WCC NEWS: Consultation on “Transforming Discipleship and Creation” will take place in Aotearoa New Zealand

A consultation entitled “Transforming Discipleship and Creation” will take place from 6-11 October in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. Cohosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC), Methodist Church of New Zealand, and Te Runanga Whakawhanaunga i ngā Hāhi, the gathering will include personal sharing, exposure visits, case studies, and reflection.  Rev. Tara Tautari, general secretary of the Methodist Church in New Zealand, leads a so-called Talanoa dialogue during a thematic plenary focused on ’Affirming the Wholeness of Life’, 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2022, Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 30 September 2024 Participants will explore their calling to seek justice for and with those most affected by the climate crisis due to the exploitation of creation. Both the Methodist Church of New Zealand and Te Runanga Whakawhanaunga i ngā Hāhi, particularly through the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, have a longstanding history and commitment to addressing their role as disciples in transforming mission for both humanity and creation. Given the increasing urgency of our times, coordinated mission work for the integrity and protection of creation is a priority. The consultation will aim to provide a space for constructive dialogue on challenges, opportunities, and potential cooperation among churches and local communities in Aotearoa and across the Pacific. This effort will focus on becoming disciples of creation, with the hope that the consultation will foster ecumenical dialogue and collaboration to protect nature, our home, gifted to us by God.   Learn more about the WCC work on Mission and Evangelism Commission on World Mission and Evangelism "Convening in Kenya, WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism maps out work" (WCC news release, July 2024) Ecumenical Indigenous Peoples Network   See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland

WCC NEWS: UNAIDS, PEPFAR renew commitment to end AIDS in children by 2030 at Annual Communities of Faith Breakfast

At a time when global crises risk diverting attention from critical health issues, the annual Communities of Faith Breakfast held on 26 September at the Yale Club of New York City alongside the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), reaffirmed the need to prioritize children in the global fight against HIV.  New York City, September 26 2024- The World Council of Churches, UNAIDS and PEPFAR hosted the Communities of Faith Breakfast during the high level week of the UN General Assembly In New York, gathering faith leaders and other health care leaders and practitioners to learn and pray together about the current state of AIDS among children and the rest of the population. Photo: Grégoire de Fombelle/WCC 27 September 2024 Co-hosted by UNAIDS, US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the World Council of Churches (WCC), this gathering brought together religious leaders, policymakers, and health advocates to underscore the vital role of faith-based organizations in sustaining momentum towards an AIDS-free future. Key speakers at the event, including PEPFAR ambassador Dr John Nkengasong, UNAIDS deputy executive director Christine Stegling, and Bishop Leah D. Daughtry, US presiding prelate of the House of the Lord Churches, stressed the importance of partnerships and collaboration in a world where resources for HIV prevention and treatment are diminishing. "Progress is not success," said Nkengasong, emphasizing the continued vulnerability of children to HIV, even as new advancements in treatment provide hope. Wendy Ramirez, a young woman living with HIV and an advocate from Honduras, shared her personal story of overcoming stigma and discrimination. Many children born with HIV are abandoned by their familes, she said, stressing the importance of education and support for young people living with the virus. "Children like me need a safe and supportive environment to grow up and thrive. We cannot allow HIV to take away their future," she said. Daughtry called for decisive action from faith communities, urging participants not only to provide hope but also to actively engage in the HIV response. "We are called to be more than voices of hope—we must be forces for change. It's not enough to acknowledge the challenges; we need to take action, step out, and do the work that ensures every child is protected from HIV, even if it is only one child," Daughtry said. Her remarks underscored the critical role of faith leaders in building partnerships and fostering collaboration, with a renewed focus on putting children first and transforming the future through collective efforts. Stegling echoed this call to action, reminding the audience of the moral obligation to protect the most vulnerable: “The death of any child from AIDS is not just a tragedy—it’s an outrage. We can and must do more.” She highlighted the Global Alliance to End AIDS in Children, a collaborative initiative led by 12 African nations, that has already shown significant progress in reducing pediatric HIV infections. The event served as a reminder of the ongoing need for global commitment to end AIDS by 2030, particularly through investments in pediatric HIV programs. The breakfast concluded with renewed pledges from participants to sustain global HIV programs, particularly those focusing on children and families. The importance of faith-based organizations in this effort was underscored throughout, as speakers pointed to their longstanding role in providing care, support, and advocacy in the global response to HIV. The World Council of Churches works with several faith communities to strengthen the joint response to the gaps in pediatric HIV. Blog post: Children, HIV and the church Photo gallery See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland

