My father is an infectious disease physician. Since the dawn of the AIDS epidemic, he’s spent his career leading front-line responses and spearheading decades-long investment and care for people living with HIV/AIDS. As he puts it, when the new health crisis arose during medical school, “this path chose him.” As he moved into residency, where
Cancer Alley is the nickname given to 80 miles of the Mississippi between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. There are 140 petrochemical plants along the river there. The area is also home to many working class people, a majority of them Black. Two days after the election, I left for Mississippi and Louisiana with a
The Advent season is an invitation to those of us in the northern hemisphere to wait in darkness for Emmanuel, God-with-Us. Long nights wrapped in shadow challenge us to embrace a time of reflection and deep rest. Slowing our relentless pace of anxious activity is a political act of resistance to the grind of consumerism,
“”Now in that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watching over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing
As the season of Christmas joy ramps up, Mother Nature’s one-two hurricane punch — that sent several southern states down for the count this past fall — is fast becoming yesterday’s news. But for those living in the wake of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Sept. 26 and Oct. 9 respectively,
In my formative years when, among other things, I was exploring my still-young Christian faith, I frequently turned to music to help make sense of it all. This included a “Christian music phase” in my high school in college years, which coincided with a boom period for the genre. During that era, one band that
As Christmas day approaches, Christ is born again into the world. The United Church of Christ General Minister and President the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson offers Christmas blessings with a message that uplifts “the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace” in Isaiah 52:7. “Dark days and worries, our fears surround us.
Leaders of the United Church of Christ are thrilled to share the newly released 2024 Annual Report video, which brings to life some of the impactful ministries carried out by the National Setting over the past year. “This has been quite the year for the world, the nation and for the United Church of Christ,”
