(NOTE: This article was first published last Thursday, August 17)

The following is submitted by David L. Hamil:

The Church of God International Black Ministries Department recently held the 17th biennial Black Ministries Conference, July 19-22 at Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bishop John and Lady Diamond welcomed the over 400 conference attendees to their church home and this gathering in support of pastoral and community ministry. The theme for the conference was “The Harvest.”

After a van plowed through a crowd in a popular tourist area of Barcelona, Spain, on 17 August, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit called for an end to attacks on innocent people and a unified voice of justice and peace across the world.

I had just finished performing a wedding in North Carolina last Saturday when I checked my phone and saw the alarming news: White supremacists were marching in Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. A few minutes later, when my friends were about to begin the wedding reception with a barbecue feast, I learned that a 20-year-old white nationalist had plowed his Dodge Challenger into a group of counter-protesters, killing one person and injuring 19 others.

Dr. Harold Bare, pastor of the Covenant Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, the city where racial violence occurred over the weekend, spoke on Wednesday at the memorial service for Heather Hyer, who died when a self-proclaimed white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of protesters.

A pioneering form of evangelistic Christian radio is spreading across parts of Eastern Europe, asking questions instead of giving answers.

Bishop Darryl Husband, senior pastor of Mount Olivet Church, a multi-cultural, multi-generational church in Richmond, Virginia, released the following:

Parachurch Missionaries Jeff and Emily Weimert serve in the Philippines.