Front Page

Year-end Wrap-up: Iraq Dominated Headlines in 2003

December 23, 2003 – "Every day when you wake up, you know at some point during that day your life might be on the line." Those words from the Rev. Jay West, a United Methodist Army chaplain serving in Iraq, seem to sum up the fear and anxiety much of the church faced and still faces as 2003 draws to a close.

Plans for Network of Dissenters Prepares to Take Next Step

December 23, 2003 – A network of parishes and dioceses that dissent from decisions by last summer's General Convention to endorse the consecration of an openly gay bishop coadjutor in New Hampshire and acknowledge that some dioceses are blessing same-gender relationships is poised to take the next steps toward creating a formal relationship. In a December 15 Advent letter, Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, moderator of the new network, said that "a group of orthodox bishops, who stood against the decisions of General Convention, has agreed to form a Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses – dioceses which, through their stand against General Convention's decisions regarding the consecration of Gene Robinson and the development of rites for same-sex unions, remain in communion with the rest of the worldwide Anglican Communion."

Bishop Makes Christmas Call for Alcohol Education

December 17, 2003, Diocese of St Albans - A call for drinks companies to spend as much money on educating people about sensible drinking as they do on persuading people to drink alcohol at Christmas, has been made by the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Christopher Herbert. Speaking in a House of Lords debate on domestic violence, the Bishop stressed the role of alcohol as one of the causes of violence in the home and pointed to the drinks companies' Christmas advertising campaigns.

General News

Stewardship Is More than Money for Lutherans

December 17, 2003, CHICAGO - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is offering services to help busy people evaluate their use of money, share their faith, and teach children about living and giving. Through "Salt: Seasoning Faith and Generosity," members of the church are working to lay a foundation for long-term stewardship that looks beyond financial contributions. Salt ministry is a professional service offered by the ELCA to the 10,716 congregations and 65 synods of the church. It is designed to focus on stewardship growth based on faith and generosity; connecting personal faith with the management of time, abilities and finances; helping a congregation build on its potential as a stewardship congregation; and offering resources to cultivate stewardship leaders.

Sabbaticals Recharge United Methodist Pastors

December 18, 2003, NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Rev. Jonathan R. Almond has not had a sabbatical in the 36 years he has been in ministry in the United Methodist Church. Next fall, he will take four months to relax, reflect and "recharge my batteries." The sabbatical is made possible by a national program that enables pastors to leave their pulpits for an average of three months for spiritual renewal. Almond, pastor of Mathewson Street United Methodist Church in Providence, R.I., is one of eight United Methodist pastors participating in the 2003 National Clergy Renewal Program, funded by Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment. The United Methodist churches are among 117 congregations that will collectively receive $4.5 million in grants to provide their pastors with opportunities to get re-energized for ministry.

South Carolina Parish, Home to Breakaway Anglican Group, Reduced to Mission Status

December 23, 2003 – The parish of All Saints, Waccamaw in Pawley's Island, South Carolina, home to the breakaway Anglican Mission in America (AMiA), has been declared a mission of the diocese under the direct supervision of Bishop Edward L. Salmon Jr. Salmon announced his decision in a pastoral letter to the diocese dated December 18. The action permits him to appoint new leadership for the congregation, including replacing All Saints rector, the Rev. Tim Surratt.

Online 'Interview with God' Draws Large Following

December 22, 2003, TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (UMNS) - A Web site called "Interview with God," created by a United Methodist Sunday school teacher, is sweeping the Internet, attracting millions of visitors. Created by Reata (pronounced "Rita") Strickland, the imaginary conversation with the Almighty uses a combination of landscape photographs, inspirational text and Shockwave animation. Strickland belongs to Romulus United Methodist Church, located in a rural area near Tuscaloosa.

