Front Page

Zoning Battles Endanger Religious Freedom

August 31, 2010 – Forty families in a central Tennessee community put together a plan for building a house of worship close to where they lived. The 12,000-square-foot facility would be set on 14 acres near a park, with neighbors on only one side. There would be relatively modest worship space for 325 people and a fellowship hall and kitchen for meals and gatherings. Religious communities grew like this for centuries.

Glenn Beck's God Is Not My God

September 2, 2010 – Like many Americans I watched the news last weekend and saw the pictures of people gathered on the mall in Washington, D.C., at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial. There conservative talk show host Glenn Beck stood at Lincoln's feet, looked out across the crowd and declared, "America today begins to turn back to God." As I listened to him speak, it suddenly became clear to me. Glenn Beck and I may both call ourselves Christians, but we don't worship the same Christ or the same God.

A Call for Solidarity on 9/11 from the Board of Trustees
Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions

September 2, 2010 – As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches, there are competing views about the meaning of these tragic events. Across the interreligious movement, there is deep distress about the intentions of some to identify the Muslim tradition, and the Muslim community, as the villains, rather than a few radical individuals. Unfortunately, too many in the United States know little about the true aims of Islam, nor do they know that Islam is fundamentally a religion of peace and human solidarity and that the majority of Muslims around the world are peace-loving citizens who unequivocally condemn terrorism in the name of religion.

Concern over Status of Jerusalem and Future of Palestinian Christians Voiced by WCC

September 2, 2010 – The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has sent a message to the Middle East negotiators in Washington to stress the concerns of Palestinian Christians. The message conveys concern over the final status of Jerusalem, the future of the Christians there and the need for a just peace in the region. "Now is the time for a just peace," Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit says in the message from Jerusalem, where he is visiting this week with a WCC delegation. "The Christians here pray for that; all peoples here need it desperately. The time of occupation and violence must end." The message also talks about the need for the final negotiations on the status of Jerusalem to involve the heads of the local churches.

UCC-Hosted Conference Explores Global Church's Impact in Confronting Racism

August 30, 2010 – How can the global church challenge racism when its manifestations take on such different forms in various places around the world? That question became central to the conversation at a UCC-hosted World Council of Churches conference on racism, where 30 participants from 15 countries gathered Aug. 26-29 in Cleveland to discuss rationale and strategies for a sustained ecumenical engagement in confronting racism and related forms of prejudice. "There is a lot of energy that comes from hearing and naming the issues," says the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, the UCC's minister for racial justice.

Time for Creation Begins with Call for Change

August 31, 2010 – In a message honouring the Day for Creation, 1 September, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I has expressed his hope that the financial and economic crisis experienced by many societies would bring about "a powerful change in direction, to a path of viable and sustainable environmental development." Churches from a broad range of countries and traditions will participate with prayers and other activities in the Time for Creation over the next 40 days.

Letter Alleges Racism in Obama Attacks

September 1, 2010 – More than 90 Christian clergy and laity have signed a letter calling for church members to speak out against racially motivated attacks against President Obama. The Rev. Gil Caldwell, a retired United Methodist pastor in Asbury Park, N.J., and one of the founders of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, wrote the letter after seeing criticism of Obama he felt went beyond the usual political sniping all presidents face. Caldwell pointed to such examples as the repeated demands to see Obama's birth certificate and the continued charges that Obama is not Christian. Caldwell also pointed to a South Carolina Republican Party activist likening Michelle Obama to a gorilla.

General News

Church of the Brethren Districts Begin Hearings on Issues of Sexuality

August 30, 2010 ELGIN, IL – Some Church of the Brethren districts have begun to hold hearings on issues of sexuality at their district conferences, and others are beginning to plan for such hearings this fall and winter, led by district delegates to the Standing Committee of the denomination's Annual Conference. The hearings are a central part of a "Special Response" process that will lead up to a decision by the 2011 Annual Conference on two items of business: "A Statement of Confession and Commitment" which originated in the 2008 Standing Committee, and "Query: Language on Same Sex Covenantal Relationships" which originated in the church's Northern Indiana District. .

