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U.S. Churches Reach Out to Japan

March 14, 2011 NEW YORK – As news from earthquake-stricken Japan and Tsunami-devastated coastal areas worsens, U.S. churches and religious groups are pulling out all the stops to assess how they can help. Church World Service and National Council of Churches member communions responded within minutes after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck Japan on March 11. "The damage and loss of life is almost impossible to comprehend," said the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary. "It's natural to feel helpless in situations as overwhelming as this. But prayer is an important first step – prayer that asks God to be with the families of the dead, the injured, the homeless, and the responders at every level." But Kinnamon said it is also crucial for persons of faith to provide financial support to Church World Service and other relief organizations that are providing food, water, shelter and comfort on the ground in Japan and other stricken areas.

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: CWS Emergency Appeal

March 16, 2011 – As the need for immediate relief supplies increases following the recent disaster in Japan, CWS's response centers on emergency relief support to at least 5,000 families, about 25,000 individuals, now living at 100 evacuation sites in the northeastern area of the country.

Baha'is Who Offered Education to Earthquake-Hit Iranian Region Arrested

March 15, 2011, GENEVA – Iranian authorities have arrested a number of Baha'is who provided education to children in a region devastated by an earthquake seven years ago. The Baha'i International Community has so far been able to confirm the arrest of four Baha'is this month in connection with the provision of kindergarten-level education in Iran's Kerman Province, south-east of Tehran. Two other Baha'is from the city of Kerman were also arrested on Sunday 13 March. Their involvement in education projects has not yet been confirmed.

Churches Urge NATO to Remove All Nuclear Weapons from Europe

March 17, 2011 – The World Council of Churches (WCC) and church organizations on both sides of the Atlantic are urging NATO to remove all United States nuclear weapons still based in Europe and end their role in the alliance's policy. The 200 or so nuclear weapons involved are "remnants of Cold War strategies" the ecumenical organizations say in joint letters. "NATO should rethink deterrence and security cooperation in Europe," they say, and make good on NATO's new commitment last year to "creating the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons." The letters were sent to the leaders of NATO, the United States and Russia in mid-March by the heads of the WCC, the Conference of European Churches, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and the Canadian Council of Churches.

Churches Outraged by Threats Against SACC President and Anglican Bishop

March 18, 2011 – The South African Council of Churches and its international ecumenical partners are shocked and outraged by the death threats against its president, Anglican Bishop of Pretoria Jo Seoka, and members of his family. On the morning of March 15, five men armed with guns arrived at Seoka's Pretoria home, declaring their intention to kill the bishop and his wife. The bishop and his wife were not at home at the time, but the intruders returned later in the day looking for them. They also made remarks that suggested that they were watching the bishop's and his wife's movements.

Response to the Japan Earthquake / Tsunami

ELCA Begins Response to Pacific Earthquake, Tsunami

March 11, 2011, CHICAGO – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is responding to a massive earthquake and tsunami March 11 that caused considerable loss of life and property in Japan. The earthquake was centered near the city of Sendai, a city in north-central Japan with a population of 1 million. According to media reports, hundreds of people have died and hundreds more are missing. Tsunami waves as high as seven feet struck Hawaii, but there were no reports of significant damage there. The ELCA has 22 missionaries serving in Japan, working in partnership with the Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church.

HAWAI'I: Tsunami Brings Back Memories of 1946's ‘Big One'

March 17, 2011, LAUPAHOEHOE, Hawai'i – When the first tsunami alarm sounded at 9 p.m. March 11 in the Laupahoehoe neighborhood of Hawai'i's big island, Leonie Kawaihona Laeha Poy didn't hesitate – she and her family raced for higher ground. The same action saved her life in 1946 at the tender age of 15, shortly before the deadliest tsunami on record struck the island. Except then there were no sirens, no warning systems, just her own uncanny instinct and the strange sight of the disappearing ocean.

Christian Reformed Church Assesses Japan ‘Quake Fallout'

March 11, 2011 – Staff working with Christian Reformed World Missions and Back to God Ministries International in Japan are safe in the wake of a major earthquake and tsunami that hit the country today, Christian Reformed Church officials say. Bob Heerspink, director of BTGMI, and Gary Bekker, director of CRWM, reported that all ministry personnel and their families have been accounted for and are safe. The Reformed Church in America reported that its missionaries in Japan also are safe following the most powerful earthquake to hit Japan in more than 100 years.

ELCA Commits $240,000 for Response to Japan Disaster

March 18, 2011, CHICAGO – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) today committed $240,000 in response to the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck northern Japan March 11. "It is with our strong, expansive network of global companions that we as the ELCA are responding to Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop. "Our church's long-established relationships – both Lutheran and ecumenical – are enabling us to engage effectively with communities as they recover from this massive disaster."

