Front Page

Churches in Japan Recover as Ecumenical Spirit Shines

March 24, 2011 – As recovery efforts in Japan proceed, the full impact of the earthquake and tsunami two weeks ago continues to be felt by some of the World Council of Churches (WCC) member churches there. At the same time prayers, letters of solidarity and, in some cases, monetary support are coming in from the ecumenical community in Asia as well as around the world. In a letter sent yesterday to the churches in Japan, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, expressed the "dismay and sorrow" of the world wide church community.

Advocacy Gathering Aims to Strengthen Christian Voice

March 25, 2011, WASHINGTON – More than 700 policy and advocacy experts, theologians, congressional aides, faith leaders and grassroots activists are gathering today at the Doubletree Hotel in Arlington, Va. for Ecumenical Advocacy Days (Mar.25 – 28), the nation's largest annual meeting of faith-based advocates. The objective of the three-day conference is to inform and train participants to become active around a variety of issues, from global access to clean water to childhood nutrition. It is sponsored by global humanitarian agency Church World Service and the National Council of Churches with broad ecumenical support.

NCC Deplores Bombing in Jerusalem amid Perceptible Steps Toward Peace

March 25, 2011, NEW YORK – The National Council of Churches deplored the bombing of a crowded bus in Jerusalem Wednesday that killed a women and injured at least 24 persons. "In the 61 years of its existence, the National Council of Churches has consistently condemned violence as a tactic for advancing political ideology," said the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary. "The bomb that tore through this bus served no earthly cause but was a murderous assault on all that Christians, Muslims and Jews deem holy." Kinnamon noted that Israel and Palestine are a geopolitical tinderbox where violence can erupt at any time.

Archbishop of Canterbury Joins Church Leaders' Effort to Combat Sexual Violence

March 22, 2011 – Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams March 22 welcomed senior church leaders and international development agencies at Lambeth Palace, where they pledged that the church will play a part in ending sexual violence. They also publicized the release of "Silent No More," a report by Tearfund, a United Kingdom-based Christian relief and development agency. "It is of the first importance that churches and all communities of faith continue to hold before the world's eyes the absolute priority for justice and dignity for all," Williams said, according to a Tearfund press release.

Census Helps Church with Evangelism

March 23, 2011 – In the early days of Methodism, circuit riders traveled by horseback across swollen streams and over jagged hillsides to reach potential converts. Some 200 years later, today's United Methodists can explore their mission field without ever leaving their computers – thanks to the U.S. Census. The once-a-decade enumeration of the U.S. population gives churchgoers a better sense of the people in their neighborhoods – their ages, ethnicity, educational backgrounds, household size, income levels and even their average travel time to work.

General News

Asian Film Festival Honors CWS-Supported Pakistani "Burning Paradise" Documentary

March 23, 2011, NEW YORK – Global humanitarian agency Church World Service and its Pakistan partner, media production company the Interactive Resource Center (IRC), today paid tribute to gifted young Pakistani filmmaker Nisar Ahmed for his direction of the documentary "Burning Paradise," awarded a special jury mention in India's Alpaviram 2011 South Asian Short and Documentary Film Festival. The Alpaviram festival, hosted February 18-20 by the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, India, honored the 22-minute documentary for its courageous depiction of the human cost of conflict in Pakistan's Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province during the 2009 violence that internally displaced more than a million people from the region.

Brussels to Host the Parliament of the World's Religions in 2014

March 23, 2011 – Brussels – the capital of the Belgians and of 500,000,000 Europeans – has been chosen as the host city of the Parliament of the World's Religions in 2014. The selection of Brussels was made by the Board of Trustees of the governing organization at its March 13, 2011 meeting in Chicago. More than 10,000 people from diverse religious, spiritual and convictional traditions will participate in the 2014 Parliament, which will last for 7 days and will comprise more than 500 programs, workshops and dialogues, alongside music, dance, artistic exhibitions and related events hosted by religious communities and cultural institutions.

Denominational Board Adopts a Strategic Plan for the Decade

March 23, 2011 – Above, Mission and Ministry Board chair Dale Minnich reviews the purpose of the Strategic Plan for the decade of denominational ministry, 2011-2019: "Provide a Christ centered focus for MMB program that fits the gifts and dreams of the Brethren." Below, one board member raises an enthusiastic green card in favor of the Strategic Plan. A Strategic Plan for denominational ministry in this decade, 2011-2019, was adopted by the Church of the Brethren's Mission and Ministry Board at its spring meeting. The meeting took place March 10-14 at the church's General Offices in Elgin, Ill. The board used a consensus style of decision making, led by chair Dale E. Minnich. Also on the agenda was a thorough overview of the current financial situation of denominational ministries, approval of the annual report, and reports on new church development, work in Haiti and southern Sudan, a delegation to Israel/Palestine, and the Christian Churches Together annual meeting that centered on the continuing problem of racism in US churches, among others.