World Mission, Partners Plan 'Ablaze!' Event

December 24, 2003 – If every Lutheran church body is already doing outreach, then what's so special about the "Ablaze!" movement?, wondered Dr. David Tswaedi, bishop of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa. "Ablaze!" is LCMS World Mission's initiative to reach 100 million people with the Gospel by 2017. As a member of the steering committee for "Ablaze!" International, which met Dec. 9-10 in St. Louis, Tswaedi says he now has a better understanding of the "Ablaze!" concept and is anxious to share it with his church body's 22,000 members in South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland. "Ablaze!" is important, he says, because it is mission "on a larger scale."

Angel Tree Program Provides Gifts to Prisoners' Kids

December 23, 2003, SHELBY, N.C. - Stanley Petty would love to have the holiday stress so many people complain about, like navigating crowded malls in search of the right gift, or staying up late to bake treats and wrap presents. But Petty will spend another Christmas in prison, another year locked up for poor choices that he regrets. "I got twisted up and always have been in drugs," he said. "I've chased an easy life, and it's cost me dearly." He is doing time at Cleveland Correctional Center, a medium-security prison in Shelby, N.C., for a felony drug conviction; he isn't due for release until 2008. Petty isn't the only one paying the price for his crimes. His 10-year-old son and 14-year- old daughter will spend another Christmas without their dad.

Church Program Helps Convicts Read to Their Kids

December 17, 2003 – Eighteen-month-old Serenity of Pueblo, Colo., is doing what many experts say is one of the most important things a child can do: snuggling on her mother's lap, listening to a good book. The voice she hears is that of her father, even though he is miles away, in a Colorado youth offender facility. "This is all I can give her while I'm here, so I'm trying to do everything I can while I'm in jail," said Serenity's father, 19-year-old Joaquin Dorrance. He has been serving a sentence for felony robbery since October 2002. Under the terms of the youth offender program, he is eligible for release under supervision next summer.

Mississippians Send Coats to Russian Children for Christmas

December 22, 2003, JACKSON, Miss. - Nearly 500 Russian children will have a special Christmas thanks to Mississippi United Methodists. About 20 people from Mississippi will travel to Russia in late December, in time for the Russian Orthodox Christmas season, to deliver coats to the children, who live in five orphanages in the Penza region of Russia. The project is a cooperative venture between church members in the Senatobia, New Albany and Tupelo districts of the denomination's Mississippi Annual (regional) Conference, who provided funds, and members of Penza's New Life United Methodist Church, who determined coat sizes and made the purchases.

Hundreds Expected on Boxing Day Pilgrimage as Bishop Pledges Commitment to the Countryside

December 23, 2003, Diocese of Ripon and Leeds - With hundreds of walkers expected to take part in the annual Boxing Day pilgrimage from Ripon Cathedral to Fountains Abbey, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Rt Revd John Richard Packer, will use this year's occasion to pledge the church's support for rural concerns. The now traditional four mile walk on 26 December has attracted up to fifteen hundred walkers in previous years and follows in the footsteps of a group of 12th century Cistercian monks who walked from Ripon Cathedral along the River Skell on 26 December 1132, to found Fountains Abbey.

A Christmas Message from the Rt Revd Duleep De Chickera, Bishop of Colombo

December 19, 2003 – The birth of Jesus occurred at a time of great political uncertainty and religious intrigue. Palestine had been colonised by the Romans and the Jews were once again a captive people. In these circumstances some Jewish religious sects were vying for favour and power with their oppressors and some others were planning to overthrow the Romans through insurrection. We keep Christmas under not quite different circumstances this year. The serious tensions between political personalities and groups that have caused uncertainty do little to ease the burdens of the people and threaten whatever little stability remains. Growing religious discord, manifested sadly through acts of violence against some Christian communities have surprisingly not yet led to adequate measures of protective and preventive action or denunciation by the State and other Civil society groups.

