Front Page

NCCC General Secretary Addresses IRD Report

September 27, 2004, NEW YORK - The following Statement was issued today by the Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA: The Institute of Religion and Democracy's report titled "Human Rights Advocacy in the Mainline Protestant Churches 2000-2003," released today (Sept. 27), addresses the important matter of human rights in a fatally flawed way. The report assumes that all that the National Council of Churches USA does or says about human rights gets reported out in resolutions and news releases. It ignores the NCC's sound, comprehensive policy base on human rights, especially the foundational "Human Rights" policy adopted by the Council's highest governing body in December 1963, and that body's November 1995 reaffirmation and expansion of that policy, "Human Rights: The Fulfillment of Life in the Social Order." In truth, the ideologically conservative IRD cannot claim to have produced an objective report, having among other things used another ideologically conservative group, Freedom House, as its barometer on human rights.

'Think Brown' in Terms of Blended Cultures, Richard Rodriguez Tells House of Bishops

September 26, 2004, SPOKANE, Washington - San Francisco author and essayist Richard Rodriguez challenged a gathering of 132 bishops to think "brown," as they meet here through September 27 to discuss reconciliation and communion. The story of Christianity is the story of brown, the story of melded cultures and blended traditions, he said. An amazing array of racial and generational complexities challenge the world and the church today, Rodriguez told the bishops, who are discussing ways to deepen collegiality and hospitality. "There is nothing browner in the history of time than the mystery of the Incarnation, of God, intruding into history, God entering history, in Jesus Christ, true God, true man, that's very brown, I think," Rodriguez said.

WCC Honors Racism Program and its First Director

Septmber 29, 2004, GENEVA - The World Council of Churches has honored Baldwin Sjollema, the first director of its Programme to Combat Racism, who has been decorated with the highest award South Africa gives to civilian foreigners. During a ceremony at the WCC's headquarters in Geneva on Sept. 27, a plaque was unveiled to pay tribute to Sjollema and to the anti-racism program, which focused much of its attention and energy during the apartheid era on southern Africa.

General News

"We Could Have Saved More Lives" Church Leadership Challenged to Be Vanguards in Fight Against HIV/AIDS

September 29, 2004, GENEVA - "We are losing people including pastors who could have given so much to the church because of their expertise, talents and gifts; young people who could have turned Africa into what it should be." This was how Ms Angelene Swart, president of the Moravian Church in South Africa described the impact of HIV/AIDS on her church and country. She was addressing a press briefing at the September 1-7 meeting of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council near Geneva. Statistics from South Africa's Department of Health indicate that by 2002, an estimated 5.3 million people in a population of more than 42 million were infected with the human immuno-deficiency virus that leads to AIDS. More recent surveys reveal that one in every five young South Africans aged between 15 and 24 was infected, with women more disproportionately affected than men.

Episcopal Relief and Development Applauded for Emergency Response, Increased Giving
House of Bishops Informed of Network Leaders' Plan to Launch Parallel Agency

September 29, 2004 – The House of Bishops, meeting yesterday in Spokane, Washington, applauded Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) for the agency's overall emergency-response services and a 40-percent increase in giving, while also receiving advance word of the Bishop of Pittsburgh's announcement today that a parallel agency has been launched under the auspices of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes (NACDAP). "Giving to ERD is up by 40 percent over last year even before adding the recent outpouring of support for hurricane response," Bishop Harry Bainbridge III of Idaho, chairman of ERD's board of directors, told the bishops yesterday. ERD's total expenditures in 2003 were $7.9 million; expenditures are projected at $8.5 million for 2004.

MCC Couple Wins Canadian Same-Sex Marriage Court Victory

September 28, 2004, HALIFAX - Nova Scotia has became the 6th Canadian province to grant same-sex marriage rights to LGBT couples. Justice M. Heather Robertson of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia ruled this week that the definition of marriage must be "the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others." Metropolitan Community Church members Brian Mombourquette and Ross Boutilier were one of three couples that filed the lawsuit in Nova Scotia. Both are active members of Safe Harbour MCC, where the Rev. Darlene Young is senior pastor.

200 Years of Bible Societies Celebrated

September 24, 2004, BUENOS AIRES - Today Mary Jones has different names, languages and nationalities. We can find her poor and forgotten on the streets of Calcutta, thirsty for water and hope in Sudan, exposed to danger in a Sao Paulo suburb or washing car windows on an avenue in Buenos Aires, said Marcelo Figueroa. The Secretary General of the Argentine Bible Society (SBA) was referring to Mary Jones, a young Welsh girl who worked for six years to save up enough money to buy her own Bible and then walked 40 kilometers to get it. Her efforts inspired a small group to found the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804 to disseminate the Bible.

