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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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UCC Leaders Say Urgency Is Needed in Addressing Anti-Gay Bullying October 5, 2010 – In the wake of four recent teen suicides that have sparked a national conversation about anti-gay bullying, the UCC has released a statement by its five-person Collegium of Officers encouraging people of faith to "recognize the God-given worth and dignity of every person that human judgment cannot set aside" and "work in solidarity to stop the bullying and violence against LGBT people." Minnesota Pastor Challenges Nienstedt's DVD Campaign October 5, 2010 – A Minnesota pastor has sharply criticized the campaign against same-sex marriage spearheaded by his archbishop, John C. Nienstedt, of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Fr. Michael Tegeder said, "It is very hard to make the case" that a couple living in a committed same-sex relationship poses "a grave threat to marriage," which the bishop's campaign claims. A Minnesota pastor, in a letter to the editor of a major newspaper, has sharply criticized the campaign against same-sex marriage spearheaded by his archbishop, John C. Nienstedt, of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Fr. Michael Tegeder, 62, pastor of St. Edward Parish, Bloomington, took issue with the content of a 18-minute DVD sent by Minnesota bishops to more than 400,000 Catholics throughout the state. ENGLAND: Archbishop Expresses Concern over Refugee Protection October 8, 2010 – Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on Oct. 7 expressed his concerns about the protection of refugees in the United Kingdom during a visit to the Refugee Council, the leading national charity working with asylum seekers and refugees, according to a press release from Lambeth Palace. The archbishop met asylum seekers and refugees – many of whom are destitute and waiting to be able to return safely to their own countries – at the charity's Day Centre and Advice Service in Brixton, London. The people he met were from countries where human rights abuses are still rife, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, and Sri Lanka. October 7, 2010 – After fielding phone calls from anxious parents and talking to students since Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi left a suicide note on his Facebook page and killed himself after his sexual encounter with another man was broadcast online, the campus' Episcopal Church chaplain went to see "The Social Network," the movie about Facebook's origins. "I'm still learning and my task as a chaplain in part is to continue to engage people long after this is in the headlines and try to constructively engage them in quieter times," the Rev. Greg Bezilla, chaplain of the Rutgers Episcopal Campus Ministry, told Episcopal News Service in a recent interview. Married Men of the Cloth October 7, 2010 – They met in jail in the early 1960s. Keith Forster was a young Catholic priest who spoke to women inmates at a Stockton jail. Nancy Wagner was his assistant. After he lost his sight to meningitis, she found him Bible readings in Braille. When he left Stockton to preach elsewhere, Keith and Nancy would correspond by sending each other love cassette tapes. "He changed, I changed, but the church hadn't," Nancy said. Under the pressure of canon law, which forbids the marriage of priests, Forster had to choose between tradition and his feelings for Nancy. He chose his feelings, even if that meant excommunication. World Communion of Reformed Churches Launches New Website October 8, 2010 – The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is pleased to announce the launch today of its website, www.wcrc.ch. The site is designed to share the news of WCRC's 230 member churches representing 80 million Christians in 108 countries – most in the Global South. "WCRC is grateful to the Uniting Church of Australia for its generous support of the development of the site," says Kristine Greenaway, head of the WCRC Office of Communication. "The expertise and staff time the church donated made this new site possible. It has been an exciting collaboration." The website offers news in English, French, Spanish and German about WCRC programme initiatives, reports from the Uniting General Council (Grand Rapids: 2010) and links to the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, videos, photos and WCRC promotional materials. European American Lutheran Association Holds First Biennial Meeting October 6, 2010, CHICAGO – The European American Lutheran Association (EALA) will hold its first biennial meeting Oct. 28-30 at the Wyndham Milwaukee Hotel and Conference Center, Milwaukee. The EALA is the newest and one of six ethnic associations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). "The purpose of the EALA is to dismantle racism, white privilege and white power by recognizing and confessing our individual and corporate sin and addressing institutional racism in the church," said Kathy B. Long, EALA president, Redmond, Wash. ELCA Fund for Leaders Honors 2010-2011 Scholarship Recipients October 4, 2010, CHICAGO – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Fund for Leaders in Mission honored 22 seminary students who received full-tuition scholarships for the 2010-2011 academic year. Each scholarship recipient is enrolled in one of the eight ELCA seminaries. The students were honored Oct. 1 at a banquet attended by members of the ELCA Conference of Bishops, seminary presidents, churchwide leaders and supporters of the Fund for Leaders. How Churches Can Protect Children October 7, 2010 – Once upon a time, when you needed a Sunday school teacher, a youth group volunteer or a camp counselor, you just recruited someone. When they said, "Yes," your job was done. Times have changed. Stories of child abuse make the headlines, and churches are not exempt. In 1996, General Conference delegates passed a resolution requiring all conferences to adopt policies to safeguard children and youth. Through the program, churches train and certify persons as safe workers with children and youth in United Methodist ministries. Christians and Muslims Together October 11, 2010 – Pope Benedict XVI was standing in prayer in the beautiful Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Alongside him stood Ali Bardakoglu, the president of the Religious Affairs Directorate of Turkey. The image of the two men standing side by side in silent prayer on Nov. 30, 3006, presented a stark contrast to the riotous Muslim reaction to Benedict's lecture 11 weeks earlier in Regensburg, Germany. Editorial: What the Ultimate Teacher Taught at the Ultimate Meal October 3, 2010 – A recent soap opera in Taiwan has captured people's attention. It's about the lives of