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Haitian Immigrants Find Support in Southeast Florida Diocese

April 4, 2007 – Henri Petithomme, a Haitian living in Miami, began a fast April 4 at St. Paul and Les Martyrs d'Haiti Episcopal Church in Miami in support of the Haitian immigrants who survived a three-week ordeal at sea to arrive in Florida last week. Petithomme's fast is in support of "Temporary Protected Status" for the 101 Haitians who survived 22 days aboard a dilapidated 40-foot boat on their journey to the United States. He will remain at St. Paul's for the duration of his fast, according to the Rev. Canon J. Fritz Bazin, rector. Petithomme began his fast the day after Bishop Leo Frade and many of the clergy of the Diocese of Southeast Florida spoke up for the immigrants from the steps of Trinity Cathedral in Miami.

Iraqi Refugee Crisis Underscored by Presiding Bishop
Episcopal Migration Ministries Director Insists Resettlement must Be a Priority

April 3, 2007 – One week after the nation recognized the fourth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori issued a letter March 28 in response to a hearing in the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and Asia concerning the Iraqi refugee crisis. To date, more than two million refugees are reportedly living in Iraq's neighboring countries of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. "It is also clear that the humanitarian needs of this constant influx of displaced persons from Iraq far exceeds the ability of host countries to respond," said Jefferts Schori in her letter. "There is on-the-ground evidence that many are now living without access to medical care and that children lack access to schools. This pressure on neighboring countries could deepen the crisis for these displaced persons."

General News

Faith Groups Explore Insurance Risk Pooling

April 3, 2007, LAKELAND, Fla. – In a state where homeowners and churches have seen property insurance rates skyrocket, the governor and legislature are not the only ones trying to do something about it. Led by representatives of the United Methodist Property and Casualty Trust (PACT) and the Florida Annual (regional) Conference, among others, several national faith groups have come together in recent months to explore catastrophic property insurance possibilities that would spread the risk and save money. "The recent abnormal hurricane activity has changed the insurance environment, not only in Florida, but in every state with hurricane exposure," said Mickey Wilson, Florida Conference treasurer.

Black Caucus Joins Native American Mascot Fight

April 4, 2007, CLEVELAND – In keeping with its theme of "advocacy for empowerment," the black caucus of The United Methodist Church began its annual meeting advocating on a racism issue affecting another minority group: Native Americans. The 40-year-old Black Methodists for Church Renewal is standing in solidarity with Native Americans regarding the use of Indian mascots by sport teams. Officers of the caucus board met March 19 with an official of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland to voice concern about the name of the Cleveland Indians professional baseball team and its mascot, Chief Wahoo.

What Are Gnostic Gospels?

April 4, 2007 – Along with thousands of other people, I recently examined the first page of the Coptic text of the Gospel of Thomas from Codex 2 of the Nag Hammadi Library on loan from the Coptic Museum in Cairo in an exhibit called In the Beginning: Bibles Before the Year 1000 at the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C. In that exhibit, pages from the Gospel of Thomas and Codex Sinaiticus sit side by side with papyrus fragments of Paul's letters from the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, just as they did in the ancient world. People in the first three centuries read Thomas alongside other gospels and Paul's letters. They didn't label them. When anyone identifies the Gospels of Thomas, Mary and Philip as "Gnostic," they see behind such texts an assertion that creation of this world is an error brought about by an inferior divine being, not the transcendent true God.

Home at Last – Faith-Based Partnership Brings Affordable Housing to Blighted Miami Neighborhood

April 2, 2007 – It was a long wait, but the dream of home ownership is reality today in one of Miami's most neglected neighborhoods, thanks to a local Episcopal Church and its community partners. Overtown, a place legitimately called blighted for decades, where 90 percent of residents could barely afford even rent, now is home to 80 two-story, three- and four-bedroom single-family homes. The Villas of St. Agnes, named after historic St. Agnes Episcopal Church, opened last year. The pastel-colored houses with shady porches and neat yards, gardens and trees, are a bright spot in a county with little affordable housing.

Pastor Accepts Once-Rejected Gay Man as Member

April 4, 2007 – The pastor of a Virginia United Methodist church has granted membership to the gay man whose 2005 denial of membership by the previous pastor prompted controversy across the denomination on the issues of homosexuality and pastoral authority. During worship services on March 11 at South Hill (Va.) United Methodist Church, the Rev. Barry Burkholder accepted the man's transfer of membership from a Baptist church to South Hill (Va.) United Methodist Church. The development follows a series of rulings related to the case, including one on pastoral authority, by the denomination's highest court.

