Front Page

NCC Applauds Volunteers' Efforts on Minimum Wage Victory

May 25, 2007, NEW YORK CITY – "America's poorest workers will now begin to get their overdue piece of the pie," said the Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary, National Council of Churches USA (NCC). "It's the first step in obtaining justice for a growing number of workers in this country who have been forced to work two and three jobs. That's an unbearable burden on American families." The federal minimum wage was part of the Iraq war funding bill passed last night by both houses of Congress. "It's a bittersweet victory that justice for workers was tied to a bill funding an unjust and immoral war but sometimes Washington works in strange ways," said the former six-term Member of Congress from Pennsylvania (1975-1987). Edgar praised the work of the NCC-founded "Let Justice Roll" anti- poverty campaign.

NCC's Edgar Joins Interfaith Global Warming Action

May 22, 2007, WASHINGTON, D.C.– The Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC), is among leaders of many faith traditions who are calling upon the U.S. government to take immediate action to reduce global warming. "This is an historic moment when Jews, Christians and Muslims stand together in solidarity with a shared sense of moral purpose on global warming. We accept the overwhelming scientific evidence which forecasts extreme consequences for the Earth and all its inhabitants if we fail to act," says an open letter to President Bush and the U.S. Congress.

Religious Leaders Unite to Address Global Warming
Interfaith Declaration Calls on U.s. Government's ‘Moral Responsibility'

May 21, 2007 – Uniting through a common concern for creation, Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leaders announced May 21 a pact to fight global warming in a statement delivered to the White House and Congress. "An Interfaith Declaration on the Moral Responsibility of the U.S. Government to Address Global Warming" comes on the heels of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change's most recent report that makes clear the serious risks of delay. The religious leaders, including Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, declare acceptance of the scientific evidence for global warming and pledge mutual support in addressing this severe challenge. Recognizing the human contribution to global warming, the statement's signers call for legislators to enact mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions, and to make a healthy and healthful environment a priority.

Melting Ice Caps on Mt. Kenya and Kilimanjaro Need Action Now

May 24, 2007 – "In my childhood, the water was so clear that you could see the hard rock at the bottom. Fishing for trout was so easy. We enjoyed it. When we used our fishing rods, we could see ourselves catching the fish," says Professor Jesse Mugambi, a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) working group on Climate Change. "But then we started to grow coffee and tea. First the rivers were polluted because of erosion, and then there was no water."

Episcopal Immigration Advocates Meet, Call for Broader Commitments

May 21, 2007 – A group of Episcopalians -- both lay and clergy -- recently called on the Episcopal Church to undertake more vigorous and church-wide advocacy on behalf of at-risk migrants. The group, convened by Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM), met May 14-15 at St. Paul's Cathedral Center in Los Angeles to discuss the current crisis facing undocumented immigrants as raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) escalate in various parts of the country. Joining the group were Richard Parkins, EMM director, the Rev. John Denaro, EMM's church relations and outreach officer, and the Rev. Anthony Guillén, missioner for Latino/Hispanic Ministries for the Episcopal Church. The meeting was hosted by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

Washington Priest Voices Support for Immigrant Family Reunification

May 23, 2007 – Expressing support for immigrant family reunification at a May 23 Capitol Hill news conference, the Rev. Dr. Luis Leon, rector of St. John's Lafayette Square Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., spoke in favor of a proposed amendment authored by Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2007. The Senators' amendment would remove barriers to reunification for the nuclear families of lawful permanent residents. "The Episcopal Church's 2006 legislative body, General Convention, expressed strong support for comprehensive immigration legislation and regarded family unity as an imperative of any reformed system," stated Leon. "Sadly, the Senate compromise legislation includes provisions that devalue family sponsored immigration."

General News

Clergywoman Solicits Help from 8,000 in Breast Cancer Fight

May 24, 2007, DALLAS – The Rev. Sheron C. Patterson, senior pastor of Highland Hills United Methodist Church, tells her flock all the time to "walk by faith and not by sight." But it took a battle with breast cancer for her to prove that she can practice what she preaches. Patterson announced in an April 12 letter to her congregation that she had breast cancer. "It is in stage one, which is a blessing," she wrote. "I will not need chemotherapy or radiation, but I will require surgery. My surgery will be May 8th."

Brethren Participate in Planning ‘The Gathering' Hunger Conference

May 24, 2007 ELGIN, IL – Church of the Brethren leaders and staff are taking part in preparations for a biennial hunger training event and rally in Washington, D.C., on June 9-12. "The Gathering" will be held on the theme, "Sowing Seeds: Growing a Movement." Bread for the World is coordinating planning for the event, which is supported by a range of hunger agencies. A broad spectrum of religious groups will convene in the nation's capital for training, information sharing, worship, and advocacy. Particular focus will be on reform of the Farm Bill currently before Congress, a legislative measure whose nutrition programs and trade policies affect the poor and hungry at home and abroad. The event is receiving financial support from the Global Food Crisis Fund of the Church of the Brethren.

Lambeth Conference Won't Look like past Gatherings, Design Team Member Predicts
Ian Douglas Says Conference Will Aim to Equip Bishops in Their Leadership Vocation

May 25, 2007 – The Lambeth Conference 2008 will be a significantly different gathering from the 1998 and 1988 sessions of the once-a-decade meeting of the bishops of the Anglican Communion, according to a member of the Conference's design team. The design for Lambeth 2008 "is not driven by production of reports and enabling resolutions building out of the reports, and that's a significant departure from previous designs," the Rev. Dr. Ian T. Douglas, a member of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council and of its delegation to the Anglican Consultative Council, told the Episcopal News Service. "The focus here is on transformation, the building of communion and the engagement with each other, the goal of which is to equip the bishops to be more effective and faithful servants to the ‘Missio Dei' [God's mission]."

United Methodist Pastor Speaks of Transgender Experience

May 25, 2007 – A transgender United Methodist pastor has shared his story with other members of the denomination's Baltimore-Washington Conference in the hopes of promoting a broader discussion about gender identity. The Rev. Drew Phoenix – formerly the Rev. Ann Gordon – spoke at both a closed clergy session and a general plenary session on May 24 during the annual conference meeting at the Wardman Park Hotel in Washington. He is pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore. "I was very grateful for the opportunity to be able to share my story and who I am," Phoenix told United Methodist News Service in a phone interview following those sessions. "I was very pleased at the number of people who were very honest in their reflections and questions." He said he has been undergoing medical procedures for the transition from female to male during the past year, with "a great team of medical people who helped me think it out."

Seeing Visions, Dreaming Dreams
New Facility Exemplifies Congregation's Expansive Mission View

May 24, 2007, EDMONDS, WA – Elder William Kang leads visitors through the sprawling expanse of his congregation's new building, pointing out how each space will be used when the facility is completed later this summer. "This will be the library...this room will be for the women's group...this room will be for the nursery," he says, strolling through largely unfinished spaces in the 36,000-square-foot "Vision Dream Center" of the United Presbyterian Church of Seattle – formerly Korean United Presbyterian Church – at the southern end of North Puget Sound Presbytery in this Seattle suburb. "Of course, we change our minds several times each week," Kang chuckles. The Vision Dream Center (the name is taken from Acts 2:17) is the culmination of the 400-member congregation's expansive goal to be a resource not just for the area's growing Korean population, but for the entire presbytery and region.

Ecumenical News

Agreed Anglican–Orthodox Statement Released

May 25, 2007 – The International Commission for Anglican–Orthodox Theological Dialogue has released "The Church of the Triune God," an ecclesiological statement registering considerable agreement over a wide range of issues on the nature and mission of the Church. The introduction to this 117-page document states that "the publication of this Cyprus Agreed Statement concludes the third phase of the Anglican–Orthodox international theological dialogue. It began in 1973...[and] the first phase of the dialogue was concluded by the publication of the Moscow Agreed Statement in 1976. The publication of the Dublin Agreed Statement in 1984 brought its second phase to a conclusion."

Faith and Order Marks 50 Years Cultivating New Leaders

May 21, 2007, WASHINGTON, D.C.– The Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) is preparing for its fiftieth anniversary this summer with a clear eye on the next generation of theological leaders in the ecumenical movement. This month the Faith and Order Commission launched a new online electronic journal written and edited by younger theologians and judged by senior scholars. The journal was developed by Dr. R. Keelan Downton, the NCC's postdoctoral fellow with Faith and Order, in conjunction with staff, members of the NCC Faith and Order Commission, and colleagues from the World Council of Churches.

French Lutherans and Reformed Agree to Unity Process
Joint Synods Receive Proposal for United Protestant Church of France by 2013

May 25, 2007, SOCHAUX, France/GENEVA – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of France (EELF) and the Reformed Church of France (ERF) have agreed to start discussions that will lead to the creation of a United Protestant Church of France by 2013. The unifying process was agreed during the first joint synod sessions of the EELF and ERF in the context of their respective national synod meetings held from 17 to 20 May in the eastern town of Sochaux, near Montbéliard, France. The bridge-building process between the two churches started in 2002 when several congregations and regional synods requested their national committees to work toward a "stronger and more visible communion between our churches."

Spanish News

Iglesias Históricas Tratan En Seminario, La Teología De La Reforma

21 mayo 2007, BOGOTÁ, Colombia – En el marco de preparación de la celebración de los 490 años de la Reforma Protestante se llevó a cabo el sábado en el Instituto Bíblico Reformado de Colombia (IBRC) en esta ciudad la conferencia "Teología de la Reforma," expuesto por Richard Dean Box, procedente del Seminario Internacional de Miami (MINTS, por sus siglas en inglés). "El objetivo es exponer y recordar las doctrinas de la teología de la Reforma, entendida como volver a la Palabra de Dios, expuesta en las cinco doctrinas, que se exponen a la luz nuevamente y que conforman las raíces de nuestra fe bíblica y evangélica: Sola Escritura, Solo Cristo, Sola Fe, Sola Gracia y Solo para la Gloria de Dios," reveló Julio César Benítez, director administrativo del Instituto.

Benedicto XVI Le Dio La Razón a Hugo Chávez

23 mayo 2007, CIUDAD DEL VATICANO – El presidente Hugo Chávez pidió la semana pasada al papa Benedicto XVI, que ofreciera disculpas a los pueblos aborígenes, al referirse a la afirmación del pontífice en Aparecida, Brasil, en torno a que la evangelización no fue una "imposición" ni "una alienación" de las culturas precolombinas. Hoy, el primado de Roma, le dio la razón y aseguró que "no se pueden ignorar las sombras que acompañaron la colonización y la evangelización de América latina, ni olvidar los sufrimientos y las injusticias infligidos por el colonizador a los pueblos indígenas, cuyos derechos humanos fundamentales fueron pisoteados."

El Secretario General Del CMI Visitará Letonia Y Estonia

25 mayo 2007 – El secretario general del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI), Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, realizará una visita oficial a Letonia (29-31 de mayo) y Estonia (31 mayo-2 de junio). Los principales asuntos a tratar serán el papel de las iglesias y los desafíos ecuménicos en sociedades secularizadas poscomunistas que han recuperado recientemente la independencia. Se han programado conferencias de prensa en ambos países (vea más abajo). En Riga, la capital letona, Kobia se entrevistará con los líderes de la Iglesia Evangélica Luterana de Letonia, única iglesia miembro del CMI en el país.

Religious Liberty News

Korean Presbyterians Shave Their Heads to Protest Revised Private School Law
PC(USA) Moderator Told Provision Threatens Educational Freedom

May 23, 2007, SEOUL, South Korea – At least 365 ministers, elders and missionaries of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) have shaved off their hair to protest a controversial revision to South Korea's law regulating private schools. The Rev. Joan S. Gray, moderator of the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), learned of the ongoing outcry surrounding the reform bill during a recent visit here. The PCK and other private school owners have staged campaigns to stop the measure while threatening to close down schools. The revised law requires private schools from elementary to university level to fill 25 percent of their boards of directors with outsiders who are unrelated to the institutions. The aim, supporters say, is to produce more transparency in management and reduce corruption among those who control the schools.

National News

Bush Nominates United Methodist as Surgeon General

May 25, 2007 – A United Methodist physician from Kentucky has been nominated to serve as the 18th surgeon general of the United States. President Bush announced the appointment of James W. Holsinger Jr. as his nominee on May 24. Holsinger, who is a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Kentucky, has led that state's health care system and taught at several American medical schools. He was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as chief medical director of the Veterans Health Administration in 1990 and became undersecretary for health in the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1992. He also served more than three decades in the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring as a major general in 1993.

Lutherans Make Transition in Volunteer Hospitality along U.S. Gulf Coast

May 25, 2007, CHICAGO – Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) is committed to the long-term recovery of the U.S. Gulf Coast in the years to come, and a key transition in LDR's operation toward volunteer hospitality will help ensure that commitment, according to Heather L. Feltman, executive director of LDR – a collaborative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The 2005 hurricane season yielded 26 "named storms," 15 of which were hurricanes that caused total insured losses of more than $47 billion. Among the most powerful storms were Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which caused widespread destruction in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. "We have coordinated more than 1.3 million hours of volunteer service along the Gulf Coast," said Feltman.

