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WCC Delegation Visits Georgia and Russia

September 3, 2008 – A pastoral delegation from the World Council of Churches (WCC) will visit Russia and Georgia from 3 to 7 September. The delegation will listen to WCC member churches in both countries, encourage their efforts for peace and visit people displaced by the recent violence as well as church aid programmes. "We expect this visit to encourage Christians in both countries to keep talking to each other and praying for each other," says Elenora Giddings Ivory, WCC director of Public Witness and Global Advocacy. "If Christians in Georgia and Russia manage not to allow the divide between their countries to separate them, they may help their governments to move towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict."

Pastors: Food, Prayers Needed for Gustav Survivors

September 5, 2008, BATON ROUGE, La. – The Revs. Darryl Tate and Don Cottrill ran into one of the state's highest government officials at a favorite coffee shop on their way to the Louisiana United Methodist Conference Center on Sept. 5. Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu stopped to ask the two pastors for their spiritual help in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. "He told us he thought the area west of the Mississippi River was going to be in dire need of food and comfort in the coming days," Tate said.

U.S. Churches' Social Platform Enters its Second Century

August 29, 2008 NEW YORK – Labor Day 2008 is sandwiched between two major party nominating conventions, each of which is generating tens of thousands of words of tributes to the working people of America. But this recognition of laboring people has not always translated into legislation that solved the problems working Americans face. Three national church leaders meeting in Washington this week urged the political parties to remember these issues that transcend party rhetoric and call for immediate action.

Diocese of Louisiana Prepares to Enter Area Worst-hit by Hurricane
Parishes South of New Orleans Appear to Have Borne Brunt of Gustav

September 4, 2008 – Officials of the New Orleans-based Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana hope to enter the civil parish of Terrebonne on September 5 to survey damage from Hurricane Gustav and assess people's needs. "We assume we have significant church damage in Houma and I just don't know about Bayou du Large," Bishop Charles Jenkins reported September 4, speaking from his car as he was making a delivery of gasoline and generators.

General News

Kinnamon: with Hurricanes Coming, Pray with ‘Humility and Hope'

September 3, 2008, NEW YORK – Now that Hurricane Gustav has spared New Orleans a direct hit, many Americans believe their prayers have been answered. But praying for protection from hurricanes can be a tricky thing, the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches USA said today. The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon cited the difficulty of the citizens of London when they prayed for protection from Luftwaffe bombs during the "Blitz" in World War II. "The consequences of asking God to protect your house were that your neighbor's house might be destroyed," he said. Similarly, prayers for protection from major storms can't protect everyone in the storm's path.

CRWRC Congratulates Foods Resource Bank on Hilton Foundation Award

September 5, 2008 The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee applauds the award of a US$100,000 grant to partner agency, the Foods Resource Bank, from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The grant will further FRB's mission to address hunger in some of the world's poorest villages and is in keeping with the Hilton Foundation's goal to "alleviate the suffering of the world's most disadvantaged people."

Church World Service Fall CROP Hunger Walks Begin

September 3, 2008, NEW YORK – Humanitarian agency Church World Service today announced the opening of its 2008-2009 CROP Hunger Walk season, during which hunger activists in some 2,000 communities across the nation will begin walking to raise money for the agency's domestic and global anti-hunger programs. "As the United States and the world come to grips with a food crisis that has seen supplies dwindle and prices skyrocket, more people than ever are finding it difficult to impossible to feed their families, and CROP Hunger Walks are more important than ever," says CWS Executive Director John L. McCullough.

Nix the Holiday TCHOTCHKES in Tough Economy and World Food Crisis –
New Church World Service Alternative Gifts Catalogue Offers ‘Life Tech' Gifts
like Solar Ovens, Wells, Literacy Classes, Micro-credit Business Loans for World's Poorest

September 5, 2008 NEW YORK – In a tight economy, holiday gifts that also help fight poverty and the world food crisis can go a lot farther than tchotchkes or yesterday's tech trinkets destined for "re-gifting" or recycling. This season's Best Gift catalogue from humanitarian agency Church World Service lets holiday shoppers honor their gift recipients by giving alternative gift donations that fund tools, technologies, training, and supplies to help struggling people around the world rise out of poverty and become self-sufficient. Alternative gifts aren't new, but a sampling from this year's free Best Gift catalogue from global CWS shows fresh imagination and scope.

