Member Church News: History, Peace, Freedom

The United Church of Christ elects first woman—and first woman of African descent—to lead denomination: “Today, United Church of Christ, we created a first together. It won’t be the last first,” said Karen Georgia Thompson, general minister and president-elect.

The United Reformed Church inducts first black and ethnically-minoritised woman as General Assembly Moderator: “I will take the opportunity to assist the leadership and the membership to bring the denomination into its true identity – one that is constantly seeking justice, that regards God’s Word in the Bible as the highest authority, and as a place where all God’s people are one,” said Tessa Henry-Robinson.

We believe that the Lord will intervene and that the war will end: An interview with Marie Provazníková from the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren.

Carmen Lansdowne, moderator of The United Church Canada, offered a sermon at the United Church of Christ’s General Synod with a vision of reclamation and centering of marginalized communities amid a context where “our children are being born into a world of horrors.”

When Rita Famos became involved in the youth programmes of her local congregation in Bern, Switzerland, back in the early 1980s, a lifelong commitment to the Reformed Church and the ecumenical movement started to evolve.

Resources newly available for World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel: Resources—including reflections, prayers, and more—are now available to help churches and all people of good will to observe the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel from 16-23 September 2023.

Religious freedom: the situation is pressing: For the third time since 2013 and 2017, the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) are presenting a current report on religious freedom worldwide. The report makes it clear that the situation is urgent.

The World Council of Churches is planning a year of activities in 2025 to mark the 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325, a key moment in the history of Christian faith and for the ecumenical journey today.

_{Image: GMP-elect Karen Georgia Thompson meets outgoing GMP John Dorhauer on stage to embrace after Thompson’s election July 3 (UCC/Curly Stumb).}