Front Page

Care for Undocumented Immigrants Affirmed;
Bishops Oppose Legislation That Would Make Humanitarian Acts Unlawful

March 22, 2006, HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. – The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church on March 22 adopted a resolution "opposing legislation making humanitarian acts unlawful" regarding care and aid extended to "undocumented immigrants."

HIV-Positive Priest in Africa Looks to AIDS-Free World by 2025

March 24, 2006 – Canon Gideon Byamugisha, the Ugandan Anglican priest who became the first known African church leader to declare he was HIV-positive, says the world could be free of AIDS by 2025 if it confronts hurdles like stigma and inaction in dealing with the pandemic. "I am beginning to see a world free of AIDS," Byamugisha said on March 15 in Nairobi where he was attending a meeting of religious leaders on combating stigma around HIV and AIDS.

Family Planning, Anti-Discrimination at Core of Church's Policy Agenda for Women – Advocacy for Women and Girls Worldwide Proclaims ‘The Acceptable Year of the Lord'

March 24, 2006 – March is Women's History Month, and to commemorate it, the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations (OGR) is highlighting important public policy issues related to women in which the church has an important voice. The Rev. Margaret Rose, director for Women's Ministries, noted that recent meetings with some 100 delegates-from 36 of the 38 Anglican provinces-to the UN's Commission on the Status of Women gave new urgency to the church's public policy work, promoting better understanding about the challenges faced by women around the world on basic matters such as legal rights, education, and family planning.

Rescue of 3 Hostages Brings Joy, Renewed Sorrow That 1 Didn't Make It
‘They've Been Checked out by the Doctors, and They're Skinny but Fine'

March 23, 2006, LOUISVILLE – After British forces rescued three kidnapped peace activists this morning in Baghdad, their colleagues' Easter-like joy at their release was tempered with the sadness of ongoing Lent. Freed were Christian Peacemaker Team members Norman Kember, 74, of England, and James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, both Canadians. They apparently had been held in western Baghdad, according to CNN. No shots were fired in the rescue.

General News

U.S. Churches Face Crisis, Discipleship Leaders Say

March 21, 2006, NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The fact that 43 percent of United Methodist churches in America did not receive a member by profession of faith in 2004 is an indicator that congregations are in trouble, say leaders of the denomination's discipleship agency. Both the Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, top executive of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, and Bishop Michael Coyner, board president, cited that statistic during addresses at the March 14-18 board meeting.

British Methodists Ponder Blessings for Civil Partnerships

March 21, 2006 – The British Methodist Church is deciding how to respond when same-sex couples request the church's blessing on their civil partnership. Since December, same-sex couples in Britain can opt for legal recognition of their relationship through a civil partnership agreement. These legal contracts give same-sex partners many of the rights of married couples, including survivor benefits, pension rights and paternal responsibility for each other's children. Opinion among British Methodists about how the church should address this issue is wide ranging.

United Methodist Church Has Historic Link to Scrabble

March 23, 2006, NEW YORK – Can you spell "birthplace?" Scrabble, the popular word game, has a historic link to a United Methodist congregation. Among the first players of the game were members of Community United Methodist Church in the borough of Queens in New York City, according to the Rev. Austin Armitstead, who served as pastor there from 1974-95.

Commentary: Hope for Healing Remains after Red Lake Shootings

March 20, 2006 – Chris Dunshee, the principal of Red Lake (Minn.) High School, recently went on health leave. He had suffered a heart attack in April 2005, about a month after a student shot and killed 10 people, including eight at the school. Dunshee returned to work a month after his heart attack, but his health problems have continued. I think of all the broken hearts on the Red Lake Indian Reservation and surrounding area: mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings and students, who continue to grieve for loved ones who were hurt or killed on March 21, 2005, in the worst school shooting incident since Columbine.

U.S. Armed Forces Hear Devotionals ‘On Demand'

March 20, 2006, MARYLAND – It began as a simple ministry: place daily morning prayer, noonday prayer and compline online for anyone to hear. The Rev. Dr. Chip Lee, who has a background in broadcasting, has been recording these inspirational prayers for downloading in his rural Garrett County office and putting them on his church's Web site since September 2005.

Prayers, Statement Mark International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

March 21, 2006 – The United Nations has designated today, March 21, as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. On this day in 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, shot and killed 69 people demonstrating peacefully against apartheid. In 1966, the UN General Assembly called on the international community to increase its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. The Episcopal Church began formally combating racism with the mandate of the 1991 General Convention, calling the church to a nine-year commitment to address the sin of racism within the church, world and society.