New Study Series Explores Features of Christian Character

April 3, 2007, NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Forgiveness is free, but it is not cheap. Two men who know firsthand about the cost have a lesson to teach: Forgiveness is a painful but necessary step on the way to the "good life" that God wants for each of us. Nelson Johnson from the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Project and Peter Storey, a Methodist bishop in South Africa who opposed apartheid, use examples from their lives to talk about the Christian character of forgiveness as part of a developing series produced by the United Methodist Publishing House.

Michigan Lutherans to Dispose of Hazardous Waste on Earth Day

April 2, 2007, MARQUETTE, Mich. – For the third year in a row, thousands of Lutherans will turn in hazardous waste during the annual Earth Keeper Clean Sweep on Earth Day, April 22, at collection sites across northern Michigan. This year the target is pharmaceuticals. Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will join an environmental army comprised of the vast majority of Michigan's Upper Peninsula religious community, university students, several environmental groups and an American Indian tribe. Nearly 400 tons of hazardous waste has been turned in during the past two clean sweeps, including 320 tons of old computers and cells phones on Earth Day 2006. The Rev. Thomas A. Skrenes, bishop of the ELCA Northern Great Lakes Synod, Marquette, Mich., said, "Prescription drugs keep people out of the hospital, help many to heal and are an important part of our health care system."

Spanish News

Joven Metodista Designado Embajador En Italia

3 abril 2007, LA PAZ, Bolivia – La Iglesia Evangélica Metodista en Bolivia (IEMB) informó hoy a la prensa su alegría y satisfacción ante la designación de Esteban Elmer Catarina, miembro de la IEMB, como Embajador de Bolivia en Italia. Los padres del nuevo embajador son originarios del pueblo aymara. El flamante funcionario tomará posesión del cargo en el día de la fecha en la ciudad de La Paz y el viernes 6 de abril partirá hacia Italia. "La IEMB estará acompañando, intercediendo y contribuyendo en éste proceso de éste tiempo del kairos de la historia en América Latina, y particularmente en la lucha de los sectores que están representados en el actual gobierno, buscando el bienestar de las amplias mayorías.

El "Anticristo," Vetado Para Ingresar a Centroamérica

2 abril 2007, BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Medios internacionales y locales anunciaron el veto del ingreso del puertorriqueño José Luís de Jesús Miranda, el "Anticristo," como él mismo se denomina, fundador del movimiento "Creciendo en gracia" a El Salvador. El Parlamento de Honduras pidió el jueves al Gobierno que prohíba el ingreso de Miranda también a este país. Lo propio hizo Elías Antonio Saca, presidente del El Salvador, ordenando la semana pasada una investigación sobre los miembros de la secta con el fin de expulsarlos del país y anunciando el sábado, "que no permitirá entrar al país a Miranda, debido a sus amenazas," pues Miranda afirma que en éste país ocurrirá un terremoto de grandes proporciones.

Nuevo Mapa Religioso En Colombia, Tema De Estudio Y Preocupación

4 abril 2007, BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Aunque no existe un censo en materia religiosa, actualmente el Ministerio del Interior estudia 2.000 solicitudes para fundar cultos en el país y otras 769 ya están legalizadas; según el Centro de Estudios Teológicos y de las Religiones de la Universidad del Rosario, los credos pueden ser más de 3.000, pues hay otras en la ‘informalidad,' reveló el lunes el Diario El Tiempo. El nuevo panorama religioso "es producto de la Constitución de 1991, en la que se instituyó el derecho a la libertad de culto y se retiró del papel al Sagrado Corazón de Jesús como protector de la Nación" dice el diario, añadiendo que "cualquier persona puede fundar un culto amparada en los artículos 18 y 19 de la Carta Política, y legalizarlo ante el Ministerio del Interior, demostrando la existencia de estatutos y reglamentos."

