Member Church News: Prayer, Reflection, Dancing

The World Day of Prayer 2021 is on Friday, 5 March, and focused on Vanuatu. Read more and find resources from the Uniting Church in Australia or the Protestant Church in Switzerland.

Own an Alexa device? To listen to the United Reformed Church (UK) Daily Devotions, simply say: “Alexa, play the podcast of the URC Daily Devotions.” The devotions are also available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Blubrry, Podcast Index and Deezer.

A chapel in the geographic center of the USA’s contiguous 48 states and recently featured in a Jeep commercial featuring Bruce Springsteen was originally built by Lawrence Tanis, a member of Dispatch Christian Reformed Church in rural Kansas.

The United Reformed Church and the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan cordially invites all to a 100th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service for the Founding Missionary Doctor of the English Presbyterian Mission to Formosa/Taiwan on Saturday, 6 March, 19:00 (Taiwan (11:00 UK)). Request advance registration through: tfilrevchen@gmail.com

The rise of neo-populism across Europe and the church’s role in confronting it were at the heart of a webinar held last week. Michal Jablonski of the Reformed Church in Poland told participants that Poland is moving toward authoritarianism and a revolution aimed at destroying liberal democracy.

The Jerusalema Dance Challenge is sweeping most of the world—except the USA.

Nations and communities are still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. So what do we have to laugh about? Is there a place for comedy and the pandemic to co-exist? Sian Roberts from Union of Welsh Independents shares with us more in the latest issue of the Council for World Mission’s INSiGHT.

Reformed Worship offers a list of songs for Lent and Easter.

While the peace process on the Korean Peninsula needs further progress built on trust, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected international humanitarian support and development cooperation efforts. World Council of Churches (WCC) communications invited Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, to discuss the current ecumenical engagement for Korea and role of churches in building a sustainable peace.

Odair Pedroso Mateus—interim deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches; director of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order; and lecturer at the WCC Ecumenical Institute at Bossey—reflects on the ecumenical spirit at Calvin’s Cathedral in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Global Christian Forum International Committee convened virtually 22-23 February. While discussing the work and focus of the Global Christian Forum, participants discussed regional meetings as a good place for some of the necessary healing and bridge-building to take place before a larger global gathering, possibly in 2024.

The video recording of Council of European Churches webinar on “Vaccination – Curse or blessing? A spiritual and theological approach to COVID-19 vaccination” is now available to view on demand. The webinar held on 18 February explored current state of scientific knowledge regarding COVID-19 vaccination from ethical Christian perspective. The webinar provided fact-based information and insights to churches and society, addressing issues of scepticism and conspiracy theories.

_{Photo: National Council of Churches in Korea}