General News

Interfaith Dialogue Is Key to Strengthening Communication Rights,
Says WACC General Secretary

March 14, 2011, MOMBASA, Kenya – Interfaith dialogue can play a key role in strengthening the right to communicate and tackling questions of social justice, General Secretary of the World Association of Christian Communicators (WACC) said on 12 March. Rev. Karin Achtelstetter was speaking at the 5th Commission meeting of the Interfaith Action for Peace (IFAPA) in Mombasa, Kenya, where representatives of the main faith traditions have gathered to discuss peace and the issues that threaten it. She said communication for peaceful co-existence supported the emergence of tolerant and well-integrated societies at local, national and global levels.

Church Plans to Debut Radio Network this Summer

March 17, 2011 – The Episcopal Church Office of Communication will launch Episcopal Web Radio Network during the summer of 2011. Episcopal Web Radio will begin with Spanish language programming, called Cadena Episcopal de RadioWeb, according to a press release from the Office of Public Affairs, and will be available on the Episcopal Church website. Cadena Episcopal de RadioWeb will broadcast via radio, web radio and podcasts with Spanish programming from the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, the release said.

Deputies Gather for Historic Consultation on Same-Gender Blessings
Churchwide Consultation Comes in Anticipation of 2012 Convention

March 18, 2011, ATLANTA – In a historic meeting, nearly 200 Episcopal Church General Convention deputies gathered here March 18 to begin a churchwide consultation on same-gender blessings. The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music invited one lay and one clergy deputy from each of the church's 109 dioceses and three regional areas to hear about and reflect on its work to date on the mandate given to it in General Convention 2009 Resolution C056. The resolution, passed in 2009, directed the SCLM to work with the House of Bishops to collect and develop theological resources and liturgies for blessing same-gender relationships.

Episcopal Chaplain Deployed to Afghanistan Cultivates ‘Deck-Plate' Ministry

March 11, 2011 – The U.S. service men and women deployed to Afghanistan's austere Camp Leatherneck needed few reminders of mortality, ashes or death; instead Ash Wednesday services hoped to offer them "a little taste of home and a moment of sanctuary," according to the Rev. Rick Tiff, an Episcopal chaplain, from the Diocese of Los Angeles. It was a moment "to be real with God, themselves and others … to help them get through their deployment, to offer them a spiritual resting place," said Tiff, who serves with the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion -3, in a March 9 telephone interview from Afghanistan.

Windsor Village Builds a New Social Landscape

March 18, 2011, HOUSTON – When the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell was appointed to Windsor Village United Methodist Church in 1982, there were about "25 faithful members" in the pews on Sunday. The neighborhood was underserved, underdeveloped and full of blight. "After the bishop told me I was coming here, I peered through the front door, and I saw pill bugs, and I saw cobwebs. And I saw a Lawrence Welk organ. And I saw a pulpit and a piece of the microphone and a cross. And I thought, ‘That's all we need,'" said Caldwell, who is now senior pastor of the largest United Methodist congregation in the United States.

What St. Patrick Can Teach United Methodists

March 17, 2011 – The saint Americans celebrate each March 17 was not born in Ireland, and his birth name might not even have been Patrick. While many of the details of his life are shrouded in legend, on this scholars agree: The patron saint of Ireland left a legacy far more vibrant and lasting than the green food and beverages served on his feast day. St. Patrick's commitment to the gospel led him at great personal risk to spread Christianity across Ireland. After his death, Irish missionaries used his methods to re-evangelize Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. When people talk about how the Irish saved civilization, Patrick had a large hand in that.

Ecumenical News

An Orthodox Response to the Nature and Mission of the Church

March 14, 2011 – "Without any doubt, ecclesiology remains in our times the crucial issue for Christian theology in ecumenical perspective." This was one of the conclusions drawn by a week-long consultation in Cyprus at which forty Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox representatives provided a common response to The Nature and Mission of the Church, a 2005 ecumenical text published by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Ecclesiology, or the theological self-understanding of the church, sets out to define the role of the church, its nature and mission, and in the ecumenical setting to explain issues and difficulties that divide churches from one another.

Spanish News

Iglesias Se Solidarizan E Interceden Por El Pueblo Japonés

17 marzo 2010, BRASIL – La Iglesia Evangélica Luterana en América (ELCA por sus siglas en inglés), la Iglesia Evangélica de Confesión Luterana en Brasil (IECLB) y la Iglesia Episcopal Anglicana de Brasil (IEAB), entre muchas otras comunidades de fe está dando respuesta económica y espiritual a la tragedia desatada en Japón luego del terremoto y tsunami del pasado 11.