The Sin of Racism: a Call to Covenant
a Pastoral Letter from the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church

March 22, 2006 – We, the bishops of the Episcopal Church, acknowledged the painful reality of the consequences of racism in the 1994 pastoral letter "the Sin of Racism." In that letter, we stated "the essence of racism is prejudice coupled with power. It is rooted in the sin of pride and exclusivity which assumes ‘that I and my kind are superior to others and therefore deserve special privileges.'" We issue this new pastoral on the pervasive sin that continues to plague our common life in the church and in our culture. We acknowledge our participation in this sin and we lament its corrosive effects on our lives.

Lutheran Students Discover ‘What a Relief!' it Is to Help Others

March 22, 2006, OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. – We're here to restore lives, said Mary Ellen Burke, sophomore, Marquette University, Milwaukee. "I can't say that I've cleaned up all of southern Mississippi, but I can say that I've touched a few lives." Burke is one of 1,100 students who participated in "What a Relief!" – an opportunity for students and others in campus communities to spend their spring break helping survivors of the 2005 hurricane season recover. Lutheran Disaster Response organized What a Relief!

Students Learn to Make a Difference Through Service

March 24, 2006, GULFPORT, Miss. – Andy Bernert woke up early on his first day of spring break on the floor of the sanctuary at Gateway United Methodist Church. Bernert and 45 of his fellow classmates from Purcell Marion High School, Cincinnati, drove down to Mississippi to spend their spring break helping residents clean up after Hurricane Katrina. After the early wakeup call, the students piled into several vans and headed out for Camp Wilkes, a Boy Scout camp that was hit by a 35-foot tidal wave.

A Word to the Church – House of Bishops Meeting at Kanuga

March 22, 2006 – In this Lenten season we greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We write to you from the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina, where we are gathered for our spring meeting. In Lent God calls us to examine our hearts and renew our companionship with the One who offered himself for the salvation of the world. We are very conscious of the larger context in which we gather and deliberate: in a country where the disparity between rich and poor persists, where we struggle to rebuild lives and communities along the Gulf Coast, a country whose daughters and sons are serving at war overseas.

Ecumenical News

Archbishop of Canterbury to Visit Rome

March 23, 2006 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to visit Pope Benedict XVI in Rome later this year. The visit will mark the fortieth anniversary of the Archbishop Michael Ramsey's meeting with Pope Paul VI in 1966 and the founding of the Anglican Centre in Rome in the same year. Dr Williams met the Pope's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, in the autumn of 2003; he travelled to Rome in April 2005 for the funeral of Pope John Paul II and returned for the Inaugural Mass of his successor. Dr Williams and Pope Benedict met briefly the following day. Dr Williams said: "I am very much looking forward to the visit and especially to meeting Pope Benedict once again.

Armenian Church: Towards Full Unity and Communion

March 20, 2006, VATICAN CITY – This morning in the Vatican, the Holy Father received His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians, Lebanon, accompanied by members of the patriarchal synod and by a group of pilgrims. In his address, the Pope recalled the history of the Armenian people over the centuries, in particular the suffering "they underwent in the name of the Christian faith during the years of terrible persecution, which remain enshrined in history with the sadly meaningful name of ‘Metz Yeghern,' the great evil." Nonetheless, the Pope went on, "the Armenians, who have always sought to integrate themselves with hard work and dignity in the societies in which they found themselves, continue even today to bear witness to their faithfulness to the Gospel."

New Research Confirms Vivid Diversity of Ecumenical Movement

March 22, 2006 – The vivid diversity of the ecumenical movement has been highlighted in new research, published by the World Council of Churches (WCC) this month, that confirms the continued growth of the fellowship of churches. A product of the research, A Handbook of Churches and Councils: Profiles of Ecumenical Relationships provides the first comprehensive overview of the state of the world's ecumenical organizations, the main global Christian bodies and their member churches. The result of intensive consultation with churches in all regions, the book contains articles and data on virtually all the major ecclesial traditions and groupings of churches that exist within Christianity, as well as a detailed analysis of regional and national councils and fellowships of churches.

