Council Voices

A coalition of North Carolina faith leaders representing more than a dozen denominations denounced U.S. Border Patrol operations across the Triangle and in Charlotte during a virtual conference Thursday. “We believe the presence of federal immigration law enforcement in our state prompts us to speak out this morning, declaring the values of the Christian tradition […]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Nearly 140,000 people in Mecklenburg County could lose access to food assistance next month if the federal government shutdown continues, according to local nonprofit Nourish Up. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as Food and Nutrition Services in North Carolina, provides a monthly lifeline for families struggling […]

Local groups serving Latino and immigrant communities are being forced to rethink how they share information as Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramps up its presence in Charlotte. Seminars about legal rights and immigration policy can sometimes be too risky, advocates say, drawing unwanted attention to undocumented attendees. So, organizations such as Camino are turning to […]

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A coalition of North Carolina clergy and immigrant advocates gathered outside the Guilford County Courthouse Tuesday morning to denounce recent immigration enforcement actions and announce a new courthouse monitoring initiative. The press conference, organized by Siembra NC—a grassroots organization that describes itself as opposing what it sees as abuse by ICE and President Donald […]

A group of faith leaders in Charlotte say they have a message for ICE — they want agents to stay away from their places of worship. Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz started looking into rumors about an arrest outside of an east Charlotte church, but we learned that nobody was arrested. Church leaders said ICE did […]

The N.C. Council of Churches is voicing concerns after the organization said armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were reportedly at a Charlotte church on May 20. Representatives from the Carolina Migrant Network and the Latin American Coalition joined members of the council during a press conference Wednesday.  According to the council’s executive director, […]

As a child, Dr. Christoph Diasio’s colleague got the measles.  It was before 1963, so the vaccine wasn’t available. As he told Diasio decades later, he spent 10 days in his bedroom so he wouldn’t spread the disease to the rest of his family. Even dim light was so painful to be around, he recalled, […]

Gun control advocates and faith leaders held a press conference at the state Legislative Building Wednesday urging lawmakers to oppose bills that would allow carrying concealed firearms without a permit. It’s one of the biggest issues this session. Legislators are considering bills that would allow “constitutional carry,” or the idea that individuals should be able […]

A bill moving in the state House this week would reintroduce the electric chair and firing squads as part of the death penalty. North Carolina hasn’t had any executions since 2006 due to legal challenges, and lethal injection has been the only legal method here since 1998. The House bill seeks to restart executions for […]

A bill advancing through the North Carolina General Assembly seeks to restart capital punishment in the state, where legal challenges to the state’s lethal injection method have paused the death penalty for 19 years. A House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to House Bill 270, which would allow criminals sentenced to death in North […]

Inspired by events 250 years ago, when Boston’s Old North Church signaled the start of Paul Revere’s ride, churches bells across the nation were rung in support of democracy on Friday, Oct. 18. The bells of several Presbyterian churches and those of other denominations across North Carolina were rung as part of an event called […]

RNS) — As churches across the country observe Good Friday, more than 100 congregations will also ring their bells to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Boston Old North Church’s Lantern service, which marks the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. The “Let Freedom Ring!” project, initiated by the Center for Media and Democracy, invites […]

“It’s alright to pray for lawyers. It’s alright to clap for lawyers — even in church.” Rev. Jim Wallis offered that quip as he stood in the pulpit of National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., on Thursday (April 3) during a vigil on the eve of a legal hearing. The next morning, a judge […]

On the eve of Friday’s hearing of a religious freedom lawsuit filed by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and more than two dozen faith partners in response to the recission of the Department of Homeland Security’s “sensitive locations” policy, people of many faiths gathered at National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., for a heartfelt prayer vigil. Watch the 75-minute […]

Fighting the evil of racial injustice requires the energy and improvisational skill of a jazz musician, a minister and leader of faith-based groups in North Carolina told guests at an Episcopal symposium to face and heal racial divides. The Rev. Dr. Hanna Broome, president of the North Carolina Council of Churches, delivered the keynote address […]

As a Baptist youth minister, L.S. is used to kids opening up about their hopes and dreams—and their fears. A Latina girl recently told the youth group she was scared federal immigration officials would detain her father, which sparked a bigger conversation about the cruelties of deportations.  Attendance is down among Latino worshippers at L.S.’s […]

Presidents Day sure hits differently this year. The long weekend is supposed to celebrate the presidency and, in a bigger sense, our country’s long tradition of peacefully transferring power between political parties.  Instead, President Donald Trump kicked off the festivities by comparing himself to French dictator Napoleon and implying his illegal attempt to fire thousands of government employees […]

Three North Carolina faith groups representing 20 denominations and thousands of congregations have sued the Trump administration, saying its decision to send immigration agents into churches and synagogues violates their Constitutional right to religious freedom. The N.C. Council of Churches, based in Raleigh and representing more than 6,000 churches and synagogues across the state; the […]

More than two dozen religious groups, including the North Carolina Council of Churches, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Homeland Security challenging the Trump administration’s reversal of a policy that barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting raids at houses of worship. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., is seeking injunctions […]

Several religious organizations, including Christian and Jewish denominations and conferences, have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s decision to allow immigration enforcement agents to enter houses of worship. In a joint complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the more than two dozen religious bodies argued that allowing raids by […]

More than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security over President Donald Trump’s decision to allow law enforcement raids and arrests in churches and other sensitive locations. “Plaintiffs’ religious scripture, teaching, and traditions offer clear, repeated, and irrefutable unanimity on their obligation to embrace, serve, and defend the refugees, […]

More than two dozen faith groups from a range of religious traditions sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to fight back against a policy that may make immigration raids in churches more common. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims that ICE raids in houses of […]