CONEP President Identifies Challenges of the Millennium

September 22, 2004, LIMA, Peru - The president of the Peruvian National Evangelical Council (CONEP) Pastor Carlos Jara identified the main challenges confronting the Peruvian Evangelical Church in the new millennium. After pointing to the social and technological changes that have marked recent years, Jara noted that the Evangelical population in Peru has grown from 6.83 percent to 14 percent over the past decade. Peru has a population of 26 million. On the other hand, he said, the Evangelical Church in the world, in particular in Latin America, in the past 20 years, has made important progress. The mega-Churches, the radio and television ministry, the theology of worship, different types of praise, among other things, create a new panorama that requires a careful analysis.

A Word to the Episcopal Church from the House of Bishops

September 28, 2004, SPOKANE, Washington - We the bishops of the Episcopal Church, gathered in Spokane for our regular fall meeting, greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. Our time together has reminded us of the words spoken at our ordination that our "heritage is the faith of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and those of every generation who have looked to God in hope," and our "joy is to follow him who came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." We are deeply grieved by the on-going violence and division in the Middle East, continuing war in Iraq, the Sudan and other troubled places, and we are mindful of the devastating effects of hurricanes and other natural disasters. As well, we are sharply aware of tensions and pain in our church and in the Anglican Communion. During these days we have explored more fully our continuing call as your chief pastors to be ministers of reconciliation, even as we seek and discover reconciliation within ourselves, within our church and across the Communion.

Ecumenical News

Anglican Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti Rejects Agreement Reached by Other Bishops in His Denomination

September 23, 2004, ORTO ALEGRE, Brazil -The Anglican Diocese of Recife, lead by Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti said a decision to send Bishop Mauricio de Andrade to exercise a "special Episcopal oversight" was "illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable." The agreement was made by the Chamber of Bishops from the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (IEAB) in an extraordinary meeting held in Porto Alegre on September 16 at the request of the suffragan bishop of Recife Filadelfo Oliveira Neto, 14 clergy, nine from parishes and six from missions, due to Cavalcanti's "intransigent and disrespectful" attitude. The crisis is rooted in a decision made by the Episcopal Church of the United States (ECUSA) in July last year to accept the ordination of declared homosexual Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. Different Churches objected to the ordination and a great debate was sparked in the World Anglican Communion. Cavalcanti is among those who rejected Robinson's ordination.

Fullness of Life for All a Must, World's Reformed Christians Say

September 22, 2004 – It was the stories from around the world, particularly Africa, that gave poignancy to the challenging statements emanating from the 24th General Council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC). The Alliance is a fellowship of 75 million Christians from 215 churches in 107 countries. Four hundred delegates from around the world met in Accra, Ghana, July 29 to August 12. It was the stories that put flesh and blood on its declarations that neoliberal economic globalization has shut out much of the world's population from the fullness of life that God intended for all.

United Methodists Should Promote Dialogue with Muslims: Pickens

September 29, 2004, DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Encouraging communication between Christians and Muslims is an urgent task of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns. Speaking during the commission's Sept. 22-24 organizing meeting, the Rev. Larry Pickens noted with alarm the portrayal by some of all Muslims as enemies. The commission, he said, "must work to develop and support communities and churches that are committed to establishing open channels of communication between Christians and Muslims in order to foster learning, community building and cooperation." "In a post 9-11 world, I believe that United Methodists must play a significant leadership role in promoting clarity and creating avenues through which Christian-Muslim dialogue must happen. It is critical that as we affirm our Judeo-Christian heritage we must also work hard to counter the impression that is created by terrorists, that Jews and Christians are working together to destroy Islam."

World Council of Churches - Agenda: October 2004

Spanish News

Consejo Mundial De Iglesias - Agenda: Octubre De 2004

National News

ELCA Presiding Bishop Criticizes Content of US Presidential Nominees Campaigns
Fight Against Terrorism Crucial, But Other Social Concerns Must Be Tackled

September 29, 2004, CHICAGO/GENEVA - Just a few days before their first televised debate, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has written an open letter to United States presidential nominees President George W. Bush and Senator John F. Kerry, urging them to change the tone and content of their campaigns in the run-up to elections in November. In the letter made public yesterday, Hanson challenged the presidential nominees to answer questions on social concerns such as HIV/AIDS, the environment, the growing gap between wealthy and impoverished people, affordable housing, health care, wages and education. While Hanson acknowledged that terrorism was an important concern, and terror had to be rejected, he pleaded with the Republican and Democrat nominees that they not "reduce all of the cries of suffering humanity to this single issue." The incumbent Bush and his Democratic challenger Kerry will hold three televised debates - September 30, October 8 and 13 - prior to the November 2 poll.

International News

As Colombia's Violence Worsens, Church Leaders Develop Strategies for Accompaniment

September 23, 2004, BARRANQUILLA, Colombia - The telephone call that reported the shooting death of activist Alfredo Correa De Andreis only confirmed what Rick Ufford-Chase already knew: The worst fears of the Colombian church are being realized. Now, there is one more dead man. One more dead man on a long list of dead men and women. In the past three months in this sprawling Carribbean city, at least three human rights activists with ties to the church have gone into hiding. A Presbyterian minister whose name turned up on a hit list has temporarily left the country. A 24-year-old law student, Mauricio Avilez Alvarez - who helped refugees in Colombia apply for government aid and document the human rights abuses that pushed them off their land - has been jailed for the last three months, accused of heinous crimes that those who know him deny, including guerrilla activity. Avilez staffed a Presbyterian Church of Colombia ministry. Correa shared a cramped jail cell with Avilez before Correa was released from prison. A university professor, Correa, too, was accused of guerrilla activity in a justice system that requires proof of innocence rather than guilt. While jailed, authorities investigate if accusations made against the accused are substantive enough to be filed as formal charges.

