Front Page

Churches Urged to Speak out Against Torture

May 10, 2006, NEW YORK – Religious leaders from a wide spectrum of faith communities across America are calling on their congregations to speak up against the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody. More than three dozen faith organizations have already joined the recently formed the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT). Leaders and congregation members are signing up to support the campaign at the NRCAT website. "The issue of torture by the United States has been of concern to Americans of faith and of conscience since the first pictures of Abu Ghraib were transmitted around the world," writes the Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches (NCC), to the ecumenical group's 35 member denominations. "We cannot rest until torture in the United States is a thing of the past," Dr. Edgar writes to the denominational leaders.

Lutherans in Puerto Rico Respond to the Island's Financial Crisis

May 9, 2006, CHICAGO – The fiscal crisis and partial shutdown of the government of Puerto Rico is "one of the worst moments of our history," according to the Rev. Margarita Martinez, bishop of the Caribbean Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). On May 1 Puerto Rico's government encountered a $740 million budget deficit, leaving thousands of people unemployed and children out of school. The New York Times reported May 8 that the "fiscal crisis that has brought turmoil to Puerto Rico for a week has its roots in (a) razor-close 2004 election.

General News

Clergy-Laity Congress to Feature Family Program

May 8, 2006, NEW YORK, NY – Planning is well underway for this summer's Clergy-Laity Congress in Nashville, Tenn. July 16-20. A new feature has been added to the schedule for the families of delegates and for those within driving distance of Nashville interested in spending a day or two at the Congress. The Center for Family Care will sponsor a Family Synaxis on Sunday through Thursday of the Congress, which will include educational and social activities for family members of all ages. "We are excited to be offering this program to the families who attend the Congress for their own spiritual edification and as a model for family programming in their parishes," said Fr. Constantine Sitaras, director of the Archdiocesan Center for Family Care.

Bishop Celebrates God's Grace on Clergywomen's Anniversary

May 8, 2006, MINNEAPOLIS – A United Methodist bishop called May 4, 1956, a day of "prevenient grace" for clergywomen. Bishop Sally Dyck, leader of the denomination's Minnesota Area, preached May 4 at a service recognizing the 50th anniversary of clergywomen receiving full clergy rights in the United Methodist Church. The celebration took place in Wesley United Methodist Church, next door to the Minneapolis Convention Center, where the Methodist General Conference cast the historic vote exactly 50 years earlier.

LFL Sets 2006 Conference to Attract More Families

May 10, 2006 – Lutherans For Life (LFL) has moved its annual national conference from fall to summer this year – July 14-16 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa – to make it easier for whole families to attend. Registration is open now, by mail or online. "We moved the conference to July in an effort to be more family-friendly," LFL Communications Director Lowell Highby told LCMSNews. Highby said future national conferences also are being planned for summer. "Cherish the Children" is the theme for the 2006 conference at the Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel in Cedar Rapids.

Conference on Prostitution Well Attended

May 10, 2006, VALLEY FORGE, PA – The International Christian Conference on Prostitution – Living Hope – attracted more than 200 ministry leaders from 36 countries to the Green Lake, WI, April 22-27, 2006. Held at Green Lake Conference center, the consultation was organized by Lauran Bethell, a global consultant with International Ministries (IM), and the recipient of the 2005 Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Award for her work among prostitutes and victims of human trafficking. "Living Hope" was co-sponsored by IM, the Green Lake Conference Center, American Baptist Women's Ministries, and the Baptist World Alliance Women's Department.

Archdiocese Launches Orthodox Website in Response to Da Vinci Code, Gospel of Judas

May 11, 2006, NEW YORK, NY – The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has launched a website with the Orthodox Response to the Da Vinci Code and the Gospel of Judas. The website includes articles by noted theologians, clergy and educators that address the issues and themes of the publications from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Links to other useful sites and resources concerning the Da Vinci Code can also be found on the website. According to Father Frank Marangos, Executive Director of Communications for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, "This page will be further utilized in an on-going fashion for future movie/book reviews and general communications concerning the popular culture."