parents on the verge of emotional and financial burnout as they shuttle their kids back and forth from one class to another just to raise them to be somebody someday. Though the cram school teachers featured in the program couldn't care less about the children they've been entrusted with and are too busy with their "private" lives, students and parents in the soap opera were willing to stay and turn a blind eye if the school could help them get high scores in exams. Cinco Comunidades Protestantes Rechazan El Proyecto De Ley De Cultos De La Diputada Hotton 5 octubre 2010, BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – El proyecto de "Libertad Religiosa" presentado por la diputada Cinthia Hotton, que fuera aprobado en el seno de la Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto el pasado 11 de Agosto, sigue generando reacciones desde diversas comunidades de fe. Cinco iglesias protestantes hicieron oir su voz en rechazo a la propuesta. La Federación Argentina de Iglesias Evangélicas (FAIE) fue la primera en manifestar su rechazo al proyecto, argumentando que "en toda su historia, esta Federación se ha opuesto a los diversos intentos legislativos de tutelar y limitar el pleno ejercicio de la libertad religiosa y de conciencia. New York Bishop and Others Run for Mission October 8, 2010 – It will be hard to catch Bishop Jeremiah Park this weekend unless you are also running in a 5K race. For the third year in a row, Park is joining thousands on Oct. 9 in the ING Hartford Marathon in Connecticut. He is challenging United Methodists in the New York Annual (regional) Conference to join him in his campaign to promote healthy lifestyles and to raise funds for missions around the world. The ING Hartford Marathon started in 1994 and includes a full marathon of 26.2 miles; half marathon, 13.1 miles; 5K, 3.1 miles; relays and kids runs. Court Sides with Agency on Use of Funds October 7, 2010 – The United Methodist Church's social action agency can use funds given to the church's building on Capitol Hill for advocacy beyond temperance-related issues, a District of Columbia judge has ruled. In her Oct. 6 decision, Superior Court Judge Rhonda Reid Winston found "clear and convincing evidence" donations to the predecessor agencies of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society "were not restricted solely" to promoting temperance. Archbishops Appeal to Government, International Community as Sudan Approaches Referendum October 8, 2010 – With fewer than 100 days to go before southerners in Sudan vote on whether to remain a unified country or to separate from the north, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Episcopal Church of Sudan is making every effort to ensure that the Jan. 9 referendum goes ahead as planned and that peace holds in the war-torn country. Archbishop Daniel Deng and the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who are appealing to the international community to support the people of Sudan, briefed media at Lambeth Palace on Oct. 7 ahead of a series of meetings with officials in the U.K. Government's foreign office. UK Heads of Religion Call for Release of Iran's Seven Baha'i Leaders October 6, 2010, LONDON – Britain's most prominent heads of religion have called for the release of the seven Baha'i leaders serving prison sentences in Iran. A statement by the United Kingdom's religious leaders – describing the sentencing of the seven as a "gross violation of the fundamental human right to freedom of religion" – was signed by, among others, the Archbishop of Canterbury – who is the head of the worldwide Anglican communion; the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster; the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth; and the Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Great Britain. Archbishops Appeal to Government, International Community as Sudan Approaches Referendum October 7, 2010, LONDON – With fewer than 100 days to go before southerners in Sudan vote on whether to remain a unified country or to separate from the north, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Episcopal Church of Sudan is making every effort to ensure that the Jan. 9 referendum goes ahead as planned and that peace holds in the war-torn country. Deng and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who are appealing to the international community to support the people of Sudan, briefed media at Lambeth Palace on Oct. 7 ahead of a series of meetings with officials in the U.K. Government's foreign office. The archbishops explained that the critical issues related to the referendum include delays in voter registration, tensions in the border regions, and the future for some 4 million refugees from the south who are currently living in the north. Lutherans Provide $30,000 in Response to Floods, Storms in Nicaragua October 8, 2010, CHICAGO – A tropical storm and severe flooding earlier this fall produced damage in 80 municipalities of Nicaragua, affecting 71,000 people. Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided $30,000 to secure basic food provisions, medicines, personal hygiene kits and other items in an effort to meet the needs of people affected by the storms and floods. The ELCA South Dakota Synod provided $15,000 to support the work of its companion church, Iglesia Luterana Fe y Esperanza (ILFE) (Nicaraguan Lutheran Church of Faith and Hope). ELCA Representative in West Africa Crosses Faith with Community Building October 4, 2010, CHICAGO – Willibroad "Willie" Langdji embodies ecumenism. He is Catholic working on behalf of Lutherans among large Muslim communities. As a regional representative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in West Africa, Langdji is comfortable talking about and strengthening faith, while helping to support communities in unique ways. From 2000 to 2009 Langdji was based in Linguere, Senegal, working among the Fulani people – a large, traditional Muslim community in West Africa. Langdji's work involved projects in agriculture and milk production. Desmond Tutu Retires from Public Life October 7, 2010 – Human rights activist and Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town Desmond Tutu retired from public life Oct. 7, his 79th birthday, to spend more time with family. "I am exceedingly grateful for his prophetic witness, his ability to call others to reconcile, and his gift for holding together both delight in God's people and lament at the ways they (we) treat each other," said Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in a statement to ENS. "His witness will continue to reverberate throughout the world, and, I hope, the Anglican Communion. We give thanks and say, ‘well done, good and faithful servant.'" Tutu served as the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches from 1978–1985. |
