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Rev. N. J. L'Heureux, Jr., Publisher & Editor
Rev. Pedro Bravo-Guzman, Editor-in-Chief
An Ecumenical Report
of Local and Global News in God's Household
Published by the Queens Federation of Churches
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Nelson Mandela, Gracia Machel Speak to Bishops November 9, 2006, MAPUTO, Mozambique – People should be recognized for the work they do and not for who they are or where they come from, Nelson Mandela told bishops of the United Methodist Church. Mandela, former president of South Africa and an international symbol of human rights, and his wife, former Mozambican education minister Gracia Machel, surprised the bishops with their appearance at dinner on Sunday, Nov. 5. Machel is also the widow of Mozambican President Samora Machel, who died in a 1986 airplane crash. Both Mandela and Machel have deep Methodist roots. Mandela was educated in a Methodist school in South Africa. Machel is United Methodist and attended a Methodist school in Mozambique. NBC Documentary Focuses on Poverty, Housing November 8, 2006 – For a magnified example of how poverty, housing and a just society are intertwined, take a look at the Gulf Coast. That's exactly what United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert has done in his role as chairperson of the Special Commission for the Just Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast for the National Council of Churches. Talbert is one of the religious and political leaders featured in "Building on Faith: Making Poverty Housing History." The documentary, from the National Council of Churches, will be shown on NBC-TV affiliate stations beginning Dec. 10. Judicial Council: Conferences May Disagree with Rulings November 6, 2006, CINCINNATI – The United Methodist Church's top court says the denomination's regional conferences may pass petitions that disagree with court decisions, as long as they do not mandate any violation of the Book of Discipline or ignore directives included in those decisions. Meeting here Oct. 25-28, the United Methodist Judicial Council considered several petitions that stemmed from a ruling it issued last fall, Decision 1032, which dealt with a Virginia pastor who denied membership to an openly gay man. The nine-member council ruled that a pastor has the right to determine who is ready for church membership. November 10, 2006, NEW YORK, NY – This year during National Donor Sabbath (November 10-12), faith communities throughout the nation will participate in discussions of the ability of human beings to save lives through organ and tissue donation for transplantation. Observed on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday two weeks before Thanksgiving, National Donor Sabbath will effectively launch the holiday season. According to the New York Organ Donor Network, participation in National Donor Sabbath increases each year but so does the need for donors. Across the United States, more than 28,000 organ transplants were performed in 2005, but more than 92,000 people are on the organ transplant waiting list. Lutherans Bring ‘Hope for the Prairie' in the 21st Century November 10, 2006, ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a rural, small-town denomination, according to the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA. Delivering a keynote address at "Hope for the Prairie: Vital Congregations for the 21st Century" conference here Nov. 5-6, Hanson said 48 percent of the church's 10,549 congregations are located in rural and small town settings. More than 170 participants of the conference focused on the future of Lutheran congregations and ministries in North and South Dakota with emphases on what the church has accomplished there and congregational resources designed to keep ministries renewed and vitalized. Through Organ Donations, Teenager ‘Gave Life to So Many' November 8, 2006 – Whenever Betty Chaffin sees the Rev. John Hastings, she asks if she can put her ear on his chest and listen to the sound of his heart. The strong lub-dub, lub-dub indicates that the 71-year-old Hastings is alive and very well. It's also a reminder that Chaffin's late grandson, Andru Chaffin, lives on with every beat of Hastings' transplanted heart. "It just makes me feel good to know that Andru's heart is still beating and living and that his whole body gave life and hope to so many other people," said Chaffin who lives in Sublette, Kan. "When Andru died we donated his heart, his lungs, liver, pancreas and his eyes." United Methodist Phone Cards Bringing Light to Soldiers November 10, 2006 – The only phone card Sgt. 1st Class John Brian Gregory can use that is not blocked by the Afghanistan government is the one featuring the United Methodist Church's Cross and Flame. Gregory is "way out in the boonies" at Camp Salerno in Khost, Afghanistan, and he tells his wife Nina that the only way he can afford to call home is with a little plastic card sent to him by United Methodists in the United States. "Just to hear his voice every few weeks makes all the difference in the world," says Nina. The Gregory's two children, Tia, 15, and Nick, 12, get to hear straight from their dad that he is okay and that's "pretty cool," according to Nina. November 10, 2006 – Prison ministry – including a new feature-length documentary on chaplains' work at Louisiana's Angola State Penitentiary – is the focus of a new Sunday service leaflet insert designed for use on November 19. The inserts may be downloaded and duplicated for insertion in parish bulletins. Available in English, the inserts are posted on the ENS website. Inserts in Spanish will be available on Monday, November 13. Titled "Changing Lives: Behind the Walls at Angola," the documentary features the ministry of Episcopal Deacon Charles DeGravelles, and the ministries shared by several men incarcerated in the penitentiary. Iglesia