By General Secretary Ivan Abrahams Greetings during this holy Season of Advent, a time of great expectation and hope! I write on this 5th of December, the first anniversary of the passing of Nelson Mandela, the founding father of a democratic South Africa. Today the world celebrates the legacy of this global icon and moral […]
December 2014
Protests Erupt after Grand Jury Decisions in Ferguson, Staten Island

Protests erupted across the United States in late November and early December as Grand Juries in two killings of unarmed citizens by police officers reached the decision to not charge the officers with any wrongdoing. The two victims, Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner of Staten Island, New York have since become symbols […]
Ecumenical organizations set to promote climate justice at COP 20

The members and partners of the World Council of Churches (WCC) are all set to promote the cause of climate justice from a faith-based perspective as the 20th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) beginning on 1 December in Lima, Peru. COP 20 is another step […]
Reflections on the President’s Immigration Announcement

BY BISHOP DAVID KENDALL Last evening, President Obama declared his intention to issue “executive orders” whereby presently undocumented persons in the U.S. may move toward permanent legal status. No doubt this will create a flurry of responses from all side of these complex issues, and will tend to generate far more heat than light. Discussion […]
“Fellow citizens with God’s people and members of his household …“

Statement of the Executive of the Central Conference of the United Methodist Church in Germany on Refugees and Church Asylum As early as in the Old Testament strangers and disenfranchised people enjoy special protection (Deutoronomy 24:17). It is God’s expressed will that strangers should enjoy the same rights as the native population because the […]
CIEMAL expresses solidarity to Methodist Church of Mexico on the disappearance of teacher and students

In a November 12 message to Bishop Fernando Fuentes Amador, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Mexico, A.R., the President of the Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches of Latin America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL), Rev. Lizzette Gabriel Montalvo, has shared with the Mexican Church of Mexico a Manifesto of Solidarity and Accompaniment on the […]
Controversial Jesus statue turned away by London Church Finds New Home

A London home for the controversial Jesus the Homeless sculpture has been found at last – as long as Westminster Council agrees. The sculpture shows Jesus under a blanket sleeping on a park bench. It is one of 10 produced by Canadian artist Tim Schmalz and was turned down by the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields […]
Child Poverty Discussion is Crucial, say New Zealand’s Church Leaders

Proposals to reduce New Zealand’s unacceptably high child poverty rates need to be urgently debated and discussed, say the leaders of the Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Salvation Army and Assemblies of God Churches. The seven Church Leaders welcome the release today of the Issues and Options paper of the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group […]
Methodist Church in Brazil adds New Conference

As result of the significant growth of the Methodist Church in Brazil a new Conference was established, the first new Conference in 50 years, and it will be known as the Seventh Conference of the Methodist Church in Brazil. The decision was made in November, when Methodist representatives of nine the other districts within the […]
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries opens Dormitory for College Students in Cambodia

Asia-Pacific Region Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Coordinator John Watton was looking for compassionate Nazarenes. Watton, who previously served on the Africa Region, took an initial tour of the Southeast Asia Field during the first week of November. In Phnom Penh, he found a newly opened dorm for young women traveling from the province to the city to attend college. […]
WesleyMen Highlight Mission Work in Uganda

The Men’s Affiliate of the World Methodist Council continues to spotlight Methodists in action against world hunger. “Sometimes the things we do as Wesleyans are for people in our own neighborhoods and other times we are answering a call to help those in a faraway places,” says WesleyMen Communications Director, Andy Morris, “Either way our […]