Front Page

Lutherans, Jews, Muslims Gather for Prayer after Shooting in Binghamton

April 6, 2009, CHICAGO – Lutherans, Jews, Muslims and others seeking to "cling to their faith" in a time of tragedy came together for a prayer vigil April 4 at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Binghamton, N.Y. The church is located a few blocks away from the American Civic Association, where 41-year-old Jiverly Wong shot and killed 13 people before taking his own life. Redeemer is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "When something like this happens, we come together (as a) community and cling to our faith," said the Rev. Michele C. Fischer, Holy Nativity Lutheran Church, Endicott, N.Y. About 130 people attended the vigil. Fischer said the shooting at the civic association "deeply affected the entire neighborhood."

CBS Special Looks at Religion's Impact on Poverty

April 9, 2009, NEW YORK – United Methodists know that poverty and disease go hand-in-hand. That's why an effort to provide inexpensive bed nets as protection against malaria quickly captured the imagination of church members across the connection. United Methodist Bishop Thomas Bickerton, the denominational spokesperson for the Nothing But Nets campaign, is among those featured on an interfaith television special, "Poverty: A Time for Sharing," which will be broadcast April 26 on the CBS network. Check with local stations for the exact time.

Continue Refugee Resettlement; Reform Program Agencies Say
A Joint Statement from Church World Service, Episcopal Migration
Ministries and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

April 9, 2009, NEW YORK – Since it was established under the Refugee Act of 1980, the U.S. refugee program has been and remains one of our government's best endeavors. In partnership with community-based social service organizations and countless volunteers, it has saved the lives of millions of people fleeing persecution and war, extending protection to people whose only chance to live in safety is resettlement to the United States. These former refugees now are enriching our nation culturally and economically.

Minneapolis Cathedral Ready to Partner with New Cuban Diocese

April 6, 2009 – If a plan to divide the Episcopal Church in Cuba (Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba) into two dioceses succeeds, the new eastern diocese will not begin its new life in isolation. It will benefit from an international Anglican partnership years in the making. St. Mark's Cathedral, Minneapolis, has accepted an invitation by interim Cuban Bishop Miguel Tamayo-Zaldivar to establish a formal companion relationship with the new diocese. St. Mark's has pledged money – $100,000 over five years – and a continuation of annual mission trips to the island.

Virginia: Diocese, Episcopal Church Ask State Supreme Court to Review Property Rulings

April 8, 2009 – The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church each asked the state Supreme Court April 7 to review a Fairfax County Court judge's rulings in a series of church property lawsuits. The diocese said in a news release that is appealing for the review on a number of grounds, including a challenge to the constitutionality of Virginia's one-of-a-kind "Division Statute" (Section 57-9(A)), which dates to the Civil War and is triggered when there is a so-called "division" of a church or religious society, and the rulings of the Circuit Court in applying the law. The litigation involves nine Episcopal parishes of the diocese which the majority of members and clergy left to form congregations of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).

Easter Message

National Council of Churches Easter Message

April 7, 2009 – "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us." – I John 4:18-19 Dear Sisters and Brothers: Grace and peace to each of you as we approach the holiest time of the Christian year. Easter is celebrated in the Western tradition on April 12, and Pascha in the Orthodox tradition on April 19. As we reflect on our Lord's passion and crucifixion, we are reminded that so many of God's children are burdened by suffering.

General News

Churches Need Courage to Welcome Warriors

April 9, 2009, NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A young man knocks softly on a pastor's door. "Sir, do you have a moment?" His bearing and haircut alert the pastor that the young man is probably a soldier who has returned from war. The next few minutes are critical if the pastor wants to see this man in church again.

Immigrants Find Legal Help at Clinic

April 8, 2009, NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 18-year-old woman in Katherine Esquivel's office is hunched over the table and nervously wringing her hands. She speaks almost no English and hesitates to utter the few words she does know. Police arrested her during a recent raid at a Chattanooga, Tenn., poultry plant, where she had been working illegally for five years. She now faces deportation back to Guatemala. Her only chance of staying in the United States sits across the table from her in this spare room at Belmont United Methodist Church.