Brethren Disaster Ministries Marks 5th Anniversary of Katrina

August 30, 2010 ELGIN, IL – Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Louisiana coast on Aug. 29, 2005. Five years later, the Brethren Disaster Ministries rebuilding project in St. Bernard Parish, La., is still working on rebuilding homes destroyed by Katrina. It is the sixth Brethren Disaster Ministries-run project to rebuild homes for families affected by the hurricane. Current project leaders are John and Mary Mueller and Brethren Volunteer Service worker Steve Schellenberg. Over the five years since the devastation of New Orleans and surrounding Gulf coastline, volunteers working through Brethren Disaster Ministries have given thousands of hours to rebuild hundreds of homes.

B'nai B'rith Commends Latter-day Saints
for Safeguards on "Proxy Baptisms" of Holocaust Victims

September 1, 2010, WASHINGTON – B'nai B'rith International commends The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and representatives of Holocaust survivors for coming to an amicable agreement regarding the troubling issue of posthumous baptisms of Holocaust victims. The practice by individual Mormons of proxy baptisms of Holocaust victims has been an ongoing source of contention between the LDS Church and the Jewish community.

Brethren Hold 40th Annual Dunker Church Service at Antietam Battlefield

August 30, 2010, ELGIN, IL – Frank Ramirez, pastor of Everett (Pa.) Church of the Brethren and author of many Brethren Press titles, will preach for the 40th Annual Dunker Church Service at the Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Md., on Sept. 19. The service is to start at 3 p.m. It is sponsored by area Churches of the Brethren. The worship service will be held in the restored Mumma Meeting House on the battlefield site, commonly referred to today as the Dunker Church.

100 Years Ago, Historic Journeys Transformed a Fledgling Faith

August 30, 2010, HAIFA, Israel – One hundred years ago, ‘Abdu'l-Baha, the eldest son of Baha'u'llah and His appointed successor as head of the Baha'i Faith, embarked on a series of journeys which, over the course of three years, took Him from the Holy Land to the Nile delta, from the Pacific coast of North America to the banks of the River Danube. Despite His advanced age, ‘Abdu'l-Baha set out in August 1910 to present Baha'u'llah's teachings about the dawning of a new age of peace and unity, to high and low alike.

Editorial Page

Editorial: Managing God's Creation with Egalitarianism in Mind

August 29, 2010 – A report published by the Executive Yuan on August 19 claimed that the wealthiest in Taiwan have 66 times more money than the poorest. Civil rights groups across Taiwan responded to this report by calling a press conference to urge the government to protect the right to life of Taiwanese people. They emphasized the gap between rich and poor was widening too fast, people's incomes were decreasing while the amount of taxes they paid kept increasing, and berated the government for sitting on its hands in the face of these alarming trends.

Spanish News

Amar Al Prójimo En Oriente Medio

2 septiembre 2010 – Cruzar los puestos de control militar constituye un modo de vida para los palestinos que viven en Palestina e Israel. Cada día decenas de miles de palestinos pasan, armados de paciencia, por torniquetes y estrechos pasillos vallados para ir al trabajo, a la escuela o a casa: una experiencia humillante. Se puede decir que para los israelíes los puestos de control, indirectamente, también forman parte de su vida diaria.

Delegación Ecuménica De Los Estados Unidos
Documentó Crisis Humanitaria De Los Desplazados

30 agosto 2010, COLOMBIA – La Mesa Nacional el Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias-CLAI Colombia recibió y acompañó la visita de una delegación ecuménica de los Estados Unidos que dialogó con iglesias miembros del CLAI y de la Red Ecuménica de Colombia, con representantes de organizaciones defensoras de derechos humanos, con personas desplazadas víctimas de la violencia, con el señor Ministro de Defensa, con la senadora Piedad Córdoba y con la Conferencia Episcopal. En cada uno de estos diálogos la comisión pudo registrar y documentar la crisis humanitaria de los y las desplazadas.

Critica La Iglesia Inefectividad Del Gobierno En Varios Asuntos

1 septiembre 2010, CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA – Inefectividad ante la violencia, la impunidad, la debilidad de la Salud Pública y el quehacer político del país, junto a la deficiente asistencia a los damnificados de la tormenta Ághata, son algunos de los aspectos criticados por la Conferencia Episcopal de Guatemala, al concluir su reunión plenaria extraordinaria el pasado 27 de agosto. Así mismo los obispos mostraron su preocupación por el deterioro ecológico de la nación y la debilidad del Estado en su capacidad de dar respuestas claras a las necesidades más perentorias del pueblo.