Lutheran Disaster Response in the Eye of 2008 Hurricane Season

September 2, 2008, CHICAGO – Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are responding in the aftermath of tropical storms and hurricanes, waiting to assess the damage of Hurricane Gustav and preparing for the remainder of the 2008 hurricane season. "We are in difficult days," said the Rev. Kevin A. Massey, director, Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR). "It is important for us all to stay in close communication with each other, to remain deeply in prayer for the needs of people both already affected and potentially affected, and especially to consider giving to the work of Lutheran Disaster Response," he said.

Africa University Issues Urgent Plea for Funding

September 5, 2008, MUTARE, Zimbabwe – Operating amid economic and political turmoil in Zimbabwe, Africa University has issued an urgent plea for United Methodist congregations to fulfill their 2008 financial obligations to the school. Fanuel Tagwira, interim vice chancellor of the United Methodist-related university, made the plea Sept. 3 in a letter addressed to United Methodist leaders across the globe. "As I write you, our 1,300 students are on the campus of Africa University for the 2008/2009 academic year. ... While Africa University has not missed a day of classes during this difficult time, we are now facing a crisis," Tagwira wrote.

Ecumenical News

An International Ecumenical Debate on the Issue of "Promised Land"

September 2, 2008 – One challenge for churches addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the fact that it takes place in a land that different religions consider holy. A conference in Bern will discuss the concept of the "Promised Land" and related theological issues with a view to help more churches become advocates for a just peace. The international theological conference will take place in Bern, Switzerland, from 10 to 14 September 2008. Some 65 theologians from World Council of Churches (WCC) member churches in different regions of the world will participate (names below).

Letters to Editor

War Is ‘God's Task'?

September 4, 2008 – Dear Editor: Sarah Palin recently said that the war in Iraq is "God's task." She's even admitted she hasn't thought about the war much – just last year she was quoted saying, "I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq." Palin has actively sought the support of the fringe Alaska Independence Party. Six months ago, Palin told members of the group – who advocate for a vote on secession from the union – to "keep up the good work" and "wished the party luck on what she called its ‘inspiring convention.'"

Spanish News

Delegación Ecumenica Visita Georgia Y Rusia

3 septiembre 2008 – Una delegación pastoral del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) visita Rusia y Georgia desde hoy y hasta el 7 de septiembre. La delegación se mantendrá a la escucha de las iglesias de ambos países, estimulando sus esfuerzos por la paz. También visitará a las personas desplazadas por la reciente violencia, prestando especial atención a los programas de ayuda de las iglesias. "Esperamos que esta visita estimule a los cristianos de ambos países a continuar sus conversaciones y a orar unos por otros," dijo Elenora Giddings Ivory, directora del programa del CMI Testimonio Público: confrontar el poder, afirmar la paz.

Debate Ecuménico Internacional Sobre El Concepto De "Tierra Prometida"

2 septiembre 2008 – Una dificultad que enfrentan las iglesias que tratan de contribuir a la solución del conflicto palestino-israelí es el hecho de que éste tiene lugar en una tierra que varias religiones consideran santa. En Berna, una conferencia examinará el concepto de "Tierra Prometida" y cuestiones teológicas conexas con objeto de ayudar a que haya más iglesias defensoras de la paz justa. La conferencia teológica internacional se celebrará en Berna (Suiza), del 10 al 14 de septiembre de 2008.

National News

Baton Rouge Church Houses Red Cross Volunteers

September 3, 2008, BATON ROUGE. La. – Experienced Red Cross volunteers from all over the United States know that the "Broadmoor Hilton" is the place to stay in southern Louisiana. Broadmoor United Methodist Church earned the nickname because of its Christian hospitality after housing disaster relief workers for the American Red Cross following Hurricane Katrina three years ago. The Baton Rouge church is located in one of the many areas damaged by Hurricane Gustav. The Category 2 hurricane ripped through the city with gusts of up to 91 miles per hour on Labor Day.