Budget Reductions Impact ELCA's Engagement Overseas

April 9, 2009, CHICAGO – A significant decline in financial resources for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) led to budget reductions for the churhwide organization, particularly for ELCA Global Mission. The reduction will affect the church's ministry overseas. ELCA Global Mission reduced its budget by $3.6 million or 11.4 percent. More than 40 percent of the unit's budget is made up of funds raised through the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.

Joy, Hope and Excitement Surround Formal Reorganization of Diocese of Quincy
Presiding Bishop Warmly Welcomed to April 4 Synod

April 4, 2009 – Deputies to a special synod meeting of the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy acted with dispatch on Saturday, April 4 as they quickly and unanimously elected new leadership, approved a diocesan budget and elected a provisional bishop. The actions were necessary after a majority of deputies at the 2008 annual synod voted to leave the Episcopal Church and realign with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. Deputies elected the Right Rev. John Clark Buchanan, retired bishop of the Diocese of West Missouri, as provisional bishop of the Diocese of Quincy.

Fallbrook Congregation to Return to Church on Easter
A ‘Resurrection Moment' for St. John's, Says Bishop Mathes

April 9, 2009, SAN DIEGO – After meeting in a local community center for two and a half years, members of St. John's Episcopal Church in Fallbrook in the Diocese of San Diego will celebrate Easter back in their church home. "This is a great moment – a resurrection moment – for the people of St. John's. They've been meeting there since 1891 and can tell you stories after stories of holy moments in that sacred space," said Bishop Jim Mathes of San Diego in a telephone interview on April 9. Instead of officiating at the St. Paul's Cathedral, as is customary on Easter, Mathes will instead be at St. John's 10 a.m. April 12 celebration.

Hunger Program Receives Funding to Fulfill Grant Requests

April 9, 2009, ELGIN, IL – The Church of the Brethren's Domestic Hunger Matching Grant program has received an additional $30,000 from the denomination's Global Food Crisis Fund as well as approximately $30,000 in donations in response to a direct fundraising appeal. The matching grants are requested by congregations to aid local food banks and food pantries in communities across the United States. The program has offered grants of up to $500 to match congregations' contributions for local food pantries and soup kitchens during the first quarter of 2009.

ABC Network to Air NCC Greek Orthodox Special: ‘Pascha: the Resurrection of Christ'

April 7, 2009, NEW YORK – The National Council of Churches will present its Easter special, Pascha: The Resurrection of Christ, a program highlighting the Orthodox Christian observance of Easter, on ABC affiliates nationwide this month. The program, produced by Greek Orthodox Telecommunications and sponsored by FAITH: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism, highlights Holy and Great Week, focusing on the deeply moving and ancient services that recount the Gospel narrative leading to the Death and Resurrection of Christ. Archbishop Demetrios of America leads a procession of the faithful around the church and outside where, following the reading of the Gospel of the Resurrection, they proclaim the joyous hymn "Christ is Risen!"

A Maundy Thursday Reflection on the Cross

April 9, 2009, ELGIN, IL – The large wooden cross that sits out in front of the Brethren Disaster Ministries volunteer house in Arabi, La., has a story behind it, according to project consultant Mary Mueller. It was a gift from a man who had been quite wealthy. He had two large boats. They both were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, but he had taken scraps from them and made crosses. The back sides of the crosses were rough and worn, like the damaged boat, but the fronts were sanded, finished, and beautiful walnut wood. His comment was, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh."

ELCA Teenagers Hold Dodge Ball Event to Raise Money for World Hunger

April 8, 2009 – Some teenage Lutherans from the Chicago area learned that every 3.6 seconds someone in the world dies of hunger. "That's every time you take a breath," according to Luke Terrell, a member of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chicago. In an effort to build awareness about ending world hunger, Terrell and 30 other teenagers participated in a dodge ball tournament to raise money for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) World Hunger Appeal. Jake Kohlhaas, youth director at Edison Park Lutheran Church, Chicago, said there were two goals for the fundraising event.

