World Religious News

Utah meeting seeks to unify Orthodox Christians

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:37:19 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

SALT LAKE CITY -- If a group of Orthodox Christians meeting in Salt Lake City this week (Oct. 14-16) has its way, future generations of Greek, Serbian, Russian and other ethnic faithful all will worship together in a single American church.

A unified church would "honor and celebrate the multicultural Orthodox community here," says Bill Souvall, president of the group Orthodox Christian Laity. "It would give us a powerful presence in America. Spiritual seekers and searchers would find us."

There currently are 14 Orthodox jurisdictions in America, and each has its own bishop in the country of origin and its own language, but the liturgy and doctrines are the same, Souvall says. "The churches of America should be American. They shouldn't have all these separate archdioceses."

Even so, this push for unity is not universally accepted. Some bishops who look to Europe for leadership are not eager to displease their superiors, Souvall said. Older members also worry about losing their language, culture, identity and ties to their home countries.

Such immigrants built their American parishes "with their nickels and dimes," says George Matsoukas, OCL's executive director. They always have been "the force that guided the church."

Each Orthodox group that came to the U.S. looked to its home for ecclesiastical guidance. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Russian Orthodox Church split between those who left and those who stayed. By the 1970s, the Russian Orthodox Church allowed its American wing to go independent and become the Orthodox Church in America.

The OCL began pushing for greater involvement in church governance, and clergy and lay members have been talking about unity off and on ever since.

Last year, more than 60 bishops convened an Episcopal Assembly of North and Central America. They discussed, Matsoukas says, the spiritual and legal issues confronting a move to unify the diverse groups.

This week, those gathering in Salt Lake City hope to advance the conversation. They will consider what legal and structural obstacles to unity remain.

"Orthodox Christianity in America is at a crossroads," Matsoukas says. "Our bishops may be stuck in a groove, but the young people are asking for this. We all need to work together -- clergy, hierarchy and laity -- in love and fellowship for the good of the church and of the nation that we live in and are a part of."

Muslims, Christians can tackle conflicts together, says WCC head

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:52:35 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

By Stephen Brown

Geneva--Muslim and Christian leaders need to set up permanent structures of relating to each other to head off potential conflicts in a world where religion is often seen as having a divisive role, the head of the World Council of Churches has said.

"The role of religion in emerging geo-political contexts is rapidly changing," WCC general secretary the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit said in a speech to a 2-8 October meeting in Albania of the WCC's Commission of the Churches on International Affairs.

"While religion often plays a commendable role as a force for promoting justice, peace and reconciliation, in the 21st century its role has been much more divisive," said Tveit, a Norwegian theologian who took up his WCC post in January.

In recent decades, he said, many religions have experienced a spiritual revival, leading in some countries to the emergence of "highly politicised" religious groups, institutions and movements.

"The changing geopolitical contexts provide more opportunities for various political actors to mobilise religion in power struggles and for their own political gain," the WCC general secretary noted. "Religious extremist movements play a significant role in this, creating serious social polarisations and contributing to intensifying conflicts and encouraging extremism."

He pointed to the role of religion in various conflicts, "particularly in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, but also throughout the whole globalised world".

Tveit said the WCC needs to be at the "cutting edge" of the churches' involvement in identifying and addressing this trend. "We must stand together and find ways to act on the basis of our faith and together with our constituencies," he said.

In terms of interfaith dialogue, Tveit said there needs to be a, "dynamic interdependence between interfaith dialogue and religious freedom. The dialogue must build on a real freedom; you cannot dialogue with tied hands or threats of reprisals."

The WCC and several Muslim organizations are organizing a November consultation in Geneva, intended to provide guidance to enable cooperation between Muslims and Christians at all levels, including faith-inspired approaches for joint Christian-Muslim action.

"We must urge Muslim and Christian leaders to establish permanent structures of relationship nationally [and] regionally, to be able to address the potential conflicts when they are occurring," Tveit said, referring to the consultation.

At the same time, Muslims and Christians need to understand the challenges that each other face as minorities in different contexts.

"We need to mobilise and challenge one another's willingness not only to respect but also support people of other faiths as people of faith, through our own prayers," said Tveit.

The Geneva-headquartered WCC groups 349 churches, predominantly Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member but works with the WCC on some issues.

Tveit noted also an increasing role of religion in providing a renewed impetus for, "religious activism that mobilises grassroots religious communities for non-violent social change towards justice and peace". He said that "harmonious" interaction between religious communities would demonstrate how communities are able to overcome ethnic and cultural divisions, potential conflicts and communal hatreds.

New Orthodox patriarch says Kosovo remains Serb 'sacred land'

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 17:28:04 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

By Jonathan Luxmoore

Warsaw -- The Serbian Orthodox Church's new patriarch has reiterated his country's claim to Kosovo during an enthronement service in the newly independent republic that was boycotted by the Kosovo government.

"Kosovo and Metohija are today without hundreds of thousands of expelled Serbian people. All traces of their spiritual historical roots are being eradicated," said Patriarch Irinej, whose sermon was published by the Serbian church's information service.

"There are still tens of thousands of refugees from this sacred land," said the Patriarch. They remain turned toward their age-old bosom, and with tearful eyes and painful hearts anticipate the day and possibility in which they can return to their destroyed and burned homes."

The 80-year-old church leader was preaching on 3 October at the 13th century monastery of Pec, traditionally regarded as the see of Serbian patriarchs. In January he had been enthroned in Serbia.

Irinej said the destruction of Orthodox churches and departure of ethnic Serbs from Kosovo had left a "gaping wound on the body of the Serbian Orthodox church and Serbian people".

Kosovo unilaterally declared itself independent from Serbia in February 2008. The International Court of Justice in July ruled the declaration was in conformity with international law. It has been recognised by around 70 countries, including the United States and Britain, but not by Serbia or its ally, Russia

"The Serbian people do not have any other mediator-State save Serbia, of which Kosovo and Metohija have been for centuries an integral part," said the patriarch, who succeeded the late Patriarch Pavle. "Here there is ample living space and place for co-habitation of Serbs, Albanians and other peoples. These two peoples have lived together for centuries. Why cannot they do the same today?"

The enthronement ceremony was attended by Serbian President Boris Tadic and a royal claimant, Crown Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic, as well as by diplomats and church leaders from other predominantly Orthodox countries.

A Serbian Islamic leader, Mufti Muhammed Jusufspahic, was present at the service, along with a representative of the World Council of Churches and Archbishop Kurt Koch, chairperson of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

In recent weeks there have been preparations for the first internationally supervised talks between Serbia and Kosovo, most of whose 2.2 million inhabitants are ethnic Albanians and traditionally Muslims.

In his sermon, Patriarch Irinej said the see of Pec "was and remains the soul of the Serbian people," and would continue to be the place of enthronement of Serbian Orthodox leaders.

"Today we are visiting and bowing before this sanctuary in our most sacred Serbian land, the cradle of our history, spirituality, Christian, Orthodox culture of the Serbian people - a land drenched in the martyred blood of the Kosovo martyrs and new-martyrs," said Irinej.

Speaking to journalists in Pristina on 3 October, a Kosovo government spokesperson, Memli Krasniqi, dismissed the patriarch's enthronement statements as "inappropriate and absurd”.

Most of Serbia's seven million people are Orthodox Christians.

Zacchaeus' tree now a top tourist destination

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 17:25:08 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

JERUSALEM -- A huge sycamore tree that some believe was climbed by Zacchaeus the tax collector to get a better view of Jesus is the centerpiece of a new tourism campaign by the Palestinian government.

The tree is located in Jericho, the first city conquered by Joshua when the Israelites crossed into Canaan. The city, sometimes touted as the world's oldest town, is a rich oasis of greenery in a desert landscape.

Once the winter home of the wealthy elite thanks to its balmy winter weather, Jericho has seen hard times in recent years, especially since the start of the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s.

The West Bank city has been subject to Israeli security closures and subsequently high unemployment. An ultra-modern casino, popular with Israelis during quieter times, was shut down years ago.

The current Palestinian administration, which has brought greater economic stability and security to the troubled territory, is working to reestablish Jericho as a tourism destination. It is placing the Zacchaeus tree at the core of the town's 10,000 birthday celebrations, part of a year-long series of events that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to kick off on Oct. 10.

In addition to a museum complex, the tourism authority hopes to build a resort on the shores of the Dead Sea, a popular spot for sick travelers.

Tourism officials hope to take advantage of a sharp increase in tourism since the second Palestinian uprising ended about four years ago. Although Israeli citizens are prohibited from entering Palestinian-ruled areas over security concerns, about a million other tourists visited the West Bank in the past year.

Although no one can say for certain whether the gnarled old tree is the very one cited in the New Testament -- the local Greek Orthodox church venerates the remnant of another ancient tree, for example -- experts who have examined it say it may very well date back to the time of Jesus.

South African 'moral compass' Tutu officially retires

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:17:56 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

By Munyaradzi Makoni

Cape Town -- Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, often described as South Africa's moral compass, officially retired on his 79th birthday saying he wishes to devote time to his wife, Leah, and family.

Tutu, who was a major figure in the struggle against apartheid, announced in July that he would step down from public life, and would stop giving media interviews, from 7 October, his birthday.

"I have got a wife and family that help to keep my head the right size. Just when I am thinking that I am the cat's whiskers, they remind me that, 'You are just daddy for us and husband'," Tutu was quoted saying by the South African Press Association.

South Africa's Daily Dispatch newspaper editorialised on 7 October, "He has epitomised tolerance and understanding, popularising the African concept of ubuntu, which calls for forgiveness and to the ability to always show 'humanity to others'."

U.S. President Barack Obama congratulated Tutu saying in a written statement, "For decades he has been a moral titan - a voice of principle, an unrelenting champion of justice, and a dedicated peacemaker."

The former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, who won his Nobel Prize in 1984, during the height of the struggle against white minority rule, has also strongly criticised corruption within the ruling African National Congress government and tyranny he has seen from Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's rule.

"There are strong parallels between the way in which Tutu and [India's Mohandas] Gandhi reshaped civil society by opposing the corruption and greed which has permeated our world," the Daily Dispatch wrote. "It is now for their fellow men and women to take up the mantles of their struggle for decency and endeavour to ensure we all live in peace."

Tutu became the first black general secretary of the South African Council of Churches in 1978, and then in 1986 the first black to head South Africa's Anglican church. The archbishop also headed South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission into crimes committed in the name of apartheid and also in the struggle against the racist ideology.

Tutu has always collaborated with other denominations and faiths. He worked closely with the World Council of Churches in the fight for racial justice during apartheid and on climate change during the 2009 United Nations' talks in Copenhagen.

He said he would honour his existing appointments, but will not add any new engagements to his schedule. He will limit his working time to one day a week until his office winds down in February 2011. During his retirement Tutu said he would enjoy watching cricket, rugby and soccer as well as other popular sports in South Africa.

When he announced he would step down, he said, "I will shut up but sometimes I might not be able to resist."

Miniseries traces religion's U.S. impact across 400 years

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 19:49:25 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

A new six-part PBS series explores how deeply religion has influenced and informed American public life, from Catholic missionaries' first encounter with Native Americans to the political marriage between the GOP and religious conservatives.

"God in America," a presentation from the PBS "American Experience" and "Frontline" series, will air over three consecutive nights starting Monday (Oct. 11). The series is an intense exploration of the complex dynamics that animate a nation that is both deeply religious yet without an official religion.

The series interweaves interviews with experts, documentary and dramatization to tell a compelling story that stretches from John Winthrop to Jerry Falwell.

"God in America" is the latest in a succession of studies that examine the role of religion in American public life. The recent Religious Knowledge Survey, released last month by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons, scored higher than the two groups that have had a profound impact on American religion, evangelicals and Catholics.

In addition, an upcoming book, "American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us" by scholars Robert Putnam and David Campbell, finds "a new religious fault line" in American culture. Putnam and Campbell argue that Americans' increasing tolerance of diversity -- religious and otherwise -- presents a unique opportunity and challenge for the nation.

Rather than offering a case study in history, "God in America" quickly ties the past to the present. Director David Belton, a British native, says the series prompted a significant shift in his own view of American life.

"It affected me quite a lot," Belton said in an interview. "I'd studied American politics in college. I think I suddenly realized how little I did understand about America.

"There's a view in Europe and in Britain that American religion is a bit odd. In England, we don't talk about religion. ... We're sort of reluctant to discuss it. Now a lot of things in America make sense."

A central component of the series is the use of dramatic reenactments to help make history come alive through the spirituality and struggles of key historical figures. Viewers walk alongside Franciscan friars in New Mexico, sit in on a debate between Puritan John Winthrop and dissident Anne Hutchinson and pack a suitcase with fundamentalist politician William Jennings Bryan on his way to argue against evolution.

Other re-imagined figures include abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Reform Rabbi Isaac Meyer Wise, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and evangelist Billy Graham, among others.

Belton says every word of dialogue in the reenactments was actually said or written.

"We needed to tell the proper narrative story of what had happened. We also had to reflect that there were new battles going on in people's minds, new questions. Would they be able to live and exist in a new country? Would they find that they had a religious place here?"

The series intricately considers the roots of religious liberty and its development in America's courts and politics. It also probes how religious ideas shaped later reform movements and created a competitive religious marketplace.

"That's what America really needs to understand about itself," Belton said. "It has this extraordinary religious heritage that informs everything it does and why it thinks the way it does. It's not just a series of religious documents that make people feel free, that were written by Jefferson and Madison. America feels a need to be transformational."

Catholic condemnation of Nobel Prize stirs Italian press reaction

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 12:42:08 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

By Luigi Sandri Rome--Vatican authorities have strongly criticised the awarding of the 2010 Nobel Prize for Medicine to Briton Robert Edwards, stating that the scientist's work on in-vitro fertilisation does not help in the defence of life.

At the same time, a number of editorials in the Italian press attacked the Roman Catholic position.

Vatican Radio carried an interview with Lucio Romano, president of the Science and Life Association, on 4 October in which he said, "The award was for a technique which reduces humanity to a product. The assignation of the Nobel Prize to Edwards ignores all ethical issues linked with IVF."

Romano argued that Edwards did make a big impact on modern science because he extrapolated techniques used in the breeding of livestock and applied them to human beings.

"This absolutely does not represent progress for the human person," said Romano, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Frederick II University in Naples, Italy.

The president of the Vatican-based International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, José María Simón Castellvi, said, "Although IVF has brought happiness to the many couples who have conceived through this process, it has done so at an enormous cost. That cost is the undermining of the dignity of the human person."

Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, admitted there were some merits in Edwards' discoveries but underlined that with artificial insemination from a person who is not a woman's mate, motherhood and fatherhood are "trivialised".

"There are scientists more worthy than Edwards of the Nobel Prize," Carrasco told the Rome-based La Repubblica newspaper.

Still the same newspaper ran a comment saying that the Holy See is unable to accept "a scientist who dares investigate what for millenniums was an inscrutable mystery, the mystery of procreation".

The editorial recalled that in October 1964, during the Second Vatican Council discussion on birth control, the Belgian Cardinal Leo Suenens, told more than 2000 bishops, "I pray, fathers: let us avoid a new process against Galileo."

The Italian scientist Galileo Galilei, the "father" of the modern astronomy in the 17th century was condemned by the papacy because he stated that the sun, and not heaven, was the centre of the universe.

"The Vatican condemns the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Edwards," declared the Milan-based Corriere della Sera newspaper, noting, "It was the time to award a Nobel Prize for Medicine to Edwards. It's a prize richly deserved. Those who contest this choice are not taking into account that Edwards has made a fundamental contribution to the promotion of life."

In giving the prize to Edwards, Sweden's Nobel assembly in Stockholm said: "His contributions represent a milestone in the development of modern medicine." It said, "His achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large proportion of humanity, including more than 10 percent of all couples worldwide."

German president says 20 years later, Islam now part of Germany

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:30:36 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

By Anli Serfontein

Trier, Germany--Islam is part of a modern, changing Germany, the country's president, Christian Wulff, told the nation in an address on the 20th anniversary of the reunification of the once divided nation.

"Christianity is, of course, part of Germany. Judaism is, of course, part of Germany. This is our Judeo-Christian history. But, now, Islam is also part of Germany," the president told the assembled dignitaries in the northern city of Bremen, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, on 3 October.

Before his appointment as president in July 2010, Wulff, as Minister President of Lower Saxony, appointed the first Muslim state cabinet minister in Germany.

"When German Muslims write to me to tell me 'You are our president' - then I answer wholeheartedly: Yes, of course I am your president! And with the same dedication and conviction of which I am the president of all the people who live in Germany," Wulff said.

Wulff spoke about the challenges facing a multicultural Germany in times of rapid social and global changes. "Twenty years after reunification, we stand before the huge task of finding new solidarity in a Germany that is part of a swiftly changing world," he said.

For her part, Merkel, endorsed Wulff's words, but also expressed reservations with regard to the position of Islam in German culture. Merkel demanded that Muslims living in Germany also conform to "fundamental German values," saying there can be no leeway on the issue.

In recent weeks an intense debate has raged in Germany about the willingness of Muslim immigrant to integrate and learn the language. A book claiming that Turkish Muslims are not willing to integrate reached the top of the non-fiction bestseller list.

"The future belongs to those nations who are open to cultural diversity, to new ideas and who do not shy away from debating with foreigners," Wulff noted.

He also paid tribute to the role the churches played 20 years ago in enabling the peaceful revolution that led to reunification. "The churches gave a shelter to the new, courage for freedom," he said.

In the autumn of 1989 prayer meetings for peace grew from week to week, ending in mass demonstrations against the totalitarian East German state.

"The growing together of German unity was especially an act of great solidarity, " the chairperson of the German Roman Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, and the Rev. Nikolaus Schneider, the chairperson of the Protestant umbrella, the Evangelical Churches in Germany, said in a joint statement on 1 October.

Citing the book of Luke (1:37) in the Bible, "For nothing is impossible with God," they said the impossible became possible in late 1989. They added that the unity of Germany ôhas to be understood as part of a pan-European unity. The integration of a united Germany into a reinforced and extended European Union is maybe the biggest merit of the German unification," they concluded.

About two thirds of the German population belongs to a Christian church. Before 1989, West Germany had a majority Roman Catholic population, while East Germany was predominantly Protestant. Today there are 25 million Catholics and 24 million Protestants in the country. While people of Turkish origin account for 2.4 percent of Germany's people, Muslim's account for 3.7 percent of the 82 million population.

Druids get official OK in Britain

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:06:16 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

LONDON -- Druidry, the pagan worship that has been practiced on these shores for thousands of years, on Friday (Oct. 1) gained recognition by the British government as an official religion after a four-year legal battle.

The Charity Commission, established by Parliament to regulate charities in England and Wales, released a Sept. 21 decision that the worship by druids of spirits in the natural world could be viewed as a "religious activity."

The decision means druidry, often derided by some as the province of mystic crackpots, now has the status of a genuine faith in Britain, alongside more conventional religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

In pragmatic terms, it also means the druids now qualify for valuable tax breaks, in the same way as the other, more established faiths.

The Charity Commission's 21-page decision concluded that the Druid Network is "established for exclusively charitable purposes for the advancement of religion for the public benefit."

Commission officials estimate that current members in the Druid Network total about 350 (each paying about $15 a year in dues), although the BBC claimed in a report seven years ago that the ancient faith was practiced by as many as 10,000 worshippers across the land.

Druidry in Britain lists eight major festivals a year, including worshipping of the summer solstice amid the ancient stone monoliths at Stonehenge.

Phil Ryder, chairman of trustees for the Druid Network, told The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London that winning official recognition had taken four years, "a long and at times frustrating process."

One major complication, he explained, was that the Charity Commission at the start "had no understanding of our beliefs and practices, and examined us on every aspect of them."

Christians call for calm after Indian verdict on holy site

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 12:09:42 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

Bangalore, India (RNS/ENInews) Churches in India have joined other faiths and political leaders in calling for calm after a court ruled that a religious site violently disputed by Hindus and Muslims should be split between the two groups.

The high court of northern Uttar Pradesh state issued its ruling Thursday (Sept. 30) in the protracted case, which concerns ownership of the site of the former Babri mosque at Ayodhya, about 420 miles southeast of New Delhi. The case has been pending for more than half a century.

Two of the three judges declared that Hindus have the right of ownership to the main disputed area. The court granted Muslims and a Hindu group control of other parts of the site.

Hindus consider the location the birthplace of the god Ram, and placed a Ram idol inside the mosque in 1949.

In 1992, Hindu extremists destroyed the mosque, built by the Mughal Empire ruler Babar in 1528. In the violence that followed, more than 2,000 people died.

Some legal experts say the court decision is a victory for Hindu groups; the National Council of Churches in India, which includes Orthodox and Protestant churches, called for calm.

Christopher Rajkumar, executive secretary of the NCCI's justice and peace commission, told ENInews: "We do not want to go into the merits of the judgment at this moment. We have to study it carefully. We want peace and harmony in the country."

Archbishop Albert D'Souza of Agra, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, echoed these sentiments and appealed for peace.

In addition, Hindu groups and leaders of various political parties have appealed for "peace and calm," against a background of general concern.

"The worst has been averted," noted D'Souza, referring to the three-way split of the 2.6 acre disputed land that the court ordered. The site is currently under the control of the federal government.

Still, D'Souza said that he would have been happier if those who pulled down the Babri mosque in 1992 had been punished, or at least reprimanded, when the court gave its verdict.

Some Hindu groups that see the verdict as a victory for themselves have urged Muslims to accept the verdict and allow the building of a Ram temple on the disputed site, "in the national interest."

The Muslim litigants have said they will appeal the verdict in the federal Supreme Court.

Interfaith group urges U.S. to press for Middle East agreement

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:47:31 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

A broad coalition of U.S. Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders has backed the Obama administration's efforts to broker peace between Israel and Palestinians.

Members of the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East met Wednesday (Sept. 29) with National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The coalition called for "active, fair and firm U.S. leadership for Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace."

"We believe that concerted, sustained U.S. leadership for peace is essential," the coalition said. "And we know that time is not on the side of peace, that delay is not an option."

The group has expressed faith in a two-state solution since forming in 2003. Its latest statement was signed by 15 Christian leaders representing Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, evangelical and mainline Protestant denominations; six rabbis and a professor from Judaism's Reform and Reconstructionist movements; and six Muslims representing the Islamic Society of North America and other groups.

"One of the biggest obstacles to peace in the Middle East is cynicism," said Bishop Howard Hubbard, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace.

"As people of faith, we must remember that with God all things are possible. The human spirit can overcome even the longest and most violent of conflicts."

Churches find empty pews at Sunday evening services

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:09:18 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

By Matt Vande Bunte

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Doug De Vries describes Sunday evening worship as "a lot less formal" than the morning service at Plymouth Heights Christian Reformed Church.

It's also a lot less crowded.

Plymouth Heights is in step with a larger trend of declining evening attendance in evangelical denominations that long have cherished a heritage of worshiping twice on Sunday. Some evening services are more intimate; others have been cancelled or replaced by an alternative.

"It's a business question that has been asked," said De Vries, the church's minister of music. "People are spending time with their family (on Sunday nights) or using that time to get together in small groups. We were concerned that we were squandering resources to put the evening service together."

Plymouth Heights' 5 p.m. worship service continues, with about 25 percent of the people who attend the weekly Sunday morning service. That mirrors data from across the CRC, based on survey results presented this summer to the church's annual Synod. The survey found evening worship attendance is "plummeting," down from 56 percent of members in 1992 to 24 percent in 2007.

Researchers wrote that the data "seems to suggest evening service attendance has become optional."

It's not just the CRC. Officials at the Assemblies of God reported a 6 percent drop in Sunday evening attendance, to 416,751, in 2009 even as the overall size of the denomination grew by 1.2 percent, to 2.86 million.

There are different ways to interpret the trend: Some see it as harmless, while others see worrisome deviation away from doctrine. For others, the decline is a natural outcome of the historically Dutch church's aspirations to evangelize a broader demographic.

"Many churches are substituting evening worship and putting their energies into other things," said Jeff Meyer, pastor of Crosswinds Community Church, a 4-year-old CRC congregation in Holland, Mich., that, like many new churches, does not conduct evening worship.

"The people who are exploring Christianity are not typically accustomed even to weekly worship a single time. So to put forward some kind of a community-based expectation that you do this twice a Sunday would be extraordinary."

At Roosevelt Park Community Church in Grand Rapids, attendance at Sunday evening services fell from as many as 175 people in the mid-1990s to about 40 when the service was discontinued five years ago, said the Rev. Reginald Smith.

Ending the service has enabled the church to put more energy into the morning service, children's programs and ministry during the week. The result has been a bigger focus on evangelism and relational ministries, Smith said.

"We just saw incremental diminishing returns (in attendance)," Smith said. "Younger families were much busier with all the humming and bumming of life and they found other ways to refresh themselves.

"The evening service was a wonderful thing back in its heyday, but it cannot continue to function in the same form that it has historically. For a lot of churches, that's really a harsh reality."

