For the first time in nearly 50 years, dockworkers at ports along the East and Gulf coasts have gone on strike.

Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 1 — the minute their six-year labor contracts expired — with three local Charleston union affiliates picketing outside S.C. State Ports Authority terminals for better wages, job security and “respect.”

Nearly 20 people stood along Morrison Drive in Charleston, across from the SPA’s Columbus Street Terminal, holding high signs that read “No work without a fair contract” and “Automation hurts families: ILA stands for job protection.”

Randy Campbell, a union vice president, said that members of his local ILA 1771, and two others, 1422 and 1422A, will remain outside of the Wando Welch, North Charleston and Columbus Street terminals until negotiations are done.

Read it all.

This morning, at 12:01 a.m., 45,000 union dockworkers represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) at major ports along the East and Gulf coasts went on strike.

Here’s what you need to know: https://t.co/HPCE6q1m8v pic.twitter.com/7eBJ51cow4

— SC Chamber of Commerce (@scchamber) October 1, 2024

The last time they talked, Guadalupe Hernandez said her baby sister, Monica, sent her videos and photos of rising waters surrounding her as she huddled with co-workers on the back of semi truck.

Monica Hernandez, 45, was working at Impact Plastics, near the Nolichucky River, when Hurricane Helene sent a murky rush of floodwater through their small eastern Tennessee town Friday, Guadalupe, 50, said. Hang on, Guadalupe said she reassured Monica, the family was calling 911. Just let them know when she was safe, she told her.

Monica was among five Impact Plastics employees and one contractor reported missing after Helene tore through town.

It was the start of a period of agonizing limbo for Guadalupe and the families of other missing employees, who said they struggled to get information from local officials.

Read it all.

As floods recede after Helene, anguished families wait for answers https://t.co/N4PepkLXFH

— Brady Dennis (@brady_dennis) October 2, 2024

Black composers, musicians and singers are to be celebrated as part of a series of events, from exhibitions and lectures to services and study days, marking Black History Month in Cathedrals and churches across the country.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is to preside at a Eucharist at Southwark Cathedral marking Black History Month in the Diocese of Southwark.

The service will hear music by St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School Gospel Choir and the Nigerian Chaplaincy Worship Team with the sermon preached by the Dean of Gloucester, Andrew Zihni. A panel discussion will be held afterwards on the theme ‘music at the heart of change.’

The day aims to ‘acknowledge the profound positive impact music has had on the black community, and the power of music to transform worship and enhance witness, to bring hope, and provide a space of healing, restoration and justice’, Southwark Cathedral said.

Read it all.

Pray with us as we enter Black History Month.

We'll be sharing resources throughout the month to help us all reflect on how the church can address the injustice of racism, and create communities where everyone can flourish. https://t.co/iveTSWaIQX

— Leeds Minster (@LeedsMinster) October 2, 2024

Devastating hundreds of miles from the Florida Gulf Coast to Georgia to the mountains of North Carolina, Hurricane Helene has created a complicated equation for Christian organizations that are on the frontline of disaster response.

“In my more than 20 years of disaster experience, I can’t think of a time when such a large area was at risk,” Jeff Jellets, the disaster coordinator for The Salvation Army’s work in the South, said in a statement.

Samaritan’s Purse chief operating officer Edward Graham told CT that the organization had to call in equipment and volunteers from its Canadian arm for its hurricane response and even had to adjust some of its overseas work. Just for this disaster, Samaritan’s Purse is operating in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Read it all.

Christian relief organizations, partnered with local churches, are working on bringing help to the most difficult-to-reach places in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. @emlybelz reports: https://t.co/mEcdbaJecl

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) September 30, 2024

O Gracious Father, who didst call thy servant Therese to a life of fervent prayer; Give unto us the spirit of prayer and zeal for the ministry of the Gospel, that the love of Christ may be known throughout all the world; through the same, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.”
– Saint Therese of Lisieux, ora pro nobis pic.twitter.com/NGCNZi9ZvO

— Diana Henry (@dianahenryart) October 1, 2024

Take from us, O Lord God, all pride and vanity, all boasting and self-assertion, and give us the true courage that shows itself in gentleness; the true wisdom that shows itself in simplicity; and the true power that shows itself in modesty; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sunrise across the Sound of Sleat – Ardvasar, Isle of Skye #Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #HelloOctober @angie_weather @ThePhotoHour @StormHour @VisitScotland @BBCScotWeather @stvweatherwatch pic.twitter.com/fmJWgVX6fZ

— James MacInnes (@Macinnesplant) October 1, 2024

Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel; for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or kindness, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds and murder follows murder. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field, and the birds of the air; and even the fish of the sea are taken away. Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. You shall stumble by day, the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways, and requite them for their deeds. They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the harlot, but not multiply; because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish harlotry.

–Hosea 4:1-10

Welcome to October!🎃 pic.twitter.com/F3DmaC9YfR

— Joey Sovine Live 5 (@JoeySovine) October 1, 2024