Commentary: Christmas Is Still about Children and Peace

December 23, 2003 – Advent and Christmas have been taken to a new depth for me this year, as I've contemplated the arrival of the Prince of Peace while visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki in mid-December. The message given and the faith called for in the New Testament are revolutionary and radical, and they begin with the birth of a child. A child always brings things into focus for me. My journeys through the museums and peace parks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were most powerful spiritual experiences. The films, still photos, and displays of various articles melted by the intense heat of the atomic bombs dropped in August 1945 are emotionally and intellectually profound.

Christmas Message from Archbishop Robin Eames

December 15, 2003, Church of Ireland - The following is the Christmas message from the Most Revd Robin Eames, Primate of All Ireland and senior Primate of the Anglican Communion: "A crying newborn child is at the centre of the Christian meaning of Christmas. Born in a stable 'because there was no room in the Inn' to parents who went unnoticed in a crowded city, surrounded by dirt and deprivation far removed from a regal atmosphere the Prince of Peace, the son of God, came into this world as a symbol of poverty. The life that lay ahead of him was to become the foundation of the Christian faith - but at the beginning there was little to forecast what was to follow.

Pursuing Justice, Reconciliation With People of Other Faiths an Urgent Missionary Task for the LWF New Year Greeting from LWF General Secretary Noko

December 23, 2003, GENEVA - Pursuing justice and reconciliation with people of other faiths is an urgent missionary task for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and its member churches in the coming year, asserts LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko in his new year greeting. Noko notes that participants in the LWF Tenth Assembly meeting in Winnipeg, Canada, last July, "gave thanks to God that our communion is blessed - not burdened - with diversity." They committed themselves and urged the LWF member churches to "receive one another's differences as gifts," and to "respond to situations of injustice in other parts of the communion." The Assembly, he says, underscored that "we are not a Lutheran communion by ourselves, but are fully integrated in the worldwide communion of the universal church and the whole human family."

Spiritualist Movements: a Global Challenge for the Church LWF Seminar Participants Call for More Emphasis on Pastoral Care for Bereaved Persons

December 16, 2003, SVATY JUR, Slovak Republic/GENEVA - Spiritualist practices are not only widespread outside the churches. They represent a reality within churches. Dr Harald Lamprecht, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony in Germany, made these remarks at a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) European region seminar on spiritualistic movements. Many people who are involved with spiritualist movements also consider themselves Christians. Therefore, the churches have the task of translating the gospel anew for a "post-rationalist age," said Lamprecht, responsible for world views and sects with the Saxon church. Lamprecht was among 24 delegates from Lutheran churches in 15 European countries who gathered mid-October in Svaty Jur, Slovak Republic, as part of an LWF study program, "Spiritualistic Movements as a Global Challenge for the Church." The participants noted that the increasing importance of spiritualistic movements pose a major challenge in Europe, and particularly called for more emphasis on the pastoral care of bereaved persons.

Ecumenical News

LWF Welcomes Merger Agreement Between Dutch Lutherans and Reformed an Important Decision for Both Confessional Families Worldwide

December 19, 2003, UTRECHT, The Netherlands/GENEVA - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) described the recent agreement on a merger between the Lutheran church and two Reformed churches in the Netherlands as "a far-reaching and important decision, not only for the churches in the Netherlands, but also for the relationship of the Lutheran and Reformed families worldwide." The nearly 15,000-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands will merge with the country's two largest Reformed churches - the 1.9 million-member Netherlands Reformed Church (NRC) and the 660,000-member Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (RCN). The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PCN), with over 2.5 million members, officially comes into being on 1 May 2004.

Stigmatization and Discrimination Are a Sin Says WCC HIV/AIDS Consultation

In an effort to develop a common strategy to respond to the emerging HIV epidemic in Central and Eastern Europe, an ecumenical meeting brought 40 representatives of 24 churches and church-related organizations in 12 countries to St. Petersburg from 15-18 December 2003. The meeting was held under the auspices of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its European Regional Partnership Group (ERPG). Theological reflection was an integral part of the consultation programme.

