proper 28, Year C

October 12, 2010 By chris

Our lectionary texts, Isaiah 65:17-25 and Psalm 98, offer vision and hope for people of faith, a vision of ultimate peace among the whole of creation. The Hebrew word which implies such a state of being is shalom. The word shalom has a deep and rich meaning, implying not only a lack of hostility towards the creation and all God’s creatures, but also a state of general health and well being, a condition where there is “ecojustice” for all parts of creation.

Proper 28, Year C

October 12, 2010 by chris

Proper 26, Year C

October 4, 2010 By chris

The school year of 2006 began rather quietly as most school years do. But on August 30th, a boy with a gun walked into a high school in Hillsborough, NC, and the new school year was marked by violence. Little did we know that this August 30th shooting at a North Carolina high school would be a harbinger of a national spate of school shootings. The young shooter in Hillsborough had a deadly plan and a number of guns; after killing his father he shot and wounded a student at a nearby high school.

Proper 26, Year C

October 4, 2010 by chris

Little did we know that this August 30th shooting at a North Carolina high school would be a harbinger of a national spate of school shootings. The young shooter in Hillsborough had a deadly plan and a number of guns; after killing his father he shot and wounded a student at a nearby high school.

Proper 25, Year C

September 24, 2010 By chris

North Carolina has the largest Native American population east of the Mississippi River – over 115,000 by the US Census’ 2008 estimate. NC has the fifth highest Native American population in the U.S.

Proper 25, Year C

September 24, 2010 by chris

When Tolerance and Coexistence Are (Not) Enough

September 18, 2010 By chris

Rabbi Mark Strauss-Cohn, Temple Emanuel (Winston-Salem)

What is it about the rear side of a car that they are a primary location to display our affiliations: sports, political groups, rock bands, restaurants, ideologies, personal interests, vacation spots, synagogues (a very popular one here in Winston-Salem)… You see these signs everywhere.

When Tolerance and Coexistence Are (Not) Enough

September 18, 2010 by chris

Rabbi Mark Strauss-Cohn, Temple Emanuel (Winston-Salem)

Proper 21, Year C

September 6, 2010 By chris

We were on our tour bus, about to leave the dorm where we had been staying, when a few of us saw her. She looked about sixty years old, and she looked like she could have been my grandmother. She came quietly around the corner of the building, went straight to the big trashcan, and started digging out our thrown-away lunches. She put what she could find in a bag, and she was gone.

Sheltered life that I had led, I had never before seen someone using a trashcan as a food source.

Proper 21, Year C

September 6, 2010 by chris

Sheltered life that I had led, I had never before seen someone using a trashcan as a food source.

International Day of Prayer for Peace, Sept. 21

August 30, 2010 By David LaMotte, Consultant for Peace

The NCCC encourages member congregations to celebrate and promote the International Day of Prayer for Peace on September 21. A bulletin insert for your use is linked here, as well as further resources.

International Day of Prayer for Peace, Sept. 21

August 30, 2010 by David LaMotte, Consultant for Peace

Proper 20, Year C

August 30, 2010 By chris

The biblical writers were, indeed, no strangers to the most painful kinds of suffering: they experienced it, they gave voice to it and often denounced oppressive systems which caused it, and they witnessed to a God who could hear their most heartfelt cries and still remain their God.

Proper 20, Year C

August 30, 2010 by chris

Partners in Health & Wholeness Worship Aid

July 12, 2010 By chris

Welcome to our worship resources for Partners in Health and Wholeness (PHW). PHW is an ambitious program of the North Carolina Council of Churches designed to help people of faith to see health — their own health — as an issue of faith and to take action that will lead to healthier and more abundant living.

Partners in Health & Wholeness Worship Aid

July 12, 2010 by chris

Poisoned Sea, Impoverished Soul

April 30, 2010 By chris

A Litany of Lament Over a Despoiled Ocean Ken Sehested, pastor, Alliance-affiliated Circle of Mercy, Asheville, N.C. In the beginning, darkness covered the face of the deep. Then the Breath of Heaven swept across the waters, blessing the sea with all manner of creatures. The sea knows its Maker and roars its applause; the fish therein leap at the sound of God’s voice. Through the baptismal waters of the Red Sea did the Israelites escape their tormentors and emerge to freedom’s demand.