The harsh reality, in the Rev. David Engelsma's view, is that churches that drop evening worship are ignoring their spiritual inheritance. The retired seminary professor calls the trend "plain evidence of the great apostasy that Christ has predicted."

Engelsma said evening worship in the Dutch Reformed tradition dates to the 16th century, when ministers taught from the Heidelberg Catechism. Engelsma's Protestant Reformed Church, which split from the CRC in 1925, still turns out en masse for Sunday night services, he said.

"Basically, it's the same today with us as it was back in The Netherlands in the 1500s," said Engelsma. "When a parishioner sits year after year under the regular instruction of the Heidelberg Catechism, he is going to be knowledgeable of and grounded in the truths, the doctrines and the teachings of the Christian faith."

Others, including Ron Rienstra, a professor at the Reformed Church in America-affiliated Western Theological Seminary, are concerned that Christians may be chipping away on the one day a week that God commanded to be set aside and kept holy.

"The two services is a way to frame the whole day as belonging to Lord," Rienstra said. "The decline of Sunday evening worship is a marker alongside many that our culture is becoming more popularly secular. We've lost a sense of sacred time that is being offered back to God."

Some churches have dropped the evening worship but offered an alternative. Grand Rapids' Eastern Avenue CRC now meets every other Sunday night for a half-hour of worship, a half-hour of eating and an hour of small-sized "covenant groups."

More than 200 people took part in the groups last year, a significant increase from evening attendance that "literally became a bit embarrassing," said Fred Sterenberg, church administrator.

"The decision (to end the service) almost made itself because very few people were coming," he said. "If we're talking tradeoff, (the covenant group alternative) is a pretty good tradeoff."

(Matt Vande Bunte writes for The Grand Rapids Press in Grand Rapids, Mich. Whitney Jones contributed to this report.)

Scholar: Israelites beer drinkers, too

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:04:28 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

Ancient Israelites drank not only wine but also beer, according to a biblical scholar at Xavier University in Louisiana.

"Ancient Israelites, with the possible exception of a few teetotaling Nazirites and their moms, proudly drank beer -- and lots of it," said Michael Homan, in his article for the September/October issue Biblical Archaeology Review.

While English translations of the Bible do not mention beer, the original Hebrew does, he said.

Homan, an archaeologist, said the Hebrew word "shekhar" has been mistranslated as "liquor," "strong drink" and "fermented drink," but it translates as "beer" based on linguistic and archaeological research.

Confusion over whether the ancient Israelites drank beer also stems from the difficulty of identifying and finding archaeological remains of beer production in Israelite artifacts.

The tools used for brewing beer, such as mortars and winnowing baskets, were also used to make bread because the two processes were similar. Homan said the ancient Israelites made beer by baking a cake of malted barley or wheat, placing it in water and adding yeast.

Additionally, the Israelites' taste for beer has been ignored because academic scholars over the past 100 years have inferred that beer drinking is "uncouth" behavior, he said.

"This has led many Bible scholars actively to distance biblical heroes from a beer-drinking world, much like some Christians prefer to believe that Jesus drank unfermented grape juice despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary," Homan said.

He said the Bible does call for moderation but beer was a staple in the Israelites' diet.

Homan called beer a type a "super-food" because it augmented the amount of calories in harvested grains, provided necessary vitamins and killed bacteria found in tainted water.

"Men, women and even children of all social classes drank it," he said. "Its consumption in ancient Israel was encouraged, sanctioned and intimately linked with their religion."

Buddhists and Christians call for a just economy

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 13:36:18 GMT

(From the World Council of Churches)

A common word on international economic practices has been spoken by representatives of Christian and Buddhist traditions who met in late August at Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The theme of their consultation was "Engaging Structural Greed," and their closing statement is titled "A Buddhist-Christian Common Word on Structural Greed." The consultation in Chiang Mai was co-sponsored by the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation.

Participants included Theravada and Mahayana Buddhists as well as Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist, Catholic and Reformed Christians. The final statement recognizes that personal and systemic greed is at the core of today's global financial crisis, and it expresses the hope that an "ongoing inter-religious engagement and cooperation can be a powerful contribution to overcoming greed and realizing a world of greater compassion, wisdom and justice."

Read a report on the consultation

Russia's prisons look to faiths to bring moral guidance

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:45:29 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

MOSCOW (RNS/ENInews) Russian prisons, struggling with a growing crime rate, overcrowding and shortfalls in funding, are turning to religion to bring moral guidance to inmates.

The move marks a dramatic change from the Soviet system, when clergy and believers were often imprisoned for their faith.

"We have signed agreements with all of the leading confessions of our country," said Aleksandr Reimer, the director of Russia's Federal Correctional Service, in an interview with the Rossiiskaya Gazeta, an official government newspaper.

Although the Russian Orthodox Church has become increasingly close to the government in recent years, Reimer said that that imposing Russia's largest religion on inmates was not the goal.

"Right now we're preparing an agreement with Buddhists," Reimer said in the interview. "We're providing everyone with access. We're building churches, mosques and synagogues."

In July, at a ceremony at Moscow's Jewish Community Centre, Reimer signed an agreement on opening synagogues and Jewish prayer rooms in prisons with Aleksandr Boroda, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.

The agreement, which has already resulted in at least three prison synagogues, calls for the Federation of Jewish Communities to provide humanitarian aid, such as food and medicine, to prisoners.

Reimer said the correctional service had started a pilot project with the Russian Orthodox Church in four regions of Russia to introduce prison chaplains. Practical issues, such as who will pay for and supervise the priests -- still need to be resolved.

"Neither representatives of confessions, nor we today, have the goal of forcing everyone to go to church," he said. "Why should we engage in such sacrilege? If an inmate has come to faith, we think that it could stop him from committing a crime in the future."

The Russian Orthodox Church has created a department for prison ministry. Last year the church held a three-day seminar for clergy and church social workers who provide pastoral care for HIV-infected prisoners.

Kenyan faith leaders seek ban on toxic brews

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:14:11 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

NAIROBI (RNS/ENInews) Faith leaders in Kenya hope to collect 1 million signatures to petition President Mwai Kibaki to rescind a new law legalizing traditional brews that have left hundreds dead.

Christian, Hindu and Muslim leaders are concerned the law will lead to increased alcohol abuse in Kenya.

"We are opposed to the legalization of alcohol because we have seen the harm it has caused our society," said the Rev. Geoffrey Songok, the moderator of the Reformed Church of East Africa.

Kibaki signed the Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2009 into law on Sept. 1, decriminalizing thousands of traditional breweries, many constructed secretly on river banks, in forests and slums.

The brews have left a trail of deaths since they were outlawed in 1978. In July, 17 people died in Nairobi's Kibera slums after consuming one of the brews known as Changaa. In 2000, 130 people died in the town of Machakos after drinking a similar brew.

"We are concerned that irresponsible drinking is destroying many families. We should be dealing with the brews in such a way that they do not continue to destroy families," Roman Catholic Archbishop Boniface Lele of Mombasa told ENInews.

Muslim leaders also reject the bill, saying it will continue to impoverish Kenyans. "Kenyans need jobs, not more alcohol. We know alcohol has been a major cause of poverty and we urge the government not to implement the law," said Sheikh Juma Ngao, the chairman of the Kenya National Muslim Advisory Council.

Rashmin Chitnis, the general secretary of the Hindu Council of Kenya, said the law's regulations may make traditional brewers less destructive, but warned the law may also encourage heavy drinking and lead to less productivity.

Report finds spike in U.S. poverty levels

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:03:47 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

WASHINGTON -- The number of people in poverty in America increased to its highest recorded point last year, and the poverty rate rose to its highest level since 1994, new statistics show.

The Census Bureau released data Thursday (Sept. 16) that showed a significant annual increase in poverty, rising 1.1 percentage points to 14.3 percent in 2009. A total of 43.6 million live in poverty -- the highest since recording began in 1959 -- and up from 39.8 million in 2008.

As a result of the ongoing financial crisis, social service programs such as Catholic Charities USA are faced with the challenge of increased needs from individuals and working families, budget cuts and a decrease in individual donations.

Catholics Charities served more than 9 million people in 2009, and reported a 10 percent increase in need for nutrition, housing and financial services.

The Rev. Larry Snyder, president and CEO of Catholics Charities, said that while the statistics were staggering, they did not come as a surprise to those who work with people in poverty on a daily basis.

"These numbers are further proof that as a nation it is time to re-examine our failing system of safety nets," said Snyder.

The Rev. David Beckmann, president of the anti-hunger group Bread for the World, echoed Snyder's concern, calling "the faithful to get off the couch and change the politics of hunger and poverty."

While government leaders are eager to support the rich and middle class, they are leaving the poor behind, said the Rev. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches.

"Our political leaders' calculated neglect of the poor while courting the votes of the comfortable offends the Creator of the universe," Kinnamon said. "Any measures taken should not only stimulate the economy but benefit everyone, especially those living on the economic margins."

Calvin withdraws invitation to New Pornographers band

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:29:21 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

Calvin College has canceled a scheduled Oct. 15 concert by the Canadian indie rock band New Pornographers after the band's name prompted complaints from the local community.

"After weeks of discussion and consideration, the irony of the band's name was impossible to explain to many. The band's name, to some, is mistakenly associated with pornography," the school said in a statement.

"Consequently, Calvin, to some, was mistakenly associated with pornography. Neither the college nor the band endorses pornography."

Ken Heffner, director of student activities at the Christian Reformed Church-affiliated school, said complaints had poured into the school since the show was announced in August, but wouldn't say specifically the source of most of them.

"The show was announced in the summer, when few students were around, and letters began coming in to the office shortly thereafter," he said.

Heffner said the New Pornographers had been on the Student Activities Office's wish list of acts for several years, and when an opportunity came to book the band, he didn't hesitate.

"The band, The New Pornographers, makes good, thoughtful music, and we invited them to Calvin College based on their artistic merit," a follow-up statement said. "The decision to invite this band fits our rubric of engaging culture through a Christian lens."

However, the name became too much of an issue, Heffner said.

"For some people, the name, it hurts them, it confuses them. They wonder why would we ever associate the college with that word."

The band's name often is interpreted as a reference to preacher Jimmy Swaggart's insistence that rock music is "the new pornography," but frontman A.C. Newman has said he took it from a Japanese film called "The Pornographers," a dark comedy.

"The name of the band could be perceived as being flippant," Heffner said. "I don't know that the band would see it that way. But that's how some people responded. That became kind of a wave, and it became something the college had to respond to."

Heffner said the band has been respectful of the decision. E-mails to the group's management and publicist requesting comment were not immediately returned.

Calvin senior Jake Hoskins, 21, of Chicago, had planned to attend the show and said the cancellation was a "knee-jerk puritanical reaction to things that can seem offensive at first, but when you think about it, it's really not.

"It represents everything that can really bother me about Calvin College," he said.

Ecumenism alive and well as Pope Benedict XVI visits Edinburgh

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:35:48 GMT

(From the World Council of Churches)

On the eve of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United Kingdom, three stalwarts of Scottish ecumenism and the “churches together” movement met on Tuesday evening to assess church relations today. The three church leaders were Archbishop Mario Conti (Roman Catholic archbishop of Glasgow), Christine Davis (Religious Society of Friends / Quakers) and the Rev. Dr Sheilagh Kesting (ecumenical officer of the Church of Scotland and former moderator of its General Assembly). They shared reflections about the successes, disappointments and hopes of churches working together in the nation.

The last time a pope visited Edinburgh, Scotland, was in 1982 when the popular Pope John Paul II was welcomed into the heart of Scottish Protestantism and made a visit to New College and the theological faculty at the University of Edinburgh.

At the time there was nervousness in the air, particularly among the leadership of the Church of Scotland who, according to Archbishop Conti, were to meet with John Paul II “on their home turf”.

While the meeting with the pope went perfectly well, the church and ecumenical landscape of Scotland was in for a sea-change over the next three decades. This change has marked an improvement in relations according to these three pioneers of the modern ecumenical movement.

The formal state visit of Pope Benedict XVI will begin when he is received by Queen Elizabeth II in Edinburgh on Thursday, 16 September. There will be a wide variety of church leaders attending the reception, including the Rev. John Cairns Christie, moderator of General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The three were part of an evening event sponsored by the 20-year-old organization Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), the national ecumenical instrument. The event was held in conjunction with this week’s meeting of the WCC Executive Committee at Carberry Tower, near Edinburgh.

The presence in Edinburgh of a governing body of the WCC, which represents more than 550 million Christians around the world including Orthodox, Anglican, Old Catholic, independent and many Protestant groups, and its meeting being held at the same time as the Pope’s visit there, is sheer coincidence.

Still, the circumstance could not go unnoticed as the current pope arrives against an ecclesiastical backdrop that reflects growing cooperation between churches. The WCC Executive Committee’s visit to the city in 2010 honours the centenary of the Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference which historians of Christianity identify as the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement.

Ecumenical progress

When the “churches together” model was adopted in 1990 with the formation of ACTS, there “were vociferous and in some places quite unpleasant protests”, said Christine Davis, one of the early participants in the churches together movement. Archbishop Conti was the first convener of ACTS.

Since then the major denominational groups have been working together on a variety of social and ecclesial initiatives. Davis, while not guaranteeing the behaviour of everyone in relation to the pope’s visit this week, feels certain there will not be a repeat of the sorts of protests that occurred in 1990.

She pointed out that today “at one level, the fact we are working together is taken for granted”. In 2009, “we had a very valuable joint conference of everyone involved in the churches in Scotland on Calvin: Catholic and Reformed”, she said. The theme was inspired by the 500th anniversary of Protestant reformer John Calvin’s birth. “Now, that is the kind of event which allowed us to be learning together about a part of church history people don’t normally see as having in common.”

Conti for his part views the work of ACTS as becoming the “title for the engagement of the ecumenical movement”. The role of ACTS is all about “engagement, respect and listening”, he said.

Sheilagh Kesting, who was also involved in the formation of ACTS, talked about landmark developments that grew out of the Swanwick consultation in 1992, with “people reporting afterwards about the moment when Cardinal Hume of England came forward and said the Roman Catholic Church was ready to come into a new ecumenical structure, the churches together, that we now call ACTS”.

The momentum this created, along with the subsequent leadership and grassroots work of the churches together, has led “the Roman Catholic church into the ecumenical movement, and this is not something we wanted to go back on”, Kesting said.

Still, ACTS and the churches together movement have not led to unity in all things; there remain stark differences between churches. But what has happened, according to Conti, is that the churches resist criticizing each other in public and work at respecting their differences and discussing them together.

Today it is more likely churches will consult with each other before they move forward on important matters, according to Kesting. Some of the disappointments the group felt about the churches together movement is that it may not be challenging the churches enough, Kesting added.

Conti said that there remain challenges in regard to issues of morality and ethics, such as family values and homosexuality.

Even with these sort of “mismatches” among churches in the same communities, particularly around ecclesial issues, this sometimes “baffles people” Davis said, “but it doesn’t stop them from getting on”.

Despite these challenges, all three ecumenical stalwarts saw hope in the movement of churches together, with ACTS and agencies like the WCC at the forefront. There was strong participation of the churches in addressing social issues such as poverty, Conti observed.

In conclusion, Davis said that churches have to share their resources better, deal with their own internal divisions, look at broader inter-religious and secular issues and in the end live out the good news of Jesus Christ, “which is to be extended to everyone we meet”.

Statement on Park51: A Call to Reconciliation

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:39:15 GMT

(From the Collegiate Churches of New York)

We are blessed to be part of a particular community called the Collegiate Church of New York with almost four hundred years of continuous ministry in this city. We gather not only as individuals, but as communities through which we can impact the world around us. We are drawn together by Jesus' calling to love one another, and we share a common vocation of pursuing peace with all people (John 13.34 and Hebrews 12.14). It is from this basis that we, as a community of believers, offer the following comments on the controversy that has been generated by the proposal to develop a Muslim Community Center in lower Manhattan.

We live in the midst of God's marvelous mosaic. New York City and its environs is a place of cultural diversity and religious pluralism. The positive and inclusive nature of the Christian faith compels us to respect all people, listen to diverse viewpoints, and work in partnership with those who seek peace and the good of our community. While we pursue the path to truth and life through Jesus Christ, our Christian tradition and our American heritage promote the freedom of all people to seek their own religious paths and to worship however and wherever they wish.

We also recognize that there are deep wounds that still remain from the terrorist attack on our city on September 11, 2001. We honor the courage of first responders and advocate for appropriate health care benefits to address their ongoing medical issues. We grieve with those who suffered losses of loved ones on that day, and we acknowledge that the space formerly occupied by the twin towers holds a sacred place in the hearts of all Americans.

As we watch the fury over the community center intensify, we are also grieved by the mischaracterization of people and positions. A prime example is the way the Muslim leaders involved in this initiative have had their intent, beliefs, and character maligned. We are saddened to see our Muslim neighbors, friends, and colleagues so misrepresented. They are part of the rich heritage and religious tapestry of New York City, and they have done much to contribute to its well-being. Islam, like Christianity, is a large and diverse faith, and one cannot use one experience or expression of Islam to stereotype all Muslims, nor can all be indicted for the acts of a few. We also deplore the portrayal of Christianity as anti-Muslim through the desecration of their sacred text. Our faith calls us to respect others and to strive to represent them fairly. Doing so does not eliminate the space to disagree; it speaks to how we represent ourselves and others with integrity in the midst of disagreement.

The polarizing nature of the debate has left us listening solely for whether people are "for" or "against" the community center. The voices in the middle are being crowded out by extreme positions on both sides. In order to cultivate room to learn from one another and to create greater understanding among all concerned, we believe any engagement of this issue must be based on the following:

First, we call for civil dialogue where the rights of all people are respected. We recognize that the current controversy, in many ways, represents a conversation that we as a people never had after September 11. Moving forward, we pledge ourselves to be engaged in settings and venues where interfaith dialogue and cooperation is fostered throughout the city and beyond. We call upon all those who would exploit this situation for their own personal agendas through demagoguery and the demonization of others to cease their rhetoric and extend their ears and their hearts to all.

Second, we commit ourselves and encourage others to learn more about Islam. If the current controversy has shown anything, it is the great misunderstanding about the faith of Muslims.

Third, we commit ourselves and encourage others to learn the facts surrounding the proposed community center. No reasoned discussion can occur unless we have a common understanding of what is being proposed.

Fourth, we commit ourselves and encourage others to build relationships of trust between those carrying divergent positions in this controversy. A lack of trust prevents us from listening and learning from one another, and there will be no successful resolution without some measure of trust between those involved.

Because of who we are and who we are called to be, we celebrate a vision of cultural diversity and religious tolerance, a setting where we can learn about one another, participate across lines of race, faith, culture, and socioeconomic condition to be faithful to our calling in this city. Therefore we are committed to work with the organizers of Park51 and all concerned parties as a reconciling agent so that there is a new way for residents of this city and all Americans to move forward into a new future in which civil dialogue leads to healing and understanding.

Rev. Michael S. Bos, West End Collegiate Church
Rev. Dr. Michael S. Brown, Marble Collegiate Church
Rev. Robert Chase, Intersections International
Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Lewis, Middle Collegiate Church
Rev. Charles D. Morris, Fort Washington Collegiate Church

Mass. Bible Society to hand out free Qurans

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:45:17 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

In what's being described as a "counter action" to "an act of hatred against Muslims," the Massachusetts Bible Society said it would give away two Qurans for every one burned at a church in Florida.

But late Thursday (Sept. 9), the Rev. Terry Jones, pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., indicated he might cancel plans to burn 200 copies of the Muslim holy book on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The "They Burn One, We Give Two" drive marks the first time in the Society's 201-year history that funds have been raised to distribute a non-Christian sacred text, according to Executive Director Anne Robertson.

"As people of the Book, we are joined to Islam and Judaism in a special way," the group said in an appeal released Thursday (Sept. 9). "As an organization that has sought to put that Book into people's hands for 201 years, we cannot stand idly by while the sacred text of a sister religion is burned as our beloved Bibles once were."

The MBS says it can distribute two Qurans for every $25 it raises. Even if this weekend's scheduled burning is canceled, the MBS will still give away as many Qurans as donors have sponsored, Robertson said. She added that if the Quran giveaway is successful, then the MBS would likely consider making it a permanent, ongoing program.

Robertson said the MBS has in the past given away a small number of Qurans to organizations, such as prisons that received grants for Bibles and asked that a few non-Christian sacred texts be included.

She said neither she nor her staff consulted the MBS board of trustees on the Quran giveaway idea because they needed to act quickly before Saturday's Quran-burning event.

"We talked about how there may be fallout from this, some people may not like it, and we may lose some support," Robertson said. "But the support so far has been fabulous."

The program will distribute Qurans to hospitals, shelters, prisons and "any place where there are Muslims without access to their sacred text," the group said.

Prominent faith leaders denounce Islamophobia

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:17:09 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

WASHINGTON -- Three dozen faith leaders Tuesday (Sept. 7) issued a declaration denouncing anti-Muslim bigotry as the nation prepares to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at a time of inflamed religious tensions.

Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, was joined by Christian and Jewish leaders in responding to the "atmosphere of fear and contempt" generated by the controversy over plans to build an Islamic center near Ground Zero. She said fellow Muslims are feeling levels of anxiety similar to just after the 9/11 attacks.

"They are nervous about their children as they head back to school this week, that when they go to school they are going to face people who are looking at them as aliens when in fact they are citizens that were born in this country," said Mattson.

The faith leaders were especially critical of plans by a Gainesville, Fla., church to burn copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the attacks.

"We insist that no religion should be judged on the words or actions of those who seek to pervert it through acts of violence," reads the two-page statement.

The 35 religious leaders who gathered for the "emergency interfaith meeting" said they could no longer be silent about recent attacks on Muslims and mosques.

"That is not what we are about," said Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. "It is not what our religions are about and it is not what this nation is about."

The Rev. Richard Cizik, president of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good, said of evangelicals who participate in anti-Islamic bigotry: "I say shame on you."

The leaders urged acts of cooperation among interfaith leaders at the state and local level to demonstrate solidarity with Muslims.

Some of the participants in the meeting were scheduled to meet with Attorney General Eric Holder Tuesday afternoon to discuss action by the Justice Department to address the recent intimidation and violence against Muslims.

Concern over status of Jerusalem and future of Palestinian Christians voiced by WCC

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:09:00 GMT

(From the World Council of Churches)

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has sent a message to the Middle East negotiators in Washington to stress the concerns of Palestinian Christians.

The message conveys concern over the final status of Jerusalem, the future of the Christians there and the need for a just peace in the region.

"Now is the time for a just peace," Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit says in the message from Jerusalem, where he is visiting this week with a WCC delegation. "The Christians here pray for that; all peoples here need it desperately. The time of occupation and violence must end."

The message also talks about the need for the final negotiations on the status of Jerusalem to involve the heads of the local churches. "Palestinian Christians are also concerned about their future here and about their status in Jerusalem," his message said.

In the message Tveit also says the Christians in Jerusalem are "very much concerned by the discourse about religious identity of states in this region, which they fear will marginalize not only their presence and witness but also that of all Christians elsewhere in the region."

The message came as discussions between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams were about to resume. At a meeting between US President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, 1 September, each of the leaders pledged to work diligently toward peace.

Christian women prefer Sunday services to shopping, study says

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:49:00 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

Protestant and Catholic women in the United States have grown unhappier since stores have stayed open on Sundays, according to a study by economists from Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Chicago's DePaul University.

The study found that the repeal of "blue law" restrictions on Sunday shopping has corresponded with lower church attendance for white women. Meanwhile, the probability of women becoming unhappy increased by 17 percent.

The study concludes that "an important part of the decline in women's happiness during the last three decades can be explained by decline in religious participation," said Danny Cohen-Zada, an economics scholar at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

The researchers analyzed churchgoing habits of women from the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey, which has collected information about American characteristics and attitudes from 1972 to 2008.

They looked at data from states that have repealed "blue laws" restricting Sunday commerce -- Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Vermont -- compared to others with no change.

The study followed up on a 2008 study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, which found that states that had eliminated blue laws saw church attendance decline while drinking and drug use increased.

Even when women noticed they had been happier when malls were closed Sundays, they didn't resume their previous church habits, which the researchers speculated was due to a problem of self-control and the addictive nature of shopping.

"People choose shopping, like watching TV, because it provides immediate satisfaction," Cohen-Zada said. "That satisfaction lasts for the moment it's being consumed and not much longer than that. Religious participation, on the other hand, is not immediate. Instead, it requires persistence over a period of time."

Presbyterian pastor to appeal gay-marriage verdict

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:15:54 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

A retired Presbyterian pastor who was formally rebuked by a church court for marrying same-sex couples in California will appeal the ruling.

The Rev. Jane Spahr was found guilty of violating her ordination vows and the rules of the Presbyterian Church (USA) last Friday (Aug. 27).

