Front Page

WCC Partners Announce Plans for a New Global Alliance Against Poverty and Injustice

February 7, 2005 – Ecumenical agencies and churches working in the field of relief and development have called for the creation of a new international alliance of church-related organizations to address issues of poverty and injustice, provisionally named "ACT Global." The consensus on the new international ecumenical initiative, which would eventually cover humanitarian relief, development cooperation and advocacy work, was elaborated during a consultation convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC) at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, near Geneva, 4-5 February 2005.

NCC-USA Ends Middle East Visit, Issues Sobering Statement

February 7, 2005, NEW YORK CITY – "God's children are called to seek justice, to break down the walls that separate them, and to live side by side in peace," declares the National Council of Churches USA's delegation in its statement issued at the close of its Jan. 21-Feb. 4 visit to the Middle East. The 11-member delegation asked those with whom it met: "Is there a new window of opportunity for peace?" In the statement "Barriers Do Not Bring Freedom," the delegation concludes, "A sliver of hope for peace does exist, but we feel strongly the moment must be seized now or the future will remain dim."

United Church of Christ Files FCC Response Refuting
Networks' ‘Unpersuasive' Ad-Rejecting Defense

February 8, 2005 – In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission, the CBS and NBC television networks have defended their decisions last year to reject a United Church of Christ paid advertisement they once dubbed "too controversial." But today (Feb. 8), the UCC's Office of Communication, Inc., responded with an FCC filing of its own, refuting the networks' claim that the church should bypass the networks and purchase air time on a station-by-station basis, an idea church executives have rejected as "impractical, burdensome and expensive." Most importantly, says an attorney representing the church, the networks still have not provided a clear explanation regarding the ad's alleged questionable content, given that no local station has reported viewer complaints about the ad.

Sudanese Church Leaders Meet to Consider Future

Feb. 10, 2005, NAIROBI, Kenya – A meeting of Sudanese Christian leaders in Nairobi has ended with a warning that churches risk being marginalized if they cannot draw up a clear strategy after an agreement by the Sudanese government and rebels to end a long-running civil war. "Sudan is at the most dangerous stage now," said the Rev. Mvume Dandala, a Methodist and chief executive of the Nairobi-based All Africa Conference of Churches, which hosted the two-day meeting that ended Feb. 8. "The churches must unite to fortify the peace."

General News

LCMS Leaders Focus on First-ever Disaster Response Plan

February 9, 2005 – Exactly one month after the horrific tsunami devastated so many lives in South Asia, leaders of LCMS ministries and entities took what LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick called a "first step" to move the church to a new level of collaboration and cooperation to meet physical and spiritual needs in hurting countries worldwide. "While I am not excited about the terrible devastation that caused this (summit) to take place, I am excited about how people are responding and the ministry that is taking place in the name of Jesus," Kieschnick said at the LCMS Summit Jan. 26 in St. Louis.

Information on ‘New Directions' Conference to Arrive this Month

February 9, 2005 – Synod congregations, mission societies, districts, seminaries, and former missionaries should be receiving this month information about "New Directions ‘05 – A Networking Conference for Mission Responders," to be held April 28-May 1 at the St. Louis Airport Marriott. Theme of the conference is "Responding with Hearts Ablaze!" The conference is sponsored by LCMS World Mission to help mission leaders in congregations and mission societies understand current mission trends, learn from mission experts, share experiences with one another, and become more involved in mission in their own communities and worldwide.

‘Forever Long and Just a Blink'
A Young Adult Volunteer Missionary Letter from Northern Ireland

February 9, 2005, BELFAST, Northern Ireland – Twelve teenagers sit on a bus, laughing and telling stories.

They are touring each other's neighborhoods and pointing out their favorite places growing up. They pile off the bus and begin walking through another neighborhood. "And here's the wee playground where we used to play and where I still meet my friends," says Sean, as they stop to play. Some other friends stop by and meet the kids they don't know. One of the boys even gets the phone number of a girl from this neighborhood that he fancies. The teenagers laugh and chat and meet new people, a normal way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

United Methodists Open Table to Homeless

February 7, 2005, HOUSTON – Inspired to action, some United Methodists in town for a conference on creating healthy congregations left their plush hotel, walked to a fast-food restaurant and bought 400 meals for a group of homeless people living under an expressway overpass. Nearly 100 participants at the "Healthy Churches: Transforming the World" conference were inspired by a hymn "Invitation" that, in part, says "There are tables in our city filled with lavish food and drink. Many dine there without pity, of the homeless never think."

Statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury on the Forthcoming Marriage
Between HRH Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles

February 10, 2005 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, has welcomed the announcement that HRH Prince of Wales and Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowles are to marry. In a statement from Lambeth Palace, Archbishop Rowan said, "I am pleased that Prince Charles and Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowles have decided to take this important step. I hope and pray that it will prove a source of comfort and strength to them and to those who are closest to them."

