 |
 |
 |
 |
Rev. N. J. L'Heureux, Jr., Publisher & Editor
Rev. Pedro Bravo-Guzman, Editor-in-Chief
An Ecumenical Report of Local and Global News
in God's Household
Published by the Queens Federation of Churches
NCC Delegation Returns from Moscow Peace Mission March 6, 2003 – An ecumenical delegation that visited Moscow March 4-5 urged the Russian government to continue searching for a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis. Sponsored by the U.S. National Council of Churches, the delegation include the Rev. Robert Edgar, a United Methodist pastor and the NCC's chief executive; the Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, Orthodox Church in America and a former NCC president; and the Rev. Keith Clements, chief executive, Conference of European Churches. "We're just urging good allies to be good allies ... by not letting the United States do something inappropriate," Edgar told United Methodist News Service in a March 6 telephone interview. In this case, the Russian officials and U.S. church leaders are in accord - or as Edgar put it, the Russians are "on the same hymn that we're on." Study Finds Clergy Pay Issue Poses Challenges for Churches March 3, 2003 – Low clergy salaries are making it difficult for pastors to be true to their calling, according to a study by researchers at a United Methodist-related theological school. Researchers at Duke University Divinity School have determined that clergy compensation is harming the church and distorting its mission. Their findings are detailed in "How Much Should We Pay the Pastor: A Fresh Look at Clergy Salaries in the 21st Century," part of the divinity school's Pulpit & Pew pastoral leadership project. Wesley's 300th Offers Time for Renewing Faith March 6, 2003 – This year, world Methodism is celebrating the 300th anniversary of John Wesley's birth. To mark this milestone, which occurs June 17, many local congregations and annual conference sessions will offer special worship services, workshops, studies and learning opportunities that will introduce people to the life and ministry of Methodism's founder. Those who are more adventurous are joining Wesley heritage tours that will travel to England this summer and fall. They will attend the special events offered by the British Methodist Church and will visit places important to Wesley's life and the rise of Methodism: Epworth, Oxford, Bristol, Newcastle and London. Episcopalians: Chicago Conference Asks, 'Will Our Faith Have Children?' March 6, 2003 – The four questions are pristine in their candor and simplicity, demarcating the baseline of every inquirer's class and catechumenal program in the Christian church: Do you believe in God? How did you first learn about God? How do you tell others about God? Why do you go to church? For over 600 faith leaders, Christian educators, and formation ministers participating in the landmark national conference on Christian formation - Will Our Faith Have Children? - these queries served as blaze marks for regaining what the church has lost through decades of indifference and half-hearted or haphazard approaches to forming and enriching the faith of children, youth and adults. ELCA Outreach Board Reviews Church Strategies March 5, 2003, CHICAGO - The board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Outreach reviewed an evangelism strategy and draft documents of an ELCA strategic planning process. The board also elected officers and conducted other business when it met here Feb. 28-March 2. Campus Spiritual Awakening Needs Church Support March 5, 2003, A UMNS Commentary - A spiritual awakening is occurring on college campuses across the United States. Without intentional support from the church, however, these flames of revival may die out. Turning away from the bankrupt values of previous generations bent on "me first" materialism and greed, a new generation of young adults is desperately searching for greater meaning and purpose in life, a new sense of community, opportunities to serve those in need and a vital spiritual connection. ELCA Rural Ministry Alliance to Form Around Affinity Groups March 3, 2003, CHICAGO - People and groups who share a common interest in small town and rural ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are developing into an alliance. A diverse group of people representing those ministries gathered here Feb. 19-20 to imagine the alliance and to figure out how to make it a reality. Close Up: Church Grapples with U.S. Health Care Crisis March 3, 2003 – Every Monday and Wednesday afternoon, dozens of unemployed, homeless or down-on-their luck people crowd into the small Volunteers in Medicine clinic at St. Charles, Mo. They have a litany of medical problems, but one thing in common: no health insurance. The St. Charles clinic, some 30 minutes from downtown St. Louis, is one of 20 Volunteers in Medicine clinics across the United States staffed almost completely with retired medical professionals. Anita Hockett, a registered nurse and member of First United Methodist Church of St. Charles, is one of them. 'Health Care for All,' Agency Executive Preaches March 3, 2003 – How often do you hear a sermon on health care? Probably rarely, but congregants at Trinity United Methodist Church in Frederick, Md., heard one of the denomination's executives preach on that issue last November. Trinity's guest preacher was the Rev. Jackson Day, program director for health and wholeness with the denomination's Board of Church and Society. The board, with offices in Washington, is the church's social action and advocacy agency. Students Use Spring Break to Serve Needy March 4, 2003 – Spring break is normally a time when college students head to beaches and resorts for a week of revelry, often fueled by an overabundance of alcohol. But students involved in United Methodist Wesley Foundations and campus ministry groups will be rolling up their sleeves for service work instead. Campus ministry groups from across the country will spend their spring break working side by side with people in need. Instead of fun in the sun, the students will be working up a sweat swinging hammers, laying bricks, digging ditches