Front Page

Arrest of Mother Puts ‘Human Face' on Immigration

August 31, 2007 – Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant recently arrested and deported to Mexico, puts a "human face" on immigration in a high-profile case that United Methodist leaders say will force Congress to see the issue in terms of justice and mercy. Her Aug. 19 arrest has separated Arellano from her 8-year-old son, Saul, who was born in the United States and is a U.S. citizen. Arellano is a member and lay leader of Adalberto United Methodist Church and had taken sanctuary in the Chicago church from Aug. 15, 2006 to Aug. 16, 2007.

NCC Joins in Call for Legal Rights for Guantanamo Prisoners

August 27, 2007, NEW YORK CITY – The National Council of Churches USA (NCC) is joining legal action (amicus brief) challenging the U.S. government's detention policy for prisoners at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo, Cuba. The NCC joined the American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Muslim Public Affairs Council, and the Union for Reform Judaism, among others, in supporting two cases before the Supreme Court. The cases were brought by Human Rights Watch and three other groups. The cases, Boumediene v. Bush and al Odah v. U.S., test whether the Military Commissions Act of 2006 validly strips federal courts of jurisdiction over pending habeas corpus petitions filed by foreign citizen detainees held at Guantanamo.

Joy and Thanksgiving at Release of Korean Hostages

August 31, 2007 – "Gratitude to God and admiration for those who contributed to their liberation from captivity" was expressed by the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in a letter of "joy and thanksgiving for the 21 church-related humanitarian workers whose lives have been spared in Afghanistan." Kobia's letter was addressed to the general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea Rev. Kwon Oh-sung as the 19 remaining South Korean hostages, freed by the Taliban on Wednesday and Thursday after six weeks in captivity, were leaving Kabul for Dubai on Friday, 31 August.

General News

More than 50 Church of the Brethren Congregations to Observe Day of Prayer for Peace

August 30, 2007 ELGIN, IL – As of Aug. 24, 54 congregations or colleges associated with the Church of the Brethren are planning a time of prayer on or near Friday, Sept. 21, to mark the International Day of Prayer for Peace. The Brethren Witness/Washington Office and On Earth Peace, a Church of the Brethren agency, are encouraging congregations and faith communities to hold public prayer events. The day of prayer is connected with the World Council of Churches' Decade to Overcome Violence. In addition to the more than 50 congregations and organizations taking part, "We are also very excited to learn that our sisters and brothers in the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria, are planning to participate," said On Earth Peace.

Church Offers Back-to-School Supplies, Haircuts

August 31, 2007, BELFAST, N.Y. – Visiting the Allegany County Fair in western New York in July, Stephanie Karcher picked up a flyer about the annual back-to-school clinic at Belfast United Methodist Church. Weeks later on a sunny Saturday, she and her two young children stand outside the church along with dozens of their neighbors, waiting for the doors to open. Inside, they find new backpacks filled with school supplies purchased and donated by members of the church. There are also water bottles, books and health information.

Jane Spahr Acquittal on Same-Sex Wedding Charges Is Overturned
Synod Court Orders Rebuke for Lesbian Activist Minister

August 27, 2007, LOUISVILLE – In a reversal of a lower church court ruling, the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr has been found guilty of violating the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage by performing weddings for two lesbian couples. The Synod of the Pacific's Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) ruled 6-2 last week that while the "lesbian evangelist" and longtime Presbyterian minister "acted with conscience and conviction," her actions were still at odds with the church's constitution.

Commentary: A Mission Trip Takes Me Back ‘Home'

August 29, 2007 – It has been two years since Hurricane Katrina slammed the U.S. Gulf Coast. The storm made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005. The recovery effort goes on. New Orleans had an estimated pre-Katrina population of 454,863, including my family. Today the population is estimated at 187,525 people, or 60 percent less, according to an October 2006 survey. My family of seven has relocated to Oklahoma City, where my father, Victor McCullough, is pastor of Quayle United Methodist Church. He formerly was pastor at Mount Zion United Methodist Church in New Orleans.

Commentary: Finding Despair and Hope in the Desert

August 31, 2007 – During the last week of July, we the College of Bishops of the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church gathered along the border between Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. We traveled to this area to immerse ourselves in the experience of the immigrant journeying into the United States. What we saw was both disturbing and hopeful.

