Front Page

Climate Change a Drag on Food Supply Says CWS Advocacy Head

September 23, 2009, NEW YORK CITY – In addition to degrading the environment, climate change also is contributing to declining food security and increasing poverty, particularly for women and children. That was the message from Church World Service Education and Advocacy Director Rajyashri Waghray to experts from the United Nations, NGOs, the faith community and academia, meeting in New York City to examine climate change-caused challenges to sustainable food production and to consider options for policy.

Advocates Tell Leaders ‘Global Partnership Key to Global Climate Stalemates'

September 21, 2009 NEW YORK CITY – Global partnerships are the key to resolving climate change negotiations and gaining collective commitment to capping greenhouse emissions and providing adequate adaptation funding, non-governmental organizations and small island climate change advocates told civil society, business and faith leaders in a briefing at the United Nations last week. As a prelude to this week's United Nations Week of Climate Change Action and the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, the September 16 UN briefing, in which Church World Service presented, detailed a rationale for moving "from global warming to global partnership" as the key to achieving a collective commitment to capping emissions and helping the world's most vulnerable people adapt to climate change.

Archbishop of Canterbury Backs Efforts for a World Free of Nuclear Arms

September 24, 2009 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, currently visiting the Anglican Church in Japan, today took part in an Act of Remembrance at the epicentre of the atomic bomb blast in Nagasaki. During the Act of Remembrance, Dr Williams laid flowers at the memorial and spoke about the pressing importance of working for a world free from nuclear weapons: "There are no victories in human history without their element of tragedy. Victory in human affairs always means that someone has lost ...sometimes the victory has been gained at the price of such violence that we have to say that everyone has lost. Those who have won the conflict have lost some dimension of their own life, their own welfare and integrity."

WCC President Joins Call for Action at G20 Summit

September 21, 2009 – On the eve of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA), World Council of Churches (WCC) president from North America, Rev. Dr Bernice Powell Jackson will join more than 25 Christian, Jewish and Islamic religious leaders from the United States at a 22-23 September Faith Leaders Summit to press for actions – not just words – that will help hungry and poor people lift themselves out of poverty. "Our world is facing not just a financial crisis, but a moral crisis," said Powell Jackson, who is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ (USA). "Shall we create a world based upon economically and ecologically sustainable principles which will result in abundance, dignity and security for all? That is the great moral question of our time."

NCC Revives its Commitment to Nuclear Disarmament Now

September 22, 2009, NEW YORK – The National Council of Churches, which has been relatively silent about nuclear disarmament since the end of the Cold War, has firmly renewed its opposition to proliferation with a ringing resolution. The NCC Governing Board, meeting here September 21 and 22, unanimously adopted a statement called, "Nuclear Disarmament: The Time is Now." The resolution was drafted by the Council's Justice and Advocacy Commission. "The idea for the resolution originated from the initiative of historic peace churches in Philadelphia in January," said the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC General Secretary.

Diverse Interfaith Leaders Call for Comprehensive Middle East Peace Plan

September 22, 2009 – As more than 120 heads of state and government prepare for seven days of debate at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, a diverse group of interfaith leaders are raising their voices in support of "a negotiated, sustainable resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict – a fundamental American interest" that they say crosses racial, ethnic and religious lines. The statement was drafted by Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) – a coalition of 22 Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant national church bodies, including the Episcopal Church – and signed by 30 religious leaders, including Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Faith Groups Lead Call for Immigration Reform

September 24, 2009, NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Faith communities across the U.S. are using all their gifts – from prayer to potluck dinners—to try to change the way the nation thinks about immigrants. The heated debates over the nation's health care system have spilled over into immigration issues, say advocates for immigration reform. The most publicized incident, they say, was U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson yelling, "You lie" when President Obama said extending health care to all Americans would not mean insuring illegal immigrants.

