Front Page

WCC Condemns Attack on Church in Alexandria

January 1, 2011 – The World Council of Churches (WCC) condemns the vicious attack on innocent worshippers in the Saints Church in Alexandria, Egypt when a bomb was detonated at the conclusion of the celebration of a New Year's midnight mass. As a result, at least 21 people have been killed and more than 80 injured. The WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, on behalf of the fellowship of WCC member churches and the entire ecumenical family, expresses profound sorrow as well as condolences and prayers for the families of the victims, for the wounded and for all the people of Egypt. He encourages Egyptians to stand firm and united through the many trials and tribulations that continue to threaten.

ELCA, LCMS Leaders Continue Talks on Cooperative Ministries

December 30, 2010, BALTIMORE – Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod heard reports from executives of three agencies they cooperatively share and continued theological discussions related to the future of cooperative Lutheran ministries. Both reported similar developments in their church bodies, including reorganization of the national staffs to bring about efficiencies. Representatives of North America's two largest Lutheran church bodies met here Dec. 1-2 as the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation, which gathers twice each year. Joining them for the reports of the two churches and to report on the work of their individual agencies were Jill A. Schumann, president of Lutheran Services in America; Linda Hartke, president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service; and the Rev. Dr. John Nunes, president of Lutheran World Relief. All three are based here and hosted this meeting.

General News

Facing Financial Scandals, Pope Creates New Vatican Watchdog
New Law Also Criminalizes Environmental Pollution

December 30, 2010 – Against a backdrop of criminal probes related to alleged financial misconduct both in the Vatican Bank and at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Vatican's wealthy missionary department better known as "Propaganda Fide," Pope Benedict XVI today created a new in-house watchdog to promote compliance with international rules against financing terrorism, money-laundering, insider trading and market abuse. The move amounts to a potential sea change for the Vatican, where traditionally the various departments have been largely autonomous in their financial dealings, with only a loose coordination provided by the office of the Apostolic Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA). By pledging cooperation with international monitoring agencies, the new laws also mark a break with the Vatican's traditional reluctance to open up its internal financial operations to outside scrutiny.

Manchester Receives $35 Million Lilly Grant for School of Pharmacy

December 30, 2010 – Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind., has received a $35 million grant from Lilly Endowment to launch a School of Pharmacy. The grant – the largest in Manchester College history – will help the college develop its first doctoral program on a Fort Wayne campus, surrounded by regional hospitals, pharmacies, and health care facilities and services. Responding to the national shortage of pharmacists and openings in pharmacy schools, Manchester announced last fall its plans to seek accreditation for a doctoral program in pharmacy, with the first classes beginning in fall 2012. When accredited, the School of Pharmacy will enroll 265 students in an intensive four-year Doctor of Pharmacy program.

ELCA Members Total 15 in 112th Congress

December 29, 2010, CHICAGO – Fifteen members of the 112th U.S. Congress are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), including three in the U.S. Senate and 12 in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to staff with the Lutheran advocacy offices in Washington. The ELCA members are among 26 Lutherans in the new Congress, which will convene Jan. 5, 2011, in Washington. "We are looking forward to greeting both the new and returning Lutheran members," said the Rev. Andrew D. Genszler, director of advocacy, ELCA Washington Office. "Lutheran members bring a sense of the importance of public service and the vocation of public office. Our Lutheran perspective is that government is one place we find God active in our common life – preserving order, protecting creation, helping people struggling with hunger and poverty, and building peace."

Bethany Seminary Receives Grants for Events and Programs

December 30, 2010 – Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind., has received a $200,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations for financial support of its Presidential Forum. The grant will be used to establish an endowment to create perpetual funding for this event. The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations are a national philanthropic organization established through the generosity of the late American industrialist, Arthur Vining Davis, and provide grants for private higher education, religion, secondary education, health care, and public television. The Presidential Forum, established by Bethany president Ruthann Knechel Johansen at the beginning of her tenure, brings noted speakers to campus for in-depth study and discussion of current topics.

BBT: Putting Our Wellness Where Our Money Is

December 30, 2010 – Brethren Benefit Trust sponsors the annual Fitness Challenge at the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. The organization will start a new wellness initiative for its employees beginning January 1. Photo by Glenn Riegel Regardless of whether you supported the landmark health care legislation that was passed by the Democrat-majority Congress in March 2010, one thing is for certain: leaders of the soon-to-be Republican-majority House of Representatives have stated that they want the legislation repealed. While no one knows how this political arm wrestling will impact the nation's health care in the years to come, there are related issues that need immediate attention.

