The US Internal Revenue Service has told the United Church of Christ's national offices that it has opened an investigation into Barack Obama's address at the UCC's 2007 General Synod as the church engaging in "political activities."

The head of the United Church of Christ denomination in the USA has reacted with anger and frustration to accusations of racism circulating about it largest congregation, which is also Senator Barack Obama's home church.

The health of children should be a bipartisan concern, says the US United Church of Christ's general minister and president, calling politicians to override of a presidential veto against an expansion of a crucial children's health insurance programme.

The president of the United Church of Christ in the USA has been arrested after trying to deliver to the White House a pastoral letter that contained 60,000 signatures calling for an end to the American-led military action in Iraq.

Two Japanese popular associations have condemned what they say is a military-inspired "deliberate murder attempt" against a Christian minister who serves as the co-leader of the Citizens Coalition for Peace in Japan.