A court of the Redwoods Presbytery in Napa, Calif., rebuked Spahr for repeatedly disobeying a church law that says pastors can conduct same-sex blessings but not represent them as marriages.

Spahr, a self-described "lesbian evangelist," has said she wed at least 16 couples from June to November 2008, when gay marriage was legal in California.

The Redwoods court used most of its ruling to praise Spahr and her 35-year-long "prophetic ministry" to gays and lesbians.

The court also called on the PCUSA "to re-examine our own fear and ignorance" and said the denomination has "conflicting and even contradictory rules and regulations that are against the Gospel."

Spahr told ENInews she was "stunned" by the decision. She had expected a different outcome given the Redwoods Presbytery's reputation as a liberal bastion and the emotional court testimony of gay and lesbian couples.

"The law here is wrong," said Spahr. "It was not a just decision."

She said that being found guilty while commended for her ministry shows the "church is in great conflict and playing it out on our lives."

Church court convicts pastor on gay marriage charges

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:47:10 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

A Presbyterian court on Friday (Aug. 27) found a retired California pastor guilty of violating church rules and her ordination vows by performing same-sex marriages while it was briefly legal in the state in 2008.

The Rev. Jane Spahr, 68, never denied presiding at as many as 16 ceremonies, even though her denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), prohibits ministers from stating, implying or representing same-sex unions as marriages.

The Napa, Calif.-based Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of the Redwoods found Spahr guilty by a 4-2 vote, concluding she persisted in a "pattern or practice of disobedience."

Sphar's penalty is a formal rebuke, pending her possible appeal.

The court unanimously found Spahr not guilty on the charge of disturbing the "peace, unity and purity of the church."

"This is such a sad moment for the Church" Spahr said in a statement. "Today, the Church rejected God's amazing hospitality and welcome. It deeply troubles and saddens me." Spahr is considering appealing the decision.

Spahr is the second PCUSA minister this summer to be convicted of performing gay marriage. A mid-level church court in Massachusetts convicted the Rev. Jean Southard, a retired minister, in June.

Spahr conducted the marriages in California between June and November 2008, when it was outlawed by the voter referendum Proposition 8. Three weeks ago, a federal judge overturned Prop 8, but that ruling has been appealed.

Spahr's conviction came as somewhat of a surprise because the Redwoods Presbytery is considered a liberal bastion. Earlier this year, the presbytery presented a resolution to the PCUSA's top lawmaking body seeking to legalize gay marriage.

The presbytery court commended Spahr's "prophetic ministry" to gays and lesbians and criticized the PCUSA for having "conflicting and even contradictory rules and regulations that are against the Gospel."

"In the reality in which we live today, marriage can be between same gender as well as opposite gender persons, and we, as a church, need to be able to respond to this reality as Dr. Jane Spahr has done with faithfulness and compassion," the court said.

Conservative Lutherans to form new church body

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:11:35 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

Conservative Lutherans are forming a new church body they say will "uphold confessional principles" after disagreements with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America over the ordination of gay clergy.

The new North American Lutheran Church is scheduled to be formed at a meeting Friday and Saturday (Aug. 26-27) in Grove City, Ohio.

"The NALC will uphold confessional principles dear to Lutherans, including a commitment to the authority of the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions," organizers said in a statement.

In 2009, after years of contentious debate, the ELCA voted to changes its policies to allow non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy, and to allow churches to bless same-sex relationships.

Ryan Schwarz, vice-chairperson of Lutheran CORE, the organizing group of the new church body, told ENInews the ELCA's policy on same-sex relationships was "a symptom" rather than a cause of the unhappiness over the ELCA.

Schwarz cited a recent example of a service held by one ELCA synod in which, he said, there were several versions of the Lord's Prayer recited, including one in which "the Mother who is within us" was evoked.

"To us, that appears to be close to paganism," Schwarz said.

Organizers said the NALC meeting will feature representatives from the world's second- and third-largest Lutheran churches, in Tanzania and Ethiopia, which have a total of about 5.3 million members.

Also scheduled to attend are bishops from the Anglican Church in North America, a body that separated from the Episcopal Church over similar moves to allow gay bishops and same-sex blessings.

Asked why dissatisfied ELCA members did not join the more conservative Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Schwarz said he and many who are likely to join the new church body do not agree with the Missouri Synod's "very literal" interpretation of the Bible nor support that denomination's prohibition of the ordination of women.

Schwarz said 18 U.S. congregations have already decided to join the new church, and more than 100 congregations are preparing to do so. The Chicago-based ELCA has 4.5-million members in 10,300 congregations.

ELCA spokesman John Brooks told ENInews that the ELCA "regrets the decisions of some ELCA congregations and members to create another church body and possibly leave the ELCA."

"We pray for the unity of the whole church and its members," Brooks said, "and we pray for those who will be leaving to join the North American Lutheran Church."

French Protestants criticise government over Roma repatriation

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:08:27 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

By Stephen Brown Geneva/Paris--France's main Protestant grouping has added its voice to criticism of a government programme aimed at repatriating Roma migrants and demolishing unauthorised Roma camps.

The Protestant Federation of France (FPF) said in a 24 August statement that it was "concerned about the new direction of policies concerning the Roma population, one of Europe's most impoverished populations".

The French government began a crackdown on Roma and Traveller communities at the end of July, after outbreaks of violence between Roma communities and police following an incident in which a Traveller was killed by security forces.

The FPF said the French policies on migration were again presenting a challenge to Protestants, who wanted to demonstrate solidarity, a welcome to foreigners and strangers, and support for the weakest of society.

The federation noted that in July it had denounced the "distortions and discrimination faced both by French Travellers and Roma".

It supported a call by the Conference of European Churches and the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe for 2010 to be a year of churches responding to migration.

French immigration minister Eric Besson said on 24 August his government had repatriated 635 Roma to Romania and Bulgaria since the crackdown, and that this figure would rise to about 950 by the end of August.

France is host to around 15 000 Roma from eastern Europe, especially Romania, according to the London-based Minority Rights Group International. At the same time, there are long-established nomadic Roma and French Traveller communities with French nationality.

The statement by the Protestant grouping follows criticism by Roman Catholic leaders of the government policy.

Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, the president of the French bishops' conference, told reporters earlier in August that he regretted the "protectionist reflexes of those who fear the future, fear losing what they have, as more and more people are marginalised".

In a 15 August homily reported by the France24 Web site, the cardinal stated, "Can we take part in the growing gap between citizens who enjoy the security of civil rights and those who are marginalised and pushed slowly into exclusion?"

Another Catholic priest, the Rev. Arthur Hervet, who works with Roma communities, has said he has refused a national medal of honour he was due to receive. Hervet later said he regretted a statement saying he was praying for French President Nicolas Sarkozy to have a "heart attack".

Pope Benedict XVI, in comments seen as an implicit criticism of France, addressed pilgrims in French at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome on 22 August referring to the need, "to learn how to accept legitimate human diversity, just like Jesus came to unite people of all nations and all languages".

The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe's anti-racism commission has said it is "deeply concerned" about the treatment of Roma communities in France.

In a 24 August statement, the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance said Roma were being held "collectively responsible for criminal offences and singled out for abusing EU legislation on freedom of movement".

WCC to meet in Cleveland to tackle racism

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:57:18 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

CLEVELAND--Members of the World Council of Churches, representing more than 560 million Christians in 110 countries, will gather in Cleveland to discuss how to expose and combat racism around the globe.

The four-day seminar, which starts Thursday (Aug. 26) and will include about 30 people from churches around the world, will be hosted by the Cleveland-based United Church of Christ.

"We'll review what's going on throughout the world," said the Rev. Linda Jaramillo, executive minister of the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries. "We need to address the underground, systemic issues of racism."

That includes racial imbalances in prison systems and public schools and economic inequities in job markets, she said.

The Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson, the UCC's minister for racial justice, said racism is a more difficult target today in the United States than it was during the times of slavery and Jim Crow laws.

"One of the challenges is how to focus our work while the overt structures of racism are no longer there," she said. "We know it still exists, so how do we direct our energies toward dismantling racism in its forms of the 21st century?"

The group will draft a report to present to a peace-and-justice conference the WCC will hold in Jamaica in May.

The council is comprised of most of the world's Orthodox churches, a number of Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches and many independent churches. The Roman Catholic Church works with the council, but is not a member.

Pope chides France after Gypsies are deported

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:10:26 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

VATICAN CITY--In an apparent criticism of France's mass deportation of Roma (Gypsy) immigrants, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday (Aug. 22) urged French-speaking Catholics to "accept legitimate human diversity" and practice "universal fraternity."

The pope made his remarks, which did not explicitly refer to the French policy, following his weekly Angelus prayer at the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo outside Rome.

Addressing "Francophone pilgrims" in their native language, Benedict noted the biblical teaching that "all men are called to salvation," and invited his listeners to "welcome legitimate human diversity, following Jesus who came to gather together men of every nation and every tongue."

"Dear parents, you can educate your children in universal fraternity," the pope said.

The French government's decision to deport 200 itinerant Roma to Bulgaria and Romania last week, citing their occupation of illegal camps in France, has drawn criticism from human rights activists and even Catholic leaders.

Archbishop Christophe Dufour of Aix-en-Provence and Arles denounced "security-based arguments that can give the impression that there are inferior populations."

The Rev. Arthur Hervet, a Catholic priest in the city of Lille, announced that he was praying that French President Nicolas Sarkozy would have a heart attack, in order to stop the deportations.

Southern Sudan UDI, last thing churches would want, says Kobia

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:51:34 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

By Fredrick Nzwili

Nairobi--Former World Council of Churches general secretary, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, says a planned January 2011 referendum for Southern Sudan must go ahead in order to prevent the region itself declaring independence.

"A UDI (unilateral declaration of independence) is the last thing the churches will want to see. It must be avoided at any cost," Kobia, who now serves as the All Africa Conference of Churches special ecumenical envoy for Sudan, told journalists in Nairobi on 17 August.

Kobia spoke as southern Sudanese leaders continued to warn they will declare independence unilaterally on 10 January if the referendum is not held the day before. That date - 9 January - is the one set by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in Nairobi. The accord sealed the end of a 21-year-long civil war in which more than two million people died.

The Kenyan Methodist pastor, who left his WCC post in December, warned that declaring UDI would be dangerous because it would split Africa and the global community.

"It is clear that there is no other way that will be honourable and credible for the people to exercise their right to self determination," said Kobia of the proposed referendum. "It would be dignified if it is done within a referendum because that gives the people the freedom to use their conscience, and decide the future and destiny of Sudan."

He warned of deliberate attempts to frustrate the process so that it would appear, for technical reasons, that the referendum could not be held. The churches' special envoy explained it had taken three years after the signing of the peace agreement before a referendum commission was formed, and that it is not yet fully functioning.

Kobia was appointed to his current post with the AACC, which is tied closely to the WCC, in consultation with the Sudan Ecumenical Forum.

"I was asked and I accepted to serve as the special envoy to Sudan that started in March this year. The AACC, WCC, and SEF responded to a request by the SCC and Sudanese Churches to accompany them at this critical juncture of the history of Sudan," said Kobia.

He is expected to sustain diplomatic efforts to seek to save the agreement from collapsing by engaging both the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Peace Movement and the Sudan government, which both sponsored the pact, along with other stakeholders.

"It has been seen as urgent to have a special envoy for Sudan because the country is undergoing a special situation, which requires a special ecumenical attention," said AACC general secretary the Rev. Andre Karamaga, who worked with Kobia at the WCC.

Asked about his position on the referendum, Kobia said he is non-partisan. Some who support independence for Southern Sudan have criticised his appointment, and say he opposes independence.

"What I want to see is a political dispensation where the people of southern Sudan will enjoy their freedom, justice and life in dignity, and I think that is what matters the most," said Kobia.

Polls: One in four Americans thinks Obama's a Muslim

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:25:13 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

By ADELLE M. BANKS

WASHINGTON -- Two new polls say as many as one in four Americans mistakenly believe President Obama is a Muslim, presenting the White House with the unique challenge of defining a central element of the president's life story.

Asked in a Time magazine poll whether the president is a Muslim or a Christian, 24 percent of respondents said Muslim, and 47 percent said Christian.

A separate Pew poll released Thursday (Aug. 19) found that 18 percent of Americans think President Obama is a Muslim. A full 43 percent of Americans -- across lines of race, political party and religion -- don't know what faith he follows.

Perhaps most strikingly, the number of Americans who believe Obama is a Muslim has increased over the last 18 months, while fewer believe that he's a Christian. The percentage of Americans who could identify Obama as a Christian has dropped from 48 percent to 34 percent, according to the Pew poll.

Experts pointed to a number of possible explanations, but one quickly rose to the top: The candidate who discovered Christian faith in a Chicago black church has rarely been seen leaving the White House for Sunday services.

"Possibly this reflects the degree to which this president is less public about his religion, especially than his predecessor was," said Alan Cooperman, associate director for research at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Whatever the reason, White House spokesman Shin Inouye described Obama Thursday (Aug. 19) as a man of "strong Christian faith" even though "he doesn't wear it on his sleeve."

"He prays every day, he seeks a small circle of Christian pastors to give him spiritual advice and counseling, he even receives a daily devotional that he uses each morning," Inouye said.

Shaun Casey, an ethics professor at Wesley Theological Seminary and a former adviser to the Obama campaign, said the poll findings indicate a "communications problem" in the White House, but also continuing opposition to the president.

Casey noted the Pew poll's finding that Republicans showed the most marked increase in believing Obama is a Muslim.

"It shows that people who are not political supporters are the ones who are willing to offer up their opinion he is a Muslim," Casey said.

John Green, director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, said the findings refute the "reasonable expectation" that as Americans come to know Obama better, they would have a more accurate picture of his faith.

"The fact that we don't see a lot of pictures of him attending a house of worship ... might have some kind of effect," said Green, who worked on the Pew study with other researchers.

As president, Obama has addressed his faith occasionally, telling how he and other Christians "glory in the promise of redemption in the resurrection" at an Easter prayer breakfast last April, or telling the National Prayer Breakfast in February, "I assure you I'm praying a lot these days."

Obama had planned to attend "a number of different churches" in Washington, but the Obamas have visited only a few, including St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House, two historically black Baptist congregations in Washington, and the Washington National Cathedral for an inauguration prayer service.

The Pew poll of some 3,000 respondents was taken between July 21 and Aug. 5, before the president waded into the controversy over a proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero. After telling a Ramadan dinner at the White House that the U.S. has an "unshakeable" commitment to religious freedom, the next day he said he would not "comment on the wisdom" of placing the Islamic center near the site of the 9/11 attacks.

The Time poll of some 1,000 adults was taken just after he made his comments.

Observers said the findings may have less to do with Obama and more to do with opponents who skillfully used the media -- especially the Internet -- to spread misinformation about the president.

Sally Steenland, a senior policy adviser to the Faith and Public Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress think tank, said it's important for people of all parties to be responsible about telling the truth.

"Do any of us want to live in a country, or do we want to be voting, on the basis of made-up reality?" she said. "This is a pollution of democracy."

The Rev. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, a professor of African-American studies and sociology at Colby College, said trying to fix the misperceptions could be a "difficult strategy" and "problematic" for the White House.

"I think sincerity in terms of his relationship with God is more important than trying to move poll numbers around religion," she said.

Kenyans trust media more than clergy, survey suggests

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:44:00 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

By Fredrick Nzwili

Nairobi--Kenyans have more faith in the media than in their clergy, a survey indicates two weeks after the passing of a new constitution that the country's church leaders strongly opposed because they said it helps to legally entrench Islamic courts and abortion.

The church leaders have rejected the survey's findings following a referendum on 4 August on the new constitution.

"There are claims that the church has lost credibility. Those claims are not true," the Rev. Peter Karanja, general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, told the media on 11 August in Limuru, near Nairobi. "The church plays a prophetic role. The prophet does not determine the integrity of the message by the obedience of his hearers."

Synovate, an international research company, released the results of its survey of 1012 adults questioned between 7 and 9 August. The findings showed 75 percent of respondents trusted the media, while only 19 per cent said they had faith in church leaders, a similar percentage as that for trust in politicians.

"When the results are broken down among Christians, three in every 10 Catholics (32 per cent) claim they do not trust church leaders at all, compared to a slightly higher number of Protestants," the survey report says.

Still, Karanja said the church could be proud, and was not embarrassed because it carried out its work.

"I urge all Christians who voted 'No' [in the vote on the proposed constitution] not to be intimidated but to say what needs to be said … as situations emerge where people need to take stands. Christians must unashamedly continue to take their stands, and put them into the market place of ideas," said the Kenyan churches' leader.

Roman Catholic priest the Rev. Wamugunda Wakimani, in an opinion article in the Kenyan Sunday Nation newspaper on 8 August, said, "Clearly, most Christians did not heed the call of their shepherds … It could be that the church leaders were not convincing enough … It may also mean the followers wish to show their shepherds they can make decisions for themselves on some matters that affect their social, economic, cultural and political lives."

Christian leaders deplore expulsion of aid agencies from Somalia

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:44:16 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

By Fredrick Nzwili

Nairobi--A Somali Christian leader has condemned the halting of the work of three relief organizations in Somalia by Al Shabaab, an Islamic militant group, which alleged the agencies were propagating Christianity.

"Now that they have suspended their work, it is the local people who will suffer," Pastor Ahmed Abukar Mukhtar, the leader in exile of a small Christian community in Somalia, told ENInews on 10 August in Nairobi.

Abukar, who fled Somalia for Kenya, criticised Al Shabaab, which controls most of southern Somalia, for claiming that the agencies engaged in attempting to convert Muslims, who account for almost all of Somalia's people.

"I think the allegations are not true. They have used this excuse to expel the agencies," said Abukar.

On 8 August, Harakat Al Shabaab Al-Mujahideen (Movement of Warrior Youth) demanded that World Vision, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, and Diakonia, a Swedish agency, immediately cease operations in Somalia.

"Acting as missionaries under the guise of humanitarian work, the organizations have been spreading their corrupted ideologies in order to taint the pure creed of the Muslims in Somalia," Al Shabaab said in a statement.

Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti, who is the Roman Catholic apostolic administrator for Somalia, told ENInews he condemned the "intolerant approach" of Al Shabaab in forcing out the three agencies.

"Of course [the agencies] were inspired by their faith," said Bertin. "But since they were giving a good service according to international humanitarian criteria, they are not to be impeded in their charitable work."

In a 9 August statement, World Vision said keys to its offices and assets were taken from staff by Al Shabaab. It said that its operations in affected areas of Somalia have been temporarily suspended while it plans its next steps.

"World Vision is surprised and disappointed by the move, which is apparently based on false accusations of spreading Christianity," the agency said.

It quoted its Somalia programme director, Chris Smoot, as saying that while World Vision is a Christian organization, "we have specific policies that prohibit proselytising and we are a signatory to the Red Cross code of conduct that guarantees impartiality in our distribution of aid".

ADRA, which has worked in Somalia since 1992, said closing operations in south-central Somalia, where it has been rehabilitating wells, working to provide livelihoods and increasing access to education, would adversely affect 180 000 people.

It noted that it is a signatory to the code of conduct that bans proselytising.

Diakonia, a Swedish Christian development agency that has been working in Somalia since 1994, said, "Our efforts are aimed at people harmed by poverty, oppression and violence in various forms, regardless of their faith, skin colour or gender. A diversity of religious convictions and non-religious organizations is represented in our network."

Tributes mark 70 years of Taizé spiritual community

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:00:19 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

Geneva--World Christian leaders are paying tribute to the ecumenical community of Taizé in eastern France, which is marking its foundation in 1940 by Brother Roger Schutz, who died in 2005.

In a message in advance of the 14 August commemoration to Brother Alois, who now heads the community, Pope Benedict XVI described Schutz as a "pioneer in the difficult paths toward unity among the disciples of Christ".

"Seventy years ago, he began a community that continues to see thousands of young adults, searching for meaning in their lives, come to it from around the world, welcoming them in prayer and allowing them to experience a personal relationship with God," Pope Benedict said.

Schutz, then aged 90, died after being attacked with a knife by a woman said by police to be mentally disturbed during evening prayers on 16 August 2005 at Taizé, near Macon in Burgundy.

In the early years of the Second World War, Schutz, a Swiss Protestant, had arrived in the village of Taizé on 20 August 1940 with the idea of founding an ecumenical monastic community.

"With him and the brothers who shared his vision and his tension, Taizé has become a true centre, a focal point and a place of gathering; a place of deepening in prayer, of listening and humility," said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I, a spiritual leader in eastern Orthodoxy.

From the 1960s onwards, thousands of young people, initially from Europe and then from further afield, made their way to Taizé to experience its ecumenical spirituality.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, described the community, "as a model for attending to the spiritual and physical needs of the whole people of God and in particular the needs of young people".

After Schutz's death, Brother Alois, a German Catholic, became prior of the community.

"Today at Taizé a hundred brothers, Catholics and Protestants, live together. And the community is often visited by young believers from the Orthodox churches," stated Patriarch Kirill I of the Russian Orthodox Church.

"The thousands of young people who visit Taizé and take part in the meetings organized each year by the community in various European countries show convincingly that the Gospel message of God’s love can still find a living echo in people’s hearts today," he said.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, described Schutz as, "one of the few figures who truly change the climate of a religious culture, not by the exercise either of force or of cheap popularity, but by a lifelong practice of Christ-like authority".

During his life, Schutz also became close to the Roman Catholic Church.

Shortly before his death, Schutz attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in Rome, where he received the Catholic Eucharist from the hands of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would become Pope Benedict XVI.

Churches come up short as delegates' visas denied

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:04:18 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

WASHINGTON -- When the Baptist World Alliance held its global conference in Hawaii earlier this month, it was missing about 1,000 attendees from around the world.

In June, the inaugural meeting of the World Communion of Reformed Churches in Grand Rapids, Mich., was missing 74, and the Seventh-day Adventists' General Conference in Atlanta was missing about 200. The three church groups said foreign delegates' visas were denied by U.S. officials, meaning some nations lacked representation at the global assemblies that occur only once every several years.

"I was deeply saddened" by the visa problems, said the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the former president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, which merged with another group in Grand Rapids to form the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

"I don't think you hear of government events or corporate events that have this percentage of people denied visas."

A lot of it had to do with money, he believes, saying "the criteria (for securing visas) are so skewed to the financial status of people involved."

Church officials say they fully complied with State Department rules on international visas for visiting delegates -- particularly providing evidence visitors would return to their country of origin once the meetings ended.

"We registered our session with the U.S. State Department, and they put it on their internal intranet site," said Rosa Banks, associate secretary of the Adventists' General Conference. "And we updated it on a weekly basis when we got into the process."

Like the Reformed gathering, Adventists said they found many of the rejected visas came from poverty-stricken areas of the world.

"The countries where we had the most problems were in West Africa, particularly Nigeria, and districts in India," said Banks. "We have to assure that our delegates are going to return."

Church leaders weren't quiet about their anger.

"As a citizen of this country, I am outraged that United States consulates have refused access to an international ecumenical gathering because they feared terrorism and illegal immigration," the Rev. Susan Davies of the United Church of Christ told the meeting.

In an Aug. 3 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other officials, the Reformed leaders said "the decisions (to grant or deny visas) seem arbitrary."

The letter acknowledged concerns about illegal immigration, subversive activities and the need to present evidence of funding while in the U.S.

"What we do not understand, and cannot accept," the letter said, "is the fact that the 74 who were denied visas provided evidence that should have convinced the U.S. consuls in all these areas."

A State Department spokeswoman said the U.S. holds a high standard when considering visa applicants that, unfortunately, often leads to denials for those who cannot provide sufficient evidence of returning to their homeland.

"It's not about the conference, it's about the applicant. And each one has to demonstrate that they qualify for the visa in accordance with the law," said Rosemary Macray, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs with the State Department.

Applicants must show "a wealth of information and need to show strong ties to their home country and convince the adjudicating officer beyond a shadow of a doubt that they will return to their home country after their stay in the U.S." she said.

Ongoing visa problems, however, could prompt some leaders to rethink holding future conferences in the U.S.

"We are getting into a position where it's difficult to host major international ecumenical events in the U.S. with integrity," Kirkpatrick said.

It also provides an image to the world that the U.S. is "not a welcoming country," the letter to Clinton said.

"Our letter to you is not only a complaint," the letter said. "It is a call for action."

Study finds prayer aids relationships

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:41:27 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

The old adage "couples who pray together stay together" may be true, especially for African-Americans, a new study shows.

The survey of religion, race and relationships found that African-Americans attend church more as couples compared to members of other racial and ethnic groups.

Four in 10 African-American respondents said they attended services regularly as a couple, according to a study published in the August issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family. In comparison, 31 percent of Mexicans or Mexican-Americans, and 29 percent of whites, said they regularly shared a pew.

"Without prayer, black couples would be doing significantly worse than white couples," said W. Bradford Wilcox, a co-author of the study and the director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. "The vitality of African-Americans' religious lives gives them an advantage over other Americans when it comes to relationships. This advantage puts them on par with other couples."