Lanzamiento De La Convocatoria Ecuménica Internacional Por La Paz En Jamaica

16 marzo 2010 – Desde los ecos de una nueva canción escrita expresamente para la próxima Convocatoria Ecuménica Internacional por la Paz (CEIP), hasta la proclamación de que Jamaica es el lugar adecuado para este evento de paz, acompañaron al lanzamiento oficial de la CEIP en Kingston, Jamaica, el 15 de marzo, en una ceremonia organizada por el Consejo de Iglesias de Jamaica y la Conferencia de Iglesias del Caribe, anfitriones de la CEIP.

Presidente Obama Visitará Tumba De Monseñor Romero

17 marzo 2011, SAN SALVADOR – El Presidente de Estados Unidos Barack Obama visitará tumba del pastor y mártir Oscar Arnulfo Romero, durante su visita a El Salvador entre los días 22 y 23 de marzo próximo, según anunciaron aquí hoy fuentes diplomáticas. El presidente Obama sería el segundo mandatario extranjero que "presenta sus respetos" a Romero, luego que el año pasado lo hizo el entonces presidente brasileño, Luis Ignacio Lula Da Silva. Los restos de Romero se encuentran en catedral metropolitana, en el centro de San Salvador. En la última semana el Gobierno ha impulsado un plan de reordenamiento capitalino que coincide con visita presidencial.

La Pastoral Juvenil Del CLAI Busca Fortalecer Su
Trabajo a Nivel Continental En El Próximo Trienio

17 marzo 2010, QUITO, Ecuador – Del 2 al 5 de marzo se reunió el secretariado ejecutivo del CLAI donde se trabajaron diversos temas correspondientes a los programas, pastorales y secretarias regionales. La Pastoral Juvenil buscará posicionarse – de cara al nuevo trienio – como un actor estratégico en el espacio ecuménico juvenil latinoamericano, articulando con otras organizaciones juveniles ecuménicas y sociales.

International News

No Gentle Death: Memorial Service for Murdered Christian Pakistan Politician

March 18, 2011 – Preaching at the memorial service held at St Margaret's Church, Westminster , London , on 17 March 2011 for Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan Minister of Minorities, Bishop Tony Robinson, Chair of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Pakistan Focus Group, reflected, "Death came with the fire of the gun. There was no gentle death for Shahbaz Bhatti – as there is also not for many other Christians who are suffering as part of the of minority population of Pakistan." Shahbaz Bhatti, a Roman Catholic Christian who was part of the Cabinet of the Federal government of Pakistan was murdered by gunmen in Islamabad on March 2.

International Ecumenical Peace Convocation Launched in Jamaica

March 16, 2011 From the sound of a new song written specifically for the upcoming International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC), to a proclamation that Jamaica is the proper place for this peace event, the IEPC was officially launched at a ceremony in Kingston, Jamaica on 15 March organized by the Jamaican Council of Churches and the Caribbean Council of Churches, hosts of the IEPC. The launch, which was attended by Jamaican church leaders and media, was meant to call attention to the IEPC which will be held on the Mona campus of the University of West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica from 17 to 25 May this year.

Sorrow as Jailed Baha'i Leader Is Unable to Attend Wife's Funeral

March 11, 2011, GENEVA – The Baha'i International Community has described as "desperately cruel" the fact that one of Iran's seven Baha'i leaders has been unable to attend the funeral of his own wife. 81 year old Mrs. Ashraf Khanjani – who was married to Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani for more than 50 years – died yesterday morning at the family home in Tehran. She had been unwell for many months. Mr. Khanjani, 77, is serving a ten-year jail term at Iran's notorious Gohardasht prison, along with six other Baha'is who were all members of a national-level ad hoc group that attended to the needs of Iran's Baha'i community.

ELCA Leaders Express Concern for Ethiopian Christians Hurt by Attacks

March 11, 2011, CHICAGO – Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) offered expressions of concern and prayers for a partner Lutheran church in Africa, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, following a series of attacks and church burnings by Muslim extremists against Christians. The attacks in western Ethiopia resulted in the death of a Mekane Yesus member, and at least 12 of the church's buildings in the region were damaged or destroyed by fire. The attacks reportedly began after Muslims accused a Christian of desecrating the Quran by tearing up a copy.

ELCA, Haitian Lutherans ‘People of the Resurrection,' Says Presiding Bishop

March 14, 2011, ITASCA, Ill. – Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti are "people of the resurrection" of Jesus Christ, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, in a March 5 report to the ELCA Conference of Bishops. Hanson visited Haiti Feb. 21-22 and was hosted by the Rev. Joseph Livenson Lauvanus, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti. The ELCA Conference of Bishops held its spring meeting here March 3-8.

, on the ELCA website.