Poisoned Sea, Impoverished Soul

April 30, 2010 by chris

A Litany of Lament Over a Despoiled Ocean

Ken Sehested, pastor, Alliance-affiliated
Circle of Mercy, Asheville, N.C.

In the beginning, darkness covered the face of the deep.

Then the Breath of Heaven swept across the waters, blessing the sea with all manner of creatures.

The sea knows its Maker and roars its applause; the fish therein leap at the sound of God’s voice.

Through the baptismal waters of the Red Sea did the Israelites escape their tormentors and emerge to freedom’s demand.

Martin Luther King Day Bulletin Insert – Wage Peace

January 15, 2010 By chris

In April 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at New York’s Riverside Church about the war being fought by the U.S. in Asia at that time, in Vietnam. His words remind us of the choices we now face about war in Asia and around the world in 2010.

Martin Luther King Day Bulletin Insert – Wage Peace

January 15, 2010 by chris

2010 Ecumenical Prayer Calendar

January 1, 2010 By chris

This Prayer for Unity and monthly prayer calendar include by name the judicatories and congregations that are members of the North Carolina Council of Churches and the names of their current leaders. Your prayers for reconciliation are invited for all Christian bodies in and beyond the state.

2010 Ecumenical Prayer Calendar

January 1, 2010 by chris

This Prayer for Unity and monthly prayer calendar include by name the judicatories and congregations that are members of the North Carolina Council of Churches and the names of their current leaders. Your prayers for reconciliation are invited for all Christian bodies in and beyond the state.

Mother’s Day for Peace

May 12, 2008 By chris

In the United States, Mother's Day was originally suggested by poet and abolitionist activist Julia Ward Howe. In 1870, after witnessing the carnage of the American Civil War and the start of the Franco-Prussian War, she wrote the original Mother's Day Proclamation calling upon the women of the world to unite for peace. This "Mother's Day Proclamation" would plant the seed for what would eventually become a national holiday.

Mother’s Day for Peace

May 12, 2008 by chris

In the United States, Mother’s Day was originally suggested by poet and abolitionist activist Julia Ward Howe. In 1870, after witnessing the carnage of the American Civil War and the start of the Franco-Prussian War, she wrote the original Mother’s Day Proclamation calling upon the women of the world to unite for peace. This “Mother’s Day Proclamation” would plant the seed for what would eventually become a national holiday.

Hope For Middle East Peace – Community Prayer Day

July 12, 2006 By chris

The following are prayers offered for Middle East Peace during a 2006 interfaith prayer service in North Carolina.

It is good that we have been here today, not because it changes a thing, but because it reminds us that as diverse as our traditions and convictions are, our hearts yearn for similar things. And if this is true, if we are hoping and praying and working for the same ultimate goals, then we are connected in a soulful way. And acknowledging that truth can change everything. May the One who made us for peace, give us the courage to live in peace. May the One who made us in love, give us the compassion to reach out in love. May the One who made us with hope, give us the strength to persevere in hope. And may all of our sisters and brothers in the Middle East know the fullness of God's peace, God's hope, and God's love. Amen.

Hope For Middle East Peace – Community Prayer Day

July 12, 2006 by chris

The following are prayers offered for Middle East Peace during a 2006 interfaith prayer service in North Carolina.

May the One who made us for peace, give us the courage to live in peace.
May the One who made us in love, give us the compassion to reach out in love.
May the One who made us with hope, give us the strength to persevere in hope.

And may all of our sisters and brothers in the Middle East know the fullness of God’s peace, God’s hope, and God’s love. Amen.

Celebrating a Public Education Sabbath

July 11, 2005 By chris

We invite every religious and faith community in North Carolina to join us in celebrating a Public Education Sabbath on their day of worship before the school year begins or at another appropriate time during the school year.

Celebrating a Public Education Sabbath

July 11, 2005 by chris

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