ELCA Delegation Visits Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul

March 21, 2006, ISTANBUL, Turkey – A 17-member delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met here March 17 with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The Lutherans offered official greetings to the patriarch, suggesting he visit the ELCA churchwide office in Chicago, as he did with his predecessor, Patriarch Demetrios. The 40-minute meeting with Bartholomew took place here at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, located at the "Phanar" – the Greek quarter.

ELCA Delegation Greets Pope, Presents Icon at March 22 Audience

March 23, 2006, VATICAN CITY – An 18-member delegation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) greeted Pope Benedict XVI following his regular weekly audience March 22 here at St. Peter's Basilica. Five members of the ELCA Conference of Bishops presented the pope with an icon of St. Augustine and delivered a written greeting authored by the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary. Chicago. The icon and message were presented to the pope on behalf of the ELCA, Almen said.

Spanish News

Teología Evangélica Es Desafiada a Dialogar Con Pentecostales Sobre Causas Del Mal

23 marzo 2006, SÃO LEOPOLDO, Brasil – La teología evangélica está desafiada a dialogar con corrientes pentecostales que atribuyen el mal a causas sobrenaturales, y comprender las manifestaciones del sufrimiento y cuestiones pertinentes a la bioética, afirmó el rector de la Escuela Superior de Teología (EST), Lothar Carlos Hoch. El rector de la EST presentó una ponencia el lunes en el Encuentro de Ética promovido por la Universidad del Valle del Río dos Sinos (UNISINOS), enfocando la temática del sufrimiento y sus diferentes significados.

Por Primera Vez Un Latinoamericano Es Candidato a La Presidencia De La Iglesia Episcopal De EEUU

24 marzo 2006, BOGOTA, Colombia – Por primera vez en la historia de la Iglesia Episcopal de Estados Unidos un latinoamericano ha sido propuesto como candidato a obispo primado de esa denominación. En la reunión de la Cámara de Obispos de la Iglesia Episcopal (ECUSA por sus siglas en inglés), celebrada en Hendersonville, Carolina del Norte, del 17 al 23 de marzo, el obispo de la diócesis de Colombia, Francisco Duque, aceptó postular al alto cargo eclesiástico.

Alianza Evangélica Española Pide Justicia, Perdón Y Memoria Para Asegurar La Paz

24 marzo 2006, BARCELONA, España – La Alianza Evangélica Española (AEE) expresó su alegría por el alto el fuego permanente anunciado por el grupo armado ETA, que hoy viernes entró en rigor, y dijo que tras esa declaración se abre en el país un "período de esperanza." En una declaración difundida el jueves, la AEE pidió que se aplique la justicia, el perdón y la memoria, para asegurar la paz., tras recordar que los evangélicos tradicionalmente siempre estuvieron del lado de la solución pacífica de los conflictos, como lo demuestran mediadores de la talla de Desmond Tutu o Jimmy Carter.

Organización Evangélica Visión Mundial Rechaza Acusaciones Del Gobierno Ecuatoriano

24 marzo 2006, QUITO, Ecuador – La organización evangélica Visión Mundial rechazó las denuncias del presidente Alfredo Palacio que la acusó de financiar las movilizaciones de grupos indígenas contra la firma del Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC) que el gobierno de Quito negocia con los Estados Unidos. Visión Mundial, una institución humanitaria evangélica, que trabaja hace 28 años en el país, respondió al gobierno que su labor consiste en buscar la superación de las condiciones de pobreza que sufren los indígenas, según dijo el presidente de su filial ecuatoriana, el pastor Roberto Proaño.

Iglesias Piden Cese De Limitaciones Gubernamentales a Viaje De Religiosos a Cuba

21 marzo 2006, NUEVA YORK – La agencia internacional de ayuda humanitaria Servicio Mundial de Iglesias (SMI) encabezó una delegación de líderes religiosos que se entrevistó el miércoles 15 con un grupo de congresistas y funcionarios del gobierno para plantear la cancelación de medidas restrictivas con respecto a los viajes de religiosos a Cuba. Los líderes religiosos demandaron que cesen las limitaciones que les imponen el Departamento de Estado y del Departamento del Tesoro en sus viajes de trabajo eclesiástico a la Isla, las que calificaron de "intentos de restringir la libertad religiosa."