Lutherans ‘Make it Simple' During the Economic Downturn

April 8, 2009 – With the economic crisis it's a good time for people to reassess their lifestyles and assets, according to Keith Mundy, assistant director for stewardship, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Mundy said economic downturns create anxiety and many people feel like they are alone. Some move from a feeling of contentment to wondering if there is enough, which can initiate a downward cycle of scarcity thinking. To help people understand they are not alone in this time of recession and to recognize God's abundance, the ELCA has produced "Make It Simple," a two-disc DVD resource that explores living more simply while offering an opportunity for people to learn to "live generously."

Covenant Design Team Sends ‘Best Possible Draft' to Anglican Consultative Council

April 8, 2009 – Calling it "the best possible draft," the group assigned to create the text for a proposed Anglican covenant released its third version April 8. The new draft is named "Ridley Cambridge" for Ridley Hall in Cambridge, England, where the Covenant Design Group met from March 30 to April 3. The draft will be formally presented to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) – the Anglican Communion's main legislative body and the only one of its Instruments of Communion with the authority to ask Anglican provinces to sign onto the covenant – for discussion at its May 1-13 meeting in Kingston, Jamaica.

Ecumenical News

ELCA, LCMS Leaders Discuss Task Force Documents, Other Topics

April 9, 2009, ST. LOUIS – Top leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), met as the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation March 24 to review proposals from the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality. The Lutheran leaders also discussed a report on LCMS synod structure and governance and other topics of interest. Discussion focused on a proposed ELCA social statement, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust," and a "Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies."

Central Ecuador: Episcopalians, Lutherans Celebrate Intercommunion Agreement

April 6, 2009 – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ecuador and the Episcopal Diocese of Central Ecuador celebrated an agreement of intercommunion and fraternity in the Lutheran Church in Quito on April 3. The celebration was held at the Evangelical Lutheran church in Quito, Ecuador's capital. The church includes a German-speaking Lutheran congregation (Evangelisch-Lutherische Adventsgemeinde), a Spanish-speaking Lutheran congregation (la Iglesia Luterana El Adviento), and an English-speaking ecumenical and liturgical community church congregation (Advent St. Nicholas Church).

Spanish News

Belgas Critican Declaraciones De Benedicto XVI Sobre El Sida

7 abril 2009, BRUSELAS, Bélgica – La Cámara de Diputados da Bélgica aprobó una resolución para una protesta oficial contra el Vaticano por causa de las afirmaciones del papa Benedicto XVI de que a Sida "es una tragedia que no puede ser superada con el dinero ni con la distribución de preservativos, que de ese modo aumenta los problemas," hecha el 17 de marzo, en su viaje por el continente africano. La decisor fue tomada el jueves 2 de abril, informó la emisora RTBF.

Piden Solidaridad Cristiana Internacional Para Superar Discriminación Basada En La Casta

7 abril 2009 – Dirigentes eclesiales y defensores de derechos humanos propugnan una mayor internacionalización de la lucha para superar la discriminación basada en la casta, un azote que afecta a centenares de millones de personas en todo el mundo. La Conferencia contra el racismo que las Naciones Unidas organizan en Ginebra a fines de abril será la primera prueba de esta estrategia.

Acuerdo De Intercomunión Entre La Iglesia Evangélica Luterana Y La Diócesis Episcopal Del Ecuador Central

6 abril 2009, QUITO, Ecuador – Con la entusiasta participación de miembros y pastores de las dos iglesias, la Iglesia Evangélica Luterana del Ecuador y la Diócesis Episcopal del Ecuador Central celebraron un acuerdo de intercomunión y fraternidad en la Iglesia Luterana en Quito el pasado viernes 3 de abril. La liturgia de celebración, elaborada principalmente por el Rvdo. Brian Turnbow, pastor de la congregación de habla inglesa, inició con una introducción del Rvdo.