In addition to worshipping together, African-Americans were found to be more likely than non-Hispanic whites to participate in prayer and Scripture studies at home.

In general, researchers found that people in same-faith relationships and partners who attended services regularly were more satisfied with their relationship.

But scholars said religion may not always help couples. Those with divergent religious beliefs and worship attendance tend to not be as happy about their relationships.

The study, which was based on responses to the 2006 National Survey of Religion and Family Life, does have limitations, scholars cautioned. For example, the responses to the survey came from one partner's report on the quality of their relationship and the extent of their religious involvement.

Pension fight raises moral concerns for ELCA, publisher

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:42:53 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

As the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) fights to stay out of a legal battle over unpaid pension benefits, all sides agree on at least one point:

More is at stake than millions of dollars owed to some 500 pensioners of Augsburg Fortress, the ELCA's publishing arm. Last month, the ELCA asked a federal court to be dropped from a suit filed by stakeholders in Augsburg's recently dissolved pension plan. The ELCA contends it bears no responsibility under the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act because Augsburg Fortress' pension program is a "church plan." Church plans are exempted from ERISA requirements, which include sufficient funding to meet promised obligations.

Some Lutherans, however, don't like what they're seeing.

If Augsburg Fortress is indeed a church plan by virtue of its denominational affiliation, they say, then shouldn't the church take responsibility for the publisher's debts?

Whether or not the ELCA has a legal duty to keep Augsburg Fortress retirees out of poverty, it certainly has a moral one, according to the Rev. Leonard Flachman, a retired ELCA minister who worked at Augsburg Fortress from 1987 to 1993 as assistant to the president.

"The church cannot say, `We need to raise money for people in Haiti,' when we have 500 people here who will live on the edge of poverty when they retire because they lost their pension," said Flachman, who is not an Augsburg Fortress pensioner because he gets a separate ELCA clergy pension. "That in my view is the justice issue."

In its motion to dismiss, the ELCA seeks to distance itself from all financial obligations pertaining to Augsburg Fortress pensioners, regardless of whether the U.S. District Court in Minnesota deems it to be a church plan.

"Even if the Plan is deemed an ERISA plan, Plaintiffs' allegations that the ELCA is an appointing fiduciary fail to state a claim as a matter of law," says the ELCA's motion.

ELCA spokesperson John Brooks declined to comment further, citing pending litigation. A hearing on the motion to dismiss is scheduled for Oct. 29.

Augsburg Fortress, a program unit of the ELCA, terminated its defined benefit plan on Dec. 31. In March, the publisher distributed the remaining funds -- about $8.2 million -- among stakeholders in lump sum payments worth a fraction of what employees expected to receive over their lifetimes.

After years of underfunding and a financial crisis that battered investments, the publishing house had no good choices, according to Augsburg Fortress President Beth Lewis. Terminating the program was a more "equitable" solution, she said, than letting funds run out within five years and leaving most stakeholders with nothing.

"Legally, we could have let it just run out," Lewis said. "But we said: that's not right. That's not fair and equitable because 60 percent, more or less, of the plan participants would never have received a nickel if we had done that."

Lewis declined to comment on whether she believes the ELCA has a responsibility -- legal, moral or otherwise -- to fulfill Augsburg Fortress's pension commitments.

Some in Lutheran circles feel the ELCA is on the right track in refusing to fulfill pension promises made by an affiliated organization. Justin Johnson, pastor of St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Geneseo, N.Y., warns of a dangerous precedent for all denominations if the ELCA is held responsible.

If that happens, he said, any number of church-affiliated schools, camps or other entities could default on pension commitments and saddle denominations with potentially devastating financial burdens.

"Say everybody named in the suit is found (responsible). Would that be the end of the ELCA? Because they don't have the funds," Johnson said. "You're not just talking about pensioners from Augsburg Fortress. You're talking about pensions of all the pastors, all the people that the ELCA is responsible for -- all the missions and all the ministries. And you're already talking about a denomination that's in the red a lot."

Plaintiffs in the suit, who are seeking class action status, are aware of this case's potential to set a far-reaching precedent, according to their attorney, Richard Lockridge. (Plaintiffs, citing the ongoing litigation, declined to comment for this story.) To date, Lockridge says, previous cases involving church plans haven't defined where a denomination's responsibilities begin and end.

Lockridge said it's likely, based on similar cases in the past, that the court will in fact deem Augsburg Fortress's plan to be a church plan exempt from ERISA rules. If that happens, he plans to argue that the ELCA affiliation makes the ELCA responsible to pay what could amount to an estimated $20 million to $40 million in pension benefits.

"To terminate the plan for existing employees and existing retirees who've been relying on this plan for decades is simply unconscionable," Lockridge said. "The ELCA obviously could come up with the money. ... The ELCA theoretically could lay off some people, or divert some of the parishioners' contributions that now go to other programs to the welfare of these retirees. There's a whole host of things they could do."

Twelve regional ELCA synod meetings considered resolutions urging some type of denominational action to resolve the Augsburg Fortress pension issue; six of the resolutions passed. The votes set the stage for a possible debate on the issue when the 4.8 million-member ELCA convenes its next Churchwide Assembly in 2011.

If the ELCA wins this legal round, Flachman said, then the moral issue is likely to be debated for as long as Lutherans feel their church is shirking its higher duty or hiding behind a legal loophole.

"One of the biggest issues is (denominational) credibility," Flachman said. "If the employees win this legal round, then the issue will go away... But if they lose this legal round on some legal technicality that people don't like, then that will increase the bad publicity."

Kenya churches will 'respect' vote for constitution they opposed

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:32:26 GMT

(From Ecumenical News International)

By Fredrick Nzwili

Nairobi, 5 August (ENI)--Kenyan churches will respect the verdict of citizens who voted in favour of a new constitution for the east African nation which was opposed by many Christian leaders, says Kenyan Cardinal John Njue.

"Kenyans have voted after having heard what the various people had to tell them," Njue told a 5 August media conference as preliminary results showed 68 per cent of voters supporting the new constitution in a referendum conducted the previous day.

"We respect the outcome of the referendum, where a larger number of Kenyans have voted to accept this proposed constitution," Njue, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Nairobi, said.

The new constitution places restrictions on the powers of the president and would institute a bill of rights for citizens. It was drawn up after violence claimed more than 1000 lives following a disputed election in 2007.

Still, many Christian leaders in Kenya campaigned against the document, because of clauses it contains that they say will allow abortion, entrench Muslim courts and limit freedom of worship.

The new fundamental law is a key measure in a pact negotiated between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, former political foes who formed a coalition government following the violence that came after the December 2007 election.

The constitution also deals with corruption, and tackles land issues in a country where there are huge disparities in land ownership.

Cardinal Njue said the matters that had led church leaders to campaign against the law still stand.

"The truth and right are not about numbers," he said. "We therefore, as shepherds placed to give moral guidance to our people, still reiterate the need to address the flawed moral issues in this proposed constitution. That voice should never be silenced."

Some analysts said the churches had been able to show they were able to be involved in influencing political decisions, while others say they had weakened their credibility by taking a stand on this issue.

As results came in, some Protestant, Evangelical and Pentecostal church leaders questioned the way in which the campaign had been conducted.

"We are saddened by the fact that the pre-referendum process was marked by malpractices and irregularities which continued right into the balloting and tallying phases," said the Rev. Peter Karanja, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya.

The churches urged citizens to remain peaceful and united, and Karanja said they appreciated those who had voted against the text.

"The results do not in any way nullify these contentions. These must be resolved soonest since all Kenyans agree that the issues are contentious," he said.

Politicians who had opposed the draft conceded defeat, saying Kenyans had spoken in the poll.

"The majority have had their way… we have had our say," said William Ruto, the agriculture minister. "We urge the government to immediately start a process of dealing with the contentious issues."

Priest at London cathedral blasts 'glitzy' weddings

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:20:00 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

LONDON -- A top priest at London's St. Paul's Cathedral, where Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married in 1981, says fancy, multi-million-dollar weddings are now posing "a threat to marriage itself."

The Rev. Giles Fraser told BBC Radio's Thought for the Day that "the problem with the modern wedding is that it's too often a glitzy stage-set, overly concerned with the shoes, the flowers, the napkin rings and performing to the cameras."

Fraser is canon chancellor at venerable St. Paul's, where he oversees the cathedral's teaching office. Charles and Diana's 1981 wedding at St. Paul's attracted a global television audience of an estimated 750 million viewers.

It's no wonder, the cleric said in his broadcast Wednesday (August 4) "that at their worst, some weddings can feel like an overblown vanity project, all justified by foot-stomping references to 'my special day."' Such ceremonies, Fraser claimed, "have just lost their way" and have "become a threat to marriage itself."

Some fellow clerics have become so disenchanted with weddings, he said, that they would prefer to conduct a funeral because funerals "still have a beauty, a quiet dignity and a moral seriousness that is quite absent from many of the weddings we get to take."

Catholic bishops reject 'oppressive' unity for Sudan

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:42:05 GMT

(from ENI News)

By Fredrick Nzwili
Nairobi, 30 July (ENI)--Sudan's Roman Catholic Bishops say it is "tragic" their country's political establishment has made national unity unattractive to the people of southern Sudan, who vote on secession from the north in January.

"A unity which binds and oppresses, prohibits all opposition, a unity which imposes uniformity and condemns those who differ in faith and culture, must be rejected," Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak, the president of the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference, told journalists on 22 July at a special meeting in Juba in southern Sudan.

The statement was issued in advance of the referendum in southern Sudan that observers say is likely to result in the secession of the largely Christian and animist south of the country from the mainly Muslim north.

The plebiscite was part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in Nairobi in 2005 that ended a 21-year civil war between the south and the north centred on oil wealth and religion.

The Catholic bishops are urging the international community to provide technical support for the referendum, to monitor the process, and guarantee the outcome's implementation.

Bishop Deng was presenting a statement of the Sudan bishops titled, "A future full of hope", which was drawn up at their 15-22 July meeting in Juba. The document referred to the options of secession and unity, and said the country must prepare for change.

"If unity is an option, we must understand what kind of unity we are speaking of," Deng said. "If secession is chosen, what are the challenges that will face the people of both north and south?"

The bishops cited significant progress in development, rehabilitation and reconstruction, politics, governance and human rights since the signing of the 2005 peace agreement, but they also expressed concern about unaddressed issues.

"War continues in Darfur. Islam continues to be the source of legislation in the north, which adversely affects the rights of all, particularly non-Muslims ... A number of oppressive laws have not been repealed," said Deng.

"We remain deeply concerned that the time remaining before the due date is painfully short and inadequate, and there is a fear the CPA signatories have not prioritised this and that transparency and inclusiveness are lacking," he said.

After World Cup, deal with social issues, say SA church leaders

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:29:37 GMT

(from ENI News)

By Munyaradzi Makoni
Cape Town, 30 July (ENI)--After South Africa's success in hosting the first-ever soccer World Cup in Africa, the government needs to use the same determination to deal with the country's social problems, say church leaders.

"We must use our considerable skill and learning to tackle the most pressing issues in our country: education, healthcare, and criminality and service delivery," the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Durban, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, said in a mid-July statement.

Napier said South Africa is a society in transformation and that the World Cup has given the country an opportunity to work together and prove that it is a nation full of capable people.

Running from 11 June to 11 July, the World Cup brought more than 18000 international journalists to South Africa to cover the soccer tournament.

"This has been a wonderful World Cup, but it doesn't negate the fact that the majority of South Africans don't have houses, schools, clinics, running water and many more things," Archbishop Desmond Tutu was quoted as saying by the South African daily newspaper, The Times.

"If we were able to deliver such a project in just six years, imagine what we could have achieved in 20 years," added the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who recently announced his intention to retire after his 79th birthday in October.

South Africa was praised by the president of the world soccer governing body FIFA for the way it organized the 2010 tournament.

"South Africa has proved to the world that it is able to organize an event of this nature. And the trust that FIFA had put in this country has been answered with a big, big success," Sepp Blatter said.

The Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transformation, a social justice group campaigning against poverty, said, however, that the World Cup had exposed the social injustices that have always existed for the poor and marginalised, especially street traders.

"We will continue to advocate for social economic inclusiveness of the poor guided by their interests," Thabo Koole, the group's spokesperson, told ENInews on 29 July.

Lutheran world assembly sidesteps homosexuality issue

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:08:01 GMT

(from ENI News)

By Anli Serfontein
When the highest governing body of the Lutheran World Federation held its once-every-seven-years meeting in Stuttgart, it was able to avoid open confrontation on the issue of ordaining homosexuals - by not talking about the issue.

Addressing the LWF assembly on 22 July in his farewell report, the federation's general secretary, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, a Zimbabwean theologian, explained that there is a consultation period ending in 2012 between member churches. It deals with all aspects of human sexuality, including marriage, and the family.

Noko's words got immediate approval from a Tanzanian Lutheran bishop, Elisa Buberwa. He supported Noko's advice not to deal with the issue in the eight-day assembly, which ended on 27 July. In what appeared to be a call to wait until the LWF has finished its consultation process on sexuality, Buberwa urged the assembly to be patient.

In recent months, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, the LWF's second-biggest member church, has stated its opposition to same-sex marriage and churches that support such unions. It and some Lutheran churches in other parts of the world use two verses from Leviticus in the Old Testament of the Bible to underline their call for a blanket prohibition of homosexuality.

Still, in his comments during the meeting of the 70-million strong Lutheran communion, Buberwa said, "We will submit a report as agreed in 2012. There is no need for individual members of the LWF to deal with this matter harshly."

Noko later told journalists, "There is no tension but a lot of anxiety."

Bishop Alex Gehaz Malasusa, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, declined to give a comment when approached by ENInews, referring questions to his general secretariat and the church's Web site.

One delegate from an African church, who requested anonymity, told ENInews, "This [homosexuality] is an issue that is foreign to our culture and our church tradition. We would like to understand how the northern churches think, but there is no real dialogue."

There is an ongoing controversy within the 145 member churches of the LWF over whether to bless same sex unions or allow non-celibate homosexuals to serve as pastors and other church workers.

As with many global church groupings there are strong disagreements on the issue of homosexuality among Lutherans. In Europe, many LWF churches do not view monogamous same-sex relationships as sinful or immoral. These include German Lutheran churches, the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, and Scandinavian Lutheran churches. Some, such as the Church of Sweden, the biggest LWF member church, conduct same-sex marriages.

After much debate the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 2009 opened its ministry to gay and lesbian pastors.

Yet another African bishop, who also did not want his name used, told ENInews that had the issue been discussed on the floor of the LWF assembly, it would have exploded. He said tense delegates had arrived at the assembly "with their hands formed into fists in their pockets, ready for a fight".

Another noted that the assembly started in an explosive atmosphere that was defused by Noko's address and the appeal of the outgoing LWF president Mark Hanson, who is also the presiding bishop at the ELCA.

Some delegates said that not bringing the issue of homosexual ordination onto the assembly floor was a shrewd move by Noko. Now, however, the issue will be dealt with by the person who will succeed him as general secretary in November, the Rev. Martin Junge, a Chilean pastor.

The Tanzanian Lutheran church has been at loggerheads with northern churches, particularly those in Germany, Sweden and the United States on the issue of accepting homosexuality.

In June, Tanzanian Bishop Malasusa, whose Lutheran church grew by 14.5 per cent in 2009, backtracked on a threat to not accept any money from churches that support homosexuality, after meeting with leaders of the ELCA.

The 4.6 million-member ELCA is the largest contributor to the Tanzanian church, giving slightly more than US$1 million in the 2009 financial year.

One African delegate said that the reasons there is no real dialogue between the North and South, is because, "They subtly threaten us with withholding funds."

A Zimbabwean by birth, Noko was educated in South Africa and Canada and taught in Botswana before moving to Geneva in 1982, where he has worked for nearly 30 years.

Mugabe condemns churches that allow gay marriages

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:47:12 GMT

(from ENI news)
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has lashed out at churches that allow same-sex marriages, and said gay rights would not be included in a new constitution being written for the southern African country.

"Some of the churches have very beautiful buildings but go against the Bible," Mugabe told tens of thousands attending the annual pilgrimage of the Johane Masowe religious group on 17 July. The pilgrimage is one of the largest annual religious gatherings in Zimbabwe.

"Is it still the church of God?" asked Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980. He described same-sex marriages as being, "similar to dog behaviour".

The Zimbabwean president once said homosexuals are, "worse than pigs and dogs".

Mugabe told Johane Masowe members, whose organization allows polygamy and resists western medicine, that they had a right to practise polygamous marriage.

"Our constitution allows polygamy," he told the gathering. "We will not force people into monogamous marriages. Even in the Bible, polygamy is allowed. King Solomon was not only blessed with a lot of wealth but he also had many wives."

In recent years, divisions over homosexuality have torn apart the worldwide Anglican Communion, and created discord in many other Christian denominations.

While some Christians in the northern hemisphere have been more accepting of homosexuals in partnerships, much of the opposition comes from the global South, including from African churches.

Nolbert Kunonga, the deposed former Anglican bishop of Harare and an avid supporter of Mugabe, has formed his own self-styled Church of the Province of Zimbabwe, ostensibly in protest over what he termed the pro-gay stance of the Anglican church in Central Africa.

Homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe, although there is an association that promotes gay rights.

Mugabe told the Johane Masowe pilgrims that he would ignore calls to have gay rights in Zimbabwe's new constitution. "We say no to gays. We will not listen to those advocating for their rights in the constitution," the president said.

Zimbabwe is set to craft a new constitution in 2011 as part of an agreement that led to the formation of a power-sharing government in 2010.

Teams of lawmakers and representatives of rights groups are holding meetings across the country to collect people's recommendations for the new constitution.

Church of England gives green light for women bishops

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:59:07 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

LONDON -- The Church of England will proceed with legislation to allow the ordination of women bishops, despite fierce opposition from Anglican traditionalists.

After a marathon, 12-hour debate in York, the church's General Synod on Monday (July 12) rejected calls for further delays in developing a draft law to allow female bishops. The earliest women bishops could be ordained is 2014.

But the decision did little to tamp down furious infighting that some fear could prompt conservatives to defect to the Roman Catholic Church.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams told London's Daily Mail newspaper Tuesday (July 13) that avoiding a schism over the contentious issue would be "desperately difficult."

Williams' attempt at a compromise -- allowing conservative congregations to be overseen by male bishops -- had been rejected Saturday, but he insisted the Synod's decision to go ahead was "not the end of the road."

Williams added that merely dumping the problem into the "too-difficult basket" was not "really ... an option." Meanwhile, Rachel Weir of the group Women and the Church, described the Synod's ruling as "momentous."

Williams and his No. 2 official, Archbishop of York John Sentamu, will now draft legislation allowing women bishops and send it to all 43 dioceses for approval.

If a majority of the synods approve the draft, it will be presented to the 2012 General Synod. If all three houses -- bishops, clergy and laity -- approve the measure by the necessary two-thirds majority, women bishops could start being ordained in 2014.

Haiti: Many small successes six months into recovery

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:22:56 GMT

(From Church World Service)

Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- Humanitarian groups such as Church World Service are the first to acknowledge that, six months after the devastating Jan. 12 Haiti earthquake, the road to recovery will be long and difficult.

"We are all frustrated by the apparent lack of speedy recovery for Haiti," said Aaron Tate, the Haiti earthquake response coordinator for Church World Service, in anticipation of the half-year anniversary of the quake, which falls on July 12.

Tate, based in Port-au-Prince, noted that there "were a lot of dreams early on that this was an opportunity to build a 'new Haiti' better than the old Haiti."

"But the reality is that with such devastation, it is an incredible effort just to rebuild at all," he said. Still, on a smaller scale, "you do see successes."

In Port-au-Prince, Tate said, children are back in classes now, in a safe and standing building that Church World Service helped purchase; the community center is run by Fondation Oecumenique Pour La Paix et la Justice, a CWS partner. The new structure, which replaces a building destroyed in the quake, houses educational and vocational training programs, as well as programs that provide meals and health and psychosocial services.

"Despite the multiple challenges of implementing programs in the post-earthquake environment, CWS has accomplished much, and continues to work to address unmet needs," Tate said.

From the immediate hours after the quake and ongoing, in all, CWS efforts -- including the distribution of hygiene, school and baby kits, tents, wheelchairs, medical kits and other supplies -- have directly assisted at least 41,750 individuals so far; CWS is also working as a member of the global ACT Alliance, which has provided assistance to 341,000 Haitians.

Drawing on its long-time commitment to support and empower local partners, Church World Service continues to support work by both Haitian and Dominican organizations in their responses.

Early on in the response CWS began planning for longer-term rehabilitation projects, including supporting the expansion of existing, successful rural agricultural coops made up of over 3,000 families, so they can provide food security for earthquake victims outside of Port-au-Prince. The agency also is helping vulnerable children through emergency food and psychosocial support.

Future plans for Church World Service work in Haiti include supporting long-term and permanent housing for the displaced and vulnerable; participating in plans to move families from temporary camps to permanent solutions; providing tools and working capital to nearly 500 individuals to re-establish their micro-businesses; strengthening services for vulnerable children; providing counseling and case management to an additional 600 people with disabilities; and crafting long-term strategies for sustainable development in Haiti.

Anglicans reject compromise over women bishops

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:28:52 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

LONDON -- The Church of England's General Synod on Saturday (July 10) rejected a compromise proposal by its top two bishops that would have allowed individual congregations to "opt out" of having women bishops.

The move was an embarrassing setback for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and his chief deputy, Archbishop of York John Sentamu, who had hoped to head off a defection of traditionalists over the issue of women bishops.

Under the archbishops' plan, congregations that objected to female bishops would be permitted to have a male bishop officiate at key ceremonies where a bishop's presence is required.

Advocates for women bishops objected to the plan, saying it would create a two-tiered leadership structure that would deem women prelates somehow inadequate.

The controversy over female bishops has dominated the five-day gathering of the General Synod, the church's national assembly, in York.

The compromise was seen as a last-ditch attempt to avoid a schism that some fear could lead to the defection of perhaps hundreds of traditional Anglican clergy, taking with them thousands of worshippers, to the Roman Catholic Church.

The rejection of the two archbishops' plan effectively leaves the church on the same path to the eventual consecration of women bishops -- but not until 2014 as "the earliest possible time."

Since 1994, some 5,000 women have been ordained priests in the Church of England. In 2005, church leaders approved, in principle, the idea of women bishops. Work on legislation to codify women bishops began two years ago.

Presbyterians take half step on gays, denounce Caterpillar

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:48:30 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

In a whirlwind of activity, the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted to lift a ban on partnered gay clergy, but turned down a bid to expand its definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

The more than 700 Presbyterians gathered for their General Assembly in Minneapolis also adopted a 170-page report on the Middle East and denounced Caterpillar Inc. for allowing its machinery to be used for "non-peaceful purposes" in the region.

With just more than 2 million members, the PCUSA is the nation's largest Presbyterian denomination, though like most mainline Protestant churches it has been bleeding members for years. Nearly all of mainline churches have been roiled in recent years by internal debates over gay marriage and gay clergy.

The PCUSA clergy resolution, which passed on Thursday (July 8) by a vote of 373-323, strips any mention of sexuality from ordination requirements.

For the fourth time in nearly a dozen years, the denomination's 173 regional governing bodies, called presbyteries, must now decide whether to ratify the General Assembly's vote to allow partnered gays to serve as elders, deacons, and pastors.

Though similar measures have failed at the presbytery level each time, church progressives say they are encouraged by their slimming margin of defeat. In the last round of voting, which ended last year, gay ordination fell just nine votes short of the simple majority needed for passage.

"We're hoping very much to re-engage and continue the momentum," said Pam Byers, executive director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians. "As more Presbyterians recognize that they know good, faithful gay Presbyterians, it becomes harder to maintain this exclusion."

Conservatives, though, pledged to fight against allowing gay clergy, saying it would contradict biblical strictures against homosexuality and balkanize the church.

"By giving local presbyteries a local option on ordination standards, local ministers will be restricting their portability of mission," Larry Lindsay, a church elder from Santa Barbara, Calif., said during the debate.

"I can assure you there will be great consternation and debate in our local congregations," he said.

Progressive Presbyterians were disappointed by the defeat of a measure on Thursday to expand the definition of marriage to include any couple, straight or gay.

The resolution was essentially voted down in a parliamentary maneuver, and never came to the floor for a full debate; an attempt to revive the resolution failed by a wide margin on Friday morning. "The church was not yet ready to make a decision," General Assembly Moderator Cindy Bolbach said at a press conference after Thursday's vote. "This kind of thing happens at every assembly."

On Friday, Presbyterians voted 418-210 to denounce Caterpillar, Inc., saying that friendly engagement had failed to convince the company to take responsibility for the way Israel uses it bulldozers and other construction equipment to build walls and destroy Palestinian homes.