Commentary: Tsunami Raises ‘Where,' Not ‘Why,' Question about God

February 9, 2005 – To ask about God's presence in the face of the tsunami that struck Asia and Africa is to ask a good question. It is not a "why" question but a "where" question. We are long past the time when we think natural occurrences are the direct act of God – whether they are apparent interventions that spare us harm, for which we give thanks, or disasters like the tsunami that cause inexpressible sorrow and loss. We know such events are the result of the physics and forces of a natural world where shifts of tectonic plates cause the earth to tremble, and in this case, huge waves to cross the ocean's surface and crash into land.

Did God do this? Certainly not! The universe is orderly, even in its disorder, with the laws of its nature being the guidelines for its behavior.

Ecumenical News

Lenten Fast from Violence:
Biblical and Educational Resource Guides Available

February 10, 2005 – Lent provides an important opportunity to focus on the challenges of working together to overcome the violence in our culture. The US Committee for the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) invites Christians to enter into the Lenten season with a focus on the growing violence in our world and the need for peace and reconciliation. Members from the US Committee for the DOV prepared ‘Lenten Fast from Violence' resource guides highlighting responses of people of faith to overcoming violence with non-violent means. These guides have been organized into six weeks corresponding with the weeks of Lent starting Sunday, February 13, 2005 through Sunday, March 20, 2005.

WCC Embarks on a Major Shift in its Organizational Culture and Ethos

February 10, 2005 – Reaching decisions by consensus, a major shift in the culture and ethos of the World Council of Churches (WCC), will be at the centre of the upcoming meeting of its Central Committee, which will take place 15-22 February in Geneva. At this meeting, the last one of its mandate, the Central Committee members will try for the first time to reach decisions by consensus, for which they will test a new set of consensus procedures. They will also consider a number of changes in the WCC constitution and rules that are necessary to make consensus the established method of decision-making.

Laurence J. Orzell on Old Catholic Dissent and Disintegration

February 11, 2005 – The illiberal countenance of "liberal Catholicism" once again manifested itself in late 2003, when members of the Old Catholic International Bishops' Conference (IBC), meeting in Prague, narrowly voted to expel the US-based Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) from the Old Catholic Communion. The IBC announced that a "separation" of the churches had occurred because the PNCC had refused "to maintain communion with those Churches of the Union of Utrecht, which have introduced the ordination of women" – those of Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Although the principal cause of the split was the ordination of women, the decision reflected long-standing tensions over other "progressive" Old Catholic positions.

Towards the Third European Ecumenical Assembly

February 7, 2005, GENEVA / ST. GALLEN – "The light of Christ shines upon all. Hope for renewal and unity in Europe": this is the theme of the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3), put forward by the Joint Committee of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE), which met in Chartres, France, from 3-6 February 2005. It will be an "assembly in stages," which will reach its peak at the gathering in Sibiu, Romania, from 4-8 September 2007. A common process will build-up to this event, and will take place at national and regional levels, in order to develop the common ecumenical commitment of the churches in Europe. In the coming months the proposal of the Joint Committee will undergo final approval on the part of the respective governing bodies.

Spanish News

Ayuda Inmediata, Reconstrucción Sostenible: Líderes Ecuménicos Reflexionan Sobre El Tsunami

3 feb 2005 – Hace casi dos meses, un tremendo maremoto cerca del litoral de Sumatra causó gigantescas olas que devastaron grandes extensiones de la costa del sudeste asiático y del este de África. La estela de destrucción dejó más de 220 mil muertos y una cifra superior a medio millón de heridos. La ayuda de emergencia fue proporcionada de manera casi instantánea por gobiernos y organizaciones de todo el mundo. Una mirada retrospectiva a las semanas que siguieron al ‘tsunami' permite hacer una primera evaluación de las reacciones de las iglesias y de la solidaridad mostrada por personas y países no afectados por el desastre. Es tiempo también de proponer, desde el punto de vista de las iglesias, recomendaciones para un trabajo de reconstrucción sostenible.

El CMI Se Embarca En Un Cambio Mayúsculo En Su Cultura Y Ethos Organizacionales

10 feb 2005 – Cómo arribar a decisiones por consenso, un cambio mayúsculo en la cultura y ethos del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI), es el tema que ocupará el centro de la escena en la próxima reunión de su Comité Central, que tendrá del 15 al 22 de febrero en Ginebra. En esta reunión, la última de su mandato, los miembros del Comité Central ensayarán por primera vez la toma de decisiones por consenso, para lo cual pondrán a prueba un conjunto de flamantes procedimientos diseñados a tal efecto. Además, considerarán un número de modificaciones en la constitución y en las normas del Consejo que son necesarias para incorporar en ellas el método de toma de decisiones por consenso.