Líder Evangélico Acusa Al Presidente Vicente Fox De Preferir a Jerarquía Católica

23 marzo 2006, CIUDAD DE MÉXICO – Abdías Pérez Landín, presidente del Comité Nacional Evangélico de Defensa, acusó al presidente Vicente Fox y al secretario de Gobernación, Carlos Abascal, de expresar públicamente su preferencia por la Iglesia Católica, y los conminó a respetar el Estado laico. El líder evangélico dijo que Abascal así como los funcionarios estatales y municipales, deben dejar de "consentir" a la jerarquía católica y respetar el Estado laico y la Constitución del país, para preservar el pensamiento de Benito Juárez, según publicó Milenio.

Líder Hispano Fue Designado Obispo Provisional De Una Diócesis De La Iglesia Episcopal De Ecuador

23 marzo 2006, HARTFORD, Connecticut – "Me siento alegre pero triste al mismo tiempo," dijo el obispo Wilfrido Ramos-Orench, tras anunciar el martes su renuncia a la diócesis de Connecticut y aceptar la designación como obispo provisional de la diócesis central de la Iglesia Episcopal de Ecuador. "He estado tan integrado en la vida y el ministerio de la diócesis de Connecticut y por eso extrañaré mucho, pero estoy preparado para asumir los desafíos de la diócesis Ecuador-Central," manifestó Ramos al aceptar la designación efectuada por el obispo primado de la Iglesia Episcopal de Estados Unidos (ECUSA por sus siglas en inglés), Frank Griswold.

Líderes Evangélicos Destacan Aporte Del Sacerdote Hubert Lanssiers

24 marzo 2006, LIMA, Peru – Líderes evangélicos destacaron la figura y la incansable labor de defensa de los derechos humanos del sacerdote católico Hubert Lanssiers, fallecido ayer, a los 76 años, víctima de un sorpresivo aneurisma abdominal. Lansiers nació en Bruselas ( Bélgica) en 1929, fue ordenado sacerdote en Tokio ( Japón) en 1959 y llegó al Perú en 1964, para trabajar como profesor en un colegio católico. Desde 1974 trabajó en cárceles y en la década de 1990 asumió la defensa de los reos inocentes acusados de terrorismo.

New York Metro News

Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel Announces $400,000 in Grants
Initiatives Support Affordable Housing in New York, Theological Education in Africa

March 24, 2006 NEW YORK – Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel in New York has awarded nine grants totaling $424,920 for initiatives to change New York housing policy, fight hunger, and strengthen education in New York and Africa. "How we live and learn are critical questions here in New York and across the world," said the Rev. Canon James H. Cooper, the 17th rector of the Parish of Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel, in the March 15 announcement. "These projects continue Trinity's commitment to help people transform their lives and communities."

National News

Christian Environmental Conference Set for New Orleans

March 23, 2006, WASHINGTON – More than 300 Christian leaders from across the nation will convene in flood-ravaged New Orleans June 1-4 for the biannual environmental conference of the Eco-Justice Working Group of the National Council of Churches USA. The conference, to be held at Loyola University under the theme Eco-Justice for All: God's People, God's Planet, will draw clergy, seminarians, lay leaders, church educators, eco-justice coordinators, denomination staff and young adult Christians concerned about a broad range of environmental issues.

Pastor ‘Goes with Flow' as He Helps Church, Conference Recover

March 22, 2006, NEW ORLEANS – His prayer is the same every day: "Lord show me my flexibility." The Rev. Darryl Tate, director of the United Methodist Church's Louisiana Conference Storm Recovery Center, is good at "going with the flow" and "keeping his cool" since Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast in August and the 17th Street Canal broke in New Orleans flooding his Lakeview church and home. St. Luke's United Methodist Church, where Tate was senior pastor before the storm, is back open and holding services.

Volunteers Come to Mississippi's Aid

March 24, 2006, BILOXI, Miss. – Six months after one of the worst storms to ever hit the United States, houses are rotting in mold, bent and twisted church signs stand vigil over places where thriving congregations once worshipped and people are in deep grief. The Rev. Elijah Mitchell, a United Methodist regional storm disaster coordinator, knows many of the people along the Gulf Coast in Mississippi feel forgotten in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He makes it his daily mission to let them know someone cares. "I am responsible for 98 square miles of destruction," he says, describing his job. He puts devastated homeowners together with groups eager to help.