SojoMail - A note from our new editor in chief

This week: Our editor in chief on who we are as a publication, a new story Bible for raising ‘kind and contemplative kids,’ and anarchy in the Sermon on the Mount. From Our New Editor in Chief: Why Sojourners Is Here In this week’s SojoMail, editor in chief Betsy Shirley writes about her hopes for Sojourners and the mission that keeps driving us forward: Who is included when you say “we”? When I first arrived at this magazine as an editorial assistant, I learned this was the kind of pesky question editors were prone to add in the margins of a draft, nudging the author to be more precise. Fourteen years later, it’s a question I ask as the new editor in chief of Sojourners. All magazines have an assumed sense of “we” and “us,” a shared purpose that unites the writers, editors, artists, and readers. Who am I, who are all of you, and what do we have in common as we stare at these words on glossy pages or screens? This is true in my own story. I grew up attending a Midwestern megachurch in the suburbs; if you need a visual, picture a full-length denim skirt, my rainbow-colored braces, and a zippered Bible case with highlighters and a gospel tract tucked inside (admittedly, I didn’t know any people who weren’t Christian but wanted to be prepared). Aside from the annual Mother’s Day message from the pastor’s wife, I never heard a woman deliver a Sunday sermon. I knew what 1 Timothy 2 said, but I couldn’t shake the sense it was odd that God would forbid half the church from preaching the gospel in certain contexts. I didn’t (yet) have the language to make a biblical argument for women’s leadership, but something told me to press into those questions. Fast forward: I eventually ditched the denim skirt and the tract but held on to the Bible and learned new ways to read it. I did an internship with Sojourners; I lived on a farm and worked with refugees; I went to divinity school. The inclusiveness of my theology grew and the size of the churches I attended shrunk. I realized — more slowly than I care to admit — how the same twists of scripture that marginalized women were also used to exclude LGBTQ+ folks, blame poor people for their problems, baptize American military violence, and generally uphold systems where white people always wound up with more power and money. In short: I changed, with God’s help. But here’s the thing: Even Christian spaces that wave pride flags or show up at Black Lives Matter rallies can suffer from an anemic understanding of who “we” are as the church. Read the full article Advertisement Our Latest Stories Politics Leans on Stereotypes. Art Shows ‘the Soul of Immigrants’ (by Ken Chitwood) From chain-link fences to desert profiles, artists reveal the deep, and expansive, experience of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in the U.S.  Read more The Long-Anticipated, Inclusive, Children’s Story Bible (by Bekah McNeel) Mariko Clark and Rachel Eleanor hope The Book of Belonging helps parents tell Bible stories with less dogma and more mystery, emphasizing God’s inclusive love. Read more The Reconstruct: Finding Christianity at the Nexus of Anarchy and Blackness (by Josiah R. Daniels) How Terry J. Stokes read the gospels and arrived at anarchist Christianity. Read more From the Magazine: Social Mysticism Can Help Us Encounter the Divine (by Dwayne David Paul) God is waiting for us to experience the presence of the Spirit through the work of community organizing. Read more Advertisements Sacred Writing Circles: Writing as a Spiritual Practice Join a small and supportive online writing community on a month-long creative journey. With guided spiritual practices and writing exercises, explore yourself and your connection to the universe. October's focus is on Saint Francis of Assisi and spiritual ancestors. Apply now! Countering Christian Nationalism in Good Faith Eroding civil rights. Upholding white supremacy. These are just some of the threats present with the rise of Christian nationalism. On October 16th from 1-2:30pm ET, editors and experts of Sojourners magazine will join in a virtual conversation on how to counter these deadly beliefs. Go to the link above to register. Donate Subscribe