Spanish News

Congreso Nacional De La Izquierda Cristiana Busca Reagrupar a Ese Sector Y Fortalecer Ciudadanía

27 diciembre 2010, CONCEPCIÓN, Chile – Con la participación de 84 delegados enviados por las bases de norte a sur del país se realizó el Tercer Congreso Nacional de la Izquierda Cristiana (IC) los días 18 y 19 de diciembre en la sede de la Central Única de Trabajadores (CUT) de Santiago. En este encuentro una de la propuestas claves según los organizadores es "emprender un proceso de construcción política y social con el horizonte de una izquierda ciudadana que permita el pleno establecimiento de la soberanía popular en Chile."

No Se Puede Anteponer La Seguridad Nacional a Los Derechos Humanos De Migrantes, Plantea Foro

27 diciembre 2010, MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Cada 15 días entre 70 y 80 nicaragüenses son deportados de Estados Unidos, expresó Lucy Orozco, funcionaria del Gobierno durante una teleconferencia del IV Foro de Migración y Desarrollo celebrada aquí la semana que concluye, e instó a romper con la criminalización que se tiene del migrante, cuando se antepone la seguridad nacional a los derechos humanos.

National News

God's Timing: on Disaster Rebuilding in Indiana

December 30, 2010, This reflection on God's timing was written earlier this Fall by Brethren Disaster Ministries associate director Zach Wolgemuth after he visited a rebuilding project in Indiana, in an area affected by flooding: "I have found the timing of my trip to Winamac to be beneficial. Certainly I did not plan things this way, but God seems to have a way of laying everything out. "One house has been behind schedule because the old home was not torn down when it was supposed to be and the new foundation was just completed. The homeowner was on the schedule to be one of the first to be completed, but ended up at the bottom of the list because he told them that others needed the help more than he did.

International News

Sudan Council of Churches Requests Prayer for Upcoming Referendum

December 30, 2010, A beautiful river scene from southern Sudan, taken by Church of the Brethren mission worker Michael Wagner. The south of the country is to vote on secession from the north in a crucial Referendum scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011. The Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) is asking partner churches to be in prayer for the Referendum in southern Sudan. The vote scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 9, is a referendum on whether southern Sudan will secede from the northern part of the country. It is a result of the comprehensive peace agreement reached in 2005 after decades of civil war between north and south.

Mission Staff Give Leadership for Peace Events in Nigeria

December 30, 2010, The 2010 graduating class at Kulp Bible College in Nigeria pose with Church of the Brethren mission workers Nathan and Jennifer Hosler (third row, center), who are teaching peacebuilding classes at the college. Photo courtesy of the Hoslers In an update on their work with Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN – the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) mission staff Nathan and JenniferHosler have reported on a number of peace events and peacebuilding classes they teach at EYN's Kulp Bible College in eastern Nigeria. In the meantime, a recurrence of violence and bombings over the Christmas weekend killed a number of people in the city of Jos, in central Nigeria, and in the northern city of Maiduguri. The Anglican bishop for the area of Jos reported to BBC news that he believes this latest round of bombings is politically motivated, and called on new media not to link it to religious differences in the hope of preventing more retaliatory violence by Christian or Muslim mobs.

From Germany: a Former BVSer Reflects on Living up to Your Beliefs.

December 30, 2010, Former Brethren Volunteer Service worker Patrick Spahn (right) meets with his congresswoman after his return home to Germany, to talk about his experience working with the Center on Conscience and War. Photo courtesy of Brethren Volunteer Service Former Brethren Volunteer Service worker Patrick Spahn – a member of BVS Unit 283 – has returned to Germany after carrying out a term of service at the Center on Conscience and War (formerly NISBCO) in Washington, D.C. He wrote the following reflection about his work there: "I am already back in Germany for two months, and it feels like far longer since I edited the last ‘Reporter for Conscience' Sake' or answered a phone call on the GI Rights Hotline. Working at the Center on Conscience and War was a very great time for me.

People in the News

UM College President Honored in Ebony

December 28, 2010, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Last year, Walter M. Kimbrough searched Ebony magazine's Power 100 for potential speakers to invite to Philander Smith College's "Bless the Mic" lecture series. This year, he is on the list himself. The accomplishments of the 43-year-old president of Philander Smith College, a historically black institution affiliated with The United Methodist Church, garnered the attention of the nation's premier entertainment and lifestyle publication geared toward an African-American readership. The honor came as a complete surprise to Kimbrough, whose father, the Rev. Walter L. Kimbrough, is pastor emeritus of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta.