Member Church News: Elections, Reformation, Prayers

At its synod this week, the Evangelical Reformed Church Switzerland elected Rita Famos as president—the first woman in this office in the church’s hundred-year history.

What would be the great challenge for the Church today? Its reform or its transformation? Berla Andrade of the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela invites people to ponder these questions.

“Gender-based violence is no respecter of persons or economies,” says Karen Georgia Thompson, associate general minister for Wider Church Ministries and Operations, United Church of Christand a #ThursdaysinBlack ambassador.

The Uniting Church is Australia are praying for their friends and partners in the United States as the counting of votes in the presidential race continues.

“We are urging people to have ‘revolutionary patience,’” said Sandy Sorensen, director of the United Church of Christ’s office in Washington, D.C. “It is going to take some time to count every vote—and every vote counts. Each vote is a voice and every voice is sacred. We need to respect that and defend the process.”

In a recent interview, United States President Donald Trump said that he no longer identifies as a Presbyterian and now sees himself as a nondenominational Christian.

Mike Peters suggests looking up and down your street and around the corner. Keep your eyes open as you pass through your neighborhood. By paying attention, Peters, the director of 4 Fires Ministries, says you may then be able to discover Native American individuals or families who, once you get to know them, might be interested in going to your church.

South Sudanese Church leaders are appealing for urgent humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of their population, who have been left vulnerable by a mix of five crises, including floods and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following recent attacks in France and Vienna, the Conference of European Churches is offering a prayer for peace. In respective letters to the churches in France and Austria, CEC President Christian Krieger expressed deep sorrow on these acts of violence, conveying solidarity with the churches.