Grandfather, Called Back to Active Duty, Relies on Faith

May 11, 2006 – His 3-year-old grandson peddles the tricycle as quickly as little legs will allow while 58-year-old Danny McDaniel answers the child's taunt to catch him if he can. Days like this have filled the past two years of the retired soldier's life. All that has changed, though, since he was ordered two weeks ago to report to Fort Bragg, N.C., to await further assignment. Grandpa is going to war. Uniforms weighed down with an assortment of medals have been culled from the back of the closet. As the dry-cleaning bags hit the garbage, "Pa-Pa" is transformed from tricycle-pursuer into warrior and officer Col. Danny McDaniel.

Faith, Action Converge at United Methodist Women's Assembly

May 8, 2006, ANAHEIM, Calif. – In a "scary time" when war, terrorism, environmental calamity and unchecked poverty and disease are looming fears, United Methodist Women can still make practical expressions of their faith. That was the closing message from Jan Love to participants at the 2006 United Methodist Women's Assembly. Love is chief executive of the Women's Division, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. As a start, women can deepen their understanding of their own salvation and express the joy of their faith. Then they can "make every day a mission day," according to Love.

Poor Also Have Dignity, Speakers Tell Women's Assembly

May 8, 2006, ANAHEIM, Calif. – The feminization of poverty is not an abstract concept for Wahu Kaara. "You are talking about my mother, friends, sisters, aunties and neighbors," said the Nobel Peace Prize nominee and founder and coordinator of the Kenya Debt Relief Network. "Real women with names, homes and addresses and who have no real hope to ascertain their dignity due to the extremes visited on them by conscious decisions, made by conscious people, but shrouded in the myth of bureaucracy and technocrats."

Nominations Sought for Social-Welfare Honor
John Lee Park Award Will Be Presented in January 2007

May 9, 2006, LOUISVILLE – Nominations are being solicited for the John Park Lee Award, which is named in honor of the Presbyterian widely considered the founder of health and welfare ministries in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA) sponsors the award, which has been presented during the association's biennial conferences since 1969. The next conference is scheduled for January 2007 in New Orleans, LA. Lee helped establish Presbyterian health and welfare ministries that consolidated in 1956 to become PHEWA.

‘We Will Not Shrink from this Challenge,' Bishop Vows

May 10, 2006, GULFPORT, Miss. – Sitting outside the shell of a church building, Bishop Hope Morgan Ward acknowledges the grief that Mississippians feel in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but today she is all about resolve. "The United Methodist Church is committed to this recovery," Ward says. "That commitment is long term." Beside her looms the ruin of Mississippi City United Methodist Church, a gutted building that still holds random attributes of a vital church – a few chairs, a piano, a stuffed toy. Mostly, though, it has a lot of open space.

Storm's Aftermath Bridges Religious, Cultural Divides

May 12, 2006, WAVELAND, Miss. – Hurricane Katrina left misery in its wake, but it also left the foundation for bridge building in unexpected ways. One April morning, two buses carrying about 100 Jewish students and 10 to 15 chaperones from Los Angeles pulled up at the ruins of a United Methodist assembly center in Waveland. They were at Gulfside Assembly, a historic retreat center initially built for the African-American members of a once-segregated denomination. The kids were sophomores and juniors from Milken Community High School.

Delegates Recommend PSW Region Leave Covenant – Reflections

May 8, 2006, VALLEY FORGE, PA – On April 29th, 2006, delegates from the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest (ABCPSW) voted in a non-binding referendum to recommend that the PSW Region leave the Covenant of Relationships with ABCUSA. Here are some reflections on that vote: I pray that the churches of the Pacific South West and others who are troubled by recent events will wait one year to allow mistakes to be corrected and this pending divorce to be reconciled for the sake of the children... I'm old and I'm weary of fighting. I don't want to lose my friends on the left coast.

Ecumenical News

Vatican and WCC to Pursue Common Code of Conduct on Religious Conversion

May 10, 2006 – The Vatican and the World Council of Churches (WCC) are launching a three-year joint study project aimed at developing a shared code of conduct on the controversial issue of religious conversion. The study project, named "Interreligious reflection on conversion: from controversy to a shared code of conduct," is being launched with a meeting in Velletri, Rome, from 12-16 May 2006. Gathering some 30 participants representing different religious traditions and regions, the meeting will focus on assessing the current reality of religious conversion from an interreligious point of view.

