CWS “Neighbors in Need” program looks at urban refugees and their host communities


January 19, 2012

Where do most refugees live?  While about one-third of the world’s estimated 10.6 million refugees are in sprawling camps in remote rural areas, roughly another third live in cities.  And their number is growing. But most existing practices and guidelines for refugee protection and assistance have been developed for rural, camp-based settings rather than for urban areas.  Accordingly, both governments …

CWS helps refugees with English, civics and other building blocks for citizenship


Test your knowledge of U.S. history and government!  Click here to take the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Naturalization Self Test!  Then read about how Church World Service is helping refugees and other eligible immigrants prepare for the test. Church World Service, with 36 refugee resettlement offices and affiliates in 21 states, perceived a need for more comprehensive classes to …

Faithful resistance to Alabama’s anti-immigrant HB 56


Rev. Noel Andersen |

God “enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt.”  Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Common English Bible Alabama’s House Bill 56 is the harshest anti-immigrant legislation yet to pass in the United States.  Alabama is now the epicenter of the immigration debate. That’s …

Keystone pipeline denial the right decision, says Church World Service


January 18, 2012

Washington, D.C./New York – Church World Service this afternoon applauded President Barack Obama’s decision today denying a permit to move ahead with the expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline, the hotly debated 1,700 mile-long project that would have run from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Just over a month ago, CWS reminded President Obama that, “America does not …

Feed the Future, CWS and YOU (webinar)


January 13, 2012

Please join Rev. John L. McCullough of Church World Service (CWS) and USAID’s Center for Faith-based and Community Initiatives for a special briefing on President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative and the work of CWS addressing food security issues around the world.  It’s a chance to learn about what’s working in the struggle to overcome hunger.  Please join us for …

CWS supports proposed family waiver reforms, urges relief for more families


January 11, 2012

Washington, D.C. — On January 6, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced its intent to stop requiring certain undocumented family members of U.S. citizens to leave the United States before they can apply for a waiver to allow them to remain with their family members. Church World Service, a global humanitarian agency, applauds …

Ecumenical Advocacy Days Coming Soon!


January 9, 2012

The 10th annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD) gathering is quickly approaching. This year’s Washington, DC event will be held March 23-26, 2012.  Entitled “Is this the fast that I choose,” the conference will look at economy, livelihoods and our nation’s policy priorities through the lens of Isaiah 58. Participants will gather from churches throughout the country to explore an alternative …

McCullough re-elected to head global humanitarian agency


January 6, 2012

NEW YORK – Church World Service begins 2012 with the Rev. John L. McCullough re-elected to lead the global humanitarian agency as executive director and CEO for four more years. Over the last four years, McCullough, who has led the agency since 2000, initiated a sweeping vision that challenges CWS to “dramatically expand its capacity and its impact in the …

Hunger, Need to Reduce Risk for Major Disasters Among Top Concerns for 2012


January 4, 2012

NEW YORK – The number of children in poverty who are hungry could reach unparalleled levels in 2012 given the state of the global economy, Church World Service says in its annual New Year’s assessment. “Those numbers could be considerable and unparalleled, even in the so-called ‘First World,’” said John L. McCullough, CWS executive director and CEO. The increase in …