Fasting Initiative Focuses on World's Vulnerable

March 23, 2011 – The Peace Witness Ministries of the Church of the Brethren, located in Washington, D.C., and the Global Food Crisis Fund are highlighting a fasting initiative scheduled to begin March 28. Appealing to Americans to seek divine guidance by humbling themselves before God, hunger advocate Tony Hall announced he will begin a spiritual fast on March 28 to reflect on the condition of the poor and hungry in the US and around the world. He is inviting others to join personally and collectively in the venture. Concerned over the impact of rising food and energy prices and Congressional budget cuts on the poor, the former Ohio Congressman envisions collective fasting and prayer forming "a circle of protection" around the vulnerable people of the world.

World Water Day: Conference Examines Moldova Water Supply Issues

March 22, 2011, CHISINAU, Moldova – Church World Service is joining today's global recognition of World Water Day with co-sponsorship of a major conference today in Chisinau, Moldova, Implementation of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation in Moldova, which will focus on the international Protocol on Water and Health. "Access to clean water is one of the main problems facing the Moldovan population," says Dr. Vitali Vorona, CWS regional representative for Europe, who will present on CWS work at the conference. Moldova's water supply and sewerage systems have degraded to the point that "up to 45 percent of the population uses drinking water that does not comply with sanitary standards," according to Vorona.

Deputies Leave Historic Meeting Eager to Discuss Same-Gender Blessings with Wider Church
General Convention 2012 Will Consider Episcopal Church's next Steps

March 21, 2011, ATLANTA – Nearly 200 members of the Episcopal Church House of Deputies left a historic March 18-19 churchwide consultation on same-gender blessings here promising to tell their colleagues and their dioceses about the work they did in preparation for the 2012 General Convention. 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.

Survey Finds Episcopal Church Congregations Increasing Their Digital Presence
FACT Study Also Shows Two-thirds of Congregations Face Financial Difficulties

March 23, 2011 – Episcopal Church congregations are more and more turning to the internet and social media in particular to communicate with their members and their communities, according to a just-released summary of a nationwide survey of faith communities. Results for Episcopalians in the Faith Communities Today Survey (FACT) show that 95 percent of congregations surveyed report that they use email to communicate with members and 86 percent have websites. The latter is an increase from 81 percent in 2008 and 76 percent in 2005. Forty-one percent report having used Facebook or other social media in 2010.

‘It Gets Better' Book Features ELCA Presiding Bishop

March 21, 2011, CHICAGO – An essay written by the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is featured in a new book, It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living. The Rev. Mark S. Hanson's essay is a transcript of his "It Gets Better" video, which was posted on the project's YouTube channel in October 2010. Hanson's essay was selected for inclusion by Dan Savage and Terry Miller, the founders of the project and the editors of the book. The two men launched the "It Gets Better" project when they created a YouTube video that reached out to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth facing harassment and bullying.

Meeting God in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport

March 22, 2011 – Experienced travelers know that holy sites can often be found in unexpected places – on the side of a busy highway, for example, or tucked into the shadows of tall skyscrapers in the middle of a city. But while I've found many such places around the world, I think the most unusual holy place I've visited might well be the meditation room at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Airports, after all, are hardly conducive to prayer and reflection. They're loud, bustling, and full of a transient population of people who intersect only briefly. The lighting is harsh and the views monotonous, and when we travel through them we're often fatigued, stressed, and in a hurry – just the wrong conditions for being open to the Spirit.

Statue in U.S. Capitol Honors ELCA Member Norman Borlaug

March 24, 2011 – Borlaug, known to many as the "Father of the Green Revolution," is credited with saving an estimated 1 billion lives with his advances in wheat science. He also founded the World Food Prize, which has been called the "Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture" and which aims to inspire additional achievements in improving the quality, quantity and availability of food in the world. "This is truly a historic occasion," said Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad. "Dr. Borlaug's legacy in feeding a billion people marks him as one of Iowa's and America's greatest heroes. Having his statue in our nation's Capitol will ensure that his legacy endures."

ELCA Presiding Bishop Tells Orion Samuelson ‘Farming Is God-Given Call'

March 21, 2011, CHICAGO – In an interview with well-known agricultural journalist Orion Samuelson, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) said "farming is a God-given call and that farmers are exercising that call as they feed the hungry in the world, as they care for creation, as they provide for their own families and communities." Samuelson interviewed Hanson about the church, its relationship to agriculture, and portions of a proposed ELCA social statement, Genetics, Faith and Responsibility, for Samuelson's weekly television program, "This Week in Agribusiness," on the satellite network, RFD-TV.

Ecumenical News

Episcopal and Lutheran Churches in U.S. and Canada
Join to Celebrate 10-year Anniversary of Full Communion on May 1

March 23, 2011 The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will join with their Canadian counterparts – the Anglican Church in Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada – to celebrate 10 years of the full communion relationship in an international way on May 1. Called to Common Mission, for full communion between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the similar Canadian document, The Waterloo Declaration, between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, both took effect in 2001.