LWF and ILC Agreed on Further Joint Conversations Symposiums Planned on Issues of Faith and Life

December 16, 2003, JAERVENPAEAE, Finland/GENEVA - The Executive Committee of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) and representatives of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) have agreed that further contacts should be maintained and conversations be held between both organizations. This would enable the ILC and LWF to deal with different areas of theological agreements and disagreements between their respective churches. The ILC and LWF affirmation is contained in a joint communique following their October 30-November 2 meeting in Jaervenpaeae, Finland, under the theme "What unites us? What divides us?" A first similar meeting took place in November 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Religious & Civil Liberty

Moscow Congregation Fights for its Building

December 18, 2003 – A Korean United Methodist church in Moscow fears it may lose its church building after the city's justice department allowed outsiders to change the building's ownership documents. On Dec. 9, just three days after the prosecutor's office dropped its investigation into the disputed transfer, guards loyal to the new "owners" seized the building. The pastor and some 30 church officials and members remained holed up inside as of Dec. 18. "We are staying here round the clock to try to prevent the illegal seizure," church administrator Svetlana Kim told Forum 18 News Service from inside the church. "But we know they won't pay any attention to us."

National News

Lutherans Continue Disaster Response in Southern California

December 16, 2003, CHICAGO - Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, continues to assist survivors of wildfires that struck five counties in Southern California this fall. Lutheran Disaster Response has issued about $100,000 in grants to provide people "with things they need for basic existence," said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director of Lutheran Disaster Response. The grants are "helping to minister to the elderly, the poor, the unemployed and the children," Furst said.

International News

Russia: City Authorities Transfer Administration of St. Anne's Church to ELCROS - Rebuilding to Be Completed in Three to Five Years

December 22, 2003, OMSK, Russia/GENEVA - St Petersburg authorities have transferred the administration of a church ruined in a fire last year to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States (ELCROS). A November 11 agreement signed between the city of St Petersburg and ELCROS' officials formalized the hand-over of St Anne's Evangelical Lutheran Church management to the Russian church. The church building was burned down on 6 December 2002.

Russia: More Young People Attend Church; Shortage of Pastors
New Opportunities, Difficulties for Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia and Far East

December 22, 2003, OMSK, Russia/GENEVA - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia and the Far East is faced with both new opportunities and difficulties. While there are problems in finding new pastors when they are needed in Siberia's Kusbass region, large numbers of young people in Kemerovo, Russia, have recently begun attending church. The head of the church, Bishop Volker E. Sailer, made these observations in his report to delegates attending the church's 12th synod meeting at Christ Church and Cultural Center in Omsk, Russia. During the October 22-24 meeting, other synod members noted that there are growing numbers of younger members in some congregations, as well as more intensive work with children. Congregation members in Bograd, Shakasia, had managed to buy a dilapidated prayer house with their own funds and to renovate it in three months. Problems mentioned by synod members included the emigration of preachers and the aging of congregations.

Some Problems You Simply Can't Solve - LWF Uganda Program Provides Vocational Training for AIDS Orphans

December 22, 2003, RAKAI, Uganda - Daily at 6.00 a. m, Prudentio Sseguya (14) wakes up his brothers Leonhard (12) and Anatoli (10). For an hour and a half, they work in their garden and then do the household chores before going to school. The two younger brothers attend the nearby primary school, while Prudentio is a student at the secondary school. John Bosco, their 18-year-old brother is a masonry apprentice. His day begins much earlier. The four brothers live in Kaliro, a village in Rakai District, southern Uganda. Their father died in 1997, and their mother last year - both from HIV/AIDS-related illnesses. Since then, the older brothers have been caring for the younger ones. The Sseguya household is one of thousands of Uganda's "child-headed households."

The Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission

December 18, 2003 – The full Commission will meet as a whole on three occasions: in February; June; and September 2004. It intends to complete its initial report on the nature, extent and consequences of Impaired Communion in the Anglican Communion as a result of recent developments by the end of September 2004 for submission to the Archbishop of Canterbury in October. Intensive work will also be commissioned from individual members of the Commission and others, and undertaken beyond the main sessions set out above. As required by its mandate, the Commission will begin by considering recent work elsewhere on the issue of Communion. It will give primary consideration to the resolutions of the Lambeth Conferences of 1988 and 1998 on this issue, together with a consideration of what has been achieved in the Grindrod, Eames and Virginia Reports, which addressed matters of Communion, particularly in relation then to the issue of the ordination of women to the episcopate. It will also wish to give especial attention to the recent work of the Inter Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission on the theological nature of Communion, and the various statements and pastoral letters issued by the Primates at their recent meetings.

Salvadorans Inaugurate Monument to Honor Hundreds Killed and Disappeared During Civil War
Lutheran Bishop Gomez: "A Testimony of Life That Should Never Be Forgotten"

December 19, 2003, SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador/GENEVA - Salvadoran Lutheran Bishop Medardo E. Gomez Soto described a monument built in honor of the dead and disappeared during civil conflict in the country as "as a testimony of life that should not be forgotten." It should "make us commit ourselves to build a better future, so that younger generations can live with this witness," Gomez, said of the "Monument to Memory and Truth," inaugurated on December 6 in San Salvador by the city's mayor, Carlos Rivas Zamora and representatives from several human rights organizations. The Salvadoran Lutheran Synod (SLS), headed by Gomez, has been involved in advocating that justice be done, and those responsible for "the death squads" that carried out systematic murder, torture and disappearance of suspected opponents to the military government during the 1980s and early 1990s be held accountable. "It is a monument of hope," affirmed the bishop.

Christmas in Africa Is Family Time

December 19, 2003 – When students at Africa University in Zimbabwe return to their homes for Christmas break, they will celebrate the birth of Christ in distinctly African ways. Christmas celebrations vary from family to family or from tribe to tribe, says Gitagno Dolorosa Duncan of Tanzania. However, the psychology major notes that regardless of traditions, being with family at Christmas is the most important aspect of the season. Tanzania is a multicultural country populated by tribes that, in addition to observing international Christian practices, also celebrate other traditions during this season. For example, Duncan says, some Tanzanians who worship trees go to the mountains to make their sacrifices.

Argentine Church Leader Calls for Debt Management Models That Are Justice-oriented Vulnerable Populations Suffer Negative Effects of External Debt Servicing

December 16, 2003, OSLO, Norway/GENEVA - Rev. Angel F. Furlan, president of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELU) in Argentina has stressed the need to investigate how external debts are acquired and utilized. "Debt management models as discussed today won't resolve the fundamental problem of global corruption. The illegitimate practices will continue, unless they are pursued as illegal and/or criminal acts," said Furlan.

Middle East News

NCC Statement on the Capture of Saddam Hussein

December 15, 2003, NEW YORK CITY - The National Council of Churches USA welcomes the news that Saddam Hussein has been captured by U.S. forces in Iraq. As demonstrated by the displays of celebration in the streets of Baghdad, the arrest of this dictator should bring to an end the fear that has gripped Iraqis throughout his long reign, a fear that has lingered throughout these last several months of U.S. occupation. It is our hope now for the Iraqi people that freedom will flourish in their country.

Bishop Griswold Joins Religious Leaders in New Effort for Middle East Peace

December 23, 2003 – Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold joined 32 other Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in announcing a new collaborative effort to mobilize broad public support in the pursuit of peace in the Middle East. In letters to President George W. Bush and members of the Congress, the religious leaders are calling on the administration to make peace in the Middle East a high priority, warning that "if the Road Map is allowed to fail, Israelis and Palestinians will sink even deeper into cycles of violence, jeopardizing the prospect of a two-state solution, escalating regional instability, undermining the global campaign against terrorism, and threatening vital U.S. national security interests."

Christmas Cancelled in Bethlehem?