Carta De FAIE Propone Igualdad Religiosa, Advirtiendo Contradicciones
en El Proyecto Que Se Debate Legislativamente

30 agosto 2010, BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – La Federación Argentina de Iglesias Evangélicas (FAIE) hizo pública esta mañana una carta donde establece sus líneas de trabajo para hacer efectiva la igualdad religiosa en Argentina en el contexto de los Bicentenarios (2010-2016). En el texto se solicita el rechazo del proyecto de "Libertad Religiosa" presentado por la diputada Hotton, la derogación de la Ley 21.745 dictada durante la dictadura y aún vigente, la apertura de un período de debate sobre la legislación que sobre este tema se desea establecer antes del 9 de julio del 2016 y una igualdad religiosa sin privilegios.

Iglesias Lamentan Masacre De Migrantes En México

2 septiembre 2010, SAN SALVADOR – Mientras que Honduras recibía los restos de sus compatriotas, víctimas de una masacre en México, "El Salvador debe esperar a comparar los ADN de las victimas salvadoreñas para entregarlos a sus parientes," dijo el Juan José García, Vice-canciller salvadoreño, durante una conferencia de prensa. Setenta y dos migrantes, entre estos 14 salvadoreños y 16 hondureños, fueron masacrados en San Fernando, Tamaulipas, México, la semana pasada.

Observatorio Ecuménico Del CLAI Condena Represión
a Profesores Y Estudiantes Universitarios

30 agosto 2010, TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – El Observatorio Ecuménico para los Derechos Humanos en Honduras del Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias (OEDHCLAI), emitió un comunicado de condena a "la forma genocida, violenta, brutal e inhumana en que han sido reprimidos los profesores y estudiantes en la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán (UPNFM)," el pasado viernes, al intervenir centenares de unidades policiales y militares. El texto califica de "tarde oscura, negra para Tegucigalpa, cuando la capital de la República ha sido militarizada por centenares de efectivos policiales y militares, que han masacrado a centenares de docentes, estudiantes universitarios, niños y mujeres.

Consulta Sobre Racismo Y Casteismo Analiza
Las Razones Para Un Compromiso Ecuménico

1 septiembre 2010, ESTADOS UNIDOS – El Consejo Mundial de Iglesias (CMI) en conjunto con la Iglesia Unida de Cristo de los Estados Unidos (UCC), convocó a 25 líderes y líderesas de Iglesias activamente comprometidos con comunidades afro-descendientes e indígenas a nivel mundial del 26 al 29 de Agosto, en Cleveland, Ohio. El encuentro fue organizado para dar seguimiento a la Conferencia sobre Racismo y las distintas formas de discriminación y exclusión, en conmemoración del 40 aniversario del programa de Combate al Racismo y el Casteísmo del CMI, efectuado en Doorn, Netherlands (Países Bajos), en Junio del 2009.

CLAI Propone Encuentro Binacional
Para Racionalizar Ayuda Humanitaria a Refugiados

3 septiembre 2010, QUITO, Ecuador – El programa de registros, incentivado por el gobierno ecuatoriano en las cinco provincias de la frontera norte del Estado, detectó este año la presencia de 28 mil refugiados colombianos en el país, dentro de ellos personas víctimas de la explotación sexual y del narcotráfico controlado por grupos colombianos armados.

Presiones De Obispos Intentan Que Los Sacerdotes
No Participen De La Vida Política Del País

30 agosto 2010, ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay – Los sacerdotes que pretenden colgar sus hábitos para dedicarse a la vida política del país o a ejercer cargos de funcionarios públicos, son sometidos a una fuerte presión por parte de la jerarquía eclesial católica, tal como ocurriera, en aquel entonces, con el hoy presidente Fernando Lugo, por parte de la curia vaticana.

El Tiempo Para La Creación Comienza Con Un Llamamiento Al Cambio

1 septiembre 2010 – En un mensaje que ensalza el Día de la Creación del 1 de septiembre, el Patriarca Ecuménico Bartolomeo I ha expresado su esperanza de que la crisis financiera y económica vivida por muchas sociedades provoque "un poderoso cambio de dirección hacia una senda de desarrollo medioambiental viable y sostenible." Iglesias de una gran variedad de países y tradiciones participarán con oraciones y otras actividades en el Tiempo para la Creación durante los próximos cuarenta días.

