No need to define ‘man’ and ‘woman’ New Zealand told

A BILLBOARD outside St Matthew-in-the-City, Auckland Central, is opposing a Bill proposed by the governing New Zealand First party to define woman and man in law. The church explained its opposition to the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill, saying that it “doesn’t fix any real gap in the law”. Its statement on social media said: “We believe every person carries the image of the divine. No exceptions.”

Nairobi cathedral attack state-sponsored, say Churches

THE National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) has said it is “appalled at the blatant and despicable desecration” of All Saints’ Cathedral, Nairobi, last Friday, by “state-sponsored goons”. The Kenyan Diaspora Media reported that witnesses said the attackers overpowered security personnel before making their way past the church building to a conference venue. They destroyed conference materials and allegedly assaulted participants. The authorities later arrested a suspect, the outlet said.

Bishops oppose giant Utah detention centre

THE Episcopal Bishop in Utah, the Rt Revd Phyllis Spiegel, and her counterpart in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ECLA), Dr Meghan Johnston Aelbouni, are opposing plans to convert a Salt Lake City warehouse, measuring 833,000 sq. ft, into an immigrant detention facility. Bishop Spiegel and Dr Aelabouni, Bishop of the Rocky Mountain Synod in the ECLA, writing in a joint article for The Salt Lake Tribune of being “called to love our neighbours and to welcome the stranger among us”, argued: “A detention centre of this scale risks defining Utah’s role in immigration policy through confinement rather than constructive solutions.”

Don’t be silent about genocide, APF tells UK Anglicans

THE Anglican Pacifist Fellowship has said, in a statement addressed to Palestinian Christians, that it is “deeply saddened” that “the Churches of the Anglican Communion here in the UK have failed to name apartheid, genocide and ethnic cleansing. They have failed to fully implement sanctions and accountability.” It continued: “We acknowledge that it is not enough to hold you close in our hearts and prayers, but that the whole Church is called to act, to end its silence about genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid, and to call on our political leaders to do so also.”

Death-row convert spared execution by gas

THE planned execution of a man who became a Christian ministry leader during his 26 years on death row was cancelled on 11 June after the Supreme Court decided that killing him using nitrogen gas was unconstitutional, the Religion News Service reports. Jeffery Lee, imprisoned for two fatal shootings in 1998, elected in 2018 that the method of execution be nitrogen hypoxia rather than lethal injection. But, after the first use of the method in 2024, he filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of nitrogen suffocation. After two lower-court rulings blocked the method, deeming it cruel and unusual punishment, NBC News reported that the Supreme Court had denied the state’s request to execute Lee. He became a ministry leader through Kairos Prison Ministry International, a Christian non-profit organisation based in Florida.

WCC demands disuse of AI systems in warfare

TECH companies and states should stop the use of AI systems in military “kill chains”, including AI “decision-support” systems, demands a statement signed this week by the World Council of Churches. “Despite claims by their proponents that AI tools are making warfare more effective, precise, or humane, real-world deployments indicate that AI is actually facilitating more violent, dehumanising, and destructive methods of warfare,” the statement says. AI in the military was the subject of informal talks held by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs from Monday to Wednesday.

Strawberry fields for . . . 60 years in Indiana

VOLUNTEERS whipped up sweet treats at Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis, in the United States, during the 60th annual Strawberry Festival on the cathedral’s front lawn, on Thursday of last week. “We have a lot of stories where kids went with their grandparents, then they took their kids, and now they’re taking their grandkids every year. It’s really fun to be a part of those core memories for people,” Sarah McFetridge, a Cathedral Women member and the festival’s coordinator, told the Episcopal News Service.