National News

Lutherans Continue Their Response to Domestic Disasters

February 10, 2005, CHICAGO – Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, continues to help survivors recover from four hurricanes that struck the Caribbean, eastern and southern parts of the United States last year, and it continues to organize recovery operations in states affected by flooding and snow storms this winter. Response to a disaster is often carried out by a local team providing emergency supplies, offering pastoral care and counseling, coordinating volunteer efforts in cleanup and rebuilding, and providing grants to survivors of disasters. This response is often coordinated with other interfaith and community efforts.

Domestic Missionary Partnership Stresses Collaboration at Nevada Meeting

February 10, 2005 – New ways of engaging the mission of the church – ways emphasizing the "partnership" dimension – were explored during the annual meeting of Domestic Missionary Partnership, held Jan. 27-30 in Boulder City, Nevada. "We are all small dioceses committed to mission," said Bishop Keith Whitmore of Eau Claire. "We are proposing a new, broader way of partnership for the whole church." That means moving away from being strictly a grant-making organization to being a "partnering organization," he added. DMP took steps to make that transition happen by developing new guidelines for the organization that stress its collaborative and mission-based nature.

International News

ELCA Presiding Bishop Appeals to President of El Salvador

February 8, 2005, CHICAGO – The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), is appealing to the president of El Salvador to investigate a raid and death of a security guard at the Salvadoran Lutheran University, San Salvador. "We deplore this vicious act against the university" and ask "for an immediate and thorough investigation to uncover the identities of those responsible," wrote Hanson in a Feb. 7 letter to President Elias Antonio Saca.

LWF Delegation Affirms Solidarity with Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone

February 10, 2005, GENEVA – A high-level delegation of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) led by LWF President Bishop Mark S. Hanson and LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, is visiting Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, February 10-17, to meet with LWF member representatives there, their ecumenical partners, and political leaders. Their visit, aimed at strengthening expression of the identity of the Lutheran communion in West Africa, is an opportunity for the LWF president and general secretary to bear witness to the experiences and challenges of the region's member churches.

Post-Tsunami Region Rebuilding on Top of Irretrievable Cemeteries, Trauma, Unmet International Pledges

February 10, 2005, NEW YORK – The devastation at every level of life is so profound in Aceh province that the world cannot leave the tsunami-ruined Indonesian region to rebuild on its own, the head of international humanitarian agency Church World Service said today. Returning from a week-long tour of the Indonesian province a month after the deadly Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, CWS Executive Director Rev. John L. McCullough says, "Survivors in Aceh are beginning to pick up the their lives, but the needs continue to be almost overwhelming. This territory cannot be left idle or left in the lurch to rebuild.

Missionaries Safe Amidst Unrest in Nepal

February 9, 2005, VALLEY FORGE, Pa. – Carole and Charles Sydnor, American Baptist International Ministries missionaries in Kathmandu, Nepal, reported via e-mail last Sunday that they are safe and that life in the Kathmandu valley continues in relative normalcy. In response to civil instability in other parts of Nepal, King Gyanendra has limited communications within the country and with the rest of the world.

Episcopalians Offer Trauma Counseling in Sri Lanka, Attest to Devastation in India

February 10, 2005 – ERD is working with the Diocese of Colombo to coordinate a trauma stress relief and rehabilitation program for people in need of counseling. David Baughan, a physician, and his wife Jennifer White-Baughan, a clinical psychologist trained in the field of trauma, will be stationed in Sri Lanka for three months. There, they will train local counselors, educators, and social service workers on post traumatic stress disorder methods and interventions.

Middle East News

Ecumenical Delegation Raise Concerns on Middle East Visit

February 7, 2005 – "Don't forget us: we are your brothers and sisters" was the plea heard by an 11-member delegation of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA to the Middle East, January 21 to February 4, 2005. At the invitation of their sister organization, the Middle East Council of Churches, and headed by NCC president, Christian Methodist Episcopal Bishop Thomas Hoyt, Jr., and NCC general secretary Robert Edgar, the group visited Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders, from Beirut, Lebanon to Cairo, Egypt and from Bethlehem to Jerusalem in Palestine and Israel.

Moment must Be Seized in Middle East, Church Leaders Say

February 8, 2005 – As Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority met in Egypt to discuss a cease-fire, U.S. church leaders called upon the U.S. government to take immediate "balanced, strategic action" to help bring peace to the region. "Our conclusion is that a sliver of hope for peace does exist, but we feel strongly the moment must be seized now or the future will remain dim," the ecumenical leaders said in a statement released Feb. 7.

Reviews

Fortress Press Releases Text for a New Generation of Theologians

February 9, 2005, MINNEAPOLIS – Innovative in both approach and style, Constructive Theology: A Contemporary Approach to Classical Themes presents an exciting and engaging way for today's students to encounter theology. Coordinated by Serene Jones of Yale Divinity School and Paul Lakeland of Fairfield University, nearly fifty of North America's top teaching theologians (members of the Workgroup on Constructive Christian Theology) have devised a text that allows students to experience the deeper point of theological questions, to delve into the fractures and disagreements that figured in the development of traditional Christian doctrines, and to sample the diverse and conflicting theological voices that vie for allegiance today.