But more than 70 percent of the delegates voted not to consider selling the church's $10-million worth of Caterpillar stock.

Caterpillar has said it does not condone immoral use of its property, but "cannot monitor the use of every piece of equipment around the world."

Delegates also voted 558-119 to adopt a controversial report on the Middle East that had been sharply criticized by American Jews as "anti-Israel."

But amendments made to the report in Minneapolis heeded some of the Jewish community's criticism, said Ethan Felson, vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

"Many of our concerns were addressed," said Felson, who attended the General Assembly to lobby Presbyterian policymakers. "The final document reflects a serious move toward a Presbyterian witness that recognizes Israel's legitimate security needs and is true to the church's commitment to Palestinian Christians."

In a statement after the vote, a coalition of 12 Jewish organizations said "serious concerns remain" about the report, but praised Presbyterians for embracing "a more thoughtful approach to Middle East peacemaking."

PCUSA Sends Belhar Confession to Presbyteries for Ratification

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:09:27 GMT

(From the PCUSA)

Minister commissioner Wanda Lawry Hughes of Long Island Presbytery stood patiently at her microphone during Wednesday's plenary session of the 219th General Assembly. She was waiting to be recognized to speak following the presentation of the Belhar Confession overture by the Committee on Theological Issues and Institutions.

Recovering from a bout of laryngitis, Lawry Hughes reminded commissioners and delegates of the countless peoples over the centuries who have lost their voices due to racism and oppression, including the Native American members of her own family.

"Now is the time to speak up and out against racism, oppression and fear; now is the time to rise up for justice, reconciliation and unity!" she exhorted those who would vote to accept or reject this first step to adding a new confession to the PC(USA) Book of Confessions in nearly 30 years.

In the end, the Assembly voted 525-150-3 to send the confession to presbyteries for ratification by July 2011. If ratified, Belhar will join the 11 Eurocentric creeds and confessions in the second part of the PC(USA) Constitution.

"Today we took on our own denominational history of racism. By offering this affirmative vote, the Assembly accepted the challenge to work against racism and for reconciliation and justice throughout our church and country," said the Rev. Sharon Stanley, who moderated the Assembly committee.

"Eighty-five million Reformed Christians live in the world today; 80 percent of them live in the global south," said Stated Clerk Grady Parsons. "Through this first step, we will be able to hear all these voices and engage in rich theological discourse. This is the good part of globalization."

Two committee-generated amendments will accompany the Belhar Confession to presbyteries. Original scripture references will be added as footnotes and the "Accompanying Letter," customarily included with the Confession, will be provided as a background document without confessional status.

The committee also directed the Office of Theology and Worship to generate an inclusive-language version of the Confession for the Web, similar to the inclusive language of the Confession of 1967.

The Assembly voted to continue the work of the Heidelberg Confession special committee. Working in cooperation with the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) and the Reformed Church in America (RCA), this joint project to correct translation problems will be completed by the 218th General Assembly (2012).

The RCA added the Belhar Confession as its fourth standard at its General Synod this year, after studying it since 2000, while the CRCNA has the Belhar Confession on its synod agenda for approval in 2012.

'Water as human right' campaign gets global Protestant backing

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:27:06 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

Church-backed campaigners say they have received a boost from a global body representing 80 million Protestants that has called access to water a basic human right.

"Preserving the world's water resources, and securing access to water for all, is one of the greatest challenges we face," Maike Gorsboth, the Geneva-based coordinator of the secretariat of the Ecumenical Water Network told ENInews.

Gorsboth was speaking after the World Communion of Reformed Churches at its founding meeting last month (June) in Grand Rapids, Mich., urged its churches to support and adopt a declaration on "Water as a Human Right and a Public Good."

The declaration, drawn up by Swiss and Brazilian churches, urges that "the human right to water be recognized at the local and international level in the same way as the right to adequate food." It says nations should guarantee everyone access to drinking water, fixing an affordable price, and involve local authorities and communities in decisions on the use of water resources.

"Water is a pressing global concern related to life, dignity, peace and justice," said Gorsboth.

"Hopefully, the WCRC's recognition of the ecumenical declaration will further strengthen churches' commitment to this issue." With some 230 churches in 108 countries, the new Reformed body was formed as a merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council.

The Ecumenical Water Network was formed by Christian agencies and movements to raise the awareness of churches about the urgency of issues linked to water.

Reformed Christians challenged to leave Geneva

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:55:56 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS/ENInews) A U.S. church leader has challenged the new World Communion of Reformed Churches to move its headquarters out of Geneva, Switzerland and follow the global shift of Christianity to the Southern Hemisphere.

Addressing the group's founding meeting on June 24, the Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the Reformed Church in America, described Geneva as one of the most expensive cities in the world.

He questioned how the Reformed group could talk of promoting global justice, when it had its headquarters in a place of "significant economic privilege."

Granberg-Michaelson said that a shift away from Geneva was also a matter of solidarity with its member churches, when the church "has moved dramatically to the global South."

The new Reformed body was formed as a merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council. Reformed Christians trace their heritage in part to Jean Calvin, who is known for his role in the 16th-century Protestant Reformation in Geneva.

The new president of the WCRC, the Rev. Jerry Pillay, told journalists after his election that "the issue needs to be looked at."

Like the WARC before it, the new group's headquarters are in Geneva at the city's Ecumenical Center, along with other bodies such as the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation.

"The ecumenical organizations presently located in Geneva will have to consider when and where they move," said Granberg-Michaelson. "I hope the WCRC will be the first to take such bold action."

He said he had been a member of a working group that proposed Johannesburg in South Africa, Accra in Ghana, or Hong Kong as alternatives to Geneva for the location of the WCRC secretariat.

"If South Africa can host the World Cup, I'm sure that they can host the offices of the WCRC," Granberg-Michaelson said.

WCC denounces extrajudicial killings of church lay ministers in the Philippines

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:17:40 GMT

(From the World Council of Churches)

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has denounced the extrajudicial killings of Benjamin Bayles and Jovelito Agustin, both lay ministers of the Philippine Independent Church.

In a 29 June letter to President-elect Benigno Aquino III, Tveit urged "the Philippines government to keep its commitment to international human rights instruments and put an end to the killings and to the culture of impunity by prosecuting the perpetrators and granting justice to the victims of human rights violations".

Aquino is being inaugurated today. He succeeds Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Bayles and Agustin were "active lay ministers, known in their churches as outspoken advocates of human dignity and of the rights of the most marginalized", Tveit stated. Bayles, a human rights advocate, and Agustin, a broadcaster who defended workers' rights, were murdered by suspected paramilitary groups on 14 and 15 June, respectively.

In denouncing the killings of Bayles and Agustin and reiterating his concern about the "ongoing extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and continuing impunity in the Philippines", the WCC general secretary has joined the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and the Philippine Independent Church (or Iglesia Filipina Independiente, IFI).

According to the Rev. Rex Reyes, NCCP general secretary, the circumstances of the deaths of Bayles and Agustin "point to the pattern of continuing impunity against progressive organizations and their members, and journalists who raise critical voices".

For the Most Rev. Godofredo David, IFI obispo maximo, Bayles and Agustin "are the latest victims of a systematic attempt to silence the Iglesia Filipina Independiente […] Their death clearly points to a re-intensification of political killings and worsening political repression and human rights violations in the Philippines".

David has called on the President-elect Aquino to "hold the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accountable for the numerous cases of political repression and killings in the Philippines under the military's counter-insurgency policy".

The human rights group Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) reports that 1,118 extrajudicial killings were documented in the Philippines between 2001 and October 2009.

During that same period, Karapatan recorded a total of 204 victims of enforced disappearance and 1,026 victims of torture. The human rights organization denounces thousands of cases of forcible evacuation and displacement due to the military operations in the rural areas.

According to Karapatan, there have been six extrajudicial killings in July including those of Bayles and Agustin.

Reformed bodies merged at Michigan assembly

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:42:56 GMT

(from Religion News Service)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The world's largest association of Reformed churches can now break bread together as the World Communion of Reformed Churches following the merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council.

The new union, celebrated Friday (June 18) during a global assembly at Calvin College, represents 80 million Christians from 108 countries, in nearly 230 denominations worldwide.

"We live in a world that is fragmented and filled with conflict," said WARC President Clifton Kirkpatrick, a former stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

"I cannot think of a better time to have what we accomplished today (become reality)."

The convention has attracted about 1,000 people from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Middle East and Pacific. After more than 90 minutes of debate, a constituting document was amended to require half a church's delegates to the WCRC's general council meetings' to be women. The drafting committee's recommendation was one-third women.

Smaller churches, with fewer than 100,000 members, also saw the size of their delegations increased; larger delegations already were mandated to include at least one delegate 30 or younger.

Peter Borgdorff, president of REC, said a U.S. immigration worker denied visas to 73 delegates and students from Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Mexico and other regions of the world despite assurances earlier there would be no red tape. Borgdorff said it was unclear why they were denied access to the United States and vowed to find out why.

"The decision making seemed very arbitrary," Borgdorff said.

Issues that remain to be tackled before the conference ends June 26 include women's rights, economic oppression and environmental degradation. Special attention will be devoted to the Accra Confession that rejects "profits before people."

The conference will stress the rights of Indigenous peoples and the church's historic mistreatment of them. Tribal chiefs welcomed delegates Friday with a drumming ceremony. "So many treaties have been broken, so many promises not fulfilled," said Mike Peters, a tribal member of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa.

Apartheid-era document finds new life in Reformed Church

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:42:27 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

For some 400 years, the small Reformed Church in America has relied on only three confessional statements of belief, all of them forged in the crucible of the Reformation.

This week, they'll add a fourth, and its unlikely origins -- apartheid-era South Africa -- speak volumes about the changing nature of global Christianity and its impact on one of America's oldest denominations.

On Thursday (June 10), the church will formally accept the Belhar Confession at the church's General Synod held at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. The confession is a declaration of unity, justice and reconciliation that was written by Reformed churches in the Cape Town suburb of Belhar, South Africa, in 1982.

"It is historic and it adds a needed component to the confessions, the social dimension," said Mitch Kinsinger, a religion professor at RCA-affiliated Northwestern College.

"For a denomination that has been historically Dutch and white, it opens the windows to a broader sense of what this church is and what it should be."

The document instructs people to "love one another; that we experience, practice and pursue community with one another; that we are obliged to give ourselves willingly and joyfully to be of benefit and blessing to one another."

The adoption of this South African document is an important landmark for the RCA, said the Rev. Harold Delhagen, the executive of the RCA's Albany (N.Y.) Synod.

"This is a recognition that we absolutely have to listen to the voices of the rest of the church," Delhagen said. "We are just so delighted that the first new confession we adopt comes from the Southern Hemisphere."

The most vibrant and growing sectors of Christianity are in the so-called "Global South." By 2100, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary estimates that the 2.8 billion Christians south of the equator will be more than triple the 775 million in the north.

Since its founding in 1628, the RCA has relied on three ancient statements of faith -- the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession and Canons of Dort.

The RCA "received" Belhar from the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa in 1995, and has studied it ever since.

In March, two-thirds of the RCA's 46 classis, or regional bodies, voted to officially add Belhar as their fourth foundational statement of belief. The Christian Reformed Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA) are also considering adopting the statement.

"This is a way to ground our commitment to justice and to reconciliation and to unity," said the RCA's general secretary, the Rev. Wes Granberg-Michaelson said. "This means that every theological student will be shaping their faith in light of not only the Heidelberg, the Belgic and the Canons of Dort, but also the Belhar Confession."

With a little more than 150,000 members in the United States, the RCA is the oldest Protestant denomination with a continuous ministry in North America, according to the 2010 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.

Officially adopting the Belhar statement will be the first order of business at this year's Synod, Granberg-Michaelson said, but he hopes the impact of the document doesn't end there.

"We're really giving a confessional foundation to our future," he said.

Christian mission needs to address greed, says WCC general secretary

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:20:35 GMT

(From the World Council of Churches)

Christian mission is about sharing both the Gospel and material goods, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit has said preaching in Edinburgh on Sunday, 6 June.

"This eucharist service [in which] we are sharing together the gifts of God" reminds us that "the highest wisdom in life is to share", Tveit told the congregation at Edinburgh's St Mary's Cathedral, of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Sharing is what mission "is all about", Tveit said, "mission means sharing the gifts that we have received". Therefore, he emphasized, "it is not possible to share the Gospel without sharing what we have". However, the main obstacle to sharing is greed, Tveit said, which in Norwegian -- his mother tongue -- is 'Havesyke', literally: the sickness of having ever more.

Tveit was one of several guest preachers hosted by the city's congregations on the closing day of the 2-6 June Edinburgh 2010 conference. The colorful diversity that characterized the centennial event spread out into the Scottish capital when 25 local parishes welcomed the conference participants for worship. After the services, parishioners had a time of informal sharing over lunch with the preachers and other delegates.

The Edinburgh 2010 conference commemorates the 100th anniversary of the landmark 1910 World Mission Conference which took place in the same city. About 300 delegates plus 100 additional participants from over 60 countries and virtually all Christian traditions are taking part in it.

"We see [greed] everywhere, in all places of the world", Tveit said in his sermon. Amongst its "ugly examples", he highlighted the "gap of economic injustice" as a result of the "enormous economic exploitation of the global South" and the "increasing gap between the richest and the poorest in all countries".

"This is to a large extent something that could and should be addressed as a concern of the mission of the church", Tveit said. "To witness to Christ is to preach the Gospel of forgiveness of sins, even of greed, and, therefore also to address greed as an obstacle to justice, to peace and therefore an obstacle to being one."

"If I had been here 100 years ago, I am not sure [...] whether as a Norwegian Lutheran pastor, I would have been invited to communion or to preach in the Episcopal Church", Tveit said, highlighting the progress made over the last century by the ecumenical movement.

In commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1910 World Mission Conference, Tveit said, "we have been thanking God for how the ecumenical movement was sparked and inspired by the common commitment to share the Gospel of Christ in the whole world, and how God again gathers disciples of Christ from the whole world in this place".

Palestinian and Jewish activists call to work for peace

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:37:14 GMT

(From the World Council of Churches)

The plight of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and the need to hold the Israeli State accountable under international law were highlighted at a roundtable hosted by the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum in Geneva, Switzerland on 31 May. The roundtable was one of the events marking the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel.

"After 62 years [in which Palestinians have suffered] continued dispossession, forced displacement, apartheid, occupation and colonization, we just want people to begin to say: the State of Israel is not special, it is not above international law", said Hazem Jamjoun, a Palestinian activist."

Why can Israel get away with committing murder, as it did this morning?", asked Jamjoun, who is communications officer of the BADIL Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. He was referring to the attack carried out earlier that day by the Israeli military against a convoy of vessels bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. During the attack up to 10 peace activists were killed and many more injured.

Jamjoun was speaking at a round table on "occupation and dispossession" organized as a part of the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel, celebrated between 29 May and 4 June 2010. The week has been convened by the World Council of Churches in cooperation with ecumenical partners and encourages Christians and churches across the world to pray and work for a just peace in Palestine and Israel.

For Jamjoun, the only reason the State of Israel can continue carrying out its policies against the Palestinian people is "because the international community is doing nothing about it". So he called on the audience to "think how you and your organizations, whether they are state-related or not, can engage in a campaign to hold Israel accountable".

Participating at the roundtable together with Jamjoun were Caroline and Nathan Finkelstein, two Geneva-based Jewish activists who are members of Urgence Palestine and of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.

"The military occupation strongly influences the life and working conditions of people living under it", said Nathan Finkelstein. He listed poor salaries, child labour, lack of social benefits and absence of legal rights amongst the consequences of the occupation on Palestinian workers.

"The occupation is simply strangling the Palestinian economy", Nathan Finkelstein added.

In turn, Caroline Finkelstein spoke about the constant harassment inflicted by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villagers in the occupied territories. For example, she said, in the valley of Wadi Qana, between the cities of Nablous and Qalquiya, a few Palestinian families live surrounded by nine Israeli settlements, considered illegal under international law."

Those Palestinian families are not allowed to build houses, they have no electricity, cannot dig wells for water, but they are determined to remain in their land", Caroline Finkelstein said. "These are wonderful people, with so much courage, they will re-plant whatever the settlers destroy."

In the Jordan Valley, which represents one quarter of the West Bank, "out of 350,000 Palestinians who lived there before 1968, today there are only 5,500 left", said Caroline Finkelstein. Meanwhile, the valley has been colonized by 36 illegal settlements.

For Jamjoun, Israeli policies aim at the "forced displacement of the largest indigenous population" with the goal to gain "control of a maximum of Palestinian land with a minimum of Palestinian population".

A list of events taking place during the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel shows how churches from the Philippines to the United States and from the Netherlands to Kenya are engaged in related activities.

The Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum is a platform that rallies churches together enabling them to coordinate their efforts and initiatives for a just peace in Palestine and Israel.

Judge allows clergy housing tax case to proceed

Thu, 27 May 2010 12:48:56 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

A federal judge has rejected a motion filed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to dismiss a California lawsuit that challenges tax breaks ministers can receive on housing. Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code allows housing-related tax breaks for clergy. The tax write-offs have been permitted for ministers of all faiths since the 1950s.

In a May 21 ruling, U.S. District Judge William Shubb stated that "plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts which, if accepted as true, 'leave open the possibility' that ... Section 107 goes too far in aiding and subsidizing religion by providing ministers and churches with tangible financial benefits not allowed secular employers and employees."

The suit was filed by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which earlier this year won a court case seeking to overturn the law that sanctions the National Day of Prayer. That case is currently on appeal.

"We have a very, very strong case," said co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor. "This is very unconstitutional. We do not regard this as a symbolic attempt, or a shot in the dark. We have very strong facts behind us. ... Ministers of gospel should not be given a privilege that no other tax payer is given."

New Reformed church organization to be launched at global assembly in the U.S.

Wed, 19 May 2010 15:15:00 GMT

(From the World Alliance of Reformed Churches)

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) are coming together in a new union representing more than 80 million Reformed Christians worldwide – the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC).

"This is an opportunity to celebrate unity and understanding among Reformed churches worldwide," says REC president Peter Borgdorff.

WARC president Clifton Kirkpatrick agrees, "We are blessed to be gathering at this time and place to reflect and learn together."

The Uniting General Council (UGC) that launches this new Reformed organization will be held from 18 to 26 June in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- a community in the United States where WARC and REC churches have a tradition of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and reaching out in healing mission together.

The UGC theme is "Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace" (Ephesians 4.3). Under this theme delegates will consider God's call to both Communion (church unity) and justice as they gather and study around nine sub-themes:

Reformed identity, theology and communion
Christian unity and ecumenical engagement
Justice in the economy and the earth
Worship and spiritual renewal
Leadership development and nurture
Gender justice
Youth empowerment
Mission initiatives
Peace and reconciliation

More than 1,000 delegates, guests, visitors, volunteers and staff will gather at Calvin College in Grand Rapids. Women and youth will hold separate events just prior to the Council.

The agenda of the Uniting General Council will focus on a wide range of theological, mission and social justice concerns. Among them will be discussion of the faith and social issues affecting the lives of American Indians and Canadian First Nations peoples.

"It is important we hear the voices of the people who first inhabited this land long before Europeans arrived," says event organizer, Lori Ransom, a Canadian First Nations woman. "The arrival of the Christian faith had a big impact on Aboriginal beliefs and culture."

More information about the UGC agenda and plans for the WCRC is available at www.reformedchurches.org.

Concern for the poor in a rich society

Tue, 18 May 2010 15:53:09 GMT

(From the World Council of Churches)

How Christians living in a rich society deal with the concern for the poor was one of the subjects discussed by participants at a German church convention (Kirchentag) celebrated in Munich, from 12-16 May.

Churches in Germany and Europe are "integrated into the society, and thus are also part of the international market system", said Praeses Dr Nikolaus Schneider, chairperson of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).

This is because "church members, whether they like it or not, work in companies that are integrated into this system", Schneider explained. "The church tax which they pay is also due to the fact that this system is functioning. We are profiteers of this system", he added.

In that context, Schneider argued, "the real issue" that needs to be discussed is whether there is a way "to get out of the capitalist economic system and establish an alternative", or whether that system can be shaped "in such a way that it becomes fair and allows for the interests of the poor".

Such a question is "very difficult to answer", acknowledged Schneider, who is the head of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland and was speaking at a panel discussion on the theme: "Cry from the South – have our churches responded enough?"

The panel was part of the programme of the Kirchentag. This church convention, celebrated ecumenically for the second time, was organized by Protestant and Catholic lay movements and attracted about 125,000 participants.

Schneider's intervention followed opening remarks made by Dr Rogate Mshana, a Tanzanian economist who is director of Justice, Diakonia and Responsibility for Creation at the World Council of Churches.

Mshana emphasized the need to address the root causes of poverty and of the growing gap between the rich and the poor both between and within nations. "This view is a distinctive contribution that churches in the South can make", he said.

With regard to causes, Mshana put the blame on the dominant paradigm of economic globalization. Within its logic, "a few countries gathered in the G20 speak for the world and in time of crisis divert enormous resources to rescue failed banks instead of small farmers", he said.

Mshana shared the story of his brother, a farmer who grows sugar cane in Tanzania and saw its price go down because of the over-abundance of European sugar in the market. "My brother said to me", Mshana told the audience, "I don't want aid, I want justice".

"From a human and social perspective, the injustice we see is the biggest scandal in the world today", said the Catholic Archbishop of Bamberg, Dr Ludwig Schick, who was also a panellist. Just like Schneider, Schick acknowledged that churches in the North share in the profits of a system that is unfair and needs to be reformed.

Schick suggested that churches in rich countries have a triple duty: hear and interpret the cry of the poor, respond to it with aid for development and be their advocates. "Time and again, we need to step on the toes of the powerful, who can and must help, and say: Here, injustice is happening and something needs to be done about it", he said.

Schneider proposed to engage in a critique of the market economy at the grassroot level, also in rich societies. This is possible today because the shortcomings of the market are increasingly affecting people's lives.

"The North is moving towards the South", Schneider said. "Impoverishment is taking place" in Germany, where a widening gap between the rich and the poor can be observed. Today, "there is nobody in Germany who does not know family members who are touched by unemployment or facing other big problems".

On a different, more practical level, both Schneider and Schick suggested that church members and congregations should commit more deeply to fair trade practices and change their personal consumption habits and lifestyles.

Both leaders warned that churches need to be modest: "We cannot do everything", said Schick. "Let's be realistic in order to avoid frustrations", added Schneider.

The economic and social injustice is often seen as a problem of the South, but it is actually "the problem of all of us", said Mshana. He called for a radical re-thinking of the market economy and of the global financial system.

"Reform is not enough", he said, "what we need is transformation."

Most Americans say moral values in decline

Tue, 18 May 2010 13:24:09 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

Three-quarters of Americans say the country's moral values are worsening, blaming a decline in ethical standards, poor parenting, and dishonesty by government and business leaders, Gallup reports.

The number of Americans who say the nation's moral values are in decline grew by 5 percent since last year. Other reasons Americans mentioned were a rise in crime, a breakdown of the two-parent family and a moving away from religion or God.

Only 14 percent of respondents believe that the country's moral values are getting better. An increase in diversity and Americans pulling together in tough times are two of the reasons these respondents gave.

Pollsters also found 45 percent of Americans believe that current moral values are in a poor state. This number is equal to last year's, which was the highest since 2002. Only 15 percent of Americans believe the country's morality is in an excellent or good state.

A majority of Republican respondents -- 52 percent -- said the country was in a poor moral state, followed by 48 percent of independents and 35 percent of Democrats.

The U.S. adult findings are based on May 3-6 telephone interviews with 1,029 adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

It is time to talk about the rights of "climate refugees"

Thu, 13 May 2010 13:56:21 GMT

(from the World Council of Churches)

By Annegret Kapp

The international tug-of-war over carbon emission thresholds and other instruments meant to limit the deterioration of the earth's climate has caused a big stir in recent months, but yielded little results. Therefore the international community must now get ready to take care of those who will be forced from their homes by climate change.

As the global climate changes, millions of people will be uprooted by sea-level rise, extreme weather events, droughts and water scarcity. While many players – ranging from development consultants to security pundits – have incorporated this fact into their rhetoric, the international community so far has done little to protect the rights of "climate refugees".

When it comes to climate change induced migration "everybody jumps the bandwagon and waves their own agenda" said Prof. Dr Frank Biermann, an expert in global environmental governance, in a keynote presentation at a recent conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

Even environmentalists have gratefully used the fact that some Pacific islands are likely to be submerged by the end of the 21st century in order to stress the urgency of the problem, the professor says: "To them Tuvalu is a canary in the mine."

"In order to put the rights of these vulnerable populations on the agenda of the international community we must build bridges between academia, civil society organizations, governments and churches working on the issue of climate change," Dr Guillermo Kerber, World Council of Churches (WCC) programme executive on climate change, explained. That was the purpose of the 3-4 May conference organized by the WCC, the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) and the Protestant German development agency Bread for the World.

