| | | | | | | | | | In celebration of NCC's 75th anniversary, join us for NCC Impact Week, June 10–12, in New York City. With events occurring at Ground Zero- World Trade Center (WTC) and the United Nations (UN), our robust program emphasizes our international work with the theme, "Re-Building Bridges: The Role of Religious Communities During a Time of Crisis in Multilateralism" and grounded in the scripture, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9, NRSVue).
We have confirmed speakers from our denominational and ecumenical partners, as well as representatives from the United Nations. The speakers and panelists will explore topics that reflect the concerns of religious communities regarding issues that are shared by the global faith community at large.
NCC Impact Week events will take place at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox and National Shrine (WTC), as well as at the Church Center for the United Nations (UN). Please register now and share with your faith networks.
Hope to see you there!! | | | | ARE YOU FOLLOWING NCC ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Check out our socials for NCC Impact Week speakers and panelists flyers to share and posts during the events. | | | | Tuesday, June 10 St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine
World Trade Center, 130 Liberty Street, NY, NY 11:00 am Welcome: Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, NCC/ELCA Welcome: Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, NCC Welcome: Rev. Peter Cook, New York State Council of Churches Welcome: Rev Andreas Vithoulkas, SNC
12:00 pm Light Lunch Reception 1:15 pm "Broken Alliances: Meeting Challenges to Ending Conflict, Preventing Genocide, and Negotiating Peace" 2:45 pm Break 3:00 pm "Who is My Neighbor: Overcoming Challenges to Humanitarian Aid and Refugee Assistance Programs"
4:30 pm Break 4:40 pm Prayer Service led by Rev. Andreas Vithoulkas 5:00 pm Adjourn for the Day / Evening on Your Own 7:00 pm Special Event (Impact Week attendees are invited) A Concert of Byzantine Music, presented by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church Wednesday, June 11 Church Center for the United Nations 777 United Nations Plaza, NY, NY
9:00 am Light Breakfast (Coffee, Tea, Muffins, etc.) 9:30 am Morning Meditation 10:00 am "Equity and Justice: Addressing Challenges to Justice for Marginalized Peoples" 11:30 am Break 12:00 pm "Healing the Earth: Confronting Mounting Challenges to Environmental Justice" 1:30 pm Light Lunch 3:00 pm "Religious Freedom: Assessing Challenges of Increasing Religious Nationalism to Religious Minorities" 4:30 pm Break 5:00 pm Reception (Light food) The Episcopal Church Center Thursday, June 12
Church Center for the United Nations 777 United Nations Plaza, NY, NY
9:00 am Light Breakfast (Coffee, Tea, Muffins, etc.) 10:00 am "Where Do We Go from Here?" Action Items for the Ecumenical Community – panel/open discussion
12:00 pm Closing Remarks and Thanks: Bishop Elizabeth Eaton Closing Prayer: Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie Adjournment | | | | | Congratulations, Rev. Angelique Mason, NCC Financial Secretary "Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith." Hebrews 7:1 (NRSVue) | On Friday, June 13, Rev. Mason will be honored by BRIDGE MARYLAND, INC. with the Hoffman F. Brown, 3rd Leadership Award! In addition to serving as NCC's Financial Secretary, Rev. Mason is also pastor of Allen AME Church in Denton, Maryland. We are blessed to witness her outstanding leadership and faithful service.
Please join us in congratulating Rev. Mason on this well-deserved honor! Please see the full criteria and event information below. | | | | | NCC Signs Letter to Congress Over 75 Organizations Send a Letter to Congress Opposing the Rescission of Foreign Assistance | In the days leading up to Impact Week in New York where NCC will host speakers and panels addressing our international work, we have joined 78 of our ecumenical and advocacy partners who lead anti-hunger, anti-poverty, environmental, faith-based, gender equality, global health, humanitarian aid, human rights, peace-building and refugee agencies in letter to congress.
Led by The Friends Committee on National Legislation, a national, nonpartisan Quaker organization that lobbies Congress, the letter urged members to “oppose the rescission of any foreign assistance funds related to urgent human needs, including food, medical and humanitarian aid, and to global stability and resilience, such as peacebuilding, poverty-focused development assistance, climate resilience and good governance.”
Below is an excerpt and you can read the full letter here. | | | | June 5, 2025
Dear Member of Congress:
We write to express our deep concern about the White House rescissions package (Rescission proposal no. R25-1) dated May 28, 2025. While the White House argues that these rescissions will make the United States safer, stronger and more prosperous, we, the undersigned 78 organizations, lament the proposal will achieve the opposite. We urge you to oppose the rescission of any foreign assistance funds related to urgent human needs, including food, medical and humanitarian aid, and to global stability and resilience, such as peace-building, poverty-focused development assistance, climate resilience and good governance.
This rescissions package seeks to make legal the Trump administration’s draconian cuts to foreign assistance programs. Providing Congressional approval for these cuts will result in otherwise preventable deaths, the spread of infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance, and increased global poverty, instability and violence.
These cuts will not only have a devastating impact on civilians across the globe, they will also make Americans more vulnerable and less safe. These cuts will create vacuums in leadership that allow infectious disease, instability and violence to spread, undermining U.S. national security interests, disrupting U.S. trade, harming U.S. credibility as a steadfast partner to its allies, and allowing malign actors to increase their influence.
