The National Council of Churches (NCC) joined with Christians Uniting in Christ (CUIC) and Christian Churches Together (CCT) in issuing a letter to congregations across the United States. The letter issues “an invitation to join together in witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus for all in the United States to see.”
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News, Statements, and Podcasts:
NCC Grateful for Life and Witness of Rev. Dr. Joseph Echols Lowery
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Like anybody, I would like to have a long life.” His trusted deputy, a great leader in his own right, the Rev. Dr. Joseph Echols Lowery, had that long life and we are all blessed because of it. Rev. Dr. Lowery passed away on Friday at the age of 98. The National Council of Churches is grateful for his witness and all he did for human rights and for God’s world.
Joint Statement of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in USA and the Council of Churches of Cuba
We are only days away from Easter 2020, the most important celebration of Christianity, and the world is going through a crisis of inestimable implications that affects all edges of life on the planet.
In Historic Statement, Ecumenical Organizations Across the World Stand Together to Protect Life
In a historic joint pastoral statement released on 26 March, the World Council of Churches, Regional Ecumenical Organizations, and the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) affirmed the urgency of standing together to protect life amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Time of COVID-19, Mass Incarceration Endangers Lives
The global COVID-19 pandemic brings with it a moral imperative to pay special attention to incarcerated persons. With over 2.3 million people in jails and prisons in the United States and hundreds of thousands in detention centers, these communities, including the staff working in these facilities, are particularly vulnerable to the impact of the COVID-19 virus. People in prison are in close proximity, living in compromised sanitary conditions, and have limited access to resources to meet CDC recommended hygiene routines. The impact on already vulnerable communities, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, is exacerbated by these living conditions.
Use of RSV/NRSV for Church Services
During this time of National Emergency due to the COVID-19 virus, the National Council of Churches (which owns the rights to both the RSV and NRSV) has temporarily revised our permissions policy. Churches that livestream or broadcast their church sermons during the National Emergency declared for COVID-19 may use the RSV/NRSV without any special permission requirements.
Singing in a Strange Land
The strange land of social distancing, isolation, shelter-in-place, and quarantine has leapt upon us with short notice. While many of us understood the threat of the coronavirus, few of us envisioned how radically we would have to change our day-to-day habits in response to it. We have never been here before. This new and strange land demands much from us from a simple refraining from hugging and greeting with affection, to being locked out from visiting sick and shut-in loved ones, to being unable to go to our normal jobs and work. How can we sing in such a strange land?
Isaiah 42: 1-9, NRSV
As the whole world is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are posting Daily Bible Readings from the International Bible Lessons for Christian Teaching, Spring 2020, for your inspiration and encouragement. God’s Just Servant 42:1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the […]
God has not gone to sleep
What marvelous and comforting words from the psalmist assuring us that those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty will be delivered from this overwhelming virus devastating our communities. It is indeed a wonderful reassurance for us who trust God at this time of pestilence. What we are living during this Lenten season is not new for our planet, even in our recent memory we have lived other dreadful challenges.
Previous posts
- Three Ecumenical Organizations Release Unprecedented Letter
- NCC Grateful for Life and Witness of Rev. Dr. Joseph Echols Lowery
- Joint Statement of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in USA and the Council of Churches of Cuba
- In Historic Statement, Ecumenical Organizations Across the World Stand Together to Protect Life
- In the Time of COVID-19, Mass Incarceration Endangers Lives
- Use of RSV/NRSV for Church Services
- Isaiah 42:10-17, NRSV
- O God of All
- Matthew 12:15-21, NRSV
- The Church and COVID-19
- A prayer for the most vulnerable among us
- Luke 11:42-44, NRSV
