| Ukraine, the SCOTUS Nomination & Armenian Christian Monuments
NCC Newsletter February 25, 2022 |
| | | | The National Council of Churches USA reiterates the call for peace and an end to Russian aggression and acts of war in the Ukraine. We lament the loss of life and the unnecessary suffering that is unfolding. We stand with the Ukrainian people and urge Russia to end this pointless and unwarranted conflict. We also recognize and stand in solidarity with those protesting in Russia to try to get their government to choose a different, peaceable course of action. The unrest, uncertainty and trauma this war will cause are immeasurable and will affect the entire global village. In this moment, we pray knowing God hears our cries:
Gracious and Merciful God,
We pray today for the Ukrainian people and ask for Your intervention in this senseless war levied against them by Russia. We pray, O God, for protection and that there would be peace. We pray for restoration and renewed hope. We pray for the families, especially, the children living through the horrors of war and all the upheaval and tribulation it brings. We also pray for those protesting in Russia against these violent acts by their government. We ask that You would protect, cover and keep these protesters as they put their bodies on the line in the name of what is just and righteous. We pray for the entire world community, including the leaders in our own country. Give them wisdom and ingenuity to respond in ways that ends this war and moves us all to a world where Your peace abides. Hear the cries of Your people, O God. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Amen.
Dr. Tony Kireopoulos, Associate General Secretary, Faith and Order and Interfaith Relations, offers this prayer:
Father in Heaven:
This weekend, in both Ukraine and Russia, Christians will begin their Sunday liturgies with the words, “In peace, let us pray to the Lord.” In the City of Kiev, the city of St. Vladimir, who brought Christianity to the Slavic peoples more than a millennium ago, these prayers will be especially poignant, as they will be accompanied by a sense of betrayal by their brothers and sisters in faith, even if their siblings in faith do not endorse their government’s actions. In synagogues, Jews will gather for the Sabbath haunted by memories of a previous generation’s oppression during the Holocaust, even as they plan evacuations from the country to the safe haven of Israel. In mosques, Muslims who come together for Salat Jumu’ah (Friday prayer) will fear for their safety.
Lord, Jesus Christ:
You said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27a). We join our prayers to those of the people of Ukraine, who look to the heavens for peace and protection during this time of violence and oppression. And we ask for your mercy, that it may change the hearts and minds of those who have chosen the path of destruction.
Holy Spirit:
Knowing that war can bring about only suffering and death, we look to you to bring about reconciliation between the peoples of Ukraine and Russia. And together with them, we pray “for the peace of the whole world…for every city and land…[and] for our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger and necessity…Amen.”
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| | | | Partner Responses to the Conflict in Ukraine |
| World Council of Churches Calls for an Immediate End to the Current Armed Hostilities: "The World Council of Churches denounces any and every use of deadly armed force to resolve disputes that could be resolved by dialogue. We firmly believe that dialogue - based on the principles of international law and respect for established national borders - was and is the proper path for the resolution of tensions surrounding Ukraine. We call for an immediate end to the current armed hostilities, and for the protection of all human lives and communities threatened by this violence. We urge all member churches and all people of good will around the world to join us in prayer for peace for the people of Ukraine and the region."
The United Methodist Church Responds to Invasion of Ukraine |
| | NCC Applauds the Nomination of the First Black Woman to the Supreme Court
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| Speak out, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Proverbs 31:9 NRSV
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) commends President Joseph Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court of the United States. We affirm her well-rounded qualifications and professional legal experience and denounce the overtly racist and sexist commentary that has infiltrated the public square and sought to debase this process and reject our Beloved Community.
Since 2018 when the NCC began the A.C.T. Now to End Racism initiative, we have been committed to eradicating the entrenched racism that grips the United States and paralyzes our ability to see every human being as equal. Since the formation of the Supreme Court in 1790, there has never been a Black woman on the court. In order to have equal justice for all, the court must reflect the diversity of our nation. This historic nomination is a long overdue step toward that goal.
We recognize the nomination of a justice with undeniable credentials, who has served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after graduating with honors from Harvard College and Harvard Law School where she was an editor on the law review, clerking for three federal judges, and serving as a federal trial court judge. As Christians centered on the love of God for all, we proclaim the necessity of having a justice with a proven record of protecting the rights of everyone, no matter their race, religion, class, immigration status, or any other ways they might be marginalized, which Judge Brown Jackson did as a public defender when she represented indigent criminal defendants. We celebrate that her background means that she will bring a different lens to the judiciary.