El Vaticano Golpea En Sobrino Para Limitar La Teología De La Liberación, Dice Boff

3 abril 2007, SAN LEOPOLDO, Brasil – Al condenar los escritos del jesuita Jon Sobrino, el Vaticano pega en él pero piensa en la Iglesia latinoamericana, que, en la óptica de la Curia Romana, precisa ser "reencuadrada en el proceso persistente de romanización iniciada por Juan Pablo II," afirmó el teólogo Leonardo Boff en entrevista con el Instituto Humanitas (IHU) de la Universidad del Valle de los Sinos (Unisinos). Boff detecta en los cardenales y altos funcionarios de la Curia Romana el epicentro del furor condenatorio a la Teología de la Liberación. Según el teólogo brasileño, integran ese grupo el presidente del Pontificio Consejo de la Familia, cardenal colombiano Alfonso López Truillo, el "ministro" de la salud de la Santa Sede, cardenal mexicano Javier Lozada Barragan, y Karl Joseph Romer, ex-obispo auxiliar de Río de Janeiro y que ahora está en Roma.

Religious Liberty News

Church of Scientology of Moscow Wins Landmark Decision in European Court of Human Rights

April 5, 2007 NEW YORK – In a unanimous landmark decision today, the European Court of Human Rights (First Section) found in favor of the Scientology religion, upholding the religious freedom of Scientologists throughout the forty-six nations that comprise the Council of Europe, in a precedent-setting ruling that will help guarantee these rights for people of all faiths. The court overturned the Moscow City government's refusal to register the Church of Scientology of Moscow as a religious organization. The Court in its opinion "referred to its settled case-law to the effect that, as enshrined in Article 9, freedom of thought, conscience and religion is one of the foundations of a ‘democratic society' within the meaning of the Convention. It is, in its religious dimension, one of the most vital elements that go to make up the identity of believers and their conception of life, but it is also a precious asset for atheists, agnostics, skeptics and the unconcerned. The pluralism indissociable from a democratic society, which has been dearly won over the centuries, depends on it."

International News

United Methodists Provide Food to Mozambique

April 5, 2007, NEW YORK – A severe food shortage in Mozambique caused by Cyclone Favio and its after-effects has been eased with emergency food supplies and other gifts from United Methodists in both the African nation and the United States. But church leaders say the needs for food, shelter and medical assistance are still far beyond what the Mozambican government and various organizations are providing to the impoverished nation as it reels from a series of natural disasters. The Inhambane North district of The United Methodist Church was "reduced to extreme poverty" by the Feb. 22 cyclone and subsequent rains, according to the Rev. Ana Maria Francisco, district superintendent. The central region already had been inundated by heavy rains since January, causing flooding and forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Middle East News

LWF General Secretary Reiterates Maundy Thursday Prayer for Holy Land Christians

April 5, 2007, GENEVA – The General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko has reiterated a recent LWF Council call upon the member churches to pray on Maundy Thursday for Christians in the Middle East and for their continued presence and ministry in the region. In a message today to Christians and churches in the region, Noko points out that the landmarks of the Easter story for the people and churches of the Holy Land, "are not ... imagined or remembered images, but daily concrete realities" in increasingly harsh circumstances. He notes the Christian presence throughout the Middle East is rapidly declining "due to emigration provoked particularly by occupation, conflict, abandonment and the loss of hope for a better future."

Reviews

Koester Pens Lively and Informative Way into America's Religious Heritage

April 3, 2007, MINNEAPOLIS – Fortress Press is happy to announce the release of Nancy Koester's new book, Fortress Introduction to the History of Christianity in the United States. This thorough and lively overview of Christian history in the United States, from colonial times to the present, is informed by both classical and recent scholarship and is written for the non-specialist. Focused on popular movements and how Christians have come to terms with modernity, Koester offers ample coverage of Evangelical and Roman Catholic developments, as well as historic Protestantism. Her text is amply augmented with carefully selected illustrations, glossary, map, study questions, suggestions for additional reading, and bibliography. Contents

What Separates Jews and Christians as They Read the Bible? What Unites Them?

April 2, 2007, MINNEAPOLIS – Jews and Christians not only share much, but also can, will, and ought to contest with one another not only around matters of theology and biblical interpretation, but also at the level of faith-informed politics and social policy. In Contesting Texts: Jews and Christians in Conversation about the Bible, a collection of essays demonstrate that Jews and Christians can speak together about what they hold in common, and the differences they value, in a climate of mutual respect and in a spirit of esteem and affection. The editors of this important volume, Melody D. Knowles, Esther Menn, John Pawlikowski, O.S.M., and Timothy J. Sandoval, draw together writings by distinguished Jewish and Christian biblical scholars and theologians as they explore the points of difference that distinguish each community as it reads the Bible, and the resources the Bible provides for shared hope and work in the world.