International News

WCC Asks the Jordanian Government to Reconsider
Decision on Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem

May 23, 2007 – The World Council of Churches (WCC) has received with "deep concern" the recent withdrawal of Jordan's recognition of Patriarch Theophilos III as the head of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and requested the decision to be reconsidered. In a 18 May letter to the Jordanian Prime Minister Dr Marouf Suleiman al-Bakhit, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia expressed "fear that such a decision might lead to a division among the Orthodox Christian community in Jordan and Palestine with negative ecclesial and socio-political consequences." Kobia also stressed that recognizing Theophilos III "is of utmost importance for the good governance of the institutions related to that patriarchate." The election of the head of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem is customarily recognized by the Jordanian and Israeli governments as well as by the Palestinian Authority.

Ecumenical Water Network Conference on Churches' Response to Africa's Water Crisis

May 17, 2007 – According to some estimates, over 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack adequate access to safe water. What can churches do to help ensure sufficient and safe water – a basic human right – for all the continent's inhabitants? A 21-25 May conference in Entebbe, Uganda, to be opened by Uganda's minister of water and environment, will discuss the role of churches in the face of the African water crisis. The conference, says Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) coordinator Maike Gorsboth, is about "the churches' role in providing water and sanitation to communities, but also about how churches can address the political, social and economic conditions that underlie water access problems. It will explore how we, as churches, can help to make people's God-given right to water a reality."

Volunteers in Mission Provide Medical Help in Panama

May 23, 2007 – In rural Panama, hundreds of men, women and children have come to see a doctor. It is an opportunity that only comes around at certain times of the year when medical mission teams visit Chiriqui. This is a remote mountain area, 10 hours from the nearest hospital. Many of the patients belong to the indigenous Ngöbe population. "In our country, it is hard to imagine the need that these people have," says Dr. Calvin Morris, a volunteer in mission and retired physician from Ohio. "We just don't experience it. The poorest of our poor have better access to care than these folks will ever have."

WCC General Secretary to Visit Latvia and Estonia

May 24, 2007 – World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia is to pay an official visit to Latvia (29-31 May) and to Estonia (31 May – 2 June). The main topics of the agenda will be the role of churches and the ecumenical challenges in secularized, post-communist societies which have recently regained independence. Press conferences are scheduled in both countries (see below). In Riga, the Latvian capital, Kobia will meet the leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, the only WCC member church in the country. He will also take part in an encounter with heads of the Orthodox, Catholic, Baptist and Pentecostal churches.

Middle East News

NCC Women's Delegation Hears from Iraqi, Palestinian Refugees

May 21, 2007, JERUSALEM – While violence raged in Lebanon and Gaza this past weekend, 15 women leaders from several denominations of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) traveled through Israel/Palestine and Jordan. They finish their two-week visit Tuesday (May 22) which has focused on the plight of women and children suffering through hostilities in the Middle East. Linda Bales, one of the delegation members from the United Methodist Church's General Board of Church and Society, Washington, D.C., sent back some reflections of the trip which have been posted on the NCC website.

NCC Delegation Meets Refugees in Middle East

May 25, 2007, AMMAN, Jordan – Shadia, a 22-year-old Palestinian refugee, has lived her entire life in a refugee camp in Jordan. She has been fortunate enough to find work and health care at a clinic in the camp operated by the Middle East Council of Churches in Amman. Her work in the clinic with women and children brings her a sense of fulfillment and purpose, and she said she hopes to become a nurse. Shadia was one of the refugees who met with a delegation of 16 women from the U.S. National Council of Churches during a May 9-22 visit to the Middle East.

People in the News

John Nunes Named President of Lutheran World Relief

May 22, 2007, CHICAGO – The Rev. John Arthur Nunes, 44, will become the fourth president of Lutheran World Relief (LWR) on July 1. LWR is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), individuals and parish groups in international relief, development, advocacy and social responsibility. Nunes succeeds Kathryn Wolford, who left LWR this past fall to become president of the McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis. LWR's board of directors elected Nunes on May 21. "We are thrilled to announce the presidency of (the) Rev. John Nunes. His passion for the mission and ministry of Lutheran World Relief combined with his incredible ability to engage others in our quest to create a world where each person and every generation can live in justice, dignity and peace will serve our partners, friends and supporters well," said Kirk Betts, vice chair of the LWR board and chair of LWR's presidential search committee.