The NCC has long worked to end the mass incarceration crisis, reform sentencing guidelines, and transform the nation’s criminal legal system, as it is deeply rooted in racism. We commend Judge Brown Jackson’s service as vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission when it sought to reduce the penalties for crack cocaine that were 100 times more severe than for powder cocaine, which was an NCC priority at the time.
The NCC holds that diversity on our benches is a necessity because it increases the trust we have in our courts and ensures everyone is represented in judicial decision-making. As the NCC works toward the advancement of civil rights, expanded health care access, and the protection of our voting rights, we support every justice who elevates these basic human rights.
We pray for each senator to put partisan politics aside and vote for justice for all. May our nation use this opportunity to embrace and celebrate our diversity as we strive to be the Beloved Community we envision.
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| | Statement: NCC Condemns the Cultural Genocide Planned Against Armenian Christian Monuments in Nagorno-Karabagh
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| | Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Proverbs 30:5 NRSV
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) denounces the recent announcements from the government of Azerbaijan indicating that it plans to defile Armenian Christian monuments in the region of Nagorno-Karabagh and erase the evidence of their Armenian origin.
Since the early 1990s, Karabagh was governed as an independent Armenian republic, but in 2020 Azerbaijan attacked the region, waging a war that took the land as its own. As we know, this armed warfare displaced thousands of Armenians from their homes, which they lost along with hundreds of Armenian monuments.
In early February, the Azeri Minister of Culture announced his government would form in Azerbaijan a working group of experts in Albanian history and architecture that would be tasked with the goal of removing “false” traces left by Armenians on Albanian religious temples. The Culture Minister’s statement referenced a theory that Armenian inscriptions in churches on Azerbaijani territory are not original but were late additions to churches built under Caucasian Albania, an ancient Christian kingdom that ruled part of the territory that is today Azerbaijan. This theory has been broadly dismissed by mainstream scholars.
With full acknowledgement of the history of the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century, the NCC cannot ignore this new threat to the Armenian people. We cannot turn a blind eye to the similarities in tactics employed in all historical genocides. To erase a people’s history is to erase their existence, and it betrays a disdain for their very lives and survival as a people.
With this overwhelming connection to the evil that has been unleashed in all genocides, the NCC affirms its solidarity with the people of Armenia against this threat to their very being through the destruction of their history. We stand in witness to the existence of their ancient Christian churches and condemn the decimation of their Christian heritage.
We once again demand that the Azerbaijani authorities allow United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) representatives to enter Armenian territories under their control, which they have refused to allow since the conflict in 2020. Experts must be permitted to take an inventory of significant cultural properties in order to begin safeguarding the region’s heritage. The formation of this working group in Azerbaijan makes the call to abide by the 1954 Convention for the Protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict even more immediate and imperative.
The NCC calls for prayers for our Christian brothers and sisters in Armenia during this menacing threat to their very existence in history.
May the Lord guide and protect the people of Armenia, solidify the memory of their ancestors’ faith, restore their lives in the region, and incline us to spread the truth about the monuments in Nagorno-Karabagh, so that these important sites and artifacts can be preserved for generations to come. In Christ we pray. Amen.
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| | Join the North American Women’s Pilgrim Team Visits
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| | Please join us for a Women’s Pilgrim Team Visit focused on women of faith in North America, which will be held in two parts from noon to 2 p.m. ET on Monday, February 28, 2022 and from noon to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, International Women’s Day. The theme for the event is, “Stony the Road: Women’s Voices of Faith, Courage, Resistance & Resilience” and uses Numbers 27:1-7 and 1 Corinthians 15:58 as scripture references. The Women’s PTV will examine the issues that women face in the U.S., Canada and Mexico as they travel a stony road lifting up voices of faith, courage, resistance and resilience. |
| | | To fill the need for more Wordle and have a little fun, the NCC will include a faith-related Wordle in our newsletter each week.
We've customized the game solutions to be religion-based each Friday. Click on the link to play. Instructions on how to play can be found by clicking the "i" for information.
Please share this newsletter with your friends, family, and faith community members who may enjoy completing these special Wordles! |
| | | COVID-19 Pandemic Response: |
| | | The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released information that indicates unvaccinated people who get COVID-19 have about double the risk for long COVID compared to vaccinated people. In light of this research, HHS advises sharing information in our communities about long COVID to encourage people to get vaccinated. Sample social media posts and language can be found on the We Can Do This website.
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