Sermon delivered by Jennifer Copeland yesterday, Sunday, February 18 at Millford Hills United Methodist Church in Salisbury, NC. The lectionary texts were Genesis 9:8-17 and Mark 1:9-15. 40 days–rain! 40 days–wilderness! Noah and rainbows; Jesus and temptation. 40 is an important number in our faith tradition. There were 40 years in the wilderness for Moses and the Hebrew slaves who fled Egypt and 40 years of exile in Babylon for the people of Judah. Today, of course, we’re talking days and not years. What can happen in only 40 days?…
What More Can Be Said?
Powerful voices have long narrated the story of guns in America. The media. The NRA. Outraged, livid, grief-stricken mothers and fathers. When it comes to the horror of mass shootings, the stories are told with images and words that sear into our brains: limp bodies, the cries of parents, eulogies, and an NRA Valentine’s advertisement in which a target was substituted for the “o” in “love.” There are so many words. What more can be said? Arguments about exactly what is protected by the Second Amendment’s protection of the right…
Be Reconciled
Black History month is North Carolina Council of Churches’ history starting in 1935 because our history is founded on the black experience as seen through the eyes of the white church. Fortunately, those white church leaders early on recognized their need to ground black history in the black experience and not merely on black history as told by white narrators. Gatherings of our House of Delegates (the earliest governing body for the Council) in the late 1930s were some of the first places in the south where black church leaders…
That Resolution
We all do it and well we should–start the new year resolving to do better. Maybe it’s eat better, exercise more, or work less. The resolution itself quickly takes a back seat to the resolve it takes from us to follow it through. This might happen because our resolutions are too ambitious. For instance, few of us can go from couch potato to marathon runner, and resolving to run a marathon before Easter might not be the best plan for hopping off the couch. There might be another reason, however,…
On the Fourth Day of Christmas
It has been a rough year for creche sets at our house. For our family, as for many, the Holiday Season is cluttered by rehearsals, recitals, school performances, pageants, holiday parties, classroom volunteering, shopping, shattered light bulbs from window candles that get caught up in the blinds, light strands on which only half of the lights work, and gift wrapping. There are also a lot of sprinkles. And glitter. In the midst of all of this tangled clutter, we make an effort to keep our Advent waiting for Christ…
Christ’s Mass
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of an only child, full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 14). ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For centuries, Christians have heard these words on Christmas Eve, probably dating back to the 4th century when we began celebrating Christ’s birth in December. For all the mystery about why Christians logged December 25 as Christ’s Mass, now commonly known the…
Vigil to End Gun Violence
Come together with others to remember the half a million Americans killed or injured by guns since the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy. Hundreds of events are being held at locations nationwide to give voice to all victims and survivors of gun violence. Click here for more information. Vigil to End Gun Violence Flyer
Vigil to End Gun Violence
This is my favorite time of the year. I’m a sap about all of it. I love decorating the house, seeing the lights downtown, the music, getting cozy with a blanket and a good book, and spending extra time with the people I care about the most. As the old Christmas song goes, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Except in Newtown, Connecticut. Five years ago a man burst into Sandy Hook Elementary School with a semi-automatic weapon and fired 156 shots in less than five minutes. Six…
Executive Director Jennifer Copeland Receives Award from North Carolinians Against Gun Violence
Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director of the North Carolina Council of Churches, and Beth Messersmith, North Carolina Campaign Director for MomsRising, received the 2017 Effie Steele Award from North Carolinians Against Gun Violence. Effie Steele was a tireless advocate for gun violence prevention after her daughter and unborn grandson were murdered in a domestic violence dispute. She served on the NCGV Board of Directors for 6 years. She died earlier this year and the President’s Award and Director’s Award were both renamed for her. Copeland was chosen for this honor because…
Torture Inquiry Hits Close to Home
The solid citizens of Johnston County, N.C. – in a fateful quirk of geography – for several years have faced an unusual dilemma: What to do about the local company whose airplanes and personnel helped the Central Intelligence Agency carry out an interrogation program featuring human rights abuses that amounted to torture. By extension, the same dilemma has confronted other North Carolinians, officials and ordinary residents alike. That’s what happens when the U.S. government picks your conveniently accessible state as a base of operations for what became known among critics…
North Carolinians Against Gun Violence
Creating Peace
If we are not angry today, we have no faith. If we are not frustrated today, we have no hope. If we are not bereaved today, we have no love. As Christians, we claim faith, hope, and love as foundational elements for our identity (I Corinthians 13:13). Our faith in God’s good gifts should cause us to be angry when the gift of life is stolen from 26 people through an act of violence. Our hope in God’s peace-filled future should cause us to be frustrated when peace is shattered…
Better Together NC
Join the LGBTQ Center of Durham, Alamance County Community Partners, and the North Carolina Council of Churches for a community conversation about how we can work together to resist hate and oppression in all its forms. Now more than ever, local rural communities can come together in Orange county and discuss how we can create sanctuaries for everyone, and ensure safety in our schools, public spaces, and homes. Together we will talk about our shared and personal histories, eat a meal and while working to create a shared future vision of what we…
Better Together NC
Join the LGBTQ Center of Durham, Sampson County Community Partners, and the North Carolina Council of Churches for a community conversation about how we can work together to resist hate and oppression in all its forms. Now more than ever, local rural communities can come together in Orange county and discuss how we can create sanctuaries for everyone, and ensure safety in our schools, public spaces, and homes. Together we will talk about our shared and personal histories, eat a meal and while working to create a shared future vision of what we…
Better Together NC
Join the LGBTQ Center of Durham, Orange County Community Partners, and the North Carolina Council of Churches for a community conversation about how we can work together to resist hate and oppression in all its forms. Now more than ever, local rural communities can come together in Orange county and discuss how we can create sanctuaries for everyone, and ensure safety in our schools, public spaces, and homes. Together we will talk about our shared and personal histories, eat a meal and while working to create a shared future vision of what we…