Evangelical churches across the nation, including several megachurches, will join in a national day of prayer for the Gulf Coast community on Sunday.

The “National Day of Prayer for the Gulf,” sponsored by the National Association of Evangelicals and the Evangelical Environmental Network, expects to inspire thousands of Christians to pray for the residents of the Gulf Coast impacted by the BP oil spill.

Originally, organizers planned to pray for the oil to stop gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. But now that the new containment cap seems to be stopping the oil leak, participants will be asked to pray for the long-term recovery process. more >>

The nation’s largest evangelical body on Thursday launched a new abortion reduction initiative in which discussion about sex is a major focus.

Sexual activity outside of marriage is occurring at a significant level among young evangelicals, said the National Association of Evangelicals. And young unmarried evangelicals are among those who are having abortions.

“There are a significant number of abortions taking place within the evangelical community but we don’t really talk about that,” said Galen Carey, director of government affairs at the NAE, to The Christian Post. “So we want to stimulate a conversation.” more >>

Hundreds of immigrant families and pro-immigration reform advocates demonstrated Monday morning outside of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.

Protesters demanded a stop to deportations and denounced Arizona’s new immigration law. They carried banners that read, “1,000 Families Torn Apart Each Day” and photos of children who have been separated from their parents because of current policy.

“We call on Secretary Janet Napolitano to meet with 20 immigrant families directly impacted by deportations so that she can understand how her department’s policies of raids, detention, and deportations are destroying and dividing families,” said the Rev. Jose Miranda of Sunflower Community Action in Wichita, Kan. “We trust that once she spends time face to face with the children who have lost their parents, and those who have lost loved ones, she will stop enacting anti-family policies until the national immigration debate results in a just and humane reform.” more >>

An unlikely group of conservative evangelicals issued a statement Tuesday calling for just immigration reform that includes an earned pathway for undocumented immigrants already in the country.

The leaders, who together represent tens of millions of evangelicals, said the immigration debate is not just a political one but a moral issue. They are calling on the federal government to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would secure the borders and allow millions of undocumented people to “come out of the shadows.”

The evangelical leaders who affirmed the statement on immigration include: Dr. Richard Land, president of The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel; the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; and Bishop George McKinney, pastor of St. Stephen’s Cathedral of the Church of God in Christ; among others. more >>

WASHINGTON – American flags were everywhere – flying in the air, worn as bandanas, held by children – as more than 200,000 people thronged the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Sunday to rally for comprehensive immigration reform.

Posters reading “Obama Keep Your Promise,” “Protect Our Families,” “We Contribute to America,” and “We are Not Criminals! We are Hard Working Families” littered the landscape made up overwhelmingly of Hispanic demonstrators.

Protesters came to vent their frustration at the pace Washington was addressing immigration reform and to demand the government take up the issue in April. more >>

The nation’s largest Hispanic faith-based network launched a nationwide grassroots campaign on Tuesday to push lawmakers to pass comprehensive immigration reform this year.

Esperanza, which includes more than 12,000 Hispanic churches and community non-profits, is seeking to mobilize Hispanic communities across the country to contact their elected officials in support of comprehensive immigration reform.

Participants will tell their representative in Congress that 65 percent of Americans support reform. more >>