Australian Conference Launches Plans for Global Lutheran Educational Summit
an Obligation to Equip the next Generation for the Challenges of 21st Century Living

September 30, 2004, ADELAIDE, Australia/GENEVA - Delegates attending an Australian conference for teachers in Lutheran institutions have enthusiastically supported a suggestion for a global summit for educators in 2006. In his September 27 keynote address to the Second Australian Conference on Lutheran Education (ACLE II), the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko had proposed the idea of a global gathering, stressing the educators' important role in the formation of a "good society." Noko noted that while "the church, mosque, synagogue and temple all have the unquestionable obligation to educate for peace and co-existence," they tended to emphasize their own specific identities. In light of such limitations, he expressed hope in educational institutions saying they "have the potential to provide a context in which we can search for the common identity that binds us together."

Let Us Pray for the End of this Atrocious Period Said Bishop Pagura in Letter to Bush

September 23, 2004, BUENOS AIRES - " Therefore, we pray fervently for the end of this atrocious and scandalous period that humanity has had to endure. ," said Federico J. Pagura, bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina in an open setter addressed to US President George W. Bush.

In the letter, dated from the city of Rosario where the respected Argentine leader lives, Pagura added "We also pray for the illumining of the conscience of your people, Mr. President, so that it could finally shake off the wicked doctrine of "National Security" and the imperialist arrogance that are increasingly being repudiated by the vast majority of countries."

Demands for Justice in the Face of Numerous Murders of Women

September 22, 2004, GUATEMALA - The murders of close to 400 women in Guatemala so far this year led Inter-American Human Rights Commission Rapporteur (IAHRC) Susana Villaran to demand that the government decisively investigate these atrocious crimes. Villaran, during a three-day visit to the country met with authorities from the executive and legislative branch, as well as with religious leaders and members of non government organizations who form part of a Broad Front to Struggle for Non Violence against Women.

Standing for Non-Violence and the Poor Can Mean Murder in Colombia
Corruption, Drugs, Guerrilla Warfare Deadly Problems

September 24, 2004, LOUISVILLE - Rick Ufford-Chase, fresh off a trip to Colombia, South America, preached urgently about the chaotic, violent, dangerous situation facing the Presbyterian Church of Colombia and human rights workers and others there. Ufford-Chase, moderator of the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), told the General Assembly Council during a meeting here Wednesday that the church's simple act of standing for non-violence and standing for the poor - the simple act of being church - could be considered subversive and result in church members being gunned down in the streets by violent factions. "Colombia has been experiencing civil war for 40 years," he said. "The people of Colombia can no longer easily determine what it is that is being fought about. The guerrilla movement, if it at one time had legitimate interests to try to protect, and I expect they did, can no longer be identified as working on behalf of the people for a change for the people."

Middle East News

Christian Peace Activists Attacked in West Bank City of Hebron

September 29, 2004, JERUSALEM - Two Christian peace activists from the United States were attacked and brutally beaten in the southern West Bank on Wednesday by a group of masked men who they said were Jewish settlers. Kim Lamberty and Chris Brown, members of the Christian Peacemakers Team movement, were accosted by five masked men dressed in black and wielding chains as they escorted a group of Palestinian children to school south of the West Bank city of Hebron. "We were accompanying the children because they have to walk through a Jewish settler area. When we got to that area five men came out. They had chains and black masks. The children ran away and they came after Chris and me," said Lamberty, 44.

Anglican Delegation Pushes for Divestment from Israel
Jerusalem Bishop Urges Presbyterians to a Strategy for World Churches

September 24, 2004, LOUISVILLE - As leading members of the Anglican church announced an intention to recommend the adoption of a corporate divestment strategy similar to the one approved by the Presbyterian Church (USA) this summer related to Israel, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem is asking Presbyterians to take the lead in inviting other churches on board. "Now that you have taken this step, you need the support of others in the world," Bishop Riah Abu-Assal told the Presbyterian News Service in a telephone interview from Nazareth, his hometown. "You need to invite representatives of other Christian communions, representatives of the World Council of Churches - "And start working on a strategy," he said, pushing for a meeting of church leaders in the United States, initiated by the PC(USA). "We want this to have some effect. Only then will the Israeli government take note."

People in the News

World Alliance of Reformed Churches Announces Staff Changes

September 22, 2004 – The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) has announced the appointment of a new executive secretary for communications to its General Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. John P. Asling has been the minister for mission and communication for the Hamilton Conference of the United Church of Canada for the past 16 years and prior to that was a journalist in Canada at four daily newspapers over 13 years.