Front Page

Conference to Look at Christian Faith in Palestine and the Middle East Today

June 16, 2011 – The volatile and precarious situation of Christians in the Middle East was of deep concern to the members of the February 2011 meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee, and it will be highlighted in an upcoming conference on Christians in the Middle East to be held in Greece. With the diminishing presence of Christians in the region, the central committee said in a public statement in February, the "conviviality among peoples from different faiths, cultures, civilizations, which is a sign of God's love for all humanity, will be endangered."

General News

Conversations about Changing the Church Occupy Executive Council
Adaptive Change Ought to Trump Technical Change, Members Say

June 17, 2011, LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, Maryland – The question of how the Episcopal Church needs to change to fit into the reality of a changing world continued to occupy the church's Executive Council as it concluded its three-day meeting here. The council met to "talk of hard financial issues and church decline and growth, to address elephants in the room, and to speak truth to one another in love," the members said in a letter to the church issued at the end of the meeting. "We were attentive to structural matters, keeping in mind that well- functioning structures make mission more easily facilitated and supported," the letter said.

Women of the ELCA Gathering Features ‘Renew, Respond, Rejoice!' Theme

June 17, 2011, CHICAGO – "Renew, Respond, Rejoice!" is the theme of the Eighth Triennial Gathering of the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), July 14-17 in Spokane, Wash. About 1,900 women are expected to attend the event, featuring Bible study, worship, speakers and community service, at the Spokane Convention Center. "The Triennial Gathering offers opportunities for women of the church to escape from their busy lives and renew their spirits, respond to God's love for the world and all creation and rejoice in thanksgiving," said Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director, Women of the ELCA. Gathering participants will present "in-kind" gifts to support local women, she said.

Church Officers Review How Special Response Decisions Will Be Made

June 17, 2011, ELGIN, IL – The three top officers of the Church of the Brethren – Annual Conference moderator Robert E. Alley, moderator-elect Tim Harvey, and secretary Fred Swartz – have published their plans for how Special Response business items will be addressed during the denomination's Annual Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich., on July 2-6. The Special Response business items are related to issues of human sexuality Two years ago, the Annual Conference of delegates from congregations and districts adopted a document that offers a framework for decision making for strongly controversial issues.

Ecumenical News

Church of England and Methodists Renewing Efforts at Unity

June 17, 2011, CANTERBURY, England – Leaders of the Church of England and the Methodist Church have been urged to work more closely in the future in order to strengthen Christian unity. A statement issued by the Church of England's communications office on June 16 said the Joint Implementation Commission (JIC) set up under the Anglican-Methodist Covenant of 2003 to enhance unity is recommending the two churches share their mission and their ministry more widely. A new JIC report, "Moving Forward in Covenant," is due to be considered by the Methodist Conference and the Church of England's General Synod, both taking place this summer. The JIC's role is "to monitor and promote the implementation of the covenant." Cooperation between the two churches in different parts of the U.K. has met with varying degrees of success.

Spanish News

Carta Pastoral Expresa Duras Críticas Al Gobierno

15 junio 2011, MANAGUA, Nicaragua – El legendario ex guerrillero y ex comandante Edén Pastora, ahora funcionario del Gobierno, es el único que respondió a las duras críticas de la reciente Carta Pastoral de la Iglesia católica, calificando a su jerarquía de "incoherente," contraria a la de "los obispos viejos que están con la revolución." Pastora, llamado también Comandante Cero, ha dicho que "estos muchachos jóvenes, que son los nuevos obispos de hoy, son los que no quieren apoyar los programas sociales, porque están marginados del pueblo."

Iglesia Anglicana Cumple 81 Años De Presencia En El País

17 junio 2011, SAN SALVADOR – La Iglesia Episcopal de El Salvador cumple 81 años de presencia en este país centroamericano, aunque, oficialmente, se le dio personería jurídica hace solo 43, según se dio a conocer aquí esta semana. En ese marco esta Iglesia conmemora su Convención Diocesana bajo el lema "Dame Agua Viva" y su obispo, monseñor Martin Barahona, ha dicho que, como comunidad, se debe reconocer a los primeros episcopales que, por cierto, fueron extranjeros, los que iniciaron esta Iglesia.

Se Celebra La Semana De Oración Por La Unidad De Los Cristianos

13 junio 2011, BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Al menos una vez al año, muchos cristianos y cristianas toman conciencia de la gran diversidad de formas de adorar a Dios, se conmueven y caen en la cuenta de que no es tan extraña la manera en que el prójimo rinde culto. El acontecimiento que desencadena esta experiencia única se conoce como la Semana de Oración por la Unidad de los Cristianos. Congregaciones y parroquias de todo el mundo forman parte de este evento, que se celebra tradicionalmente del 18 al 25 de enero (en el hemisferio norte) y en torno a Pentecostés (en el hemisferio sur).

Iglesias Dicen: "Nos Avergüenza Tanta Violencia"

16 junio 2011, CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA – "La vida se respeta, ¡es un don de Dios!," gritaban unas dos mil personas que, ataviadas de blanco, con globos, banderas, cintas del mismo color y llevando fotografías de familiares víctimas de la violencia, salieron a las calles de Zacapa la tarde del viernes 10 de junio, demandando un alto a la vorágine que ha tocado a todas las familias guatemaltecas, en la que también participaron obispos, sacerdotes y pastores de la Iglesia católica, la Iglesia Luterana y la Iglesia Episcopal.