December 18, 2003 – For nearly three and a half years Christians, Muslims and Jews in the Middle East have lived in fear and anxiety, with the stark reality that their lives are saturated by the hostilities and violence in their region. When the Palestinian flag was officially raised in Manger Square on 21 December 1995, Bethlehem began a new era marked by the sincere longing for peace and for extensive regional coexistence and development. Unfortunately, negotiations for a final settlement ended in deadlock and a new wave of violence, known as the Second Intifada, erupted on 28 September 2000.

A Letter to the Anglican Episcopal Faithful in the Holy Land

December 24, 2003 – Dear Friends, Tonight as you worship in Jerusalem and Bethlehem on the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, be assured that 75 million Anglicans/Episcopalians from around the world will be praying for you and with you and indeed for all the faithful in the Holy Land. Amidst the threat of walls being built to separate instead of to unite, rhetoric that divides instead of bringing together, we pray for you tonight, you who have been given the great privilege to worship in Jerusalem and on the holy ground where the Prince of Peace was born, who came to tear down the walls that separate people from each other and from God.

Commentary: Justice for Hussein must Hinge on Values He Disdained

December 19, 2003 – The war in Iraq and the recent capture of its brutal ruler, Saddam Hussein, evoke deep personal memories as well as ethical reflections for me. The capture presents a major challenge and an enormous responsibility for the United States and the coalition that prosecuted the war in Iraq, but more profoundly, for the United Nations. As the case against Saddam Hussein moves forward, it is important that the sentiments and resolve of both the Iraqi nation and the international community be taken seriously. We must proceed with all the available expertise in national and international law so that justice deserved is justice rendered. The highest degree of fairness and impartiality in international justice must be observed.

Commentary: Justice for Saddam must Include Full Account of Crimes

December 19, 2003 – When Saddam Hussein murdered his way into power in 1979, he set the tone for more than two decades of brutal rule. He launched an aggressive war against Iran that took more than a million lives, committed genocide against Iraqi Kurds and Marsh Arabs, and funded and trained international terrorists. He tortured or killed millions of Iraqi men, women and children, drove 4 million of them into exile and invaded Kuwait. Since Saddam's capture, commentary has focused on who should put him on trial. I strongly believe this is the wrong question. The primary question is, "What constitutes justice, and how shall it best be achieved?"

Archbishop of Canterbury Meets Iraqi Governing Council

December 17, 2003, Lambeth Palace - The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has held talks with the Chairman of the Iraqi Governing Council, Mr Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim and senior colleagues at Lambeth Palace. The meeting, which was at the request of the Archbishop's guests, lasted about one hour.

People in the News

ABC National Ministries Calls Florence Li to Serve Asian American Churches

December 19, 2003, VALLEY FORGE, Pa. - National Ministries, American Baptist Churches USA has named the Rev. Florence Li national coordinator for Intercultural Ministries, Asian Churches strategist. Li will join the National Ministries' staff – where she will work with partners to strengthen Asian American Baptist churches – on March 1, 2004. As part of the Church in Community Transformation team, Li also will work to build and strengthen intercultural understanding and ministry.

At the Roots of Methodism: Dispelling Myths about Wesley

December 17, 2003 – Given the high profile accorded to John Wesley throughout this tercentenary year of his birth, it is hardly surprising that a number of myths about the founder of Methodism continue to surface. British Methodist historian John Vickers has noted that a few misconceptions can be traced back to Wesley himself. For instance, it has often been stated that he was baptized "John Benjamin" in memory of two of his brothers who had died soon after birth. Wesley himself apparently told one of his preachers that he was told this by his father, Samuel Wesley.

President Bush Receives Top Award from United Methodist Group

December 19, 2003, WASHINGTON (UMNS) - President George W. Bush received top honors from United Methodist Men Dec. 17 for his statements of faith and his call for the nation to be in prayer following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The award, certifying the president as a member of the Society of John Wesley Fellows, was presented by Gilbert Hanke, national president of United Methodist Men, which sponsors the award through its foundation.