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EarthBeat Weekly: Homelessness and the tragic consequences of torrential flooding

Homelessness and the tragic consequences of torrential flooding EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change September 27, 2024 Flora Membe sits outside her tent with her grandson in Khumwanda displacement camp, July 16 in Busia, Kenya, after floods swamped her house. (GSR photo/Doreen Ajiambo) Inside a camp for internally displaced persons in a remote part of western Kenya, personal testimonies of the impacts of climate change came rushing forward. For many of the people who spoke with Doreen Ajiambo, Africa/Middle East correspondent for Global Sisters Report, that impact was severe flooding that has overwhelmed rivers channeling water into Africa's largest lake, Lake Victoria. "We had nowhere to go as the level of water kept on rising every moment, and we had to make a decision to come and start living in the bush, which later turned into a camp," said Flora Membe, a 54-year-old mother of four who lost her home to flooded rivers five years ago. Life in the camps is difficult, reports Ajiambo, as those left homeless due to severe effects of climate change like flooding and drought face emotional and physical challenges, like looking for food and shelter and unstable health care. Exposed without shelter, women in particular experience additional adversities, including violence and unwanted pregnancies, putting them at risk of contracting HIV and other infections. The plight of the people in Khumwanda camp in Budalangi, Kenya, are just a few of the hundreds of thousands of people in the East African nation who have become homeless in recent years as a result of the impacts of climate change. Climate activists and religious leaders estimate that more than 2 million Kenyans are currently homeless, primarily as a result of extreme weather events like heavy rain, floods, drought and landslides. Every year, more than 30 million people in Africa are forced to leave their homes because of extreme weather events, a figure that has nearly tripled in the past four decades and could grow to 86 million Africans migrating within their own countries by 2050. "Climate change presents a significant challenge, with homelessness being just one of its many consequences," Sr. Celestine Nelima, of the Sisters of Mary of Kakamega, told Ajiambo. "Being situated in a low-lying area, the impact on our community is substantial." Read more: 'Refugees in their own land': Kenyans experience homelessness due to severe floods The flooding and heavy rains around Lake Victoria has impacts elsewhere in Africa. Floodwaters have made its ways to farms in South Sudan, destroying crops, killing livestock and leaving homes in ruins. Upwards of 750,000 South Sudanese are threatened by the floods and at risk of starvation among a population of more than 12.7 million people, of whom about 61% identify as Christian, reports Tonny Onyulo for Religion News Service. The Catholic Church in the region has partnered with other local churches and NGOs to facilitate food and essential supplies, while also collaborating to build dikes, dams and other sustainable water management infrastructure. "Our goal is to minimize the devastation caused by floods on both crops and households in order to prevent future suffering due to climate change," said Bishop Christian Carlassare of the Catholic Diocese of Bentiu. Read more: Aiding flood victims in South Sudan, faith leaders work on long-term solutions Flooding has devastated many parts of the world this year, including in eastern Europe. After the Oder River in western Poland, one of two biggest rivers in the country, flooded earlier this month, volunteers and help — including loads of supplies and money from Catholic charities — poured into the region to ease the pain of the people who lost everything. An estimated 20,000 buildings may have been damaged, based on satellite data. Residents told Agnieszka Bugala of OSV News that "It wasn't a flood, it was a tsunami," as torrential water burst the dam in Stronie Slaskie on the weekend of Sept. 14-15. The Sunday collection in Polish churches Sept. 22 was entirely dedicated to Caritas Poland for the flood relief. Read more: Amid dramatic scenes of floods sweeping through entire villages, Polish Catholics rush to help       What else is new on EarthBeat: In sunny Arizona's Tucson Diocese, solar power makes moral, economic sense by Kimberley Heatherington Twelve of 77 parishes in Tucson Diocese have installed solar power systems since 2008. The diocese is in a city that's one of the sunniest in the country. It's also had 92 days above 100 degrees Fahrenheit already this year.   