and performing other service work. ELCA Commission Requests 'Moratorium' on Budget Reduction March 4, 2003, CHICAGO - The steering committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Commission for Multicultural Ministries asked the ELCA Office of the Presiding Bishop to consider a "moratorium" on reductions in authorized spending for the commission this fiscal year. The committee also adopted other resolutions, discussed two churchwide plans and held a conversation with the board of the ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries when it met here Feb. 21-22. Judicial Council Will Hear Case of Lesbian Pastor March 3, 2003 – The case of the Rev. Karen Dammann, a pastor accused of violating United Methodist law by living in a lesbian relationship, is going to the church's supreme court. Bishop Elias Galvan of the church's Seattle Area announced Feb. 28 that he is appealing the case to the United Methodist Judicial Council. The move follows two earlier decisions by church panels that would have allowed the case to drop. Dialogue Between Episcopalians and Methodists Showing Promise March 5, 2003 – The second session of the official dialogue between the Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church met February 6-8 at St. Mary Seminary's Center for Continuing Education in Baltimore, Maryland. The dialogue was established by the 2000 General Convention in response to a 1998 Lambeth Conference resolution endorsing regional Anglican-Methodist dialogues. March 3, 2003, CANTERBURY, United Kingdom/GENEVA - President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop emeritus Dr Christian Krause, has described the festive enthronement service of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, as an ecumenical signal for the future. Krause attended the enthronement in Canterbury's historic cathedral on Thursday, 27 February. Lutheran bishops and archbishops of the Nordic and Baltic churches, in full altar-and-pulpit fellowship with the Anglican churches of Great Britain and Ireland since the 1995 conclusion of the Porvoo Agreement, were present as well as numerous representatives of other confessions. Vatican Official Greets New Archbishop of Canterbury as a 'Builder of Bridges' March 3, 2003 – At a banquet following the February 27 enthronement of Rowan Williams as the 104th archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican's Council for Promoting Christian Unity, described the ecumenical task in terms of building bridges. On his historic visit to Rome in March of 1966, Pope Paul VI told Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey that he was "rebuilding a bridge which for centuries had lain fallen between the Church of Rome and the Church of Canterbury - a bridge of respect, of esteem and of charity." The pope characterized that bridge as yet unstable and "still under construction," Kasper said. "In the intervening years it has grown much more stable. While it is still very much under construction, it has carried me here today without a wobble," he added. March 4, 2003, GENEVA - General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, has expressed thanks to Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), for his contribution to the "growth in unity of the universal church of Jesus Christ," both theologically and in terms of ecclesial relations. In a congratulatory letter for the occasion of Kasper's 70th birthday March 5, Noko says he is grateful for the "excellent personal and professional relationship," they have shared over several years. March 4, 2003, MEDAN, Indonesia/GENEVA - Palestinian Lutheran Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan has criticized proponents of a world polarized into either "good or bad people," and reminded Christians and people of other religions of their authority to challenge the world through interfaith dialogue. "We are not to please politicians who seek war," said Younan, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ), serving in Israel, Jordan and Palestine. He was addressing representatives of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches from Asia during the region's preparatory meeting for the July 2003 LWF Tenth Assembly March 6, 2003 – Freedom of religion and persecution of ethnic and religious minorities were the main focus of a discussion between World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser and Secretary 1, General Khin Nyunt, the chief executive of the military-led government of Myanmar (formerly Burma), during a three-day visit to the country. "I would be failing in my task if I did not indicate to you concerns about intentional or involuntary discrimination in certain parts of the country against Christian minorities and ethnic groups. I am raising these concerns not out of any political interest, but concern with the well-being, peace and stability of the whole country," said Raiser to General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1 of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the Myanmar government's cabinet. 
U.S. House Recognizes 'Lutheran Schools Week' March 6, 2003, CHICAGO - The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution March 4 - by a vote of 407 to 0 - supporting the goals of Lutheran Schools Week, and congratulating "Lutheran schools, students, parents, teachers, administrators and congregations across the nation for their ongoing contributions to education." The year's Lutheran Schools Week is March 2-8, with the theme, "Following Jesus in the World." War, Domestic Concerns Dominate Legislative Briefing March 6, 2003, WASHINGTON - Politicians and social justice advocates held out hope during a legislative briefing that people across the United States could still make a difference where it counts: in the budget and on issues of war and peace. More than 250 United Methodists attended a March 2-5 legislative briefing on "Gospel Demands Public Witness," sponsored by the denomination's Board of Church and Society. Speakers, including two senior senators, called for alternatives to a military strike against Iraq and urged President George Bush to give more attention to domestic issues.