Luteranos Diseñan Iglesia Para El Siglo XXI

6 abril 2009, ALEMANIA – La comunión de iglesias luteranas tendrá que colocar, necesariamente, en el centro de su trabajo cuestiones que envuelven injusticia, hambre y pobreza, declaró la obispa de la Iglesia Evangélica Luterana de Hannover, Margot Kaessmann. Ella fue una de las 120 teólogas y teólogos, procedentes de 30 países, que participaron de la consulta organizada por la Federación Luterana Mundial (FLM) sobre "Perspectivas y caminos para la transformación de la Iglesia hoy," reunida en Augsburgo, Alemania, del 25 al 31 de marzo.

Pascua Destaca La Esperanza En Tiempos De Crisis

8 abril 2009, BRASIL – La humanidad está indecisa, de momento, en un dilema: o conserva el capitalismo o inaugura un mundo nuevo. "Esa es la gran esperanza con que vamos embalados para las fiestas de Pascua que se aproximan," reflexiona el hermano marista y militante de movimientos sociales, Antonio Cechin. En el análisis del profesor de Teología y padre Leomar Antônio Brustolin,l lo que más amenaza la esperanza es la crisis. Ella hace que se pierda la confianza en el tiempo, porque no se sabe más su habrá un futuro, dice, agregando: "La crisis de sentido posibilita reflexionar el presente de la historia en la perspectiva de quien desea ‘construir la esperanza.'"

Comunicadores Religiosos Movilizados Por La Proyección Del Film "Reel Bad Arabs"

7 abril 2009, ESTADOS UNIDOS – La WACC Norteamérica (Asociación Mundial para la Comunicación Cristiana) organizó una proyección de "Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies A People," un documental innovador, realizado por el aclamado autor y crítico de los medios de comunicación, Dr. Jack Shaheen.El Dr. Shaheen estaba presente en la presentación realizada en Boston, Massachusetts, el 26 de marzo.

Turismo Alternativo En Palestina

6 abril 2009, BRASIL – Palestina es singular en varios aspectos, de modo especial por causa de su historia, religiones y culturas. Lo que torna esa región tan famosa es su rica historia humana, juntamente con el hecho de que es la patria de tres grandes religiones monoteístas: cristianismo, judaísmo e islamismo. Infelizmente, son los constantes conflictos que esa región vivencia lo que la colocan en el foco de los medios internacionales de forma negativa.

Human Rights News

Human Rights Exhibit Showing Psychiatric Abuses in Manhattan Through End of June

April 11, 2009, NEW YORK – "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death," a traveling exhibit which has shocked public and experts alike with its graphic depiction of historical and current horrors including the drugging of 10 million schoolchildren in America, the continued administration of electroshock in America, and rampant fraud in psychiatric diagnosis and "treatment," opens officially in NY with a ribbon-cutting, April 14th. The exhibit includes 14 video panels of sometimes gut-wrenching historical footage, documentation, and testimony from medical doctors, human rights experts, law enforcement officials, and victims of psychiatric brutality.

National News

UCC Leaders Hail Iowa Court Decision Legalizing Gay Marriage

April 9, 2009 – United Church of Christ leaders are hailing a unanimous decision by the Iowa Supreme Court to reject the state's ban on same-gender marriage as unconstitutional. Iowa now joins Massachusetts and Connecticut in becoming the third state to allow same-sex couples to marry. "Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa are three states whose cultures were shaped profoundly by the Congregational experience," said the Rev. John H. Thomas, UCC general minister and president. "I can't help but believe and affirm that there is a connection at work here."

ELCA Member Dies from Effects of Arsenic Poisoning in Maine

April 7, 2009 CHICAGO – Nearly six years have passed, but grief continues for a Maine congregation where 16 people were poisoned in 2003 after drinking coffee laced with arsenic by a disgruntled church member. Frances "Fran" Ruggles, 67, who drank the coffee, died April 4, ending her battle against the effects of the poisoning, according to news reports. A memorial service is planned April 8 at Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church, New Sweden. Gustaf Adolph is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ELCA New England Synod told the Associated Press that it "holds the Ruggles family close in prayers with Christian love and consolation during this time of loss." Ruggles' death fell just days before the April 27 anniversary of the poisoning. One church member died and 15 others became ill. Some continue to suffer the effects.