"I am mindful of the enormous work that needs to be achieved in order to create a language that will be heard in the corridors of power," PCC climate change campaigns officer Peter Emberson said at the opening of the meeting, "but I have come here with prayerful hope."

Refugees, migrants and displaced people

Finding the right words to describe those people who will be forced to leave their homeland due to deteriorating climatic conditions is the first difficulty on the road towards a protection that would be enshrined in international law.

United Nations terminology makes fine distinctions between migrants, refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs), depending on the how's and why's of their displacement: did they cross international borders? Were they the target of persecution? How immediate was the threat to their lives and their human rights?

"We call them climate refugees because they seek refuge. This is the best term that will convey the urgency of the issue," said Saudia Anwer, coordinator for prevention and awareness-raising of the Network on Climate Change Bangladesh. Her presentation on the effects climate change has on her country illustrated the need to see the link between displacement within and across a country's borders, as well as between forced and voluntary migration.

Pointing to a picture of people who had to flee from their homes in Bangladesh's coastal belt, she explained: "Suddenly water came into the village of these people and forced them to leave."

Already now, similar scenes are seen in Bangladesh every year, but they affect more and more people, Anwer added: "It is not possible for our country to rehabilitate all people who will be forced to migrate."

A strong moral and legal claim

A specific regime is needed for the people uprooted by climate change, according to environmental policy expert Biermann.

Those affected share a number of characteristics that set them apart from the political refugees and economic migrants that the world has seen in the past: "climate refugees" will not be able to return to their homelands after a temporary asylum. They are likely to migrate in large numbers, collectively and relatively predictably.

And, most importantly, they have a strong moral and legal claim against the international community, since the world's richest nations have done most to cause their problems.

That is why Biermann considers that "a new legal instrument specifically tailored for the needs of climate refugees" needs to be created "as well as a separate funding mechanism". A protocol to the existing United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) could be such an instrument.

"Resettlement is already taking place in the Pacific," said PCC officer Emberson. As an example he cited the Carteret islanders whose evacuation was decided by the Papua New Guinean government in 2003.

The ongoing 14-step relocation process put in place for them is comprehensive, Emberson said, but could be improved with regard to psycho-social accompaniment for those displaced as well as for the host communities in Bougainville, their new home.

The PCC emphasizes the need to involve those affected in the decision making – an opinion that is shared by Dr Jeanette Schade, a researcher with the Bielefeld Centre on Migration, Citizenship and Development.

She presented a case study on Mozambique, where the government resettled thousands of families from flood-prone areas to higher lying settlements. The move was combined with an ambitious plan to improve people's lives by providing better housing, schools and sanitation.

However, studies conducted in 2008 found that many had returned to live in the more fertile valley. Local knowledge on the needs of the people and the best places for resettlement had not been taken into account, Schade explains.

These and other lessons on how to protect the rights of climate refugees will need to be learned by the international community – and quickly. Judging by the lack of action on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, politicians will need some pushing before they get down to the job.

Annegret Kapp, WCC web editor, is a member of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg, Germany.

Church-planting expert tapped to lead Calvin Seminary

Tue, 11 May 2010 13:24:35 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- A church-planting expert has been nominated to be the eighth president of Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Rev. Julius Medenblik, 49, will succeed the Rev. Cornelius Plantinga Jr. at the end of the 2010-11 school year if his appointment is approved by the Christian Reformed Church Synod in June. Medenblik is currently chairman of the seminary's board of trustees.

Medenblik is senior pastor of New Life Christian Reformed Church in New Lenox, Ill., which has grown from four members to more than 700. He also leads the church-planting efforts for the CRC.

Mendenblik's work in starting new churches impressed the Rev. Denise Posie, one of 11 members of the presidential nominating committee.

"He's a church planter, and I think he's coming with some new ideas," said Posie, an ordained Baptist minister and pastor of Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Kalamazoo. "He has proven he has good leadership skills based on how his church has progressed."

Mendenblik's ability to reach out across denominational lines is important because of the seminary's diverse student body, Posie said. While the seminary is owned and operated by the CRC, it has more than 300 students from more than 40 denominations. Medenblik said he hopes to double the number of seminary students in the next 10 years.

"The seminary has made a fresh and bold choice of its next president," outgoing seminary president Plantinga said in a comment posted on the seminary Web site. "Julius Medenblik is an ecclesiastical entrepreneur -- a Christian leader of proven accomplishment in the church. ... I look forward to working closely with Jul during the transition from one president to the next, and I will do so with joy."

Hope College stands by homosexuality statement

Tue, 11 May 2010 13:23:05 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

HOLLAND, Mich. -- Hope College alumni who had urged their alma mater to remove a controversial policy on homosexuality say they are deeply disappointed after the Board of Trustees denied their petitions.

"This is just the beginning (of a fight) because this is discriminatory," said Ron Wiegerink, a 1961 grad whose family has attended Hope for three generations. "It is not at all what we have come to expect from Hope College."

Several groups had challenged the college after officials rejected a campus appearance by Dustin Lance Black, screenwriter of an award-winning movie about gay activist Harvey Milk.

The rejection was based on a 1995 policy saying the college "will not provide recognition, financial or logistical support for groups whose purposes include the advocacy or moral legitimization of homosexual behavior."

In a statement issued on Friday (May 7), the college said "well-intentioned Christians may disagree on scriptural interpretation.

"Still ... the college aligns itself in its interpretation with its founding denomination, the Reformed Church in America, the orthodox Christian Church throughout the ages, and other Christian colleges and universities."

Two student and community groups, Hope is Ready and Holland is Ready, collected more than 800 signatures urging the board to reject the 1995 statement.

The board also denied a request to create a committee to advise the college on guest speakers. The statement said there is "in place an appropriate amount of freedom and oversight for a private and Christian liberal arts college" regarding speaker choices.

However, the board did appoint a committee to expand the college's statement on homosexuality "in such a way that the Hope community is called to a renewed encounter with a clear, demanding and healing biblical witness regarding human sexuality."

From clergy shortage to clergy glut

Fri, 07 May 2010 13:31:41 GMT

(from Religion News Service)

By GREG WARNER

After a decade-long clergy shortage in America's pulpits, Christian denominations are now experiencing a clergy glut -- with some denominations reporting two ministers for every vacant pulpit.

"We have a serious surplus of ministers and candidates seeking calls," said Marcia Myers, director of the vocation office for the Presbyterian Church (USA), which has four ministers for every opening.

The cause of the sudden turnaround: blame the bad economy.

According to PC(USA) data, there are 532 vacancies for 2,271 ministers seeking positions. The Assemblies of God, United Methodist Church, Church of the Nazarene and other Protestant denominations also report significant surpluses.

Cash-strapped parishioners -- who were already aging and shrinking in number -- have given less to their churches, resulting in staff cuts. Meanwhile, older clergy who saw their retirement funds evaporate are delaying retirement, leaving fewer positions available to younger ministers.

"With the employment prospects both in and out of the church being slim, those who are employed are not likely to leave" -- at least not voluntarily, Myers said.

All that adds up to a clergy glut -- a dramatic shift for denominations and seminaries that had once recruited young ministers to combat the "clergy shortage." Now seminary graduates struggle to find ministerial employment.

"There is just no place to go," said Patricia M.Y. Chang an associate professor of sociology at Stanford University who has studied clergy supply and demand for more than a decade.

In the 1950s there were roughly the same number of ministers as there were U.S. churches. Now there are almost two ministers for every church, according to the latest Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches -- 607,944 ministers and 338,713 congregations.

Not all those ministers are looking for employment; some are not working or are employed in other professions. Those who are looking -- especially recent seminary graduates -- say realistic offers are few.

Larger churches are eliminating vacant positions or terminating associate pastors, Myers said. Smaller congregations are shifting some ministers from full time to part time.

That's what happened to Stephen Farrar, 38, whose full-time music minister position was cut to part time, mostly because of finances. He resigned to look for another position, but has only found a part-time interim music job at Calvary Baptist Church in Mt. Airy, N.C.

"Things are kind of hard around here, and when there are openings it's very, very competitive," he said.

Most churches, he said, are looking for a jack-of-all-trades -- music, administration, preaching, youth and children's work -- things for which Farrar wasn't trained.

"It's been tough sometimes, but there's no doubt in my mind that God called me into this," he said.

Job hunting is toughest in churches that are autonomous and not connected to a denominational hierarchy. While United Methodists guarantee placement to every fully credentialed minister, Baptist pastors, for instance, are mostly on their own.

"It's a free market," said Ed Stetzer, a Southern Baptist researcher.

It's virtually impossible to track supply and demand among non-hierarchical churches, such as Baptists, Pentecostals and many evangelical groups. But researchers agree the clergy glut is even worse in loose-knit denominations that offer little job security.

In the Church of the Nazarene, 6 percent of U.S. congregations are currently without a pastor, said Nazarene researcher Rich Houseal. That's down from the typical 8-10 percent, he said, and is likely a reflection of the recession. The vacancy rate is higher, however, among ethnic churches and small congregations.

Small congregations -- those with 100 members or fewer -- make up the majority of U.S. Protestant churches, and in those pulpits, there's still a shortage of ministers. A 2008 study in the PC(USA) found 71 percent of churches with fewer than 100 members had no permanent pastors.

The two-pronged reality facing American congregations is actually a glut and a shortage at the same time, researchers said. "You have a shortage in small churches, but you have a glut in larger churches," said Chang.

In fact, there are indications that both the shortage and the glut are caused by the same factor -- the difficulty of staffing small, struggling congregations.

"Everyone talked about a clergy shortage, but there never really was one," said Chang. There has long been a surplus of ministers, she said. They're simply not serving where they're needed -- in small churches.

"Many people who graduate from seminary think they're going to get a large church like the one they are from, but there just aren't that many large churches," Chang added.

Even if the clergy glut is real, most observers expect it to dissipate once the economy picks up. It could also be forced by another factor: baby boomer pastors will start retiring in large numbers. The first wave of boomers, born in 1946, turn 65 in 2011.

An official of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America estimated recently that when economic pressures recede, the "pent-up demand" could triple the number of retirements in the denomination -- from about 300 to 1,000 a year.

Likewise, one seminary leader said the clergy glut is more of "a traffic jam at rush hour." When the economy starts flowing again -- as churches hire and boomers retire -- the resumes of clergy candidates will start to flow as well.

"In five to seven years, I think we are going to see a major turnover and experience a shortage again," said Dock Hollingsworth, assistant dean of Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta.

"We laugh around here that every pastor we know is 57 years old," he said. "The baby-boomer pastors are all going to retire the same weekend!"

Up close at nuclear treaty summit, churches find positive signs

Tue, 04 May 2010 15:47:30 GMT

(From the World Council of Churches)

The president of Iran and the US secretary of state made early headlines at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference in New York with a volley of accusations over nuclear development and nuclear weapons.

However, for the members of a World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation pursuing peace and human security goals at the conference the event, which opened Monday in New York, started with a more constructive air.

The US secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, for example, promised that the US would reveal how many nuclear weapons it has. That information will finally answer a call heard since the days of the Cold War from many quarters, including the WCC.

Clinton also said the US would provide legal assurances against nuclear attack to members of a new treaty that protects Africa. WCC member churches also helped put the new treaty protecting Africa in place recently. The US made the same promise to the countries of the South Pacific.

The South Pacific Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone is another achievement churches helped which had not been fully recognized by the nuclear powers. The actions meet requests the WCC representatives would have made when they meet with the US delegation in New York. With the addition of Africa in 2009, such zones now cover all of the Southern Hemisphere and virtually all of the Global South.

Members of the WCC delegation are the Rev. Dr Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, the Rev. Dr Gunnar Stalsett, moderator of Religions for Peace and former archbishop of Oslo, and Dr Ninan Koshy, a current events commentator and international affairs analyst.

Another positive sign is that after years of work--mostly by civil society groups including churches--a majority of the governments represented in New York are now in favour of starting work on a nuclear weapons convention.

While the NPT was designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and someday reverse it, the proposed convention would ban them completely. The first country to address the NPT conference, Indonesia speaking on behalf of the non-aligned movement, took up the call. Churches on five continents have joined WCC and a wider civil society effort to promote a nuclear weapons convention at the NPT conference.

Hundreds of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are also in New York, part of 2,000 Japanese Buddhists and Christians who have come determined to put the human face on nuclear danger through demonstrations and workshops.

An atomic relic has come with them, the head of a statue of Mary the mother of Jesus, found in the rubble of Nagasaki's Roman Catholic cathedral after the US attack. Her scorched cheek and empty eyes looked out on an overflow crowd at New York's St. Patrick’s Cathedral during mass on Sunday, 2 April, and then on an inter-faith service at the church center where the WCC has its UN office.

The archbishop of Nagasaki brought the relic to the NPT conference. It rarely leaves Japan. "Along with the now elderly A-bomb survivors, this Mary helps bring the suffering of the Japanese people to governments and people here," a WCC representative told the Japanese broadcaster NHK.

Nearly every government at the conference and at two days of preparatory meetings on nuclear-weapon-free zones has stressed the urgent need for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

The issue, a long-standing NPT commitment, is also addressed in ecumenical policy and current work. A panel on lessons learned from existing zones included a report of WCC experience in Africa and its relevance to situation in the Middle East. Many participants think that, if unresolved, frustration over the lack of progress on the Middle East zone is enough to sink this NPT conference.

The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon came to New York’s historic Riverside Church for a large civil society conference leading up to the NPT conference, 1 April. "You who have pledged to keep your ground free of nuclear weapons," he said, "you are leading by example. Our goal, my goal, is to make the whole world a nuclear-weapon-free zone."

Nearly 200 governments, 121 NGOs and thousands of demonstrators are in New York for the conference which began Monday, 3 May and ends 28 May.

A war over water dries up good will between Jews, Arabs

Mon, 03 May 2010 13:45:55 GMT

(from Religion News Service)

By SARAH GROOTERS

JERUSALEM--Given the choice, Fatmeh Kawasmi has put her guests ahead of her flowers.

With a limited supply of water, it's comes down to giving a drink to her flowers or serving tea to her guests. So Kawasmi, as a good Middle Eastern host, pours water into the little cups instead of the soil, and hopes her flowers hang on for another week.

"I consider the flowers and plants my friends," said Kawasmi, a 69-year-old grandmother who lives in Qalandia, a West Bank town about 7 miles north of Jerusalem. "I watch them die because of the lack of water."

Kawasmi and about 1,000 other Arabs in her town make daily decisions when it comes to water -- there's just not enough to go around. Kawasmi and her family only have running water one day a week, twice if they're lucky.

"In summer, we stay without water for two weeks. We depend on buying water that is not healthy, and not examined (for contamination). But still it's expensive," she said.

Palestinians are facing a real crisis when it comes to water.

"Israelis have 4.5 times more water than Palestinians," said Dr. David Phillips, a water engineering consultant who's worked in the region for more than 11 years. "Even in the Palestinian community, there's huge variation from top to bottom. The guys at the bottom are thirsty, so thirsty they hurt."

According to Amnesty International, the average Palestinian gets less than 70 liters of water a day. People living in some communities, like Qalandia, get even less. Compare that to the average American, who uses about 380 liters a day, and the average Israeli, who uses 315 liters.

For people like Kawasmi, that means a shower is rare and flowers wither and die.

"Last summer, some villages got running water once a month," Phillips said. "Some villages just get water on Saturdays, and sometimes they just get seasonal water."

While Phillips says the Middle Eastern climate makes it difficult to get and keep water even under the best circumstances, there is no reason for the Palestinian water crisis. In recent years, several nongovernmental organizations like Amnesty International have accused the Israeli government of essentially using water as a weapon. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in Gaza and the West Bank, where Kawasmi lives.

There, Arab villages and Jewish settlers can live only a mile or two apart, but get far different allocations of water. The settlers, who are subsidized by the Israeli government, are encouraged to plant crops and have gardens, while the Palestinians try to collect enough to survive.

"Numbering about 450,000, the (Israeli West Bank) settlers use as much or more water than the Palestinian population of some 2.3 million," according to an Amnesty report from October 2009.

In a statement posted on their website, the Israel Water Authority refutes the claim that they are treating the Palestinians unfairly. They say the Amnesty International report was biased and did not present the facts accurately.

"(T)he information presented in the report is distorted, giving inaccurate and misleading presentations of the water supply situations in the region," said Uri Shani, the director general of the Israel Water Authority.

Phillips, however, says the problem is only getting worse. He claims the Israeli government is causing a systematic water shortage amongst the Palestinians to further weaken their morale and pocketbooks.

When Kawasmi doesn't have enough water, she is forced to buy it from expensive tanker trucks that drive around with water from unknown locations. She says the water tastes bad, and Phillips said most Americans would "spit it out."

Sometimes, residents can see particles floating in the water that shouldn't be there, according to Phillips. But, bad water is better than no water at all, at least in the short term.

"In Gaza, 30 to 40 percent of all disease-related deaths are caused by bad water. Kidney and liver diseases are common there which has to do with salts and minerals in the water. Kids get it worst because adults can build up immunity," Phillips said.

Phillips said the decades-old crisis shows no sign of improving as long as the political situation remains unstable. He added that if the Israelis continue doling out such limited supplies of water, Palestinians will continue to drain aquifers in unsustainable -- and unsafe -- ways. Some Palestinians, he said, pump their own water through illegal wells, with no regulations in place to prevent sewage from seeping into the water source.

"I've faced this problem for 30 years since I moved into this home, and each year, it's getting worse year by year," said Kawasmi. "Imagine what it's like when you have guests over and you don't have water in your bathroom."

As tensions simmer, interfaith efforts ramp up dialogue

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:00:32 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

By Michele Chabin

JERUSALEM -- The smell of fresh paint and the sounds of kids having a good time are a frequent occurrence at the Bible Lands Museum, where hundreds of local Jewish and Arab children take part each year in the Image of Abraham co-existence project.

During a recent meeting of fourth-graders from the Hayovel School in predominantly Jewish West Jerusalem, and the Aum Toba School in mostly Arab East Jerusalem, the children worked together.

Standing side-by-side, they put the finishing touches on their collective art projects: large diorama-type renderings of Egypt and Caanan in the time of the patriarch Abraham, the father of Isaac and Ishmael.

One mixed group of Jewish and Arab kids -- indistinguishable but for the languages they spoke -- placed mosaic-covered pyramids on piles of glued sand; in Canaan, the Promised Land, the children erected both a mosque and synagogue that stand side-by-side in perfect harmony.

It's the kind of peaceful coexistence envisioned by grownups, especially during times of heightened political tension or violence -- including recent Israeli-Palestinian sparring over the fate of East Jerusalem.

While Jewish and Arab adults tend to turn away from each other during difficult times, people engaged in co-existence projects say they make a conscious effort to fight that urge -- especially when it comes to children.

"We have only one option: to live by our values and to relate to one another's humanity," said Forsan Hussein, the Arab-Israeli CEO of the Jerusalem International YMCA, whose facility in mostly Jewish West Jerusalem houses the award-winning interfaith Peace Preschool.

At the Bible Lands Museum, watching the pint-sized Jewish-Arab interaction with satisfaction, program director Ragheda Kashkoosh conceded she had doubted whether the meeting would ever take place.

Like other local co-existence programs, Kashkoosh said, the Image of Abraham "could not help but be affected" by the Arab-Jewish violence that erupted in March and has simmered ever since.

"I hoped it wouldn't be a repeat of last year, when the Arab parents pulled their kids out during the war in Gaza," Kashkoosh, an Arab, said. "The parents felt there was too much anger for dialogue."

The violence -- the worst to hit Jerusalem in years -- began after Israel said it would build a Jewish housing complex in East Jerusalem, an area that Palestinians claim for their future capital.

Fighting intensified just before Israel rededicated an East Jerusalem synagogue destroyed by Jordanian troops in 1948; Israel captured East Jerusalem, from Jordan during the 1967 Middle East war.

Naamati Alayon, a fourth-grade teacher at the Aum Toba School, said she considered canceling the meeting because of stones and rubber bullets being fired not far from her school.

"When the violence erupted we talked about whether or not to come to the museum. Some of the children worried that the Jewish students might be mad at them or afraid of them. Some thought the Israeli kids might hit them. They said, `We have really nice Jewish friends. Why is this violence happening outside?"'

Dafna Ben-Ami, the Jewish kids' homeroom teacher, said she had a similar conversation with her students.

"We talked about politics, about the situation, but the kids had no hesitations about coming to the museum," Ben-Ami said. "They were eager to see their friends."

Adena Levine, director of the Peace Preschool housed at the Jerusalem International YMCA, acknowledges that keeping political turmoil away from the classroom isn't easy.

"We don't live in a vacuum," said Levine, who is Jewish. "Our teachers sometimes arrive sad because of what's happening outside, but we leave it at the door."

Sometimes, though, it's impossible to keep the door bolted.

"Terror doesn't discriminate between Jews and Arabs," Levine said, recalling a 2008 terror attack just down the street from the International YMCA. "It was a terrible time. I heard shooting and ambulances. We rushed the children inside and into rooms facing away from the street. It was terrifying."

But because violence doesn't discriminate, neither does sympathy.

During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the preschool's Arab teacher called Levine to see whether Levine's husband, a civilian called up by the army reserves, was safe. "It was a beautiful thing," she recalled.

This caring extends to the children and parents, who mingle together at the Y's playground on "Family Fridays."

"The kids don't know the word 'Arab' or 'Jew.' All they know is that they have friends with a different language," Levine said. "We're an island of sanity in an insane country."

Ma'ayan Reiter, a petite 9-year-old Jewish girl from the Hayovel School, feels the same way about the Image of Abraham program.

"Sure, there are tensions between Jews and Arabs, but they care about the things we care about. What you see in the news doesn't say anything about the kids I've met here," Reiter said, looking toward the Arab children in her museum group.

"At first I didn't want to come today," admitted 10-year-old Amjad Abu-Tier from the Aum Toba School, "but I decided to because I like it here. We work together," he said.

He put his arm around a Jewish boy he recently befriended. "And the others need me."

Survey finds Africa is most religious part of world

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:07:54 GMT

(From Religion News Service)

Researchers say they've found the most religious place on Earth -- between the southern border of the Sahara Desert and the tip of South Africa.

Religion is "very important" to more than three-quarters of the population in 17 of 19 sub-Saharan nations, according to a new survey.

In contrast, in the United States, the world's most religious industrialized nation, 57 percent of people say religion is very important.

"On a continent-wide basis, sub-Saharan Africa comes out as the most religious place on Earth," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which released the study Thursday (April 15).

According to the survey, 98 percent of respondents in Senegal say religion is very important, followed by 93 percent in Mali. The lowest percentage was reported in Botswana, 69 percent, which is still a healthy majority.

"That begins to paint a picture of how religious sub-Saharan Africans are," Lugo said.

The study is part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project. More than 25,000 sub-Saharan Africans responded in face-to-face interviews in more than 60 languages.

While the study confirms that Africans are, indeed, morally conservative and religiously pious, researchers explored a variety of topics, including religious tolerance, polygamy, the role of women in society, and political and economic satisfaction.

Islam and Christianity dominate as the most popular religions in the region -- a stark reversal from a century ago when Muslims and Christians were outnumbered by followers of traditional indigenous religions.

But for the past 100 years, indigenous spirituality has been diluted as missionaries carried Islam and Christianity throughout the African continent.

The study reports that the number of Christians in sub-Saharan Africa grew faster than the number of Muslims, from 7 million in 1900 to 470 million in 2010. One in five of the world's Christians lives in sub-Saharan Africa.

While a majority of African Muslims are from the northern region of the continent, nearly 234 million live below the Sahara Desert.

Indigenous African beliefs have not disappeared, but are often incorporated into Islam and Christianity, the report found. A number of sub-Saharan Africans believe in witchcraft, evil spirits, reincarnation and other elements of African spirituality. More than half of the people surveyed in Tanzania, Mali, Senegal and South Africa believe that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm.

Such syncretism of religions is not uncommon in Africa.

Sulayman Nyang, a professor at Howard University's African Studies Department, said by honoring traditional religious practices, sub-Saharan Africans are able to maintain their African identity and strengthen ethnic unity.

However, Nyang said indigenous religions are not practiced in a pure form because Africans want to maintain their "dignity" and "want to be accepted into the new world of modernity."

According to the Pew survey, most sub-Saharan African Muslims are Sunni. Within Christianity, Catholicism dominates in Guinea Bissau, Rwanda and Cameroon, while Liberia, South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Botswana are predominantly Protestant.

Pentecostalism is rapidly spreading and deeply influential across the region, and also across Christian denominations.

"Casting out of the devil or evil spirits, high degree of apocalyptic expectations, the health-and-wealth 'prosperity gospel' is the new Christian phenomenon of the Pentecostalism in sub-Saharan Africa," Lugo said.

