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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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Membership Changes, New Worship Resources among Top 2006 ELCA News Stories January 5, 2007, CHICAGO – Significant changes in ELCA membership, the release of a new series of worship resources, including a new worship book, continuing attention to cleanup and recovery following natural disasters, and the sudden resignation of a synod bishop were among the top stories in 2006 involving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The top stories were determined by the ELCA News Service, ELCA Communication Services. Staff include John R. Brooks, director, Melissa Ramirez Cooper, associate director, and Frank F. Imhoff, associate director. January 2, 2007 – Gerald R. Ford "was a man who sought the image of God in each and every person, who respected their God-given dignity, who worked all his life for justice and peace on earth; a man who let the light of Christ shine brightly in his life," his rector told mourners gathered January 2 for the 38th President's state funeral at Washington National Cathedral. The Rev. Dr. Robert G. Certain, rector of St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Palm Desert, California, said during his homily that "on St. Stephen's Day 2006, Jesus said to Gerald Ford, ‘Welcome home, good and faithful servant.'" About 3,000 people, including the United States' three living former presidents, attended the portion of the state funeral conducted at the cathedral for Ford, who died December 26 at his California home at the age of 93. A state funeral often has many elements, including times during which the coffin lies in repose for public and private viewing, and often lasts a number of days. Bishop's Letter to Rev. King Finds U.S. At ‘Curious Juncture' on Race January 5, 2007 – Each year, United Methodist Bishop Woodie W. White writes a "birthday" letter to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. about the progress of racial equality in the United States. Now retired and serving as bishop-in-residence at United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, White was the first top staff executive of the denomination's racial equality monitoring agency, the Commission on Religion and Race. King's birthday is Jan. 15, and Americans honor his memory on the third Monday of the month. Archbishop of Canterbury's New Year Message December 31, 2006 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams has said that we need to feel the same hunger for justice that ended the slave trade if the world is to be changed for the better. Speaking in his New Year message, broadcast on BBC Television in the UK on New Year's Eve and repeated on New Year's Day, he drew on the example of William Wilberforce to urge people to act to change the world. "Jesus talks about being hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for justice. And if we hear that in the way it's surely meant, we have to conclude that he means that we should feel there's something missing in us, something taken away from us, when another person, near or far away, has to face need and suffering. We get to be ourselves only when we wake up to them and their needs." January 3, 2007 – A plan to recruit and incorporate newcomers, clarity of mission and ministry, contemporary worship, involvement of children in worship, geographic location, a website and the absence of conflict are key factors in why some congregations in America are growing, according to the latest national survey of U.S. faith communities. The survey, sponsored by the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP), found that wanting to grow is not enough. Congregations that grow must plan for growth. "Congregations that developed a plan to recruit members in the last year were much more likely to grow than congregations that had not," according to a report on the survey written by C. Kirk Hadaway, Director of Research at the Episcopal Church Center in New York. 2007 Global Mission Opportunities Begin with Events in Florida, Arizona January 2, 2007, CHICAGO – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will offer two winter global mission programs in 2007, and one significant Global Mission Event in July. All three events feature worship, music and learning, with emphasis on how the ELCA can "accompany" Lutherans in mission throughout the globe. An "ELCA Global Mission Festival" will be held Jan. 26-28 at St. John Lutheran Church, Winter Park, Fla. The following weekend, Feb. 2-3, an "ELCA Global Mission Fiesta" is planned at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, Phoenix. Church Encourages Members to Work up a Sweat January 4, 2007 – Encouraged by a pastor who faced a health crisis, members of Anderson United Methodist Church are sweating their way to fitness. The Rev. Joe May encouraged church members to join him in losing weight, working out and eating healthier foods. May's day of reckoning came after a doctor told him he would need daily injections to control his diabetes. "He said, ‘And if you don't do it, you're going to go blind, have to go on dialysis, and you're going to die,'" May recalled. "He caught my attention quite well." Catholics Go on Hunger Strike in Hrodna Region December 29, 2006 – Today parishioners of a Roman Catholic church in the village of Lazduny Hrodna region has announced an indefinite hunger strike. Elderly women Veranika Sklyapovich, Yanina Krapinskaya and Yanina Silvanovich seek from authorities permission for a priest from Poland Mariusz Ilaszewisz to continue work in their church. A month ago the authorities haven't extended permission to stay and work in Belarus for 7 priests from Poland, referring to the fact that graduates of local Catholic theological schools cannot find job. Over Long Career, United Methodist Remains UN Booster January 3, 2007, NEW YORK – When Mia Adjali's college class decided to put on a "mock" United Nations – with Adjali as secretary-general – she attended a weeklong Methodist Student Christian Citizenship Seminar as preparation. That experience became a turning point, leading to a lifelong career relating to the United Nations. On Dec. 31, she retired after serving 46 years in the U.N. office of the Women's Division, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. "Mia Adjali has probably known more of the international community over a longer period of time than any living American," declared Betty Thompson, another longtime employee of the Board of Global Ministries. Franklin Provides Astute and Provocative Analysis of the State of Black America February 3, 2007, MINNEAPOLIS – Fifty years after the Civil Rights Movement, far too many African American communities, and especially children in those communities, are losing ground. In his latest book, Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities, Robert M. Franklin provides first-person advice and insight as he identifies the crises resident within three anchor institutions that have played a key role in the black struggle for freedom. Crisis in the Village addresses the apparent decline and possible renewal of African American families, churches, and schools. Black families face a "crisis of commitment" evident in the rising rates of father absence, births to unmarried parents, divorce, and domestic abuse or relationship violence. Priesthood
Renewed: the Personal Journey of a Married Priest While those who attended the Married Priests Now! Convocation in New Jersey from Dec. 8, 2006, to the 10th had received copies of this inspired book, mine was hand-delivered yesterday by Archbishop Peter P. Brennan, a friend since 1978 and the present Vicar General of the MPNP. The thesis of this book is basically a call for the restoration of the married priesthood in the Catholic Church of the West. It proposes that such a move by Benedict XVI would resolve the burning issue of the priests scandal so prevalent both in Ireland and the USA. Evangelicals have for a long time referred to the Roman Catholic Church as Satanist. Indeed, the Archbishop who became famous in his Church as an exorcist is veritably battling Satan.
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