Evangélica Luterana De Colombia Celebró 70 Años De Labor Espiritual 8 noviembre 2006, BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Con diferentes actividades la Iglesia Evangélica Luterana de Colombia (IELCO) conmemoró la Reforma y su presencia en el país desde 1936, recibiendo el reconocimiento de las iglesias hermanas e instituciones ecuménicas. Como parte de las celebraciones por los 70 años, el viernes 27 de octubre, en la Congregación Luterana El Redentor, se realizó un concierto Coral de la Iglesia Luterana Alemana con Música de la Reforma; el sábado 28 se presentó la película "Lutero" con Joseph Fiennes en el auditorio Mutis de la Universidad El Rosario, y se llevó a cabo un culto eucarístico en El Campamento Luterano El Rosal. La Comunión Luterana Publicó Un Libro Sobre El VIH SIDA 9 noviembre 2006, BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Un Comité designado por la Conferencia de Obispos y Presidentes de las Iglesias latinoamericanas miembro de la Federación Luterana Mundial, realizó la recopilación, organización y edición de materiales de práctica y pensamiento sobre el VIH SIDA. El libro se titula "Para que puedan vivir. La comunión luterana escucha y responde en el vih y sida." Las Iglesias de la comunión luterana en América Latina guardan un enorme tesoro de experiencias prácticas y de pensamiento en sus comunidades y congregaciones. Se Editó Una Biblia Con Lenguaje Inclusivo 8 noviembre 2006, BERLÍN, Alemania – Jesús no dice más el Padre, sino "nuestra Madre y Padre que están en los cielos" en nueva versión, "políticamente correcta," de la Biblia que acaba de aparecer en Alemania y que da a la mujer el lugar que merece en el texto sagrado. La "Biblia en un lenguaje más justo," la última polémica versión del texto sagrado publicada en Alemania, busca valorar a la mujer, a la cultura judía y mejorar los lazos con las fuerzas sociales. La Iglesia Luterana De Venezuela Se Solidariza Con Su Par Salvadoreña 10 noviembre 2006, CARACAS, Venezuela – La Iglesia Luterana venezolana y la Fraternidad Ecuménica Franciscana (FEF), expresaron su solidaridad para con los familiares del reverendo Francisco Carrillo y esposa, asesinados el pasado sábado en El Salvador, para con la Iglesia Luterana Salvadoreña y su obispo Medardo Gomez. Iglesia Luterana Salvadoreña Pide Audiencia Ante Autoridades En Demanda De Justicia 9 noviembre 2006, MANAGUA, Nicaragua – El pastor Ilo Utech, luterano de Nicaragua, confirmó hoy que el Obispo de la Iglesia Luterana en El Salvador, Medardo Gómez, pidió audiencia al Fiscal General de la Republica y a la Comisión de seguridad de la Asamblea Legislativa, para exponer y discutir el tema de la inseguridad ciudadana, de la que es victima la misma iglesia luterana por su defensa de los derechos humanos. November 9, 2006 – Concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in the Philippines and the extra-judicial killings which have claimed the lives of journalists, human rights workers and religious activists – including the recent killing of former Supreme Bishop Alberto Ramento of the Philippine Independent Church – have been registered, by church officials, with the Philippine Embassy and the State Department in Washington, D.C. Katrina Appeal for Local Churches Needs Support, Bishop Says November 9, 2006 – A first-anniversary fundraising appeal to help rebuild churches and congregations affected by Hurricane Katrina netted more than $2 million, with additional donations expected. But that is just a beginning for the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal, sponsored by the United Methodist Council of Bishops. Bishop William Oden of Dallas, who leads the council's task force on the Katrina appeal, pointed out that while Katrina was "the worst natural and man-made tragedy in the history of the United States," the hurricane also had the most disastrous impact ever on church property, facilities and programs. November 10, 2006 GENEVA – The 14 Latin American member churches of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) have welcomed the unilateral and unconditional decision of the Norwegian government to cancel some Euro 63 million (USD 81 million) of the illegitimate foreign debt of five developing countries. In a letter to Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, the moderator of the region's Lutheran church leadership body, Rev. Dr Gloria Rojas wrote that this "brave and totally unprecedented step" places the Norwegian government within "the vanguard of the topic of debt." November 7, 2006, GENEVA – The General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko has received with deep distress news about the murder of two pastors from the Salvadoran Lutheran Synod (SLS), Francisco Carrillo and Jesus de Carrillo. A statement received from the SLS says Pastor Francisco Carrillo and his wife Jesus were cowardly assassinated on 4 November 2006 by three unknown young perpetrators, as they were leaving the Montes de Pensbert congregation church in the Jayaque municipality, in El Salvador's central department of La Libertad. Fortress Press Releases Landmark Commentary on Romans November 6, 2006, MINNEAPOLIS – Deeply conversant in the full range of questions and interpretations of the letter, Robert Jewett's Romans: A Commentary from Fortress Press's Hermeneia series explores the crucial and controverted passages that have always animated studies of Romans. Jewett also incorporates the exciting new insights from archaeology of the city of Rome, social history of early Christianity, social-scientific work on early Christianity, and the interpretation and reception of Paul's letter through the ages. Breaking free from abstract approaches that defend traditional theologies, Jewett shows that the entire letter aims to elicit support for Paul's forthcoming mission to the "barbarians" in Spain.
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