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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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December 27, 2006 – Expressing gratitude for President Gerald R. Ford's "care-filled ministry over many decades," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said that she and fellow Episcopalians will uphold his family in prayer following his death on December 26 at age 93. In a December 27 statement, Jefferts Schori said: "We are both saddened at the death of this good and faithful servant and enormously grateful for his care-filled ministry over many decades. We give thanks for his life of service in government leadership as well as in the several parishes to which he belonged. Congregational Development to Embark on International, Ecumenical Gathering December 19, 2006 – Church growth, leadership, and welcoming newcomers are some of the topics set for discussion at the first ever international and ecumenical seminar sponsored by the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia and the Episcopal Church's Office of Congregational Development. "Bringing Christ to the Post-Christian World" will run from February 14-17, 2007 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland, New Zealand. Enrollment for the four-day "once in a lifetime seminar" is open to registrants from New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the U.S. Text of Archbishop of Canterbury's, Pause for Thought on BBC Radio 2's, Wogan December 19, 2006 – Just to complicate Christmas preparations a bit more this year, I'll be off to Bethlehem on Wednesday with some of my colleagues. We're planning to be there for a few days just before Christmas, and with luck – we'll be back in time for Christmas Eve. Like most people, I guess, when I hear the name ‘Bethlehem' I think warm and comforting thoughts. It's somehow a warm and comforting word. And most people of my generation anyway think of ‘O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie.'.. And what will we see when we get there this week? We'll see what every visitor sees, what many who've never been there would love to see – a place made holy, made warm, you could say, by centuries of prayer and thanksgiving. Nothing but Nets Campaign Gets Advance Designation December 15, 2006, NASHVILLE, Tenn. – United Methodists are being challenged to a full court press in the fight against malaria. Now church members can help slam dunk malaria by supporting the global Nothing But Nets campaign through the United Methodist Church's second-mile giving program, the Advance for Christ and His Church. An Advance number – #982015 – has been added for Nothing But Nets, a global anti-malaria campaign. One hundred percent of each gift to the Advance will go to the purchase and distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets to protect families against disease-carrying mosquitoes. December 22, 2006, GENEVA – The Treasurer of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Mr Peter Stoll has thanked the LWF member churches for their support toward the LWF Foundation – Endowment Fund, which reached its first goal of CHF 10 million in October 2006. "We are grateful and proud that the Endowment Fund reached its first capital target of CHF 10 million (USD 8.2 million) in October 2006. The Fund now makes a notable contribution to financing the essential core functions of the LWF communion," Stoll said in an interview with the Lutheran World Information (LWI). The LWF treasurer stressed the need to build up the Fund's assets and expressed confidence in the "help and support of the member churches to reach our next target." El Obispo Federico Pagura Visitará Ecuador En La Semana De Oración Carlos Ramos 21 diciembre 2006, QUITO, Ecuador – Federico Pagura, obispo de la Iglesia Evangélica Metodista en Argentina, co Presidente del Movimiento Ecuménico de Derechos Humanos (MEDH) de Argentina, participará desde el 18 de enero del año 2007 hasta el 25 del mismo mes, en una serie de conferencias, sermones y actividades ecuménicas que se efectuarán en la ciudad de Quito, Ecuador, con motivo de la Semana de Oración por la unidad de los cristianos. Junto al obispo Pagura, quien vendrá desde Argentina, donde reside, participará también el obispo católico ecuatoriano Luis Alberto Luna Tobar quien reside en la ciudad austral de Cuenca en la que ejerció por muchos años su actividad pastoral. Equipos Cristianos De Acción Por La Paz, Reflexionan Sobre Buscar La Navidad En Lugares Equivocados 22 diciembre 2006, BOGOTA, Colombia – He estado pensando, "No parece que fuera la Navidad," y entonces me pregunté ¿qué la hacia falta? Estoy pensando en tiempos calurosos con la familia y los amigos, tradiciones familiares y todas las cosas que hacen que la Navidad sea bella; palabras con las que Irene Erin Kindy, integrante de Equipos Cristianos de acción por la Paz -ECAP- Colombia, hizo conocer una reflexión sobre buscar la Navidad en lugares equivocados. Pero, la primera Navidad probablemente no fue así, reflexionó Irene, recordando las palabras consignadas por el evangelista Lucas (2:1-14), sobre la historia del nacimiento del Mesías, que textualmente dicen: "Por aquellos días salió un decreto del emperador Augusto, por el que se debía proceder a un censo en todo el imperio." La Vida Y Lucha De Una Abuela De Plaza De Mayo, Plasmada En Un Libro 22 diciembre 2006, ROSARIO, Argentina – Un libro que cuenta la historia de las Abuelas de de Plaza de Mayo, de Chicha Mariani (la fundadora y presidenta de la institución hasta 1989), y de la búsqueda y restitución de sus nietos, será presentado hoy en la ciudad de Rosario, provincia de Santa Fe. "Chicha, la fundadora de Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo," es una Biografía de María Isabel Chorobik de Mariani, escrita por el periodista Juan Martín Ramos Padilla. El prólogo de Vicente Romero, adelanta párrafos de la historia. "Clara Anahí Mariani fue secuestrada por las fuerzas de seguridad el 24 de noviembre de 1976, cuando tenía 3 meses. Carta Ecuménica Por La Dignidad De Los Migrantes 18 diciembre 2006, MONTEVIDEO, Uruguary – En el Día Internacional del Migrante, el Servicio Ecuménico para la Dignidad Humana (SEDHU) de Uruguay, quiere unir en sus oraciones a todas aquellas personas que han dejado su país, su familia, su cultura, con aquéllas que las reciben con corazón abierto y generoso, dispuestas a compartir sus angustias y sus sueños. Desde que los seres humanos habitan el planeta hay migraciones, éstas están actualmente evolucionando como consecuencia de la progresiva globalización de los mercados laborales y las sociedades. December 29, 2006 – Funeral services in two parish churches and Washington National Cathedral will reflect President Gerald R. Ford's faith tradition as an Episcopalian active in lay ministry. Ford's volunteer accomplishments, including work for the 1990 completion of the National Cathedral, were praised by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in a December 27 statement recognizing his "care-filled ministry." The statement's full text is available here. Ford and his wife, Betty, also shared in fundraising initiatives for Episcopal Relief and Development, formerly the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief. The former President joined in saluting Mrs. Ford when she addressed the 1985 meeting of the General Convention in Anaheim, California, also attended by Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie December 22, 2006, TIRUCHIRAPALLI, Tamil Nadu, India/GENEVA – "Reformation Day, 31 October 2006 became a remarkable and unique day in the 300-year history of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) in south India," remarked Rev. Suseela Gnanabai, one of the first women to be ordained as pastors in the church. The ordination of Gnanabai, five other women and one man as pastors on 31 October at the Tiruchirapalli Holy Trinity Church in Tamil Nadu was historic, as this was the first time the Indian church had ordained women as pastors. Many of them have undergone theological education over a period of nearly three decades.
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