Arzobispo De Suecia Visita El País En Viaje De Cooperación Y Hermandad

3 septiembre 2010, SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica – La Iglesia Luterana Costarricense (ILCO) recibirá en este mes, la visita del Arzobispo de la Iglesia Sueca, Anders Wejryd, quién estará firmando con el Obispo Melvin Jiménez el convenio de Cooperación y Hermandad entre ambas iglesias. Es la primera vez en este siglo que un Arzobispo de la Iglesia Sueca visita Costa Rica.

Religious Liberty News

SAN JOAQUIN: Diocese Sues for Return of Stockton Church Property

September 1, 2010 – The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin on Aug. 30 filed a lawsuit against the former members of St. John the Evangelist Church, Stockton, to seek return of the church property. St. John's was among 40 congregations whose members disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church in 2007, first realigning with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and later with the Anglican Church in North America. They refused to relinquish church property.

New York Metro News

ELCA Synod Bishop Comments on New York Muslim Center Proposal

August 31, 2010, CHICAGO – Regardless of whether people approve or disapprove of a possible Muslim community center or mosque in lower Manhattan, a synod bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) wrote in an Aug. 30 public statement that this is a time for all to be sensitive to one another and for Christians to learn more about Islam. The Rev. Robert A. Rimbo, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod, wrote a commentary that appears on the synod's website about the controversial proposal to build the center near the site of the New York City's World Trade Center, destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

New York Bishop Supports Islamic Center

September 2, 2010, NEW YORK – The United Methodist bishop for metropolitan New York has announced his support for the building of an Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero. To deny such religious freedom, Bishop Jeremiah Park said Sept. 1, "makes us less as Americans and weaker as a nation." Organizers of the proposed Islamic cultural center in Lower Manhattan, which won the unanimous approval of New York City zoning authorities, say their goal is to promote tolerance and community cohesion. Some opponents consider the close location to the former World Trade Center site to be insensitive to those who lost loved ones there.

National News

North Carolina ELCA Congregations Affected Little by Hurricane Earl

September 3, 2010, CHICAGO – It appears that Hurricane Earl did little damage to Eastern North Carolina Sept. 3. The eye of the storm remained offshore, and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) synod and congregational leaders in affected areas reported no significant damage. Hurricane Earl was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 80 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving to the north-northeast this afternoon at 21 miles per hour.

ELCA Synod Bishop, LDR Director, Preach at Katrina Events in New Orleans

August 31, 2010, CHICAGO – Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) were guest preachers at services in New Orleans Aug. 29, commemorating the fifth anniversary of the devastation Hurricane Katrina brought to the city and the Gulf Coast region around it. The Rev. Michael W. Rinehart, bishop of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, spoke at an interfaith prayer service at New Orleans' historic St. Louis Cathedral. Rinehart focused his comments on generosity, transformation and hospitality.

International News

Christians Help Foreigners Living in Taiwan Break down Cultural Barriers

August 29, 2010 – It's been more than 5 years since Christian Loving Neighbors Association has been running a help center for foreign spouses to help communities in Tainan County become more accepting of other cultures and get rid of stereotypes about new immigrants. The association has worked with several townships in Tainan County in the past few years and an outreach meeting was held recently at Lung-Tan Community Center in Yong-Kang City.

UN Panel Criticizes Iran's Repression of Minorities

August 30, 2010, GENEVA – A United Nations panel of experts has expressed concern over Iran's continued repression of ethnic and religious minorities, including members of the Baha'i Faith. In conclusions issued Friday, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) questioned why Iranian minorities – such as Arabs, Azeris, Balochis, Kurds and Baha'is – are so poorly represented in Iran's public life. The Baha'i International Community has welcomed the panel's findings that categorize Iran's persecution of Baha'is as a matter of discrimination based on race, ethnicity or religion.

LCMS School Set to Open next Year in Vietnam

September 2, 2010 – If all goes according to plan, The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod will open its third Asian international school – in Hanoi, Vietnam – in fall 2011. The other two schools are in Hong Kong and Shanghai, China. Concordia International School Hanoi (CISH) received a green light from the Vietnam government in August. But the school's planners are still negotiating for rental property – ideally, some 27,000 square feet of available office space that could be converted into classrooms. At one potential site, the school would use the first two or three stories of a 12-story building.