Ten Years Later, Lutherans Remember Columbine

April 7, 2009, CHICAGO – Anne Marie Hochhalter stepped outside of her Colorado high school in 1999 just as two seniors armed with guns began shooting. They killed 12 students and a teacher at Littleton's Columbine High School before killing themselves. Many others were injured, including Hochhalter, who was left paralyzed. In the aftermath, her mother's long struggle with depression intensified. Six months after the shootings, Carla Hochhalter walked into a pawnshop, asked to see a revolver, then shot and killed herself.

International News

Iranians Charge ELCA College Alumna with Spying

April 8, 2009, CHICAGO – When a Lutheran college in northwest Minnesota chose a commencement speaker for May graduation, it tapped alumna Roxana Saberi. The former Miss Dakota soared as a journalist, filing reports from Iran for the BBC, National Public Radio and others. Even after Iranian officials arrested Saberi and put her into its notorious Evin prison in January, the college held out hope that she'd be released in time for its graduation ceremonies. Those hopes dimmed April 8 after Tehran's deputy prosecutor charged Saberi with spying.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Asks Iranians to Release Concordia College Graduate

April 9, 2009, CHICAGO – The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and president of the Lutheran World Federation, wrote to the Iranian government April 9 and asked for the release of Roxana Saberi. Saberi is a journalist and graduate of Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. She is being held in a Tehran prison, charged April 8 with espionage. Hanson noted in his letter that "in the conversations our church has been privileged to engage around our shared Abrahamic heritage, we have learned that the light of truth is important for both Islam and Christianity.

Accompanying Dalits in Their Journey to Liberation

April 9, 2009 – When Elske van Gorkum took up her first job in a Dalit community in India, her hosts could hardly believe what they heard when she said there were no castes in her native Netherlands. "For them, a society without castes is unthinkable," van Gorkum says, "but coming from an egalitarian society, I also had difficulty at first understanding ‘untouchability.'"

Meeting of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with President Barack Obama

April 8, 2009, NEW YORK – His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew had a private meeting today with President Barack Obama. The meeting took place at the Conrad Hotel in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) at approximately 9:45 in the morning. His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America and the White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, were present at the meeting.

Taiwan Remembers Freedom of Speech Pioneer Deng Nan-Jung

April 8, 2009 – On April 7, 1989 Deng Nan-jung set himself on fire as he fought for freedom of speech in Taiwan. At the time, his daughter Deng Ju-mei was only nine-years-old. Now 29 and seeking to break her silence, Deng Ju-mei made an appearance during the memorial service commemorating the 20th anniversary of her father's death. Besides speaking to today's youth on what they can do for the country for the next decade, Deng also hoped that April 7th could officially be remembered in Taiwan as "Freedom of Speech Day."

Sri Lanka, a "Humanitarian Crisis Exceeding All Imaginable Proportions"

April 9, 2009 – An international ecumenical consultation has appealed to the government of Sri Lanka and the rebel movement Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to halt fighting in order to free tens of thousands of civilians trapped in a war zone in the north of the country. In a statement released at the end of an international ecumenical consultation held in Bangalore at the beginning of April, participants expressed "deep concern over the continuously worsening humanitarian crisis in the northern parts of Sri Lanka."

People in the News

New Welsh Bishops Consecrated

April 7, 2009 – More than 30 bishops from around the Anglican Communion joined the Archbishop of Wales and the Archbishop of Canterbury to consecrate two new Welsh bishops at Llandaff Cathedral on Saturday afternoon (April 4). Gregory Cameron, 49, was consecrated 76th Bishop of St Asaph. David Wilbourne, 53, was consecrated Assistant Bishop of Llandaff.