Marching for peace: US ‘Peace Pilgrimage’ takes up war in Gaza as a civil rights issue
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports that many Black Americans view the Palestinian cause in the context of the African American experience of oppression, a stance which has, on occasion, strained relations with American Jews…
In the US, reparations campaign takes new forms with Bible study, Juneteenth march
United StatesRNS The long campaign for reparations for slavery in the United States has taken numerous forms. Members of Congress have supported a commission to study the matter. Pastor Les Robinson interacts with members of the congregation at The Sanctuary Church on Sunday, 14th May, 2023, in Santa Clarita, California. For Black Californians who have […]
The Interview: Bishop Vashti McKenzie, president of the US National Council of Churches
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, speaks with BIshop Vashti McKenzie about why she’s continuing with the ecumenical group, how she responds to its critics and what lies ahead for its future…
Faith leaders ask Biden to mark Mother’s Day with prayer day against gun violence
United StatesRNS More than 550 faith leaders have asked President Joe Biden to declare Mother’s Day an occasion for Americans to pray for an end to gun violence. “While some may throw up their arms and say that this is a battle too large to win, we, an interfaith coalition, made up of Christians, Jews, […]
US faith leaders urge Biden to sign executive order for reparations study by Juneteenth
United StatesRNS More than 200 US interfaith leaders have requested that President Joe Biden establish a commission to study reparations for African Americans by signing an executive order by the newly recognised federal holiday Juneteenth. “Our faith traditions hold as central the essential worth of each person as having been created in the image of […]
In the US, Tyre Nichols police beating video prompts faith leaders to react with grief, goals
United StatesRNS Religious leaders reacted swiftly – with legislative appeals and collective grief – to the release of video footage of police officers beating Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died days after a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee. An image of Tyre Nichols and the words “JUSTICE FOR TYRE NICHOLS” are projected onto a […]
Bishop Vashti McKenzie to lead US National Council of Churches for next two years
RNS Bishop Vashti McKenzie, a recently retired bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, has been named the interim president and general secretary of the National Council of Churches, the ecumenical organisation announced on Tuesday. McKenzie succeeds Jim Winkler, who left the post on 31st January after serving in the role since 2013. She officially […]
In the US, Jim Winkler departs National Council of Churches after two terms as chief
RNS The US National Council of Churches announced on Wednesday that Jim Winkler, its general secretary and president since 2013, is leaving his post. Winkler told readers of the Protestant ecumenical organisation’s e-newsletter of his departure on Friday, writing in a “Final Column” that “I have completed two terms as president and general secretary and now move to […]
New Revised Standard Version Bible updated with consideration for ‘modern sensibilities’
RNS An updated edition of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible includes thousands of changes in language, reflecting the research of a wide range of scholars who spent four years reviewing its contents as well as taking into consideration “modern sensibilities”. A verse in the New Testament Book of Galatians that previously referred […]
In the US, William Sterling Cary, pioneering Black pastor, dies at 94
Chicago, USAP William Sterling Cary, a pioneering minister and civil rights activist who was the first Black person in prominent church leadership roles including president of the National Council of Churches, has died, according to family members. He was 94. Cary died Sunday at his suburban Chicago home in Flossmoor following heart failure after a […]