RCA Sends Condolences to Poland

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:29:44 GMT

(from the RCA)

The General Secretary's Office, on behalf of the RCA, has sent a letter to protestant church leaders in Poland, expressing "shock and deep sorrow" over the plane crash that took the lives of the Polish president and many others, including Pastor Adam Pilsch, a military chaplain for the Evangelical Reformed Church in Poland.

It goes on to say: "We hope you know that we and your other friends in North America are united in prayer for you."

Read the full letter.

Obama bares his soul for Easter event

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:57:15 GMT

(from Religion News Service)

Washington: President Obama bared his soul before a cross section of Christian leaders at a White House Easter breakfast on Tuesday (April 6), where he spoke publicly of his faith in redemption through Jesus in his most personal terms since becoming president.

Addressing his "brothers and sisters in Christ" among the nearly 90 pastors, community activists, and bishops in attendance, Obama spoke of "our risen savior" and the inspiration he takes from Christ's resurrection.

"We are awed by the grace he showed even to those who would have killed him," Obama said, pausing occasionally to glance at written notes. "We are thankful for the sacrifice he gave for the sins of humanity. And we glory in the promise of redemption in the resurrection."

Among those seated with presidential aides and cabinet secretaries in the gilded East Room were Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican's U.S. ambassador, Houston megachurch pastor Joel Osteen, RCA general secretary Wes Granberg-Michaelson, and National Council of Churches President Peg Chemberlin. They were joined by former members of Obama's faith advisory council and prominent black clergy, who met privately with the president before the breakfast.

Obama said the Easter breakfast, along with a recent Passover Seder and a Ramadan dinner last fall, was part of his pledge to make the White House "a place where all people would feel welcome." Presidential aides also said it gave Obama the opportunity to thank Christian leaders for their community service.

But the breakfast also provided a platform for Obama to speak openly about his Christian faith, even as a small but stubborn minority of Americans believe he is Muslim.

Obama did not directly address those doubts on Tuesday, but said: "as Christians, we believe that redemption can be delivered -- by faith in Jesus Christ. And the possibility of redemption can make straight the crookedness of a character; make whole the incompleteness of a soul."

The president also said that of all the Gospel stories, Jesus' last words on the cross -- "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" -- especially resonate with him during the Easter season. "These words were spoken by our Lord and savior, but they can just as truly be spoken by every one of us here today," Obama said.

Tuesday's breakfast comes during a faith-filled week for the president, as the first family celebrated Easter Sunday at an African Methodist Episcopal Church in one of this city's poorest and most violent neighborhoods.

"For those who are wondering or have doubts about whether he is authentically Christian, I think today's message puts all doubts to rest," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, another Houston megachurch pastor who attended Tuesday's breakfast.

Obama's father was a Kenyan Muslim-turned-atheist, his mother an agnostic, and his Indonesian stepfather an unorthodox Muslim. Caldwell, who is close to Obama and his predecessor, President George W. Bush, said he is galled by the number of Americans -- one in 10 according to a 2009 poll -- who refuse to believe Obama is Christian.

"Never in modern history has a president said: "I am a Christian," and others said, "No, you're not,"' Caldwell said. "It's stupid and an insult to him."

China's religious head says house churches must register

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:18:05 GMT

(from Religion News Service)

HONG KONG (ENI) The Chinese government's new head of religious affairs has downplayed the role of house churches during his first official visit to Hong Kong, saying they must be registered with the government for their own protection.

Wang Zuo'an, the head of China's State Administration for Religious Affairs, met Hong Kong Protestant leaders at a Lutheran church on March 27.

Wang said some house churches do not register because pastors do not want to report their income to the state. Others set up house churches after they split from another church over conflict. In other cases, he said, a house church can spring up due to a theological disagreement.

"China needs to deal with so many challenges in the religious area. I appreciate the religious diversity in Hong Kong, (but) the geographical area in China is huge and the situation is more complicated," said Wang.

He said there can be many challenges in the formation of pastors, especially for those serving in rural areas, where some merge local customs into their religious teachings.

Wang said there are more than 20 million Christians in China, with 16 million worshiping in registered churches. Another 4 million are outside the registered churches. He said the government wants an accurate tally of Christians, but fears that such a move could be open to misinterpretation.

Yu Jie, a Chinese Christian who attends a house church in Beijing, disputed Wang's statement that house churches "refuse registration." Yu told Ecumenical News International in an e-mail message, "We are willing to register with civil authorities, but not the religious affairs administration," as it is "unconstitutional" because of its "interfering with citizens' religious freedom."

Churches wrestle with drop in donations

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:15:59 GMT

(from Religion News Service)

The number of churches that reported a drop in giving due to the sour economy rose nearly 10 percent last year, according to new survey.

In 2009, 38 percent of churches reported a decline in giving, versus 29 percent in 2008.

Megachurches -- those with 2,000 members are more -- were hit hardest, with 47 percent reporting a decrease in giving last year, up from 23 percent in 2008.

The second State of the Plate study, by Colorado Springs-based Maximum Generosity and Christianity Today International, was based on data from 1,017 churches. The study included small and large churches, as well as mainline, evangelical, Pentecostal, nondenominational, Catholic and Orthodox parishes.

"Multiple research projects last year documented the sharp decline in church giving," said Brian Kluth, founder of Maximum Generosity. "Our research this year shows things have only gotten worse for a growing number of churches."

West Coast states suffered most from the depressed economy: 55 percent reported decreased giving. Mountain states were close behind with 48 percent reporting a drop in giving.

The study also found that December contributions, usually high during the holiday season, fell short of expectations, leaving many churches in the hole as they started the new year.

Even so, 45 percent of churches increased their budget for 2010, and 24 percent kept their budget the same. The report said the 34 percent of churches that scaled back made cuts in travel and conferences, ministry programs and expansion or renovation projects.

The survey, sent via e-mail, was not a traditional random phone sample and does not have a statistical margin of error.

Muslims probe growing Islamic financial sector

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:50:48 GMT

(from Religion News Service)

TORONTO--Global leaders in Islamic finance are meeting in Toronto Tuesday and Wednesday (March 30-31) to probe the growing but still under-explored world of financial products and services that comply with Shariah, or Islamic law.

The Usury-Free Association of North America (UFANA) conference brings together more than 150 experts from a dozen countries to explore a wide range of services that abide by Islam's prohibition on interest.

Conference organizers say the potential of the global Islamic financial market is an estimated $500 billion.

Islamic scholars, lawyers and financial experts from the U.S., Canada, Britain and several Middle East countries are looking at Shariah-compliant stocks and investment products, banking, equity funds, mortgages, and credit. Canada's first Shariah-compliant credit card, the iFreedom Plus MasterCard, will be launched at the conference.

Though there have been great strides in Islamic banking and financial services, particularly in Britain, "supply is definitely not keeping up with demand" outside the Muslim world, says conference spokesman John Qubti. "A lot of Muslims keep their money under their mattress. They're just not investing."

Under Shariah, charging or paying interest ("riba") is usury and considered "haram," or forbidden. That means conventional savings accounts, credit cards and interest-bearing investments are off-limits for observant Muslims.

So are investments in any sector associated with gambling, alcohol, pork, tobacco, weapons or pornography, or one that assumes an unduly high level of risk. Financial speculation is also enjoined.

The Islamic financial model is based on risk sharing. For example, Islamic mortgages work by having the lender either buy the home or become an equity partner in its purchase. The homeowner then pays monthly "rent" along with principal payments based on fair but competitive rates. The arrangement is based on trade and profit, both permissible.

"Making money is not a sin in Islam," Qubti said.

Worldwide, both the Dow Jones Islamic Fund, launched in 2000, and the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index, begun in 1999, offer Shariah-compliant investments.

A recent report for Canada's national housing agency said Islamic mortgages and other Shariah-compliant financial products would pose no problems with civil law.

NCC urges Israeli government to assure Palestinian Christians can visit holy sites at Easter

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:50:55 GMT

(from the National Council of Churches)

The National Council of Churches is asking the Israeli government to provide access for Palestinian Christians who wish to visit Christian sites in Jerusalem during Holy Week.

Israel has stepped up security between Israel and the West Bank, essentially closing the border to all except individuals carrying government approved permits. However, reports from NCC partners in Jerusalem indicate that some Israeli checkpoints have denied access to the city and its holy sites for many Christians who have been given Easter permits.

Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the measure during the Passover holiday, citing "situation assessments adopted by the defense establishment." This year Passover and the Christian celebration of Holy week take place during the same period.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC General Secretary, said he understood Israel's need to provide strict security during the religious holidays, which have historically been times of terrorist attacks.

"But I hope the Israeli government realizes that it is unacceptable to us that Christians be denied the right to worship in Jerusalem, especially Christians whose roots in the region go back to the time of Christ."

Kinnamon urged Israel to open its doors to West Bank Christians as widely as possible.

Christians from outside the area who are visiting Jerusalem, and Christian Arabs who live in Israel, have free access to the holy sites in Jerusalem.

Two leading rabbis have echoed Kinnamon's request to Israel to make it easier for Christians who live in occupied territories to have the same access.

Rabbi Steve Gutow, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and Rabbi David Saperstein, Director and Counsel of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, urged that the Israeli government find a way to "fulfill its security concerns while also seeking accommodations to permit Christians to worship at their holy sites during the holidays."

"I'm grateful to Steve and David for their partnership in supporting our call to the Israeli government to help all Christians participate in the celebration of the most holy events in our calendar," Kinnamon said.

This year, through a confluence of calendars, Eastern and Western Christians will celebrate Easter on the same date. This means that, in terms of celebrating the most important events of their faith, all Christians will be focused together and at the same time on what happened in Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago.

But travel restrictions encountered by Christians who live on the West Bank have made it impossible for thousands of the faithful to celebrate at some of Christianity's holiest sites.

Faith leaders call for civility after attacks

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:30:00 GMT

(from Religion News Service)

As lawmakers reel from violent attacks and threats, religious leaders have issued a "covenant for civility" pledging that they will pray for politicians and model respectful behavior.

"The church in the United States can offer a message of hope and reconciliation to a nation that is deeply divided by political and cultural differences," reads the statement, signed by more than 100 Christian leaders.

The covenant was released Thursday (March 25) by the anti-poverty group Sojourners, as members of Congress who voted in favor of health care reform have faced attacks. A brick was thrown through Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter's window in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and a gas line was cut at the home of the brother of Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Va.

Quoting the Bible, the faith leaders said political debaters should be "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." In addition to the covenant, several religious groups are condemning the threats against members of Congress.

"These actions may have been tolerated in the Wild West, but have no place in the United States today," said Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, in a separate statement.

The Rev. George Cummings, co-chair of PICO National Network Steering Committee, called the violent threats and actions "deplorable and unacceptable." Faithful America, an online community sponsored by Faith in Public Life, circulated a petition calling for members of Congress "who stood with the Tea Partiers to stand up to their threats and violence before someone gets hurt."

Mat Staver of the conservative law firm Liberty Counsel noted that President Obama signed the reform bill 235 years to the date when orator Patrick Henry called for fighting abuses of power by the British: "Two centuries ago the people took up arms. Today the people must channel their anger through nonviolent means to change the leadership and the direction of America."

Signatories on the civility covenant included: Wes Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the RCA; Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Geoffrey A. Black, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ; Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson; Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Jim Wallis, president and CEO of Sojourners; and George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God.

National Council of Churches calls for a common Easter date

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:54:57 GMT

(from the National Council of Churches)

This year Easter, the celebration of the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead, is observed April 4 in all Christian traditions. Most years, Easter is celebrated on different dates in western and most Orthodox churches because of ancient discrepancies in calculating the calendar.

Now the National Council of Churches is renewing a call to all Christians to set a common date for the annual celebration of the most important event in Christian history.

In a letter to member communions, NCC General Secretary, the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, and Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, NCC Senior Program Director for Faith & Order and Interfaith Relations, lamented the fact that "almost every year the Christian community is divided over which day to proclaim this Good News. Our split, based on a dispute having to do with ancient calendars, visibly betrays the message of reconciliation. It is a scandal that surely grieves our God."

The letter proposes continued movement toward a common Easter date based on the recommendations of the Aleppo Conference of 1997:

adhere to the decision of the first ecumenical council at Nicea to celebrate Easter on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox, thus maintaining the biblical association between Jesus' death and Passover;
agree to use the most up-to-date scientific methods to analyze the astronomical data (which is consistent with Nicea); and,
use the meridian of Jerusalem (due to its centrality in the Passion of Christ) as the point of reference for these calculations.

"This year and next," wrote Kinnamon and Kireopoulos, "may we truly revel in the joy that comes with our united proclamation of the Good News. May God grant that in 2012 and beyond we may continue to proclaim with one voice that 'Christ is risen!' For he is risen indeed."

Pentagon to provide Passover meals, palm fronds to troops

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:19:40 GMT

(from Religion News Service)

Although U.S. military personnel around the globe will spend Easter and Passover away from home, the Pentagon is taking to steps to ensure they will be able to celebrate the holidays with traditional meals and supplies.

The Defense Logistics Agency's distribution center in Philadelphia has been working since November to provide Passover meals and Seder kits, containing special prayer books and ceremonial robes, to Jews in time for Passover, which begins Monday (March 29) night.

DLA will also supply palm fronds to Christian and Orthodox Christian for Palm Sunday, celebrated on March 28.

"Whether service members are in the field or on training assignments away from the regular places they would celebrate, Jewish and Christian alike, we offer all the items needed to conduct their respective ceremonies," said Maryann Bonk, an inventory management specialist at DLA.

Jews observe Passover by refraining from eating leavened baked goods, such as bread and crackers, as well as rice or legumes. DLA will distribute 12-meal cases for service members who are deployed without access to regular dining facilities.

The four main kosher meals for Passover include canned salmon, bone-in chicken, gefilte fish patties and beef stew. The meals are delivered in chemically activated, self-heating packages.

DLA, the combat logistics support agency of the Department of Defense, provides all military branches with almost every item needed for operations, from groceries to jet fuel.

Churches launch major humanitarian alliance

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:42:52 GMT

(from the World Council of Churches)

The ACT Alliance, bringing together over 100 church-backed relief and development organizations worldwide, has been formally launched on 24 March with celebrations in Geneva and around the world.

The new ACT Alliance is one of the world's largest humanitarian bodies working in 125 countries with a combined budget of 1.5 billion US dollars. It provides emergency food aid, shelter, water and sanitation facilities, and poverty reduction programs in the world's poorest countries.

The new body is a merger of the disaster relief network ACT International and its sister organization ACT Development.

Both ACT International, established in 1995, and ACT Development (2007) were created through the leadership of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The two bodies coordinated the work of agencies related to the member churches of the WCC and the Lutheran World Federation in the areas of humanitarian emergencies and poverty reduction respectively.

Through ACT, the worldwide fellowship of churches has been at the forefront of life-saving work in Haiti since 12 January, the day a massive earthquake destroyed much of Port-au-Prince. On that day nine ACT organizations were operating in Haiti and able to begin relief efforts immediately.

ACT's global strength means it was also able to assist survivors of the Chile earthquake six weeks later.

Acts of justice, a form of worship

"The work for another and better world is an intrinsic part of the worship of the Church to God. When we are doing the acts of justice, the acts of peace, and the acts of feeding the hungry we are doing the acts that magnify God, because these acts magnify the dignity of each human being," WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said in his sermon at the prayer service at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, on 24 March.

Tveit added that "the ACT Alliance is a genuine expression of the ecumenical movement, the call to be one so that the world can believe that God is a loving and caring God for all humankind."

The service, which was attended by staff of ACT and WCC as well as other humanitarian and church-related organizations, celebrated the formation of the new alliance. The launch was also celebrated by the members of the new alliance with local events on every continent.

The alliance works for the world's poorest people, fighting the causes of human suffering and injustice. ACT members are long-standing organizations already working in the communities. When disaster strikes, these organizations are ready to work and are at the forefront of the emergency response.

At the central event in Geneva, ACT Alliance general secretary John Nduna said the creation of the alliance provides the opportunity "to better link emergency humanitarian assistance and sustainable development."

"When the emergency is over, and the funds run out, churches continue to be present; they are the organization at the end of the street or village, which remains when all others have gone," Nduna pointed out. "The ACT Alliance, with our faith to guide us and the continued support of all our partners and friends to sustain our work, can continue to bring relief to the needy, support to the oppressed and development to the impoverished."

Clergy, White House strategize on immigration reform

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:37:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (RNS) On the heels of a rally on the National Mall by immigration reform advocates, religious leaders met at the White House on Monday (March 22) to plot strategy despite a packed election-year political calendar.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said Latino Christians are frustrated with the slow pace of change on immigration reform, along with growing numbers of deportations.

Still, Rodriguez said he hopes President Obama will use some of the same strategies he used with health care reform -- including a national address -- to also succeed on immigration reform.

"It's time to get to work and see some outcomes," Rodriguez said.

The Rev. Jim Wallis, president of the anti-poverty group Sojourners, said the faith community is ready to help Obama mobilize the grass roots.

"There has never been more unity on this issue in the faith community," said Wallis, describing the commitment from the National Council of Churches, the National Association of Evangelicals, Catholic and Jewish leaders who participated in Monday's meeting.

"This is not a Hispanic issue," he said. "This is a faith issue. This is a family issue."

With the attention on health care in recent months and continuing focus on efforts to spur job creation, the leaders acknowledged the need for pragmatism by the White House. But they hope immigration reform can be addressed before the mid-term elections in November.

"Things happen in God's time," said the Rev. Peg Chemberlin, president of the National Council of Churches, as a loud thunderclap rang out above the White House. "I think God's time is about care for the neighbor, and it's time for that."

College cancels spring break mission trips to Mexico

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:07:38 GMT

HOLLAND, Mich. (RNS) Hope College has canceled spring break mission trips for the first time, fearing that students would not be safe in Mexico after three Americans were killed by suspected drug gang hitmen.

Hope's Campus Ministries Office had planned to send 22 students for trips to Tijuana and Miguel Aleman starting Friday (March 19). But spokesman Greg Olgers said the college didn't want to send students into a dangerous situation. Three Americans were killed on Saturday in Juarez in an attack reportedly linked to the country's stepped-up war on drug cartels.

Outbreaks of violence have already prompted another Christian college, Cornerstone University, to nix a spring-break mission in Haiti, and other colleges are contemplating similar moves.

Olgers said the trip was canceled after the U.S. State Department issued a warning, and Hope staff consulted with partners in Miguel Aleman.

Students were expecting to volunteer at a Christian elementary school while on the trip. Olgers said most of the affected students will be able to join Hope students headed to other destinations. More than 230 students will be participating in 17 other service and mission trips during the break, which runs from March 19 to 28.

German lawmaker seeks work-free Sundays for Europe

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:21:03 GMT

WARSAW (RNS/ENI) A German politician has launched a referendum to demand the restoration of Sunday as a day for rest and family life across the European Union.

"This is the right time to show that, as European citizens, we want to involve ourselves, not only through elections, but also in other ways," Martin Kastler, a member of the European Parliament from Germany's co-governing Christian Social Union, explained on the petition Web site, www.freesunday.eu.

"The work-free Sunday is part of our European culture. We need time for our families and relationships, for civil society and religion," said Kastler. "A life full of working days is unlikely to be fulfilling."

The statement was published after the launch of the campaign, "Mum and Dad belong to us on Sunday" -- the first European Citizens Initiative under the Lisbon Treaty, which overhauled EU governance when it took effect last December.

"This campaign should build up huge public pressure -- in this way, no one will be able to ignore us," said the 35-year-old Kastler, a father of two. "Europe should be the most child-friendly region in the world, so people from different political and social backgrounds should rally behind the protection of Sunday."

In February 2009, members of the European Parliament from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Slovakia tabled a declaration -- which was supported by European church leaders -- that urged Sunday to be protected in future EU legislation to safeguard "workers' health and the reconciliation of work and family life."

At the same time, another German representative in the European Parliament, Thomas Mann, is co-organizing a conference in Brussels on March 24 to re-launch the debate on work-free Sundays.

Johanna Touzel, the spokeswoman for the Commission of EU Catholic Bishops Conferences, said, "Sunday rest is important for the health and wellbeing of working people -- this is a social, rather than religious, issue which affects much of the population."

Survey: Less than half link Easter to the Resurrection

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:18:53 GMT

(RNS) While most Americans describe Easter as a religious holiday, less than half of U.S. adults surveyed link it specifically to the Resurrection of Jesus, a Barna Group study shows.

Seven in 10 respondents mentioned religion or spirituality in their response to an open-ended question about how they describe what Easter means to them personally. But just 42 percent tied Easter to the Resurrection.

At 73 percent, baby boomers (ages 45 to 63) were the most likely to describe Easter as a religious holiday, compared to two-thirds of those ages 26 to 44 and Americans 64 and older. The youngest group of adults (ages 18 to 25) were least likely, at 58 percent, to use that kind of description.

Other than the day Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead, respondents described Easter as "a Christian holiday, a celebration of God or Jesus, a celebration of Passover, a holy day" or a special day to go to church, Barna researchers said.

"The Easter holiday in particular still has a distinctly religious connection for people but ... the specifics of it are really fading in a lot of people's minds," said David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, which is based in Ventura, Calif.

The findings are based on phone interviews of a random sample of 1,005 U.S. adults from February 7-10 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

State Dept. highlights religious freedom violations

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:59:26 GMT

(RNS) The State Department issued its annual human rights report Thursday (March 11), noting religious freedom violations in countries ranging from China to Iraq to Saudi Arabia.

The report on 194 countries called 2009 "a year in which ethnic, racial, and religious tensions led to violent conflicts and serious human rights violations."

The State Department said "no genuine freedom of religion" exists in North Korea and Cuban law permits punishment of "any unauthorized assembly of more than three persons, including those for private religious services in private homes."

The report said religious minorities continue to face "escalating discrimination and persecution." In Iraq, for example, despite the government's public calls for tolerance, attacks on places of worship by extremist and insurgent groups limited their ability to practice their faith.

In China, repression of Tibetan Buddhists and Muslim Uighurs increased, the report said. Non-Muslims are prohibited from expressing their religion publicly in Saudi Arabia.

The department noted that several countries with "generally strong" human rights records had been home to religious freedom violations in 2009, citing the recent ban on construction of minarets in Switzerland as an example.

"Discrimination against Muslims in Europe has been an increasing concern," the report said.

Bhutan's Buddhists keep eye on 'Gross National Happiness'

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:00:33 GMT

By VISHAL ARORA

THIMPHU, Bhutan (RNS) The Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan is the only nation that puts happiness at the core of public policy. But its thrust on a "Gross National Happiness" (GNH) index is not just a warm-and-fuzzy inheritance from Buddhism, but also integral to the nation's cultural and political security.

Bhutan's fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, coined the phrase GNH in 1972 on the belief that people's happiness did not depend on the nation's economic wealth, said Tshoki Zangmo, information officer at the Center for Bhutan Studies.

It was, Zangmo said, "a notion of wholeness that is embedded in Bhutan's authentic Buddhist culture."

Ever since, all manner of government policies have centered around GNH in this landlocked Himalayan country -- about half the size of Indiana -- that's sandwiched between India to the south and China to the north.

In 2006, the king abdicated the throne in favor of his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who in his first address as monarch said his main responsibility would be focusing on GNH.

Two years later, when Bhutan held its first democratic elections after centuries of absolute monarchy rule, GNH was the main agenda of the ruling, royalist Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party.

GNH indicators -- as opposed to more traditional measures like a nation's Gross Domestic Product based on economic activity -- recognizes nine components of happiness: psychological well-being, ecology, health, education, culture, living standards, time use, community vitality and good governance.

It's all tracked twice a year through a survey of 1,300 people conducted by Zangmo's agency.

Many of the GNH indicators find their roots in Buddhism. Psychological well-being, for example, includes measures of meditation, prayer, nonviolence, and reincarnation. The country's GNH secretary, Karma Tshiteem, said Buddhism is key to people's happiness.

"Happiness is about one's outlook on life, and Buddhist values help people appreciate and focus on what they have rather than what they do not," he said. "Values such as compassion and respect foster greater social interaction."

In addition, belief in karma -- "a force that unifies past and future through the present" -- also figures into GNH, Tshiteem said. Buddhism also had a "tremendous influence" in creating Bhutan's unique culture and traditions, which he said are "the most important source of our identity."

The Western notion of separation of church and state is, well, foreign to Bhutan. Here, the government and clergy operate from Buddhist monasteries, such as Home and Culture Minister Minjur Dorji's office in the palatial, whitewashed Tashichho Dzong monastery in the nation's capital.

Bhutan is perhaps the only country where culture is part of the interior ministry's portfolio. Dorji said preservation of culture is crucial for our nation's security, and Bhutanese culture, in turn, "is rooted in Buddhism."

One tangible way of preserving culture is a national dress code in schools and government buildings. Men wear the gho, a knee-length robe tied at the waist by a cloth belt, and women wear the kira, an ankle-length dress clipped at one shoulder and tied at the waist.

Bhutan also mandates use of the national language, Dzongkha, and has strict architectural standards throughout the country.