El CMI Restituye a Brasil Documentos Sobre Abusos De La Dictadura Militar

13 junio 2011, GINEBRA, Suiza – lunes, 13 de junio de 2011 (ALC) – En 1979, durante la brutal dictadura que vivió el país a lo largo de dos décadas, trabajadores de las iglesias brasileñas y abogados disidentes hallaron una laguna jurídica en el sistema legal que les permitió recabar pruebas de atrocidades y otros abusos cometidos por el régimen militar.

Human Rights News

Panel Explores Crisis of Human Rights in Iran

June 17, 2011, LONDON – Iran's human rights record has come under scrutiny at a seminar held in the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament. The panel discussion – which included members of Parliament, experts and human rights activists – was co-hosted by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Friends of the Baha'is, along with human rights groups United4Iran and Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). "It is no exaggeration that the human rights situation in Iran is in crisis," said Nazila Ghanea, a lecturer at the University of Oxford and an editor of the Journal of Religion & Human Rights.

National News

Children's Disaster Services Starts Work in Springfield, Completes Joplin Response

June 17, 2011, ELGIN, IL – A new response site for Children's Disaster Services (CDS) is Springfield, Mass., which was hit by a tornado on June 2. A team of five CDS volunteers began work there late last week in response to a call from the American Red Cross. In Springfield, the CDS team is working in the Mass Mutual shelter – a multi purpose arena and convention center. "The center is working well," reports CDS associate director Judy Bezon. The Springfield Tornado has been "declared," Bezon says, "which means the President has identified it as a major disaster area, which in turn makes federal resources available to those whose homes have been destroyed."

ELCA Joins Continuing Response in Tornado-Damaged Springfield Area

June 11, 2011, CHICAGO – Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and staff of Lutheran Social Services of New England have been part of a week-long response to local needs in the Springfield, Mass. area following tornadoes that touched down there June 1. The storms caused the deaths of four people in West Springfield and Springfield and left considerable property damage in parts of both cities. Among the people most severely affected were several refugee families served by Lutheran Social Services of New England. "Lutheran Social Services was on the ground right away to help people who were displaced," said the Rev. Margaret S. Payne, bishop of the ELCA New England Synod.

International News

Christchurch Bishop Fears Her Clergy Face "Exhaustion of Spirit" Following Tremors

June 15, 2011, NEW ZEALAND – In the wake of yet more big jolts in Christchurch, Bishop Victoria Matthews says she fears her clergy are facing "exhaustion of spirit." "People are tired. They have been more than magnificent. Let me say that clearly. "But I am hearing of a deep weariness of the soul, and I'm having to ask people to reach deep into their resources to meet yet another crisis. "The churches that have stepped up to the plate, and been magnificent so many times before, will have to do it all over again. Because we have got to keep looking after the people of God."

Healing Memories: Atrocity Documents Given by WCC to Brazilian Government

June 15, 2011 – Substantial information on torture and other human rights abuses was entrusted to the Brazilian attorney general at a ceremony in São Paulo on Tuesday 14 June. There was also a call for a national truth commission in Brazil to shed more light on past atrocities during the ceremony. The files of documents and microfilms, dating to the days of Brazil's military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s, have been stored abroad in the archives of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland and the Center of Research Libraries (CRL) in Chicago, USA, since plans for a clandestine collection of court records was proposed to the WCC in 1978.

Archbishop of Canterbury's Statement on South Kordofan, Sudan

June 14, 2011 – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has released the following statement regarding recent violence in South Kordofan, Sudan: "Along with the Christian leaders represented in the Sudan Ecumenical Forum and Council of Churches and many more throughout the world, we deplore the mounting level of aggression and bloodshed in South Kordofan State and the indiscriminate violence on the part of government troops against civilians. Numerous villages have been bombed. More than 53,000 people have been driven from their homes.

Haitian Church Celebrates 100th Home

June 17, 2011, ELGIN, IL – A group of leaders from the Church of the Brethren in the United States traveled to Haiti June 4-8 to help Eglise des Freres Haitiens (the Church of the Brethren in Haiti) celebrate completion of the 100th home built by Brethren Disaster Ministries. The church was also celebrating a new Church of the Brethren guesthouse, which will be able to house workcamps. The guesthouse sits on two-thirds of an acre in Croix des Bouquets, outside Port-au-Prince. A wall was built in November, and work began on the guesthouse in January. The group visiting from the US was the first to stay in the building, where plumbing and electrical hook-ups were being finished the day of the celebration.

People in the News

Exemplary Life of Service "In the Face of Relentless Oppression"

June 16, 2011, SAN CLEMENTE, California – Right up until his final moments, Valiollah Toosky's thoughts were in Iran, with his students and colleagues at the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE). His sister recalls in particular that, on the last day of his life, he was telephoning Iran from the United States where he had gone for medical treatment. Foremost on his mind was the arrest of fellow faculty members. "Right at noon, the very last phone call he ever made, was to his colleagues in Iran," said Bahereh Smith. "His only concern was about how they were going to continue the BIHE. That was his last concern..." A few hours later, 55 year old Mr. Toosky died, after a six month battle with brain cancer.