Read more here »   Siena College symposium answers 'Earth's cry' with 'humanity's call' to care for creation by Gina Christian, OSV News The Franciscan college in New York state will host a two-day gathering on integral ecology and sustainability with a focus on creating a "global vision with local meaning" to care for creation. The free symposium, set to take place both in person and online, will also include several panel discussions, exhibitor displays, prayer and a concluding performance of short plays about climate change, sustainability and climate justice, several of them written and performed by Siena students. Read more here »   African faith leaders and environmentalists push for fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty by Fredrick Nzwili, Religion News Service On Sept.10, Catholic Bishop Leonard Ndjadi Ndjate, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the treaty was an ethical imperative that served the best interest of humanity. Read more here »   Love for the poor and for creation is key to a future of hope, pope says by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service Speaking with representatives of movements and organizations from Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia, Francis told the group that he has been criticized for never speaking up for the middle class, "and I apologize for that," he said. But at the same time, "it was Jesus who put the poor at the center." Read more here »   Praying With Creation: Notice the hope revealed in nature by Christina Leaño Often it can be difficult to visibly see or feel hope in our midst. That is where this year's season theme — "to hope and act with creation" — might be instructive.  Read more here »   'Green nuns' model how to put into action Pope Francis' call to care for creation by Kimberley Heatherington, OSV News Throughout America and the world, thousands of religious sisters are daily witnessing to the environmental care commitment urged by Francis' 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si', and its 2023 sequel, Laudate Deum. It's a congregational concern that, for many of them, often predates the pontiff's writings — but the merging of their own environmental priorities with official papal pronouncements has helpfully amplified sisterly endeavors. Read more here »   California sues Exxon Mobil over 'sham' of plastics recycling by Joseph Winters, Grist The lawsuit, filed on the same day as a similar lawsuit by environmental groups, follows a two-year investigation into what the California attorney general has called the petrochemical industry’s "decades-long deception campaign" over the sustainability of plastics and the feasibility of plastics recycling. Read more here »   What's happening in other climate news: The majority of Americans support climate reforms. Why won't Congress deliver? —David Schechter, Grace Manthey, Sarah Metz, Tracy Wholf, Chance Horner and Samantha Wender for CBS News Swing states in US election are biggest winners in Democrats’ landmark climate bill —Oliver Milman and Dharna Noor for the Guardian Hurricane makes landfall near Perry, Florida as a Category 4 storm —Kim Luciani, John Gallas and Grace Pateras for the Tallahassee Democrat For a week, New York will be center of money-focused fight to slow climate change —Seth Borenstein for the Associated Press New global climate 'loss and damage' fund names first director —Valerie Volcovici for Reuters Finding a fix for playgrounds that are too hot to touch —Wyatt Myskow for Inside Climate News At COP16, Colombia seeks to lead by example on biodiversity —Issam Ahmed for Agence France-Presse   Final Beat: This past week was Climate Week at the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York. It serves as a precursor to a busy fall for international environmental policy. Beginning Oct. 21, the COP16 U.N. biodiversity summit will open in Cali, Colombia. Then in mid-November, the COP29 U.N. climate change conference will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan. And later that month, nations will again convene, this time in Busan, South Korea, for what's expected to be the final round of negotiations on a first-ever global treaty to address plastic pollution. Each of the high-stakes international summits will see advocacy and engagement by Catholic and other faith leaders. Be sure to stay tuned to EarthBeat for all the coverage. And while you're at it, invite a friend (or friends) to subscribe to the EarthBeat Weekly newsletter to ensure they're informed on all the news, too. Thanks for reading EarthBeat.    Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org Instagram: @broewe_ncr     Featured Advertisers   Looking to Hire? Offering Retreats? Selling Books? 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