What’s the role of ‘First Churches’ in natural disasters?
After large-scale crises, big-steeple churches anchor communities using their unique status, relationships and networks to help communities respond and rebuild.
Missions & Community
Missions & Community
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Federal agents tear-gassed my block
A Chicago resident and her neighbors respond to federal agents, drawing upon the city’s organizing tradition in a time when people feel under threat.
Link to author Celeste Kennel-Shank
By
Celeste Kennel-Shank
Journalist
Working collectively to stop the harm done to migrants
Being willing to pivot and to co-create solutions are two ways a church has learned to support migrants, writes a United Methodist pastor in Washington, D.C.
Link to author Stephanie Vader
By
Stephanie Vader
Senior pastor, Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, Washington, D.C.
With study, care and patience, a church makes a long-term commitment to help one family at a time
Partnered with other faith communities in their city, a small Virginia congregation has spent decades investing in families for the long haul.
Link to author Edie Gross
By
Edie Gross
Journalist
We are not OK. Does it help to start saying so?
In casual conversation, I am now admitting not all is well, writes an editor of Faith & Leadership.
Link to author Aleta Payne
By
Aleta Payne
Senior editor, Faith & Leadership
One year after Hurricane Helene, two churches share space and a renewed sense of mission
Two congregations, one United Methodist and the other Episcopal, have worked together since the devastating storm flooded one church and turned the other into a community relief center.
Link to author Stephanie Hunt
By
Stephanie Hunt
Journalist
Sounding the alarm against empire
Faced with the mass mobilization of federal forces in Washington, D.C., a United Methodist Church pastor writes about how she and others are offering protection and hope.
Link to author Donna Claycomb Sokol
By
Donna Claycomb Sokol
Pastor, Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church
How a clergy respite helped spiritual leaders weather the storm of Hurricane Helene
When Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina in 2024, pastors were on the front lines of the recovery efforts. A retreat offered by the United Methodist Church helped them rest and recover.
Kenneth H. Carter Jr.
Kim Ingram
An affordable housing project uses its faith-based history to grow into the future
Now a secular nonprofit, Harborlight Homes has expanded to address a housing shortage while holding onto its church roots.
Link to author G. Jeffrey MacDonald
By
G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Journalist and UCC minister
Belonging to God and to one another
When we work toward embracing every individual without exception we move closer to the world God wants for us.
Link to author Khristi Lauren Adams
By
Khristi Lauren Adams
Author
The church can build community in a time of division
In our current age, marked by division and uncertainty, faith communities serve as a crucial refuge, a sanctuary where people find comfort, unity and purpose, writes a director of programs and grants for Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.
Link to author Mycal X. Brickhouse
By
Mycal X. Brickhouse
Director of programs and grants, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity
