logo
Rockford congregations walk for justice across the city on Good Friday

Rockford congregations walk for justice across the city on Good Friday

Yahoo19-04-2025

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Rockford Urban Ministries led multiple congregations on an interfaith prayer walk for justice across the city for Good Friday.
The walk began outside Emmanuel Episcopal Church on North Church Street this morning.
People across several different Christian faiths stopped 14 times throughout downtown, each stop to represent a station of the cross.
The goal of the walk was to spread the gospel by applying Jesus' teachings and traditions to modern issues that divide and impact the community.
'So, we'll travel to 14 different locations in downtown Rockford and pray outside of civic buildings, outside of churches, outside of social service agencies, and pray for those who work there, people who are impacted by different issues,' said Rockford Urban Ministries Reverand Violet Johnicker.
'We remember how Jesus himself was incarcerated. And so we pray particularly for an end to mass incarceration,' Johnicker continued. 'The 14 stations have changed year to year, but we continue to always do 14 in the tradition of the stations of the cross and the Catholic Church.'
The gathering marked the 37th year that congregations across the city have participated in the Good Friday Walk for Justice.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Modesto City Schools trustee is critical of sex education plan for 5th-graders
Modesto City Schools trustee is critical of sex education plan for 5th-graders

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Modesto City Schools trustee is critical of sex education plan for 5th-graders

A Modesto City Schools board member wants parents to know what's in a sex education curriculum designed for fifth-grade classrooms. Jolene Daly spoke at two recent gatherings, arguing that fifth-graders aren't psychologically prepared for the content about gender identity and sexual activity. Daly gave a scathing critique of the curriculum Saturday at Celebration Center, a church in Modesto. She said she spoke as a licensed family therapist, not as a school board member. 'It oversexualizes 10-year-olds,' Daly said. 'These children are not ready for this material.' The proposed fifth-grade sex education curriculum in Modesto City Schools is likely to run into some opposition several months after Stanislaus County voters swung conservative in the November presidential election and the culture wars were one of the issues. About 50 people attended Daly's talk at Celebration Center and more than 100 were at a June 2 event, she said. Several people at Saturday's presentation asked how to get involved with the school district's decision-making process. MCS trustees this month will consider two curriculum options: 'Puberty Talk for Grades 5 & 6' and 'Puberty: The Wonder Years, Grade 5.' A 16-member committee consisting of teachers, parents and board members reviewed curriculum choices and has recommended 'Puberty Talk.' The proposed sex education is under the school district's fifth-grade health curriculum, which focuses on hygiene, nutrition, puberty, internet safety, social influences, healthy communication and relationships. According to an MCS FAQ page, the California Healthy Youth Act also requires sex education topics when school districts offer health education. The classroom instruction must recognize diverse sexual orientations including same-sex relationships, teach gender concepts and cover gender expression, gender identity and the harm of negative stereotypes. The health education must include medically accurate, objective information appropriate for students 'of all races, genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities and cultural background,' the state law says. One of the goals is teaching fifth-graders, who are showing the early signs of puberty, to recognize sexual harassment and abuse and report inappropriate touching and child abuse, the school district says. During her talk Saturday, Daly contended that fifth-graders are too early in mental development for lessons about gender identity and the facts of sex. She referred to a student survey question in one curriculum that asks what transgender means. She also objected to proposed instructional content defining different sexualities and genders and what she said was content regarding hormone replacement therapy and masturbation. Daly said there's too much latitude for fifth-grade teachers to talk with students about sexual acts. It's too early for the kids to hear that sex is fun, Daly said, adding that the classroom material is not culturally sensitive to members of the Christian faith. According to the school district FAQ, fifth-grade sex education is widely taught in California to help students navigate the physical changes of puberty and learn the facts in a supportive educational setting. It follows a trend of young people experiencing puberty at younger age and dealing with developments including physical growth, change in voice, acne, body odor, oily hair and the need for good hygiene. To review the copyrighted curriculum materials, parents must go to the district's Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Professional Development Building B, at 1017 Reno Ave., at certain times through June 30. The school board is scheduled to hear more about the curriculum and receive community input Monday evening. The board could approve the curriculum June 23. The school district says parents can opt their children out of the sex education instruction. Forms will be sent home with children at least two weeks before the lessons, and a form will be provided on Parent Square. Daly said the Puberty Talk program is the sister curriculum of the Teen Talk sex education for eighth=grade students. She said local groups including Without Permission could educate students about human trafficking, harassment and other health education topics required by the state.

Southern Baptists to vote on effort to overturn same-sex marriage
Southern Baptists to vote on effort to overturn same-sex marriage