Dangerous Elders: ‘Claim Ministry for Your Own,' First-Ever National Conferees Told

August 30, 2007, NASHVILLE – The Rev. Gradye Parsons laid down the challenge from the very start of the first-ever National Elders Conference Wednesday. "We want to create a bunch of dangerous elders," Parsons said, elders "who know what the ministry of being an elder is about and want to claim that ministry for their own." Part of that role is that of worship leader. Melva Costen and the Rev. Rhashell Hunter, presenting together, thanked the 330 elders in attendance for, as Hunter called it, "saying yes when (pastors) come to you with big puppy dog eyes."

ELCA Consults White Pastors Serving Multicultural Congregations

August 27, 2007, CHICAGO – Sitting upright at the first desk facing the podium, the trio resembled students – unmarked by a collective decade of parish ministries. Mentors, each with decades of experience, leaned back from the desk near the windows, each moment learning new things from speakers and from their younger counterparts. Twenty-five pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) accepted an invitation to come together here for a consultation. They are white pastors serving congregations in multicultural settings in Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland Heights and Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Oakland and Riverside, Calif.

New Hymnal Proposed for United Methodist Church

August 29, 2007, NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The United Methodist Church could have a new hymnal by 2013 under plans endorsed by the denomination's Board of Discipleship. Directors of the board, meeting Aug. 22-25, voted to ask the 2008 General Conference to form a hymnal creation committee next year to begin developing a new hymnal. If the committee's work is approved by the denomination's top legislative body in 2012, the new resource would replace The United Methodist Hymnal published in 1989. It would be the second official revision since the merger of the Evangelical United Brethren and Methodist churches in 1968, not including new songbooks for specific racial/ethnic or language communities.

Volunteers Make Lifelong Connections in Gulf Coast

August 28, 2007, NEW ORLEANS – Some people just can't get enough. The Rev. Marilyn Roeder and members of First United Methodist Church in Victoria, Texas, are scheduled to make their eighth mission trip to New Orleans in October to hammer away at the destruction left behind by Hurricane Katrina. Equally dedicated to the recovery are youth from Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church in Ridgefield, Conn., who have spent most of their school holidays for almost two years working on churches and houses in Slidell, La.

Dangerous Truth – Weems to Elders: ‘Can't Cover up Jesus'

August 31, 2007, NASHVILLE – Poet Ann Weems thinks Presbyterian elders must do something that King Lear's daughter said she couldn't do: heave their hearts into their mouths. In Shakespeare's play, Lear's three daughters are asked to tell their father how much they love him. Two girls do as they're told, but the third daughter is silent. She blurts out her famous but anatomically difficult line only after her father gets angry with her. Like Lear's daughter, elders also need to find their voice, Weems said Thursday (Aug. 30) during the second day of the PC(USA)'s first-ever National Elders Conference.

Ecumenical News

Lutheran-Reformed Dialogue Group Agrees to Further Study on Understanding of Church
Namibian Lutherans Host Second Meeting of Joint Commission

August 29, 2007, WINDHOEK, Namibia/GENEVA – Theologians from the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) participating in the second meeting of the Lutheran-Reformed Joint Commission agreed to the need for further study on the understanding of the Church from the perspectives of the two faith traditions. During the 11-17 August meeting hosted by the LWF in cooperation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) in Windhoek, Namibia, the Commission members received papers on the meaning and authority of confessions in Lutheran and Reformed traditions.

Cordiality Marks Adventist-Presbyterian Conversation
Two Rounds Complete, More Talks Agreed to

August 31, 2007, LOUISVILLE – Representatives of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Seventh-day Adventist Church met here Aug. 22-24 to better understand each other's faith, remove stereotypes, and explore areas of possible cooperation. The meeting was a follow-up to the one held last November Adventist world headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. Participants discussed four papers prepared for the gathering on the two traditions' understandings of sola scriptura (biblical authority), law and gospel, and the writings of Adventist theologian Ellen G. White and John Calvin in relation to the two topics.

Lutheran Leader Noko Stresses Africa's Multi-Religious Perspective
Interfaith Commission Meeting Opens in Tripoli

August 28, 2007, TRIPOLI, Libya/GENEVA – The Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, convenor of the Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) and general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), has called on Africa's various faith traditions to see the continent in its multi-religious context. A perspective that fails to take this reality into account, he cautioned, could only lead to tension. "There is a tendency on the part of each faith tradition to see the continent only and exclusively from the perspective of that faith, rather than from the perspective of Africa's multi-religious reality.