The constitution is clear: Congress guides, not obeys, the executive branch on matters of federal spending. We strongly urge Congress to protect its constitutional authority and reject these rescissions. | | | | | | “When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and … These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers… “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.”
Acts 1:13a-14 and Acts 2:1 This month ushers in the Christian season of Pentecost – the birth of the Church. In Acts 1-2, we learn the Holy Spirit filled the people in a diverse assembly from many nations in the “Upper Room.” But where did this happen? Mary, the mother of John Mark, who wrote the Gospel of St. Mark, has often been overlooked in this remarkable story. Still, many scholars agree that her role as host was not only important at Pentecost but also in events leading up to Pentecost and other key events after the birth of the Church. This, in addition to her being an active participant among “the women” and the others at Pentecost.
Click here for full article | | Sojourners | SojoAction Take Your Faith to the Streets this Pentecost
A Pentecost Witness for a Moral Budget | On Tuesday, June 10, people of faith will gather at the U.S. Capitol for A Pentecost Witness for a Moral Budget.
We are witnessing against a proposed federal budget that slashes life-saving support for the most vulnerable. Together, we’ll sing, pray, and speak truth to power. This is a moment for moral courage.
📍 U.S. Capitol – Washington, DC
📅 Tuesday, June 10 | Morning start
✍️ Sign up HERE #PentecostWitness #MoralBudget | | | | | | FROM DR. BARBARA WILLIAMS SKINNER, SKINNER LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE |
Dear Faith Leaders, Pastors, and Community Partners,
URGENT ALERT: It’s Not Too Late – Speak Out to Protect Medicaid & Food Stamps!
What’s in the Bill?
The legislation proposes over $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid over 10 years, impacting millions.
Key provisions: Work Requirements: Adults 18–65 must work or volunteer 20 hours/week to qualify. Stricter Eligibility Checks: More frequent income and citizenship verification. Reduced Retroactive Coverage: Shortens from 3 months to 1 month. Funding Restrictions: Cuts Medicaid funding for gender-affirming care and abortion services. State Funding Limits: Blocks states from using provider taxes to fund Medicaid.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates 7.6–10.7 million people could lose coverage.
CLICK HERE to download the full briefing, including social media graphics and letter to Congress template. | | | | | | New Discriminatory Travel Ban Defies Shared Values of Human Dignity & Pluralism | In the wake of President Trump’s June 4th proclamation, “Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the US from Foreign Terrorists and other national security and public safety threats” that bans and restricts travel on nationals from 19 countries — the vast majority of which are Muslim-majority, African, Asian, and Caribbean nations, diverse faith and community organizations and leaders across the United States are gravely concerned.
The Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, a coalition of faith communities dedicated to countering anti-Muslim discrimination among other intersecting forms of bigotry, convenes around the shared values of human dignity and pluralism. Our campaign operates under the notion that “what impacts one, impacts all,” and thus we acknowledge that we, the people of a shared nation and a shared world, are interconnected.
CLICK FOR MORE INFO | | Additionally, Shoulder to Shoulder has a monthly roundup of resources and information. See a portion of June 2025 Resource Roundup below.
Click the image below for the full list of resources | | | | | WCC Berlin Conference 2025
“Friends in church, let’s talk…” about anti-Black racism Adele Halliday, the Anti-Racism and Equity lead at The United Church of Canada, raised questions that served as touchstones for further conversation during an ongoing international conference, “Berlin 1884–1885 and Anti-Black Racism: In Search of a Shared Anti-Racist Ecumenical Vision.”
WATCH FULL VIDEO BELOW | | | NRCAT “How to Shine Your Light” Webinar
June 18 | | NRCAT continues its series of “how to” webinars for faith advocates, and invites participants to save the date for the next training, “How to Shine Your Light,” Wednesday, June 18, from 12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. ET/11–12:15 p.m. CT/9 a.m.-10:15 a.m. PT. In this webinar, offered during Torture Awareness Month, you will learn about how your faith community can partner with NRCAT to lead public witness vigils on the 23rd of each month to draw attention to the estimated 122,00 people who are held for 23 hours a day in solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails. The webinar will feature leaders of WISDOM, a Wisconsin network of faith-based organizations, whose members have been leading these vigils as they work for racial and economic justice. To help spread the word about the June 18 webinar with your faith community, here is the public registration link: https://bit.ly/June18-2025Webinar. You can view the full recording from of the April 9 NRCAT “How to Become a Lifeline,” on the NRCAT YouTube channel. Share it with others in your faith community who may also be interested in participating in the Lifelines to Solitary pen pal program. | | National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. | | | Pepperdine University Master of Arts in Social Entrepreneurship and Change
Are you considering graduate school? Is someone in your congregation, faith circles, or family considering graduate school? Are you passionate about finding solutions to society's pressing issues? Pepperdine University is accepting applications for the Fall 2025 cohort of change-agents! Scan the QR code or click here for more information | | | | | | | | New! Host a Group Climate Ambassador Training at your House of Worship
The Climate Ambassador Training is FREE, online, flexible, and designed to help you connect and gain the skills to speak up on climate. Use our ready-to-go videos, discussion prompts, and activities to lead a four-hour training! Sign Up Here | | | | | | | | | |
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