Boston Globe

time5 hours ago

  • Boston Globe

Southern Baptists to vote on effort to overturn same-sex marriage

Conservative Christian activists hope to build on their movement's success in overturning Roe v. Wade, the now-defunct Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, in 2022, and to apply the legal and political strategies that proved effective for that victory. Public support for legal same-sex marriage remains high, with more than two-thirds of American adults supporting it. As with abortion, activists hope to gain political power despite their minority viewpoints. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Christians are called to play the long game,' said Andrew T. Walker, an ethicist at a Southern Baptist seminary in Kentucky who wrote the resolution. He leads the Southern Baptist Convention's resolution committee, which coordinates proposals from Baptists around the country to be put for a vote at the annual meeting. Related : Advertisement 'There are burgeoning embryonic efforts being discussed at the legal-strategy level on how to begin to challenge Obergefell,' he said. 'How do we take the lessons from Roe that took 50 years? What is the legal strategy to overturn Obergefell at some point in the future?' Advertisement Activists are aware that their mission may take years. But the resolution calling for this concrete action shows 'a deepening of Southern Baptist thinking on this issue' and a recognition of the need for a long-term strategy similar to the one that ended a constitutional right to abortion, said R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He said 'there's a great deal of engagement' on this issue between Southern Baptist leaders and lawyers with the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian legal advocacy group that worked to overturn Roe. 'As in Roe, it is not just a matter of arguing for or against abortion,' he said. 'It is also the larger pattern in terms of constitutional interpretation.' Supporters of same-sex marriage celebrated outside the US Supreme Court following the ruling on same-sex marriage, on June 26, 2015. DOUG MILLS/NYT The Southern Baptist resolution, titled 'On Restoring Moral Clarity through God's Design for Gender, Marriage, and the Family,' reflects a movement within conservative Christianity to see that laws align with their set of Biblical values and a political commitment to pursue those goals. The resolution calls for overturning not just Obergefell, but also any laws and policies 'that defy God's design for marriage and family,' potentially including the Respect for Marriage Act, a law that former President Joe Biden signed in 2022 mandating federal recognition for same-sex marriages. The resolution also specifically calls for the restriction of commercial surrogacy. Related : Lawmakers have a duty 'to pass laws that reflect the truth of creation,' it says, 'and to oppose any law that denies or undermines what God has made plain through nature and Scripture.' The measure also reflects an alignment with other Republican goals, and calls for laws that would 'strengthen parental rights in education and healthcare, incentivize family formation in life-affirming ways, and ensure safety and fairness in female athletic competition.' Advertisement Couples waited to apply for marriage licenses at Cambridge City Hall on May 17, 2004. RUTH FREMSON/NYT To go into effect, the resolution needs to pass by simple majority vote. Organizers say it is widely expected to pass. Passing the measure could be used as evidence to prove to politicians that culturally unpopular positions have support. Public opinion on same-sex marriage shifted drastically over the past 30 years toward overwhelming support. Last summer during his presidential campaign, Donald Trump had the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman removed from the Republican Party platform. 'It now seems the case in many sectors of American society that same-sex marriage is just as American as baseball and apple pie,' Walker acknowledged. 'I understand the political will is probably minute or minuscule.' Related : Of the nine Supreme Court justices, only Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have suggested that the court should reconsider Obergefell, which was decided by a 5-4 majority. Chief Justice John Roberts, now a swing vote, issued a strong dissent in the Obergefell ruling. In his concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson, the case that overturned Roe, Thomas directly argued that the rationale the court used to negate a right to abortion should be used to overturn cases that established rights to same-sex marriage, consensual same-sex relations and contraception. Next month Mathew Staver, a Southern Baptist and the chair of the Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal group, plans to ask the Supreme Court to hear a case about Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in 2015. That request will directly ask the court to overturn Obergefell, he said. Staver has been trying for two decades to use the courts to stop same-sex marriage, ever since states began to legalize it in 2004. Advertisement Earlier this year his group worked with legislators in Idaho on the language of a resolution that passed the Idaho House of Representatives calling on the Supreme Court to reverse Obergefell. Republican lawmakers, at times drawing on certain Christian principles, introduced similar measures calling for Obergefell's reversal in states like Michigan, Montana and South Dakota, and partially passed them in North Dakota and Idaho. 'That begins to show a sentiment from legislative officials, and it just begins to build a momentum,' Staver said. And while efforts like the SBC measure and the resolutions in the states have been largely independent of each other, he said, 'that momentum results in more coordination' between ideologically aligned groups, which was effective in overturning Roe. The Southern Baptist Convention, a largely conservative network of churches, has taken a rightward turn in recent years, particularly on issues of marriage, family and sex. It has also struggled following revelations of widespread sexual abuse of women and children, and the mishandling of those allegations over decades. The annual meeting is often regarded as a bellwether for broader evangelical sentiment on various political and cultural issues, even though it technically represents the views of only the 10,000 or so members who typically attend and vote, not of all 13 million members. Last year, Southern Baptists voted to oppose the use of in vitro fertilization, passing a resolution that Walker and Mohler proposed as part of a push to advance the 'fetal personhood' movement. The vote greatly worried many other evangelicals who rely on fertility treatments to have children and who believe IVF is life-promoting. Advertisement In 2023, Southern Baptists decided to expel several churches with female pastors, including one of the denomination's largest and most prominent congregations. An attempt to further expand restrictions on women in church leadership gained traction in 2023 but did not pass a second required vote in 2024. That effort is expected to be revived this week. This article originally appeared in

Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in first Pentecost message
Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in first Pentecost message

Yahoo

time8 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in first Pentecost message

The new Pope Leo XIV called for peace around the world in his first Pentecost address on Sunday. Speaking to tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square, the first US-born head of the Catholic Church emphasized that peace must come from the heart. "Only a peaceful heart can spread peace in the family, society, and international relations," said Leo. He stressed the need to engage in dialogue, even in times of war. With a view to the numerous armed conflicts around the world, the 69-year-old added: "May the spirit of the risen Christ open paths of reconciliation wherever there is war. May he enlighten those who govern and give them the courage to take steps towards de-escalation and dialogue." The former cardinal was elected as the successor to the late pope Francis exactly one month ago. As pontiff, Leo - born Robert Francis Prevost - is the head of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. At the Pentecost Mass in St Peter's Square, he also called for "walls of indifference and hatred" to be torn down. "Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for 'security' zones separating us from our neighbours, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms," Leo said. According to the Vatican, 80,000 people gathered in St Peter's Square for the address. The Catholic Church is celebrating a Jubilee in 2025 as it does every 25 years. As a result, there are even more pilgrims and tourists in Rome than usual.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store