Spanish News

Consternación Por Muerte De Joven Pastor Presbiteriano En Accidente Automovilístico

22 marzo 2011, LA HABANA, Cuba – El pasado domingo 20 de marzo, mientras regresaba luego de visitar una iglesia en la vecina provincia de Sancti Spíritus, falleció el joven pastor presbiteriano reverendo Omar Maren Tucaz, cuando su automóvil se volcó en las inmediaciones de la ciudad de Santa Clara, al centro de Cuba, donde era pastor.

Iglesia Metodista Celebra Culto Por La Memoria, a Pesar De Acciones Intimidatorias

22 marzo 2011, Dussex ARGENTINA – A pesar del intimidatorio reparto de volantes apologéticos de la dictadura, se celebró con una nutrida concurrencia el pasado domingo 20 de marzo en la Iglesia Metodista de Santa Fe, un culto ecuménico por la Memoria, la Verdad y la Justicia que contó con la presencia del Obispo Federico Pagura y la participación de madres, familiares e hijos de las víctimas del terrorismo de Estado. Este domingo 20 de marzo, el frente de la Iglesia Metodista de Santa Fe amaneció cubierta de volantes impresos que hacían una apología de la última dictadura militar.

International News

Work Team Worships and Works with Haitian Brethren.

March 23, 2011 – A work team recently spent at week (Feb.24-March 3) worshiping and working together with the National Committee of Eglise des Freres Haitiens (the Church of the Brethren in Haiti). The group was jointly sponsored by the Global Mission Partnerships of the Church of the Brethren and the Brethren Mission Fund of the Brethren Revival Fellowship. The team, consisting of 14 members, was led by Douglas Miller of New Oxford, Pa., Marie Andremene Ridore of Miami, Fla., and Jeff Boshart of Fort Atkinson, Wis.

AJC Criticizes Knesset for Holding Hearings on J Street

March 24, 2011, JERUSALEM – AJC has criticized an Israeli parliamentary committee for interfering in the internal affairs of the organized American Jewish community. The Knesset Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee held hearings yesterday on the J Street organization to determine if it is "pro Israel," as its tagline asserts. "In holding hearings on whether a voluntary American Jewish organization is indeed a pro-Israel lobby, the Knesset committee has interfered in an entirely inappropriate way in the internal affairs of the American Jewish community," Ed Rettig, director of AJC's Jerusalem Office, said in prepared remarks on behalf of the global organization.

Vatican Hails Ruling on Crucifixes

March 22, 2011 – THE Vatican has welcomed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on displaying crucifixes in schools. The Vatican describes as "historic" the ruling that said displaying crucifixes in schools in Italy does not breach the rights of non-Catholics. "It is an important and historic ruling," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement, adding: "The sentence... has been welcomed with satisfaction by the Holy See." The European Court of Human Rights ruled earlier that displaying crucifixes in schools in Italy did not breach the rights of non-Catholic families, overturning a previous decision.

"People Are Our Priority" – The Archbishop of the Anglican Communion in Japan

March 22, 2011 – The latest statement from the Archbishop of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (The Anglican Communion in Japan) The Most Revd Nathaniel Makoto Uematsu on the situation in Japan Ten days have past since the major magnitude 9 earthquake which happened in regions from Tohoku to Kanto on the 11th March. The major tsunami, which hit Japan immediately after the earthquake, reached a huge area from Hokkaido to Kanto. The tsunami, which was over 10 metres, brought complete destruction to many towns and villages along the coastline. We Japanese are accustomed to earthquakes and tsunamis, however no one could have imagined that such a major earthquake or tsunami could have happened.

Japanese Archbishop Pledges That Church Will ‘Stand with All People' Affected by Quake

March 22, 2011 – Archbishop Nathaniel Makoto Uematsu, primate of Nippon Sei Ko Kai (The Anglican Communion in Japan), said March 22 that while there are no Anglican churches in most of the areas affected by the March 11 magnitude-9 earthquake, "it is the NSKK's desire to stand with all people there and to do whatever we can to support them." Uematsu's pledge came in a statement issued by Anglican Communion News Service. More than 9,000 people died when the quake struck on March 11 and caused a destructive tsunami that pounded the country's northeast coast. In addition, nearly 13,000 people are unaccounted for.

Middle East News

CRC Hears about Israeli Peace

March 22, 2011 – It is not anti-Semitic for a Jewish person, or anyone else, to promote a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian people, says Mark Braverman, a clinical psychologist who grew up in the conservative Jewish faith and whose has family has deep roots in Israel. Braverman spoke about the conflict and ways to seek a solution to it before a group this week at the office of the Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich. "I'm doing this out of a love for the Jewish people… It is about social justice," said Braverman, whose specialty as a psychologist has been in crisis management.