General News

New Brethren Disaster Ministries Project Site Opens in Indiana

September 25, 2009, ELGIN, IL – "We're excited to offer an additional volunteer opportunity for disaster response volunteers this fall," read an announcement from Brethren Disaster Ministries office. "The new project in Winamac, Ind., will be ready to get started the week of Sept. 27." Volunteers are needed at the new project site to help rebuild homes following destruction caused by a storm system with heavy rain that flooded the area in the winter of 2008.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Asks Leaders for Restraint, Conversation and Patience

September 23, 2009, CHICAGO – In a Sept. 23 letter to professional leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the ELCA presiding bishop urged them to engage each other "with honesty and respect" and asked that they exercise restraint, bear each other's burdens through conversation and be patient as the denomination lives into the churchwide assembly's decisions on human sexuality. Voting members at the August 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis approved a series of proposals to change the denomination's ministry policies, including a change to allow Lutherans in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, clergy, deaconesses and diaconal ministers.

Former ELCA Presiding Bishop Calls for ‘Churchmanship'

September 24, 2009, CHICAGO – What now lies before the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is not human sexuality but "churchmanship," according to the Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom. He served two terms as the first presiding bishop of the ELCA beginning in 1987. Although the word "churchmanship" lacks inclusiveness, after "years of searching for a better one, ‘churchmanship' still seems best," Chilstrom wrote in a Sept. 21 e-mail message to colleagues, called "The Real ‘CORE' Issue – Churchmanship." Chilstrom wrote the message in anticipation of a Sept. 25-26 meeting of the Lutheran Coalition for Reform (CORE) – an organization of ELCA pastors, lay people, congregations and reform groups.

Ethics Are ‘Missing Dimension' in Climate Debate, Says IPCC Chairman

September 23, 2009, NEW YORK – The inequities and injustices that are likely to occur on a global level because of climate change mean that world leaders must carefully examine the moral and ethical dimensions of global warming, said Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "The impacts of climate change are going to be inequitable, unequal, and severe in many parts of the world," said Dr. Pachauri, who spoke today at a breakfast meeting at the Baha'i International Community offices. "We have to think at a much higher level. And I think this is where ethics comes in so critically as the missing dimension in this debate," he said.

Archbishop of Canterbury: Education Based Only on Reason Is Incomplete

September 22, 2009 – As part of his week-long visit to Japan for the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Anglican Church in Japan, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams gave a lecture on Monday 21sr to students and academics at Rikkyo Gaukin University, an Anglican university in Tokyo. In his lecture, the Archbishop said that the recent record of the purely rational and secular approach to intellectual and academic life is problematic: "...the sober testimony of the twentieth century is that the rationality of secular thinking is no guarantee of universal understanding and reconciliation. A rationality that has brought us into the age of nuclear weaponry and global economic meltdown invites some sharp questions, to put it mildly.”

Lutheran Youth Say Disagreement Is an Opportunity to Show Love

September 25, 2009, CHICAGO – When it comes to human sexuality, young people hold as many different opinions as their older counterparts, but Christian youth have something stronger than their opinions. The board of the Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO) of the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) wanted to get that point across in a letter to its synod council. "The ELCA recently adopted a social statement regarding human sexuality. This has led to significant unrest among parts of our church body," said a letter the synod's LYO board.

Older Adult Conference Connects with Wisdom and Legacy

September 25, 2009 ELGIN, IL – The Church of the Brethren held its 10th National Older Adult Conference (NOAC) on Sept. 7-11 at Lake Junaluska (N.C.) Conference and Retreat Center. The event is for people 50 and older. Registered participants numbering 928 came from across the country to attend. The theme of "Legacies of Wisdom: Weaving Old and New" (1 Corinthians 2:6-7) and images of weaving informed the conference. Keynote speakers and preachers addressed the connections between legacies of life, faith, and wisdom, and ways to create new possibilities of hope.

District Convention Input Added to Task Force Report

September 24, 2009 – Responses from delegates at the 2009 LCMS district conventions will be used by the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Synod Structure and Governance to further refine its proposals for restructure prior to completing its final report, due in the Office of the President Oct. 15. The document deals with relationships between congregations and districts, including consideration of the number of districts; relationships between congregations and the national Synod, including the number of boards and commissions and national staff; congregational representation at district and national conventions; and frequency and function of district and national conventions.

ELCA Congregation Seeks Equal Opportunities for Calling Pastors

September 23, 2009, CHICAGO – Members of Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Chicago, decided to take matters into their own hands and rewrite their constitution as a matter of justice. According to the congregation's president, Stephanie Frank, "All people are entitled to an equal opportunity to serve at every point in the life of the church." A congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Ebenezer is in search of a pastor. Its 250 members want someone who can engage in mission and ministry in the neighborhood. Located in Chicago's Andersonville area, Ebenezer has a diverse membership with "a good mixture of families.