International News

African Church Leader Says Darfur Can't Wait 6 Months for U.N. Troops

March 24, 2006, NAIROBI – Sudan's deeply troubled Darfur region desperately needs a truly international peacekeeping force, and cannot wait another six months to get it, the Rev. Mvume Dandala, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, has told the African Union (AU). Dandala charged that the AU peacekeepers there too often defer to the wishes of Khartoum. "Like the rest of the world, we are appalled by the horrendous, disturbing and continuing loss of human life and livelihoods in Darfur," Dandala said in a March 23 letter to AU Chairman Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the president of Congo Brazzaville, and Omar Konari, chairman of the African Commission.

Kidnappers Free Upper Room Editor in India

March 22, 2006, NASHVILLE – After two months of captivity, an international editor of the Upper Room has been released. The publication received word on March 18 that the Rev. Tongkhojang Lunkim, editor of the Kuki (in India) edition of the Upper Room daily devotional guide, had been released by a group called the Kuki Liberation Army. According to gospelbroadcastingmission.com, a Web site that has been providing updates about Lunkim, he was released around 2 p.m. It described him as stable and strong. "The Upper Room is celebrating today this good news, and thanks God for his release," the publication said in a statement. "We have held prayer vigils, and many of the staff have kept him in our prayers every day of his captivity."

Church Property Destroyed as Cyclone Larry Lashes Queensland

March 22, 2006 – As North Queensland experiences its worst cyclone on record, Anglican offices have been shut down, a church hall has been destroyed and a rectory roof has been ripped off. The town of Innisfail was most affected by Cyclone Larry, where houses were ripped apart by gusts of almost 300 km/h. The parish of Innisfail's church building and rectory both suffered severe property damage. "Innisfail is devastated. The bulk of the church hall is gone and the rectory lost most of its roof. Thankfully, clergy and family are safe and well," says the Area Dean of the Northern Region in the Diocese of North Queensland, the Rev Chris Wright.

Lutherans Respond to the Risk of Famine in East Africa

March 24, 2006, CHICAGO – Drought conditions are leading to the risk of famine in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and other countries in East Africa. International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is responding to the potential risk with funds to help provide for food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and other materials. International Disaster Response is coordinated through ELCA Global Mission. About 2 million people in Somalia, and 150,000 people in Djibouti are "in dire need of food assistance" according to a United Nations' report, said Dr. Belletech Deressa, director for international development and disaster response, ELCA Global Mission.

Middle East News

Churches on Five Continents Join Churches in Palestine and Israel in Advocacy for Peace

March 23, 2006 – While 50 people from eight countries were paying a solidarity visit to Jerusalem and the Occupied Palestinian Territories last week, related advocacy activities focusing on the situation in Israel and Palestine were taking place on five continents. The 12-19 March visit and concurrent activities around the world were part of an International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and Israel advocacy initiative, convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC). Launching the week at a worship service in Jerusalem, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah stated that freedom for the Palestinians and security for Israelis are not contradictory notions.

Edgar Expresses Thanks for Release of Christian Peacemakers,
and Thanks Council on American Islamic Relations for Support

March 23, 2006, NEW YORK – Events in Iraq and Afghanistan brought a mixed reaction to Dr. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA. "We lift up prayers of thanksgiving for the rescue of our Christian brothers, Norman Kember, James Loney and Harmeet Sooden," Edgar said of the three hostages from Christian Peacemaker Teams. "We are also thankful for the courageous men and women of Coalition and Iraqi forces who accomplished this rescue without violence. Our joy is boundless and we greet God's mercy with humility and awe," Edgar said in a statement.

Lutherans Urge World Community Not to Cut off Aid to Palestinians

March 24, 2006, JERUSALEM – The Lutheran church in the Holy Land says its ministry will be endangered if the international community cuts aid to the Palestinian Authority after the militant Islamist Hamas group takes office after winning a legislature election in January. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) urged the international community not to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in annual aid to the Palestinians. "For the ELCJHL and other churches, it threatens our entire ministry," the church said in its latest monthly newsletter.

People in the News

Connecticut Latino Leader Appointed Bishop of Central Ecuador

March 22, 2006 – A Connecticut Episcopal bishop and Hartford-area Latino leader has been appointed to head the Episcopal Diocese of Central Ecuador. The Rt. Rev. Wilfrido Ramos-Orench will begin June 1 as provisional bishop, for missionary purposes, of the Diocese of Central Ecuador, which is part of the Episcopal Church USA. Bishop Ramos-Orench resigned as bishop suffragan in Connecticut effective May 31.