Spanish News

Día Y Mes De La Biblia, Con Carácter Ecuménico

30 agosto 2007, BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Como cada año, la Iglesia Católica Romana (ICR), la Iglesia Ortodoxa e Iglesias Evangélicas celebrarán el Mes de la Biblia. Sociedad Bíblica de Argentina informó que cada comunidad religiosa celebrará el mes con énfasis de acuerdo a su historia y tradición. La ICR recordando a San Jerónimo quien fuera en vida el traductor de la Vulgata, la Biblia al idioma latín; la Ortodoxa haciendo memoria que fue en idioma griego se escribieron los Santos Evangelios y los demás libros del Nuevo Testamento y las Iglesias Evangélicas conmemorando el advenimiento de la traducción española Reina – Valera. Además, por tercer año consecutivo, estas iglesias cristianas celebrarán el cuarto domingo de septiembre como el Día Nacional de la Biblia.

Valdenses Y Metodistas Se Pronuncian Contra La Pena De Muerte

31 agosto 2007, TORRE PELLICE, Italia – Por primera vez el Sínodo de las iglesias Valdense y Metodista en Italia asume oficialmente una posición contra la pena de muerte. La asamblea sinodal que sesionó desde el pasado domingo 26 en Torre Pellice, Torino, fue contundente en su llamado a abolir la pena capital. A través de un documento los delegados invitan a las iglesias " a empeñarse a favor de toda iniciativa que promueva la postergación y la abolición de la pena de muerte a nivel internacional."

Distribuyen Ayuda Humanitaria Y Porciones Bíblicas De Consolación

27 agosto 2007, LIMA, Perú – El Perú se ha puesto de pie para ayudar a los damnificados del terremoto. Las organizaciones cristianas están participando activamente realizando múltiples esfuerzos para ayudar y dar una respuesta adecuada a esta emergencia. Esta ayuda se ha expresado en diferentes acciones y movilizaciones a las zonas del desastre.

Jóvenes Oran Por Damnificados Y Víctimas De Terremoto

28 agosto 2007, LIMA, Perú – Un grupo de jóvenes de diferentes iglesias e instituciones evangélicas se reunieron en un Culto de Oración para interceder por los damnificados y las víctimas del terremoto ocurrido el pasado 15 de agosto, que dejó más de 500 muertos y miles de personas sin hogar. El acto litúrgico se realizó en la biblioteca de la Asociación Educativa Teológica Evangélica – UBL Recinto Lima, con la presencia de varios estudiantes de este centro, así como de algunos integrantes de la Mesa Evangélica Juvenil del CLAI en Perú, organización que impulsó esta acción.

New York Metro News

Archdeacon Michael S. Kendall on the Living Wage and Economic Justice

August 31, 2007 – As Labor Day approaches, Archdeacon Michael S. Kendall of the Episcopal Diocese of New York speaks about economic justice and the Episcopal Church's support for a Living Wage. A video stream of Kendall's interview is available. The Episcopal Network for Economic Justice has developed a "how-to" manual for congregations and individuals to understand and become involved with issues of economic justice.

National News

Faith & Values Media Acquires the Assets of Ecunet

August 27, 2007 – Faith & Values Media, the nation's largest coalition of Abrahamic faith groups dedicated to media production, distribution and promotion, acquired the assets of Ecunet, a nonprofit online network of Christian organizations. LutherLink, an online conferencing network of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is part of Ecunet. Begun in 1985, Ecunet is home to thousands of forums on subjects that support ordained, lay and denominational staff ministries.

Children's Disaster Services Responds to Storms in Midwest

August 30, 2007, ELGIN, IL – The American Red Cross has requested Children's Disaster Services (formerly Disaster Child Care) volunteers to work in a shelter in Rushford in southern Minnesota, following storms and flooding across the midwest. Children's Disaster Services is a ministry of the Church of the Brethren. The announcement of the response was sent Aug. 24, in an e-mail to regional coordinators for the program, by Brethren Disaster Ministries director Roy Winter.

Quaker Organization Responds to Census Bureau Report:
7.7 Million Families, 36.5 Million People, Lived in Poverty Last Year

August 28, 2007, PHILADELPHIA – Congress should redirect the $720 million a day the U.S. is spending on the Iraq war to programs that reduce poverty at home, urged the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), (www.afsc.org), responding to Census Bureau data released today. "For $720 million, we could provide over 400,000 children with health care, or over a million children with free school lunches," notes Joyce Miller, the American Friends Service Committee assistant general secretary for justice and human rights. "America's shameful poverty rate should lead everyone to ask ourselves how we want to spend our tax dollars – on war or on education, health care, job training, affordable housing, and the like."