ABCUSA: Missionaries Safe in Philippines Following Bombing March 5, 2003, VALLEY FORGE, Pa. - No American Baptist missionaries serving in the Philippines were injured in yesterday's bombing attack at Davao International Airport in the Philippines, according to the Rev. Benjamin Chan, American Baptist International Ministries' area director for East Asia, India, Hong Kong and China. Chan said his office has been in contact with those missionaries, all of whom are based some distance from Davao City. March 5, 2003 – Even as one "door" closes, another may be opening in the case of "Nancy," the Iranian woman seeking refugee status in Canada because of her fear that, as a Christian convert, she will be jailed or killed if forced to return to her homeland. Predominantly Muslim Iran is known to permit harsh treatment of those who convert to Christianity, although officially it allows a person to be a Christian, according to Nancy's pastor, Rev. Harold Ristau, pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church, a Missouri Synod congregation in Montreal. March 5, 2003, HELSINKI, Finland/GENEVA - Bishop of Helsinki Eero Huovinen has spoken out in favor of keeping the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD). Contributing to the current debate on VELKD's structures he writes in VELKD-Informationen of 19 February that the church's structure is "not easy for a foreigner to understand" because in the world it is unique. The same can be said for the effects of the church's structures in relation to what can be done by the church, and ecumenically. Huovinen, a bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF), says for the Finnish church, VELKD also provides a bridge to the regional churches in Germany that do not belong to VELKD. This "important function" should not be overlooked, he says. March 4, 2003, VIENNA, Austria/GENEVA - Participants in the European Pre-Assembly Women's Meeting, preparing for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Tenth Assembly have called for the LWF to join in global efforts to highlight the life-giving importance of water to the world. They ask that the LWF take simple, convincing action. In their final report, some 20 participants say that water, one of the most important elements of basic human needs will be a growing cause of conflict in the world in the near future. The women's meeting took place prior to the European Pre-Assembly Consultation (PAC) held 23-26 February in Vienna. Asian Lutheran Churches Challenged to Seize Mission of Healing the World March 4, 2003, MEDAN, Indonesia/GENEVA - Delegates from the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches in Asia, were reminded that the church is blessed with the "incredible greatness of God's power" to embark on the huge and challenging mission to heal the world. Delivering the sermon during the opening worship service of the Asia Pre-Assembly Consultation and Asia Church Leadership Conference, Bishop Dr. Wesley Kigasung, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELC-PNG), challenged the churches on their calling to be the full expression of Christ as the ultimate healer of the world. ABC News Interviews Bishop Talbert on Prospect of War March 5, 2003, NASHVILLE - An interview with United Methodist Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, ecumenical officer for the Council of Bishops, will air March 5 on "ABC World News Tonight" as part of a story focusing on American Christians' disagreement with a war on Iraq. American Bishop Urges Prayers and Aid for Iraqi Christians March 3, 2003 – The Rt Revd Pierre W. Whalon, bishop of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe, received an invitation to Iraq February 19-23 to pray with, meet and talk with the leaders of major Christian groups in that country. Traveling with him were Jean-Michel Cadiot, Iraq specialist for Agence France-Presse, and Yako Elish, a Chaldean Christian businessman who served as guide and translator. Whalon met with bishops of the Chaldean, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, and Assyrian churches; the Latin Archbishop (Roman Catholic); a Protestant church council; the mullah of the Mosque of al-Kadham; and the Shaik of the Mandaeans (disciples of John the Baptist). He declined an invitation to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz and the Mufti of Baghdad as both are officials of the Saddam Hussein regime. He also led an ecumenical prayer service at the National Protestant Church in Baghdad and inspected the closed Anglican church in the city, St. George's. On his return, Whalon spoke with Jan Nunley of Episcopal News Service. United Methodist Bishop Takes Hope for Peace to Rome March 3, 2003 – When United Methodist Bishop William Boyd Grove visited Rome recently, a number of Italians asked him if he thought a U.S.-led war against Iraq could be averted. He gave the same answer to each question: "My political hope is small, my gospel hope is large." Grove was part of a six-member delegation, sponsored by the U.S. National Council of Churches, which visited Rome Feb. 26-27 to discuss the need for a peaceful resolution to the Iraq situation. The Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy served as host. The group talked briefly with Pope John Paul II and more extensively with Vatican officials, met with Italian politicians, and gathered with the Protestant community.
|