Spanish News

El Vaticano Y El CMI En Busca De Un Código De Conducta Común Sobre Conversión Religiosa

10 mayo 2006 – El Vaticano y el Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) emprenden un estudio conjunto de tres años que procurará elaborar un código de conducta común sobre la controvertida cuestión de la conversión religiosa. El proyecto de estudio, denominado "Reflexión interreligiosa sobre la conversión: de la controversia a un código de conducta común," será inaugurado en una reunión en Velletri, Roma, del 12 al 16 de mayo de 2006. Con unos 30 participantes en representación de diferentes regiones y tradiciones religiosas, la reunión tendrá por objeto constatar la realidad actual de la conversión religiosa desde un punto de vista interreligioso.

Iglesias Del Río De La Plata Se Pronuncian Sobre El Estado Del Medio Ambiente

9 mayo 2006, BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – La Comunión de las Iglesias de la Reforma en el Río de la Plata se pronunció sobre los riesgos que causan al medio ambiente y recursos naturales, las acciones irresponsables de los seres humanos. El documento afirma que muchas industrias que prometen puestos de trabajo y los insumos necesarios para la vida, en realidad comprometen la integridad y seguridad del medio ambiente. "Pensemos por un momento en las fábricas de pasta de celulosa, aquellas que conocemos, y aquellas cuyo impacto aún es desconocido para las poblaciones que se encuentran en su entorno," indica, en referencia al conflicto suscitado por la construcción de las plantas de celulosa en la zona fronteriza entre Uruguay y Argentina.

Pastoral De La Mujer Del CLAI Rechaza Postura De Consorcio
De Médicos Católicos Contra Protocolo Del CEDAW

10 mayo 2006, BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Judith Van Osdol, secretaria de la Pastoral de la Mujer y Género del Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias (CLAI), expresó su preocupación por la postura asumida por el Consorcio de Médicos Católicos que pidió al Senado argentino no ratificar el Protocolo del Comité de la Eliminación de la Discriminación contra la Mujer de las Naciones Unidas (CEDAW por sus siglas en inglés). "Como iglesias evangélicas en la Argentina, vemos con alarma la declaración del Consorcio de Médicos Católicos y nos preguntamos si detrás de esa declaración hay ignorancia en cuanto al tema o bien se trata de una maniobra para instalar miedo sobre su tratamiento," dijo Van Osdol.

Evangélicos Piden a Partidos Evitar Confrontaciones En Elecciones Del Próximo Martes

12 mayo 2006, SANTO DOMINGO, Republica Dominicana – Dos organizaciones evangélicas exhortaron a los líderes y a los partidos políticos que participarán en las elecciones legislativas y municipales del próximo martes, evitar confrontaciones que puedan empañar el último tramo electoral. La Confraternidad Evangélica Dominicana (CONEDO), integrante del Foro Ciudadano, dijo el jueves que se debe respetar la integridad del electorado y pidió a los jueces de la Junta Central Electoral no ceder a presiones de ningún sector y cumplir a cabalidad "con el rol que le corresponde."

Episcopales En California Eligen Obispo Heterosexual

8 mayo 2006, NUEVA YORK – Episcopales en California han elegido a Mark Andrus, de la diócesis de Alabama, un heterosexual, como su próximo obispo diocesano, entre siete candidatos, dos de ellos homosexuales y una lesbiana. Había preocupación por la elección de uno de los candidatos homosexuales pues podría profundizar la brecha existente entre sectores dentro de la Iglesia Episcopal de Estados Unidos (ECUSA por sus siglas en inglés) y con los otros miembros de la Comunión Anglicana mundial.