Help Sought for Flooded Churches, Communities in Midwest
John Knox, Maumee Valley Presbyteries Bear Brunt of Storms

August 29, 2007, LOUISVILLE – Reports from the upper Midwest indicate that Presbyterian churches in John Knox and Maumee Valley presbyteries were the hardest hit by last weeks massive flooding. Dennis Sanders, communications specialist for the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area said Friday (Aug. 24) that some congregations and church members in the southern Minnesota presbytery "are dealing with flooded basements, but not much more." No requests for assistance have been received by the presbytery from any of its churches.

Lutherans Participate in Tornado Cleanup Efforts in Northwood, N.D.

August 31, 2007, CHICAGO – A church building of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and a Lutheran-affiliated health service center in Northwood, N.D., sustained major damage from a tornado that swept through the town Aug. 26. Preliminary damage assessments carried out by the American Red Cross indicated that more than 90 percent of the homes in Northwood sustained damage, according to Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR).

Update on Disaster Ministries, Two Years after Katrina

August 29, 2007 – On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast, Brethren Disaster Ministries continues rebuilding work in two locations in Louisiana, the towns of Chalmette and Pearl River. "We have been asked by the local recovery groups to stay at these two locations through 2008," reported coordinator Jane Yount. Brethren Disaster Ministries is a program of the Church of the Brethren General Board.

International News

African Religious Leaders Urge Reconciliation of Conflicting Justice Systems
International Intervention Can Pose Obstacles, Landmine Survivor Tells Ifapa Meeting

August 29, 2007, TRIPOLI, Libya/GENEVA – Ms. Margaret Arach Orech, a landmine survivor, says she is prepared to forgive like many other women in her country Uganda. "We want peace," says Orech, who lost her right leg to a landmine blast during an ambush by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Northern Uganda in December 1998. Her life-changing experience led to her active involvement in global and regional campaigns to ban landmines.

ELCA Supports Earthquake-Relief Efforts in Peru

August 31, 2007, CHICAGO – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) responded to an appeal for funds from its Lutheran companion church in Peru to help 420 families affected by an Aug. 15 earthquake that struck the coast of Peru. Peruvian authorities indicated that 510 people died and about 1,600 were injured by the earthquake and its aftershocks. ELCA Global Mission received a $38,773 appeal from the Peruvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (ILEP). Through its International Disaster Response, the ELCA sent $38,773 to the ILEP Aug. 24 to support the ILEP's distribution of food, tents, blankets, water and flashlights to families distressed by the earthquake.

Pacific Churches Are Signs of Hope Amidst New Challenges

August 31, 2007 – Churches in the Pacific become "signs of hope" as they "bear witness to the Gospel and work together to address the issues that most concern the peoples of the region," World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia said in a message sent to the 9th assembly of the Pacific Conference of Churches. The gathering will take place 2-8 September at the Kanana Fou Theological Seminary, in Pago Pago, American Samoa. Over 200 delegates from 25 churches and 7 national councils of churches are expected to attend the proceedings under the theme "Atua [God], empower us to be liberating communities."

World and European Ecumenical Bodies Express
Support and Solidarity to the Ecumenical Patriarch

August 30, 2007 – At a time when the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople – today's Istanbul – is facing growing hardships imposed by decisions of the Turkish judiciary, members of the worldwide ecumenical family have expressed support and solidarity to His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. On 26 June a ruling by Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals contested the ecumenical standing of the Patriarchate, stating that it is a religious body only authorized to perform religious functions for the Greek Orthodox minority in the country. The Court also ruled that the Patriarchate does not have any legal personality and that the Patriarch is not allowed to bear the title "ecumenical."

Parliamentarians Propose Collaboration with Religious Leaders to Advance
Peace, Security in Africa South African MP Luthuli Urges Gender Equity

August 31, 2007, TRIPOLI, Libya/GENEVA – African parliamentarians have expressed their appreciation of a pan-African interfaith body grouping the continent's various faith traditions, and underscored its critical role in "spreading the message of hope, healing, faith and peace." "The religious community is better placed to assist representatives in parliament to advance peace and security and promote issues of moral regeneration," South African Member of Parliament Hon. Albertina Luthuli told participants in the Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) Commission meeting in Tripoli, Libya, 27-30 August.

People in the News

Women's Social Justice Champion Linda Hollies Dies

August 30, 2007 – The Rev. Linda Hollies, a prolific author, motivational speaker and champion of issues around social justice for women, is dead at age 64. Hollies was in Phoenix to give the keynote address and lead a workshop for a women's conference when her body was found Aug. 18 in her hotel room. The cause of death has not been determined. A memorial service will be held Sept. 1 at Calvary United Methodist Church in Jackson, Mich., where she was pastor.