Category: Religion

Communities, Religion

African Catholics in NYC find community at French Mass

By KWASI GYAMFI ASIEDU | Associated Press  

When Landry Felix Uwamungu Ganza moved to New York from Rwanda last August, the Columbia University freshman searched for sanctuary, a sacred place to carry out his Sunday morning rituals just as he had back home.

He ventured into the nearest Catholic parish, the Church of Notre Dame in his new city’s Morningside Heights neighborhood, and to his surprise, he found the familiar rhythms of Mass being celebrated in French — a language he grew up hearing from the pulpit.

Continue reading “African Catholics in NYC find community at French Mass” →
Religion

Four U.S.-Based Pastors Admonish Church Leaders In Liberia Despite Economic Challenges

By FPA Staff Reporter | FrontPageAfrica

Four renowned and acclaimed pastors and Church Leaders based in the United States of America are encouraging Pastors and Church Leaders in Liberia to continuously remain focus and dedication to the assignments given them to disseminate the gospel of Jesus Christ in transforming humanity to the Kingdom of God.

Continue reading “Four U.S.-Based Pastors Admonish Church Leaders In Liberia Despite Economic Challenges” →
Religion

Rev. Moses Adekola | Nigerian pastor reflects on journey to Nova Scotia, life devoted to helping others

By Carole Morris-Underhill | Cape Breton Post

Rev. Moses Adekola smiles when he sees falling snow. The mere sight of snowflakes falling to the ground makes the Nigerian-born pastor grin from ear to ear.

“Winter is my favourite. I just love wintertime,” said Adekola, sipping on a hot chocolate while sitting inside a Tim Hortons restaurant.

Continue reading “Rev. Moses Adekola | Nigerian pastor reflects on journey to Nova Scotia, life devoted to helping others” →
Religion

Often, faith and work collide for African immigrants in the U.S.

By ANTHONY AKAEZE  | Baptist News Global

In November 2016, when he set out on a trip to the United States from his country of Nigeria, Ferdinand Okeke took with him a Bible. It represented more than an item for him; it was an article of faith. As a member of the Deeper Life Ministry, Alaba Market branch, in Lagos, Okeke was a devout church member who regularly attended church. The Bible was an indispensable part of his life in a country widely considered to be deeply religious, with Christianity and Islam as the dominant religions. His trip to America, he said, was ordained by God.

Continue reading “Often, faith and work collide for African immigrants in the U.S.” →
Religion

Conference of Ghanaian Presbyterian Churches in North America elects new moderator and executives

By Kwasi Aye-Addo | GhanaWeb

Rev. Dr. Moses Ohene Biney is the New Moderator of the Conference of Ghanaian Presbyterian Churches in North America (CGPC-NA). Dr. Biney’s election took place at an extraordinary delegates conference held on Saturday, August 29, 2020. He takes over from The Stephen Yaw Nkansah, the Pastor of Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Woodbridge, Virginia who has completed two terms of service.

Continue reading “Conference of Ghanaian Presbyterian Churches in North America elects new moderator and executives” →
Religion

African Catholics converge for regional conference in Newark

By Juliet Njoku 

African Catholics from the Diocese of Camden and the Archdioceses of Philadelphia and Newark converged at the Blessed Sacrament Saint Charles Borromeo Parish, Newark, on Oct. 11-12, 2019. It was the first regional conference of the National Association of African Catholics in the United States (NAACUS) hosted by NAACUS Region 3, comprised of dioceses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Continue reading “African Catholics converge for regional conference in Newark” →
Religion

Big Tent hosts African leaders’ pre-conference gathering

Leaders from 11 African countries now serving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 22 states and 20 presbyteries across the United States gathered for the African Leaders Pre-Conference, sponsored by the Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries at Big Tent 2019.

Those attending the African pre-conference at Big Tent in Baltimore joined in a Spirit-filled worship service Tuesday.

Continue reading “Big Tent hosts African leaders’ pre-conference gathering” →
Religion

African Priests Now Future Of Catholic Church In United States

By Afam Jude Offor | Obiaks News

In more than a decade as a Catholic priest in the United States, Martins Emeh has served as a pastor, a cannon law instructor, a diocesan archivist and a judge on the church’s Ecclesiastical Court of Appeals. Emeh, who came to the United States for graduate school in 1998 from Nigeria and was ordained thereafter, currently serves as a priest at the Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Community, a bustling church in suburban Houston.

Continue reading “African Priests Now Future Of Catholic Church In United States” →
Religion

African Catholics celebrate their heritage of saints in Maryland

By Judith Mbuya

Millions of Catholics around the world faithfully recite the Nicene Creed at Mass every Sunday to profess their faith in God and the Trinity. That steadfast declaration is widely shared among Orthodox and many Protestants as a unifying tenet of Christian belief. But it’s a safe bet to say that most Catholics have never even heard of the saint who first wrote that creed.

Continue reading “African Catholics celebrate their heritage of saints in Maryland” →

Religion

West African religions like Ifa and Vodou are on the rise in Maryland, as practitioners connect with roots
By Jonathan M. Pitts

They gathered in a clearing by a stream in Baltimore County one chilly early-spring day, some in the colorful African head ties known as geles, others wearing bracelets trimmed in shells or carved in wood.

One by one, they stepped forward to toss offerings into the Gwynns Falls – a pineapple, four oranges, a bouquet of tulips.

And when the lead priestess of these African-American women dropped a handful of shells to the ground and scrutinized their pattern, a message came through: Their celebration of the spring equinox was blessed by the divine.

Continue reading “West African religions like Ifa and Vodou are on the rise in Maryland, as practitioners connect with roots” →

Religion

Nova Scotia’s Ethiopian church honouring victims of plane crash

The St. Gebriel Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Hammonds Plains will hold a memorial service on Saturday morning for the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The jet went down on Sunday just after takeoff in Addis Ababa. None of the 157 passengers and crew, including 18 Canadians, survived the crash.

Rev. Les Zewdie, founder and spiritual leader of the church, said it is important to honour those who died.

“We take it personal because we are of Ethiopian descent but we are Canadian and then also we are Haligonian,” Zewdie said in a telephone interview on Friday.

Continue reading “Nova Scotia’s Ethiopian church honouring victims of plane crash” →

Religion

Week of Prayer: Reaching Africa through Minneapolis

By Brandon Elrod,

Philip Nache could have given in to despair. Boko Haram, the jihadist militant group located in Nigeria, had threatened his life, martyred a convert to Christianity and continued to intimidate Christians.

But despite the danger, Nache expected to return and serve the people he’d spent nearly 20 years ministering to, pastoring and planting churches among. He had come to the United States to attend Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a moment of divine timing that coincided with Boko Haram’s first threats on his life.

As he contemplated whether and how to return to Nigeria, another divine appointment redirected his steps.

At that time, God opened the door for me to come to Minneapolis,” Nache said. “When I was told about the need here in the Twin Cities, I was still thinking of Africa, but after praying, I felt convicted to go to Minnesota.”

Continue reading “Week of Prayer: Reaching Africa through Minneapolis” →