Ecclesiastical Trial Court Denies Bishop's Request for Dismissal of Charges or New Trial

September 25, 2009, PENNSYLVANIA – An ecclesiastical trial court has refused to dismiss charges against Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison or grant him a new trial on those charges. In a September 24 decision released to the public the next day, the church's Court for the Trial of a Bishop said that "the newly discovered evidence is not material to the evidence on which the court concluded that [Bennison] failed to respond appropriately once he knew that his brother had sexually abused a minor."

Diocese May Consider Reuniting with Neighbor

September 25, 2009, PITTSBURGH – If its diocesan convention agrees in October, the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh will begin studying the possibility of reuniting with its neighbor the Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Resolution 4, due to be considered during Pittsburgh's Oct. 16-17 diocesan convention, would call for a committee to study "the potential long-term impact of such reunion on the financial and administrative resources of the two dioceses." The resolution adds that Northwestern Pennsylvania Bishop Sean Rowe and the diocesan standing committee would be invited to participate in such a study.

Young Evangelists Reach out at Bars, Block Parties

September 23, 2009 – Some nights, they stand outside bars offering free hamburgers and soft drinks. At other times, they can be found changing the oil on cars or having neighborhood block parties. They are members of The Remedy, a church that stresses community service projects and often uses unconventional means to reach out to those ages 18 to 35. "We've kind of adopted a 1950s, 1960s culture in the churches," says the Rev. Jeremy Laduke, pastor of The Remedy. "And we now have a generation that is totally removed from that."

Ecumenical News

Lutherans, Catholics, Methodists Mark 10th Anniversary of Joint Declaration

September 24, 2009, CHICAGO – Representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) will join Catholics and Methodists here Oct. 1 in a 10th anniversary celebration of a historic agreement, the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ). Leaders of the LWF and the Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on Oct. 31, 1999, in Augsburg, Germany, after years of theological dialogue. It was affirmed in 2006 by the World Methodist Council.

Korean Churches: WCC 10th Assembly a Gift from God

September 23, 2009 – Korean churches already experience the positive impact of hosting the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Busan in 2013. The prospect of the WCC Assembly coming to Korea is already providing churches in the country with an opportunity to strengthen interdenominational cooperation, as was evidenced in a thanksgiving service held in Seoul on 16 September. The service, which was hosted by the Preparatory Committee for Korea's Bid to Host the WCC Assembly, and a time of celebration that followed were attended by more than 1000 participants from nearly all Christian confessions.

Communique from the International Commission of the Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue

September 23, 2009 – The International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue met in Chania, Crete, from Tuesday, 15th September to Sunday 20th September 2009, as guests of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, at the Metropolis of Kydonia and Apokoronos. The Commission wishes to record its gratitude to His Eminence Metropolitan Damaskinos of Kydonia and Apokoronos (Chania) and his staff for the warmth of their hospitality and for their assistance with many aspects of the meeting. Greetings were received from Metropolitan Damaskinos and from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the local civil authorities.

Archbishop Sends Greetings to Muslim Communities for Eid Ul Fitr

September 21, 2009, ENGLAND – Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has sent his greetings to Muslim communities for the festival of Eid ul Fitr, marking the end of Ramadhan. Williams' greeting "celebrates the many positive examples of Christian/Muslim encounter and engagement with the wider common good in the past year," according to a Lambeth Palace press release.

Spanish News

Descomposición Social Preocupa a Líderes Religiosos

21 septiembre 2009, MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Las fiestas patrias por el aniversario de la Declaración de la Independencia de Nicaragua, de la Colonia española, se vieron ensombrecidas por la ola de violencia que dejó un saldo de 15 muertes, entre accidentes de tránsito, homicidios, tres ahogados y el ataque entre pandillas, junto a los problemas intrafamiliares que sumaron tres fallecidos. En las últimas semanas la sociedad nicaragüense se visto alarmada ante el incremento de la violencia y la pérdida, cada día, de la seguridad ciudadana.