Obispo Metodista Lideró Concentración Obrera En Demanda De Solución a Crisis Fiscal

12 mayo 2006, SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – La demanda de soluciones a la crisis fiscal sin precedentes que enfrenta el gobierno puertorriqueño y el disgusto por el despido de miles de trabajadores el uno de mayo, unieron ayer jueves a obreros y líderes religiosos en una de las más grandes manifestaciones de las últimas décadas. Según observadores 50.000 trabajadores desfilaron por las calles céntricas de la ciudad y se concentraron frente al Capitolio, para reclamar al Ejecutivo y al Legislativo que superen sus diferencias y acuerden soluciones a la crisis presupuestaria que obligó al gobierno a cerrar más de 40 oficinas y cesar a más de 90.000 servidores públicos.

Pastores Evangélicos Se Inscriben En Operación Milagro Que Apoya El Gobierno Venezolano

11 mayo 2006, MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Unos 300 mil latinoamericanos que sufren de cataratas, entre ellos pacientes del Caribe y Nicaragua, serán intervenidos este año por la Operación Milagro, una cruzada de acción humanitaria que despliega el gobierno venezolano, según confirmó Damaris Albuquerque, directora del Consejo de Iglesias Evangélicas Pro Alianza Denominacional (CEPAD). La representante del organismo evangélico hizo un llamado a los pacientes de cataratas de las 33 comunidades donde opera dicha institución, para que se inscriban y puedan ser atendidos.

National News

First Lady Urges Seniors to Consider Life of Service

May 12, 2006, NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Speaking before 2,500 seniors at Vanderbilt University, first lady Laura Bush urged the Class of 2006 to give its best to the world and answer the great questions of our time. "You won't waste your talents and education if you use them in service to others," she said. Service to others is especially important for this class because "more than any other generation, yours is tasked with resolving challenges that lie far beyond your doorstep," Bush said. Referring to the tsunami in Southeast Asia, genocide in Darfur, HIV/AIDS in Africa and cities in the United States lying in ruin after hurricanes, she said, "You understand the great questions of our time."

International News

Church World Service Delegation to Pakistan
Sees Quake Recovery Focus on Livelihood Training, Healthcare

May 10, 2006, ISLAMABAD / NEW YORK – Just returning from a two-week tour of earthquake damaged northern Pakistan, an American team from humanitarian agency Church World Service is reporting that, six months after the devastating quake, survivors are returning to the sites of their homes, awaiting government funding to rebuild, and sometimes being asked to move again to sites the government has deemed preferable. The October 2005 earthquake left over three million people homeless. Church World Service's Pakistan regional offices began responding and delivering aid to survivors almost immediately after the quake.

Pastors Visit Lutheran AIDS Orphanage in Kenya

May 8, 2006 – In a country with nearly one million AIDS orphans, the opening of a new Lutheran orphanage for 24 Kenyan boys may sound small. But it was a big day for these youngsters who once lived in a crowded mud hut – and for four LCMS pastors from the United States who attended the dedication of the relatively spacious brick center in Orthoro. "It has been a dramatic transformation for these boys who lost their parents to AIDS," said Rev. Jamison J. Hardy, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Mt. Lebanon, Pa. "They showed such joy in their faith and love for the Lord that I wish everyone in our church could have seen."

People in the News

Very Rev. Archimandrite Sebastian Skordallos Appointed Chief Secretary of Eparchial Synod

May 11, 2006, NEW YORK – His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios has announced the appointment of the Very Rev. Archimandrite Sevastianos Skordallos to the position of Chief Secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The Office of the Chief Secretary is primarily responsible for providing timely execution of the decisions taken by the Holy Eparchial Synod as well as facilitating the process of the work being accomplished by various Synodical Committees of the Archdiocese.

Reviews

Rock Musicians Join Marsha Hansen in Gospel Music Sing

May 9, 2006 MINNEAPOLIS – Marsha Hansen, concert vocalist, inspirational speaker, and author, has helped many people hear and see the depth and power of African-American spirituals. Her new work explores the spirituals, with a little help from her friends-Keith Richards, Babi Floyd, and others. Like families everywhere, when Hansen's family gathers, they like to eat good food, listen to good music, and tell stories. Her new book, My Soul is a Witness: The Message of the Spirituals in Word and Song, includes an inspiring audio CD.