Member Church News: Celebrations, Prayers, Renewal

The United Church in Brazil recently celebrated its 40th anniversary (pictured).

AIPRAL (Alianza de Iglesias Presbiterianas y Reformadas de América Latina) invites all to join in a Day of Prayer for Latin American Women on Friday, 14 September.

A significant grant has been given to the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRC) and the Reformed Church in America (RCA) to encourage the two denominations to work more closely together. The grant will be used over five years to establish a “third space”—not entirely within the RCA, and not entirely within the CRC—where churches from either denomination can access resources and support for congregational renewal.

Together with schools, churches and families, Kerk in Actie (Netherlands) is launching the initiative “tables of hope,” facilitating encounters between refugees and their neighbours on World Migrants Day, 18 December.

The Indigenous church in Canada is cautiously optimistic about United Church of Canada actions, including the creation of a new National Indigenous Elders Council and a National Indigenous Spiritual Gathering.

Prayers for Chinese Christians were held at the Jinan Presbyterian Church in Taipei.

Seforosa Carroll and Marcus Campbell, of the United Church in Australia, have contributed chapters in the recently published Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South.

A Church of Scotland congregation in Rotterdam, Netherlands, that began its life in the warehouse of a wine merchant and survived the total destruction of its church in World War II will celebrate 375 years this month.

Churches in Sweden have called for prayers in the wake of an election that has complicated the formation of a new government.

World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel is an annual time for people of faith to join together in worship, prayer, education, advocacy, and action in support of an end to the occupation of Palestine and a just peace for all in the region. The theme of the week in 2018 is Youth and Children: Raising Hope and Making Change. The United Church of Canada has resources and ideas for action.