Religious Liberty News

State Supreme Court Rules in Long-Running Pawley's Island Case

September 23, 2009, SOUTH CAROLINA – The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned a lower court decision in favor of the minority of the members of the parish of All Saints, Waccamaw in Pawley's Island, South Carolina who remained loyal to the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of South Carolina. The Supreme Court said in its September 18 opinion that the majority of the parish members could retain the parish's property after they left the Episcopal Church and the diocese in 2003 to affiliate with the breakaway Anglican Mission in America (AMiA).

New York Metro News

LONG ISLAND: Provenzano Becomes Diocese's Bishop Coadjutor

September 21, 2009, GREENVALE, NY – The Rev. Lawrence Provenzano was ordained and consecrated as bishop coadjutor in the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island September 19. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was the chief consecrator for the service, which took place at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Greenvale, New York. Other consecrators included Newark Bishop Mark Beckwith, New Jersey Bishop George Councell, Long Island Assisting Bishop David Joslin and Western Massachusetts Bishop Gordon Scruton. Beckwith and Councell served with Provenzano in Western Massachusetts before being elected bishop.

U.S. Catholic Nuns Face Vatican Probe

September 19, 2009 – For 156 years, the Dominican nuns based in Amityville have run schools, staffed hospitals and ministered to the poor, the infirm and the lonely. Now, like Catholic nuns across the United States, they find themselves the focus of an investigation by the Vatican, and this month they will begin receiving questionnaires on their prayer lives, missions and finances. In an unprecedented move, Rome is scrutinizing not only the sisters but their national umbrella organization. The president-elect of that group, Sister Mary Hughes, also is the head of Long Island's Dominican Sisters of Amityville. The Vatican has said little about why it launched the overall inquiry, called an "Apostolic Visitation," which is expected to last two years.

National News

NGOS, Business and Science Leaders to Senate: Adaptation Funding Means Business
'U.S. Policy Can Shape Adaptation on the Ground for the Poor,' Says CWS Advocacy Director

September 19, 2009 WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. financing for climate change adaptation in developing countries will be a multiplier, generating domestic business growth and a "pathway to global climate change agreement," a group of business, faith, NGO, environmental and development sector leaders told U.S. senators in a policy briefing in Washington last week (Sept 14). The Senate briefing's presenters emphasized the urgency of adaptation financing and proposed appropriate mechanisms to support the most vulnerable in some of the poorest countries. Rajyashri Waghray, Director of Education and Advocacy, Church World Service, and Lily Dodge, Senior Social Research Analyst and Manager, Calvert Investments, were among the presenters.

International News

Joint Communiqué: African Leadership Consultation on HIV/AIDS and Related MDGs

September 23, 2009 – We, former African Heads of State, religious leaders and non-governmental organisations engaged in combating HIV and AIDS, convening in Nairobi, Kenya, under the auspices of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), have engaged in a consultative dialogue on HIV and AIDS in Africa in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The purpose of this dialogue is to develop a Network of African Leaders Against HIV and AIDS, committed to providing necessary leadership to develop a dedicated long-term advocacy drive to mobilise an effective response to HIV and AIDS and to encourage active citizens as agents of change in Africa.

Middle East News

Pope Announces a Synod on the Church in the Middle East

September 19, 2009, VATICAN CITY – This morning in Castelgandolfo Benedict XVI received Catholic patriarchs and major archbishops from the Oriental Churches, in response to a request the prelates had made on various occasions in the past. Participating in the meeting were Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, alongside the "Heads and Fathers" of all the Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with the Bishop of Rome.

Reviews

Author Traces a Spiritual Odyssey to a Personal Encounter with God

September 24, 2009, NEW YORK – A member of the National Council of Churches Interfaith Relations Commission – a convert from Islam to Christianity – has concluded that a personal encounter with God can be powerful enough to transcend any one faith tradition. "It's not really about any one religion or belief system," writes Dr. Samir Selmanovic, co-founder of Faith House Manhattan and author of It's Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian (Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint, $24.95) published this month. "It's really all about God, who is about all of us and cannot be owned by any of us." Selmanovic, who grew up in Croatia where he says he was "culturally Muslim, though atheist in practice," found Jesus almost as an act of rebellion during his years as a conscript in the Communist army of Yugoslavia.