United Methodists to Assess Hurricane Gustav Impact

September 2, 2008, NEW YORK -The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working with United Methodists in the U.S. Gulf Coast region to respond to Hurricane Gustav. Two million people fled the Gulf Coast as Gustav approached, but the intensity of the storm, when it struck Sept. 1, did not reach that of Hurricane Katrina three years earlier. New Orleans, which had braced for the worst, escaped a direct hit as Gustav made landfall west of the city. By the next day, the National Hurricane Center had downgraded Gustav to a tropical depression, but heavy rains and the threat of tornados lingered in the region.

Katrina's Lessons Helped Louisiana: Church Leader

September 2, 2008, BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana residents spent Labor Day nervously watching trees and power lines fall as Hurricane Gustav lashed the state with high winds and rain. Shining through the rain, a large red neon sign on Interstate 10 asks "God Bless Louisiana" and that prayer seems to have been answered. The day after the storm, United Methodists in the church's Louisiana Annual (Regional) Conference are assessing damage and preparing to make a tour of the state as soon as they get clearance from law enforcement officials.

Gustav Leaves Behind Plenty of Debris for Cleanup

September 5, 2008, MARINGOUIN, La. – "Beams of Heaven As I Go" and "Thy Way O Lord" were the two hymns that the congregation at Shiloh United Methodist Church was singing on the day before Hurricane Gustav ripped off their roof. Four days following the Sunday worship service, after the winds had died down and the rain finally stopped, hymnals were still open on the waterlogged piano and colorful artwork still hung on the church's buckling paneled walls.

International News

After a 4,000km Detour, Ecumenical Delegation to Reach South Ossetia

September 5, 2008 – A pastoral delegation sent by the World Council of Churches (WCC) to Georgia and Russia has not been able to visit South Ossetia from the Georgian side of the ceasefire line. Unable to make the half-hour drive to Tskhinvali from within Georgia, they are now traveling thousands of kilometers to reach the enclave from the Russian side instead. The ecumenical delegation could not get a guarantee of safe passage from the authorities inside South Ossetia. The route should by now be a corridor for aid, but the humanitarian access stipulated by the ceasefire agreement in mid-August is apparently not being honored.

Orissa: WCC and LWF Ask for End of Violence, Solidarity

September 4, 2008 – The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) have jointly called on the Prime Minister of India requesting his intervention to end the violence in the state of Orissa. The WCC invites its member churches to join a call from Christians in India to hold a Day of Prayer and Fasting for peace and goodwill on Sunday, 7 September. In a joint letter issued today, the WCC and LWF general secretaries, Samuel Kobia and Ishmael Noko, called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and "ensure an immediate cessation of violence, the restoration of law and justice, and sanctuary for the displaced" in Orissa.

Commentary: VIM Builds Mutual Respect in U.S., Cuba

September 3, 2008, GUANABACOA, Cuba – Javier Diaz is having a busy morning. First, he must repair a hybrid church bus that has an old Russian-model body and a Toyota engine under its hood. Later, he'll change into a guayabera, the formal shirt for men in Latin America, to preach a sermon on the prophet Jonah for a midweek prayer and fasting service.

European Lutheran Church Leaders Meet in Greifswald, Germany
Focus on Common Challenges in Church Life

September 5, 2008, GREIFSWALD, Germany/GENEVA – "Called to Grow, Lead and Nurture" is the theme of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) European Church Leadership Consultation taking place in mid-September in Greifswald, Germany. At the invitation of the Evangelical Church of Pomerania (Pommersche Evangelische Kirche – PEK) and the LWF German National Committee (GNC), around 90 church leaders from Europe will discuss the common challenges and difficulties in church life for the region's LWF member churches.

Devastated by Three Storms, Hispaniola Braces for More
Episcopal Church Partners Assessing Damage, Mobilizing Aid

September 5, 2008 – Fay, Gustav, and Hanna, all tropical storms or hurricanes, have ravaged the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and at least two more storms – Ike and Josephine – could be headed into the area. "Know that you are in our prayers, and those of this whole Church," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori wrote September 5 in a message emailed to Diocese of Haiti Bishop Zache Duracin. "God never abandons us, even though the night seems long and dark." The one-two-three punch that has hit the Caribbean with more to come, is "pretty unprecedented," said Matthew St. John, Episcopal Relief and Development's program officer for Latin America and the Caribbean.