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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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Chinese-Vatican Relations One Step Closer to Reconciliation February 17, 2008 – China will attempt to heal the rift with the Vatican by renewing efforts to engage in confidential discussions and persuade Pope Benedict to the country. The Sunday Times reports the de facto head of Beijing's official Patriotic Church Liu Bainian (pictured) has said on several occasions he would like to welcome the Pope to China once an agreement of mutual recognition has been reached. Pastor, Family Killed in Crash Following Storms February 12, 2008, LAFAYETTE, Tenn. – After a ferocious tornado pummeled their rural Tennessee county with death and destruction, members of Lafayette United Methodist Church thought their first Sunday worship service together would be a time to give thanks for survival and to seek divine guidance to minister to their battered community. Maryland Church Responds to Family Shooting February 11, 2008, BALTIMORE – How does a church respond when four of its members are murdered and the teenager who created its prayer garden stands accused of killing them? It's a surreal question, said the Rev. Bill Brown. But faced with that reality, the congregation of Epworth United Methodist Church in Cockeysville, Md., is replying – in both words and actions – that "God cares, God is present." According to news reports, Nicholas Browning, 15, argued with, then shot and killed his father, John Browning, 45, on Feb. 1. Nicholas then allegedly used the gun to kill his mother, Tamara, 44; and brothers, Gregory, 13 and Benjamin, 11, who were asleep in their beds. Kieschnick Issues Statement on Kirkwood Shootings February 8, 2008, ST. LOUIS – In response to the shootings at Kirkwood City Hall last night (Feb. 7), Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, president of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, has issued this statement: "Last night at around 7 o'clock, a man shot and killed a Kirkwood, Mo., police officer outside the Kirkwood City Hall. The man then entered the building, wherein a city council meeting was in progress, and shot six more people, killing four. Among the dead were another police officer, two council members, and the city's director of public works. Shooting Victim Was Living out Her Call, Family Says February 15, 2008, SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Nineteen-year-old Ryanne Mace was always interested in helping people. A top student with top grades, Mace's interests were diverse. The Northern Illinois University sophomore was living out her sense of call, working at the local Elder-Beerman department store and studying to become a psychologist/case worker at the school's campus in DeKalb, Ill. Just before Valentine's Day, she had posted a message to her friends on her MySpace page, according to a news report: "Happy Valentine's Day Everybody! ... Saying you love someone is not enough, it's how you treat them that shows your true feelings." Artist Creates Icons of the Civil Rights Movement February 13, 2008, HARWICH PORT, Mass. – When artist Pamela Chatterton-Purdy began working on her latest project depicting heroes of the U.S. civil rights movement, she drew on her own experiences – beginning as a civil rights activist herself in the 1960s. Purdy and her husband, David, a retired United Methodist pastor and district superintendent, were among white people who marched hand-in-hand with African Americans fighting for racial equality. Her first job was with Ebony magazine. The couple's experiences grew even more personal after they adopted an African-American son and another son of African-American and Vietnamese descent. Gates Foundation Invites Church to Apply for Grant February 12, 2008 – The United Methodist Church has been invited to apply for up to $5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations Foundation to underwrite a campaign to strengthen its global health ministries. The fundraising, education and outreach campaign would aim to raise $100 million over three years and especially would support the church's efforts to eradicate malaria and other diseases of poverty in Africa. Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, received the invitation in mid-January through the United Nations Foundation, which is helping to facilitate the grant process. Ecumenical Celebration at St. Pierre Cathedral to Mark WCC 60th Anniversary 14 febrero 2008 – A festive ecumenical celebration presided by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I will take place at Geneva's St. Pierre Cathedral on Sunday, 17 February, at 16:00, to mark the 60th anniversary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Bartholomew I, who heads the Patriarchate of Constantinople, is also widely recognized as spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox. The celebration takes place in the context of the 13-20 February meeting of the WCC central committee in Geneva, whose 150 members will be in attendance. Archbishop – UK Law Needs to Find Accommodation with Religious Law Codes February 7, 2008 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has said that UK law needs to continue to find accommodation with religious legal codes such as the Islamic system of Sharia if community cohesion and development are to be achieved. Speaking to the BBC ahead of the opening lecture in a series on Islam in English Law being given tonight to legal academics, in which he calls for the legal establishment to engage with these issues, Dr Williams said that the ability of the law of the land to accommodate religious perspectives, as it had already done with the Jewish Halacha, was essential. College Student: ‘I'll Never Forget' Tornado Aftermath February 14, 2008 – JACKSON, Tenn. – Buried for three hours under tons of rubble left by an F-4 tornado, Jordan Thompson found new brothers and a deeper belief in God. "I'd have given up, 100 percent given up, without my faith," said Thompson, a member of Germantown (Tenn.) United Methodist Church, of his entrapment after a twister leveled his two-story dormitory at Union University in Jackson. The 20-year-old sophomore had sought refuge on his dorm's bottom floor, along with six other male students, as a storm system roared through Jackson on Feb. 5. When a tornado bounced across the 1,100-student campus, it destroyed much of Union's student housing, including Adams Hall where Thompson lived. United Methodist Team Fulfills Commitment in Kenya February 14, 2008 – A United Methodist Volunteers-in-Mission team arrived in Nakuru, Kenya, just as violence broke out in that Rift Valley city. C.M. "Kip" Robinson Jr., associate VIM director for the denomination's Southeastern Jurisdiction, said the team was never directly threatened during its Jan. 26-Feb. 7 work trip and was happy to bring "a message of hope" to Kenyans there. Although four people dropped out when violence erupted in Kenya after the Dec. 27 presidential election, eight team members from across the Southeastern Jurisdiction arrived to start construction on a school. One team member returned home early, he said.
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