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[Religion News Service — Charlotte, North Carolina] United Methodist delegates adopted a revised definition of marriage on May 2 at their quadrennial meeting called the General Conference and deleted from their rule book a condemnation of homosexuality that has riven the denomination for 52 years. The afternoon actions on the floor of the Charlotte Convention Center…

[World Council of Churches] The latest issue of Current Dialogue, the journal of the World Council of Churches on interreligious dialogue and cooperation, takes as its theme “Gender Justice and Interreligious Relations.” “The struggle for gender justice has become a cornerstone of liberative and transformative practice within and across religious communities,” writes interim editor the…

Israeli soldiers on May 1 stand by a gate in the fence of Erez Crossing, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Photo: Reuters [Episcopal News Service] Dozens of Episcopalians and representatives from The Episcopal Church’s ecumenical and interfaith partners testified at three separate online hearings about the…

Demonstrators gather on the UCLA campus, after nighttime clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Photo: Jae C. Hong/AP [Episcopal News Service] Pro-Palestinian protest encampments on dozens of college campuses nationwide have led to violent clashes, more than 2,000 arrests, expulsions, suspensions and the cancellation of classes and commencement…

From left, the Rt. Rev. Matthias Clement Tze-wo Der, bishop of Hong Kong Island, and the Most Rev. Titus Chung Khiam Boon, archbishop of South East Asia and bishop of Singapore, walk ahead with an interpreter after leaving the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere as part of the Primates’ Meeting pilgrimage in Rome. Photo:…

[Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina] Since the sale of Diocesan House at 200 West Morgan Street in September 2023, the Rt. Rev. Sam Rodman and the Rt. Rev. Jennifer Brooke-Davidson formed, and have been working with, a diocesanwide task force to discern the appropriate use of the $8.8 million net proceeds from the sale, currently held in…

[Office the Archbishop of Canterbury] Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on April 30 signed the “Rome Call for AI ethics” at a ceremony in Rome. The document calls for the ethical development of Artificial Intelligence that serves humanity rather than profit and resists the gradual replacement of people in the workplace, as well as a…

[World Council of Churches] Churches in Kenya are opening places to pray and congregate for thousands of people displaced by floods that have killed more than 200 people. On April 30 , a government spokesman said that 169 people had died from floods and at least 91 were still missing. President William Ruto said the government…

St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Bluff, Utah, is one of the churches that make up the Episcopal Church in Navajoland, which includes parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Photo: St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church [Episcopal News Service] The 81st General Convention’s Governance & Structure committees voted unanimously April 30 to recommend creation of a new…

[Religion News Service — Charlotte, North Carolina] United Methodists meeting for their top legislative assembly May 1 overwhelmingly overturned a measure that barred gay clergy from ordination in the denomination, a historic step for the nation’s second-largest Protestant body. With a simple vote call and without debate, delegates to the General Conference removed the ban on…