CPC Urged to Reach Out, Provide Gasoline to Ravaged Namasiya Area

August 29, 2010 – "Morakot victims living in Kaohsiung County's Namasiya Township have to travel down the mountain to a gas station in Jiasian Township every week to get buckets of gasoline. The trip takes about 5 to 6 hours. Is this another underhanded government tactic forcing us to relocate?" asked Morakot Care Team spokesperson, Mayaw Biho. Mayaw Biho explained that last year's Typhoon Morakot had destroyed roads leading up to Namasiya and Chinese Petroleum Corporation (CPC) trucks couldn't drive up to the township to deliver gas.

ELCA Commits Additional $110,000 for Pakistan Floods

September 1, 2010, CHICAGO – International Disaster Response (IDR) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) announced Aug. 31 it has committed an additional $110,000 to respond to human needs in Pakistan, where widespread flooding from monsoons has greatly affected the country. The ELCA will provide $50,000 to Church World Service (CWS), New York, for mobile health clinics in Pakistan, and it will provide $60,000 to Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Baltimore, to be sent to United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)/Muslim AID.

ELCA Missionary Witnesses Miracles in Liberia

August 30, 2010, CHICAGO – Dr. Edna E. Johnson wanted one more great adventure in life. After a 28-year career instructing nursing students at the University of Connecticut, 73-year-old Johnson became a volunteer missionary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and moved to Liberia. There she witnessed miracles. "I knew about miracles, but I had never seen a miracle," she said. "Maybe I'm a person of little faith," Johnson told the ELCA News Service.

Bishops Warn Media Law Would Restrict Press Freedom

September 2, 2010, CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops in South Africa have urged the government to withdraw and redraft a proposed media law that critics say would allow authorities to classify virtually any official information as secret. "We believe that the bill violates the spirit of openness and accountability that is so necessary to underpin the constitution's provisions on good governance, essential for a healthy democracy," said South African Cardinal Wilfrid Napier in an Aug. 31 statement.

Middle East News

Comment from the WCC General Secretary on the Killings in Hebron

September 1, 2010 – The Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, condemns the killings of the four Israeli settlers near Hebron in the West Bank on Tuesday and expresses his condolences to the affected families. He rejects any use of violence as a means to gain the much-desired and needed peace for this region. "At a time when Palestinian and Israeli leaders are beginning negotiations, the extremists who encourage and legitimize violence must not be allowed to succeed," said Tveit in a statement.

Loving Your Neighbour in the Middle East

August 31, 2010 – Military checkpoints are a way of life for Palestinians in Palestine and Israel. Each day tens of thousands of Palestinians move patiently through turnstiles and narrow caged walkways to go to work, school or home. It is a humiliating experience. For the Israelis, it could be said that the checkpoints are also indirectly a part of their daily life. It is their sons and daughters who watch as the Palestinians move through the checkpoints to go home, to work, school or worship.

People in the News

Raimon Panikkar, ‘Apostle of Inter-faith Dialogue,' Dies

August 31, 2010 – Professor Raimon Panikkar, one of the greatest scholars of the 20th century in the areas of comparative religion, theology, and inter-religious dialogue, died at his home in Tavertet, near Barcelona, Spain, Aug. 26. He was 91. Panikkar taught and lived in the United States from 1966-1987 and was known to generations of students here and around the world through both his lectures and his many books.

Randall Giles, Episcopal Missionary and Ethnomusicologist, Dies at 60

August 31, 2010 – Randall Giles, composer, ethnomusicologist, and an Episcopal Church missionary in India, died Aug. 27 at a hospital in Pondicherry following a brief illness and a heart attack. He was 60. Since July 2000, Giles had been serving as director of the Institute for Indian Christianity and the Arts, a center that he helped to found. Based in Chennai, India, Giles "shared his love for music and liturgy in India and other parts of Asia" as a missionary of the Episcopal Church.

Reviews

Author: More Teens Becoming ‘Fake' Christians

September 1, 2010 – If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning: Your child is following a "mutant" form of Christianity, and you may be responsible. Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls "moralistic therapeutic deism." Translation: It's a watered-down faith that portrays God as a "divine therapist" whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem. Dean is a minister, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and the author of "Almost Christian," a new book that argues that many parents and pastors are unwittingly passing on this self-serving strain of Christianity.