Government officials say it's not just about looking nice in public, but fostering a physical sense of identity to distinguish Bhutan from its larger neighbors.

"Bhutan is a tiny nation between two giants, India and China, and therefore it has to have a distinct culture to reinforce its identity as an independent nation. Otherwise, how is Bhutan different from India?" asked Dorji.

Such distinctions are deeply embedded in Bhutanese DNA. The Indian state of Sikkim, on Bhutan's western border, was once a separate Buddhist kingdom ruled by descendants of an Indian Buddhist saint who, according to tradition, brought Tantric Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet in the 8th century.

Sikkim was gradually outnumbered by Nepalese Hindus and merged with India after a referendum in 1975. And Tibet, on Bhutan's eastern border, was incorporated into China in 1950.

Neither is it simply a matter of history. "Our little country, once blissfully isolated in a remote corner of the Himalayas ... is now buffeted by powerful forces," Prime Minister Jigme Thinley said at a recent workshop on GNH.

"Though some have brought benefit ... some of them threaten not only our profound heritage but even our lives and land."

Dorji, the culture minister, said Bhutanese leaders plan to integrate GNH, and its Buddhist underpinnings, into school curriculum, in part to help maintain the country's religious demography of three-quarter Buddhists and one-quarter Hindus.

"It's a small country with less than 700,000 people, so why do you need more religions?" he asked, alluding to a few churches, which operate underground fearing persecution.

Indeed, Bhutan's cultural and religious coexistence is fragile, and Bhutan has little patience for threats to that delicate balance. In the 1980s and the early 1990s, around 100,000 people from southern Bhutan -- mainly Hindus of Nepalese origin or Christian converts -- fled to Nepal after Bhutanese security personnel crushed a rebellion against the government's "one nation, one people" campaign to strengthen Bhutan's identity.

"Unlike India, where tensions between Hindus, Muslims and Christians are commonplace," Dorji said, "Bhutan is not resilient."

Poll: Sex, prayer take back seat to Leno and Letterman

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:50:45 GMT

(RNS) It turns out David Letterman may have the last laugh after all.

A new survey shows more Americans watch television an hour before going to sleep than any other activity, including sex, prayer or surfing the Internet.

The National Sleep Foundation released the 2010 "Sleep in America" poll on Monday (March 8), designed in part to measure differences in the sleep habits of Asians, African-Americans, Hispanics and whites.

An overwhelming 75 percent of African-Americans, 72 percent of Hispanics and 64 percent of whites report watching TV as the most frequent activity before bedtime. Asians were more likely to use the Internet or computer in the hour before bed (72 percent) and less likely to watch TV (52 percent).

African-Americans are the most likely to pray before bed, with 71 percent reporting praying or doing another religious activity, compared to 45 percent of Hispanics, 32 percent of whites and 18 percent of Asians.

African-Americans and Hispanics report the most active sex life before bed: 10 percent each, compared to 4 percent of whites and 1 percent of Asians. African-Americans also report the busiest schedules -- 17 percent said they work before sleeping, compared to 9 percent of white Americans.

The poll surveyed 1,007 respondents between the ages of 25 and 60 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Poll: Faith groups should be last in tackling poverty

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:26:00 GMT

(RNS) Americans believe childhood poverty is a problem that demands urgent attention, but rank faith-based groups last when asked who should be responsible for meeting the need, according to a new survey.

The poll interviewed 1,002 U.S. adults via telephone and found 66 percent of Americans believe the United States has an obligation to assist poverty-stricken children around the world.

The survey asked respondents whose responsibility it is to provide aid to children in developing nations. Almost three in 10 (29 percent) said international nonprofit organizations should offer relief, followed by the governments where the children live (25 percent) and developed nations such as the United States (19 percent).

Faith-based organizations came in last, with only 16 percent of Americans holding them responsible for tackling childhood poverty.

The survey was released Tuesday (March 9) by ChildFund International, formerly named Christian Children's Fund. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Bishops of Hiroshima, Nagasaki seek nuclear ban

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:53:14 GMT

TOKYO (RNS/ENI) The Roman Catholic bishops of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- the only cities in the world that were leveled by atomic bombs -- are urging world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons.

Nagasaki Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami and Hiroshima Bishop Joseph Atsumi Misue released a joint statement ahead of a nuclear security summit scheduled for April in Washington, and a review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York in May.

"We, as the bishops of the Catholic Church of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which is the only country in the world to have suffered nuclear attacks, demand that the president of the United States, the Japanese government and the leaders of other countries make utmost efforts to abolish nuclear weapons," the bishops said.

Takami was born in March 1946, in Nagasaki, the second city to suffer from an atomic-bomb attack in August 1945 during World War II. He was in his mother's womb when the Japanese city was bombed days after Hiroshima experienced the first nuclear attack.

The bishops said the sin of the atomic bombings in the two cities "should be borne not only by the United States" but "also the other countries, including Japan, which have kept on waging wars throughout their history".

The bishops asked the United States to "limit the purpose of retaining nuclear weapons to deterring others from using such weapons only" as a first step "toward the elimination of nuclear weapons" around the world.

The bishops urged Japan, which has a bilateral security treaty with the United States, to "demonstrate and implement what Japan itself will do toward the total abolition of nuclear weapons." They accused Japan of "an extremely passive attitude" to U.S. nuclear arms reduction policies, because the country is under the protection of a U.S. nuclear umbrella.

In a related move, nine British churches have joined the World Council of Churches and others in "Now is the Time" campaign, which seeks to put all bomb-grade material under international control. The coalition also seeks to make the use and possession of nuclear weapons illegal through a new Nuclear Weapons Convention.

Scandals test credibility of German churches

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:20:16 GMT

By ANLI SERFONTEIN

TRIER, Germany (RNS/ENI) Germany's Protestant and Catholic churches may be facing the biggest credibility crisis in decades after an unprecedented bout of scandal-fueled negative media coverage.

Bishop Margot Kassmann, the first woman to lead the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), resigned as leader of German Protestants on Feb. 24 after she was arrested for drunk driving, just four months into office.

In the same week, Catholic bishops met in Freiburg to address allegations of widespread sexual abuse of children by clergy that had surfaced late in January, prompting a possible criminal probe by state officials.

Germany is the birthplace of both the Protestant Reformation and Pope Benedict XVI, and religion plays a key role in German life; indeed, both churches are among the nation's largest employers.

Some members of the Protestant church believe Kassmann's resignation has thrown the EKD, an umbrella group for 24 million Lutheran and Reformed Protestants, into a crisis of theological, moral and political proportions.

Police in Hanover stopped Kassmann after she allegedly ran a red traffic light on Feb. 20, and then charged her with driving with more than three times the legal limit of alcohol in her blood.

Steffen Burkhardt, a media analyst at the University of Hamburg, called Kassmann "a popular but also a polarizing personality, who stood for human closeness. There was a lot of interest in her as a private person, and not only as a theologian. This unfortunately can have a boomerang effect."

He noted Kassman's swift resignation, which was splashed across the front page of Bild, the nation's largest-circulation newspaper. By dealing openly and decisively with her situation, Kassmann was able to put forward a human face for Protestantism, while "sexual abuse has no face," he said.

"The church now loses an important spokesperson for an open, communicative church. It is a setback for the liberal movement in the Church and for the progressive, socially involved church she stood for."

The weekly German magazine Der Spiegel, too, placed Kassmann on its front page, and in an editorial said her "quick, simple resignation ... serves as a role model."

Kassmann had been bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, the biggest Protestant Church in Germany, since 1999. Last October, the 51-year-old bishop was elected as the first woman and youngest chairperson of the EKD, which is made up of 22 largely independent regional Lutheran, Reformed and United churches.

Kassmann, a divorcee and breast cancer survivor, was known for her blunt opinions, including against German military involvement in Afghanistan. Adding to controversy swirling around her, the Russian Orthodox Church had refused to talk to her as a bishop because it does not recognize women's ordination.

Many German churches say they're feeling a financial pinch as more people turn their back on traditional churches. Some Christians believed Kassmann was a bishop who could potentially stem the tide, and attract new members.

When the German national soccer goalkeeper Robert Enke committed suicide last November, Kassmann opened her church in Hanover the following evening to lead prayers for his stunned fans. About 800 people attended, while an additional 300 listened outside.

On Sunday (Feb. 28), clergy in 1,500 Hanover pulpits read a letter from Kassmann, thanking the congregations for their support and apologizing for disappointing them.

Catholic churches, meanwhile, face a different kind of crisis as bishops wrestle with some 170 abuse allegations involving children at Catholic schools. Prosecutors have launched their own investigation, and the bishops said they were "ashamed and shocked" by the reports.

"We are not at the start of our dealings with these failures, even if we have, until now, underestimated their extent," the bishops said in announcing a review of existing policy.

In addition, a former member of the boys choir in Regensburg -- which was directed for 30 years by the pope's own brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger -- has filed his own allegation of abuse, although Ratzinger said he was unaware of any history of abuse.

Coming on the heels of a damning clergy sexual abuse report in Ireland, and rumblings of trouble in Italy and the Netherlands, observers say the church in Germany, and across Europe, may be facing rough times ahead.

"What happened in the U.S. in 2002 is happening in Europe in 2010," said David Clohessy, director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "Horrific child sex crimes and coverups by Catholic clerics are beginning to publicly surface, and the revelations are spreading from one locale to another."

(A version of this story was originally transmitted by Ecumenical News International. Kevin Eckstrom contributed to this report from Washington.)

Christians, Muslims agree to pursue peace

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:49:39 GMT

WASHINGTON (RNS) Christian and Muslim leaders from the U.S., the Vatican and the Middle East have issued a "plan of action" to address religious freedom and peace-building after a three-day summit at Washington National Cathedral.

The group's two-page statement committed to working with government and community officials to address the global economic downturn, natural disasters and the conflict in the Middle East.

"The worship of God who demands serious moral purpose is at the very core of Christianity and Islam," the statement reads. "Therefore, religious leaders must cooperatively work with each other and the political leaders in their respective countries in response to these crises."

At a news conference Wednesday (March 3), leaders said their three days of "frank" discussion included disagreements, but resulted in a statement on shared principals.

"I think this is ... a demonstration that religion is not something abstract," said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Ahmad El Tayeb, president of Cairo's prestigious Al-Azhar University, said the dialogue helped build tolerance among the different faiths even as tensions remain, and "we don't have the magic stick to solve all these problems."

The dialogue is expected to continue with another meeting next year. The plan includes a commitment to the sacredness of human life, overcoming terrorism and violence and the right to religious convictions. "To dismiss or demean another faith tradition, to impose a system of belief on others, or to proselytize them to change their beliefs, is a violation of the sacred dignity of the human person," the statement reads.

Tauran described "proselytism" as imposing, rather than proposing, tenets of a faith.

Washington Episcopal Bishop John Chane said religious leaders will be key for 21st-century diplomacy, and the statement urges religious advocacy "particularly in situations where formal diplomatic talks have stalled." It also opposes moral relativism, the oppression of women and children, and attacks on sacred places.

Interfaith group urges renewed attention on Sudan

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:48:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (RNS) Interfaith leaders urged Congress on Tuesday (March 2) to refocus attention on Sudan as the troubled nation in eastern Africa faces a "critical juncture" after being torn by years of conflict.

As the attention of the public and Congress has been drawn away to other global hotspots, the Interfaith Sudan Working Group hopes U.S. lawmakers will assist Sudan in grappling with an upcoming election, a recent cease-fire agreement with a Darfur rebel group and a referendum on independence for southern Sudan.

"Political milestones such as the upcoming election, cease-fire agreements and referendum carry great promise and great peril," said Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service. "That's why we need the U.S. government's focused attention now. If the agreements and peace process fall apart, they can't just be put back together, again."

Galen Carey, director of government affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, said it is important for Washington to influence a "peaceful and democratic future" for the people of Sudan.

"It will be tragic if the extensive U.S. investment over many years in the Sudan peace process is squandered due to inattention at a decisive moment when the future of millions of Sudanese and the stability of the region hangs in the balance," he said.

European court censures Turkey over religious identification

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:25:15 GMT

WARSAW (RNS/ENI) A European human rights court has condemned Turkey for requiring citizens to specify their religious status on national identity cards.

"This is in breach of the state's duty of neutrality and impartiality, since it leads the State to make an assessment of the applicant's faith," the European Court of Human Rights said in a ruling issued on Feb. 2.

"Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs has a negative aspect -- namely, an individual's right not to be obliged to disclose his or her religion, or to act in a manner that might enable conclusions to be drawn as to whether he or she holds such beliefs."

The case was taken to the court in Strasbourg, France, in 2005 by Sinan Isik, a member of Turkey's Alevi community, after local courts refused to allow him to remove the "Muslim" tag from his national identity document.

The court said the practice violates the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, which upholds "freedom of conscience, thought and religion."

The ruling noted that the Alevi community is "deeply rooted in Turkish society and history," and widely regarded as a faith apart from Islam, which is nominally professed by most of the country's 77 million inhabitants.

"The fact of having to apply to the authorities in writing for the deletion of religion in civil registers and IDs...obliges the individual to disclose, against his or her will, information concerning an aspect of his or her religion or most personal convictions," the court said.

Human rights groups say religious identification clauses are regularly used to deny jobs to non-Muslims in Turkey.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has faced frequent criticism for failing to uphold the rights of religious minorities. Last October, the European Commission warned Turkey it must do more to uphold religious freedom before it will be allowed to join the European Union in 2015.

Books pulled for image of smoking, drinking Jesus

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:50:10 GMT

CHENNAI, India (RNS) Authorities in India's majority-Christian Meghalaya state have confiscated all copies of a text book that contains a picture of Jesus holding a can of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

The controversial picture was discovered in a cursive writing book that was being used at a private school in the capital city of Shillong. It depicted the picture of Jesus on the page for the letter "I," to represent "Idol."

State education minister Ampareen Lyngdoh condemned the illustration.

"I am appalled and condemn the violent pictorial representation of Christ. The children for whom the book was meant look up to Christ with reverence, and they are shocked beyond words," she said.

Copies of the book were ready for distribution in at least 10 more Meghalaya schools before the picture was brought to the attention of authorities. "We have directed the district magistrate to go ahead with legal proceedings against the publisher," Lyngdoh said, adding that the government had seized all copies of the book from schools and bookshops.

Outraged local Christian leaders urged India's federal government to take action against the publisher.

"We are deeply hurt by the insensitivity of the publisher," said Archbishop Dominic Jala of Shillong. "How can one show such total disrespect for a religion? Just think how this would impact on students at such a tender age."

In New Delhi, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India said it had banned all textbooks by the book's New Delhi-based publisher, Skyline Publications, from use in its schools.

"We have taken a strong stand and decided to boycott the publisher," said the bishops' spokesman, Babu Joseph. The attempt to tarnish Christ's image was "highly objectionable and goes against the spirit of religious tolerance in India," he said.

Israel adds West Bank shrines to protected sites list

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:47:48 GMT

JERUSALEM (RNS) A decision to include two West Bank shrines in a list of Jewish heritage sites slated for preservation has been praised by religious and right-wing Jews and scorned by Palestinians and their supporters.

Speaking at a Sunday (Feb. 21) cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would add Rachel's Tomb and The Tomb of the Patriarchs to the list of dozens of heritage sites he unveiled last week. Netanyahu has pledged more than $100 million to revitalize Jewish heritage sites and build an historical trail linking them.

Israeli media said Netanyahu took the step after religious members of his government blasted the sites' exclusion.

Rachel's Tomb is the traditional burial place of the biblical matriarch Rachel. It is located just inside Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem, next to Jerusalem.

The Tomb of the Patriarchs, located in the even more volatile West Bank city of Hebron, about 20 miles south of Jerusalem, is believed to contain the remains of the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as well as the matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. The second holiest site in Judaism, it is also sacred to Muslims, who call it Al-Haran Al Ibrahimi.

Hebron is home to several hundred Jewish settlers and more than 160,000 Palestinians who often clash, resulting in decades of violence. In 1929, Arabs murdered 67 Jews in Hebron, and in 1994, Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 Palestinians at prayer at the Patriarchs tomb.

The West Bank, part of the biblical land of Israel, is home to many places that are holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians. Israel captured the territory, as well as East Jerusalem and Gaza, during the 1967 Middle East War.

Palestinians, who want these territories to form the basis of a future state, insist that Netanyahu included the tombs in order to thwart Palestinian sovereignty.

"This particular violation is especially dangerous because it will add to the religious component of the conflict in a way that might bring dangerous consequences," Ghassan Khatib, a Palestinian government spokesman, told the Jerusalem Post.

Dissidents unveil new rival North American Lutheran Church

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:20:10 GMT

By KEVIN ECKSTROM

(RNS) Saying they're done with efforts to reform the nation's largest Lutheran body, dissidents unveiled blueprints Thursday (Feb. 18) for a rival denomination, the North American Lutheran Church (NALC).

The new body, which will hew to a more traditional line on issues of human sexuality, is expected to be formally launched in August as a conservative alternative to the 4.6 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

So far, at least seven ELCA congregations have voted to leave after the Chicago-based denomination lifted restrictions last summer on non-celibate gay clergy. An additional 28 congregations appear poised to leave.

The ultimate size of the new denomination remains unclear. Congregations seeking to leave the ELCA must garner a two-thirds majority in back-to-back votes. So far, 64 of the 220 ELCA parishes that moved to secede couldn't muster the necessary votes, both sides said.

The new denomination will be "faithful in its preaching and practice to the Holy Bible and to the teachings of the Lutheran Confessions," organizers said. Still, they said remaining in the ELCA is also a "faithful course" for individuals or congregations that choose to stay.

Organizers are "united in a common confession of the Christian faith and commitment to submit to the authority of God's Word over all matters of faith," said the Rev. Mark Chavez of Landisville, Pa., director of the group Lutheran CORE, which is overseeing the breakaway.

Chavez said Lutheran CORE would remain as a network of Lutherans across the ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, NALC and perhaps even the more conservative Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Lutheran CORE expects to work alongside the new denomination on evangelism, theological training and social services. Former ELCA Bishop Paull Spring, who chairs Lutheran CORE's steering committee, said there are no plans to dissolve Lutheran CORE into the new NALC.

Whatever the group's future, organizers made clear they're fed up with years-long fights within the ELCA.

"These proposals are a way for Lutherans to move forward ... while leaving behind past struggles to reform the ELCA," said Ryan Schwarz, a NALC organizer from Washington, D.C.

The new body would mark the second major U.S. church schism over homosexuality in as many years. In 2009, conservative Episcopalians launched the rival Anglican Church in North America, which now claims some 800 congregations in the U.S. and Canada; Episcopal Church headquarters puts the number of breakaway congregations at no more than several dozen.

For its part, the ELCA issued a statement saying church leaders will go forward on implementing the policy changes while regretting the decision of "a few congregations" to leave the denomination.

"As the ELCA carries out the directives of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, we continue to encourage congregations, synods and the churchwide organization to remain in conversation about these matters," the ELCA statement said.

Court suspends airport expansion through church cemetery

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:19:47 GMT

(RNS) The families of relatives buried in a cemetery near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport welcomed a temporary court decision that bars the immediate removal of graves to make way for a new runway.

The latest juncture in a long-running battle came Thursday (Feb. 18), when the Illinois Appellate Court granted the families a temporary stay so they could appeal an earlier court ruling that permitted the aviation department's purchase of the St. Johannes Cemetery.

Bob Sell, a spokesman for the families, said the airport had begun disinterring a small number of the approximately 1,300 bodies in the cemetery before the latest court decision.

"We've got a real disruption in our church graveyard, which has been operating for 160 years," he said in an interview.

The city's aviation department said it would halt its expansion plans -- for now.

"While we are disappointed, we will observe the court's decision and discontinue our disinterment efforts," said Commissioner Rosemarie S. Andolino. "We understand this is an emotional process for the families involved."

The department had created "a cemetery relocation plan and family assistance program" and the city had paid $630,000 to St. John's United Church of Christ to acquire the 5-acre property.

Sell said both parties are expected to file briefs with the court by the end of April.

Only 5 of top 25 U.S. churches report membership growth

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:19:48 GMT

By KIMBERLEE HAUSS

(RNS) U.S. membership has increased in the Catholic Church -- the nation's largest Christian body -- but the No. 2 Southern Baptist Convention, along with most mainline protestant denominations, reported continuing decline, according to new figures released by the National Council of Churches.

Both the Southern Baptists and Catholics reported membership losses in last year's Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches; in the 2010 edition released Feb. 12, however, only the Catholics reported a rebound, with a 1.5 percent growth rate, to more than 68 million members.

Southern Baptists held on to the No. 2 spot, at 16.3 million members, but that figure represented a 0.2 percent drop from 2009 and the second consecutive year of decline. The Presbyterian Church (USA) experienced the greatest loss among the top 10 denominations (3.3 percent), down to 2.8 million members.

The NCC's annual Yearbook is regarded as one of the most reliable recorders of church membership in North America. The figures, from 2008, are the most recent figures compiled. However, 11 out of the 25 largest churches did not report updated figures.

The Rev. Eileen W. Lindner, editor of the Yearbook since 1998, said many experts cite “an increasing secularization of American postmodern society, and its disproportional impact on liberal religious groups” as the cause of decline in some American churches.

Jack Haberer, editor of the independent Presbyterian Outlook magazine, said the trend has been long in coming, prompted by Baby Boomers who went off to college and confronted “the Beatles and rock `n’ roll and post-Vietnam distrust of bureaucracies and a kind of an anti-traditionalist youth movement.”

“Baby Boomers who are also Christians, in general, have been drawn more to churches that are more informal, less institutional and more rock `n’ roll-ish,” Haberer said. “Presbyterians and other mainline denominations have been very slow in reading those trends and thinking through a way to accommodate without compromising the theological integrity.”

In an accompanying essay on “The New Immigrant Church,” Lindner said waves of immigrants have helped combat the effects of secularization and led to a membership boost for some churches, especially among Pentecostals.

“In an era in which we have come to expect the inevitable advance of secularism in the U.S., the influx of robust Christian communities among new immigrants once again amends the topographical map of the religious landscape,” Lindner writes in the Yearbook.

While some congregations are no doubt shrinking, the Yearbook reports total church membership was up 0.5 percent in 2008, to 147.4 million members. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) reported membership growth of 1.7 percent, to 5.9 million members. The Assemblies of God is the only other church in the 10 largest denominations to post an increase in size, up 1.3 percent, to 2.9 million.

While overall membership may be increasing, only five of the top 25 churches in the nation are growing, according to the Yearbook.

The 10 largest Christian bodies remain unchanged from last year's list, with one exception. The Assemblies of God moved up a notch, to the No. 9 spot, switching places with the Presbyterian Church (USA), which now finishes last on the Top 10 list.

The 10 largest Christian bodies reported in the 2010 yearbook are:

1. The Catholic Church: 68.1 million, up 1.49 percent.

2. Southern Baptist Convention: 16.2 million, down 0.24 percent.

3. The United Methodist Church: 7.8 million (U.S.), down 0.98 percent.

4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 5.9 million (U.S.), up 1.71 percent.

5. The Church of God in Christ: 5.5 million, no change.

6. National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc: 5 million, no change.

7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: 4.6 million, down 1.62 percent.

8. National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.: 3.5 million, no change.

9. Assemblies of God: 2.9 million, up 1.27 percent.

British Methodists say they're ready to join Anglicans

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:42:53 GMT

LONDON (RNS) The leader of the Methodist Church of Great Britain says his denomination is now ready to rejoin the Church of England after a separation of more than two centuries.

The Rev. David Gamble, president of the Methodist Conference, told the Church of England's General Synod last week (Feb. 11) that “we are prepared to go out of existence not because we are declining or failing in our mission, but for the sake of our mission.”

That mission, he said, is to “serve the needs” of the kingdom of God.

It is not the first time that a reunion of the two churches has been proposed, but previous efforts have been torpedoed by a variety of divisions, including over the role of women in the church.

The Methodists approved a merger in 1972, but the Church of England backed off because of opposition from Anglo-Catholics, which led the Anglican synod to reject reunion at that time.

Methodism sprang from the 18th-century evangelical teachings of John Wesley, himself an Anglican priest. But when Wesley died in 1791, the Methodists broke away from the rest of the Anglicans and went their own way.

There was no immediate official response from the Church of England about the Methodists' latest offer, but Anglican Bishop Christopher Cocksworth of Coventry conceded there would be “cultural clashes” ahead.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is likely to touch, perhaps in depth, on the subject of reunification when he addresses the Methodist Conference in June.

Membership in the Methodist Church in Britain has slumped in recent years and now stands at some 265,000, spread across 5,800 chapels and parishes. By comparison, the Church of England regularly draws an estimated 960,000 to its Sunday services.

Dutch atheist pastor won't face discipline

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:46:34 GMT

UTRECHT, Netherlands (RNS/ENI) A self-proclaimed atheist can continue to serve as a local pastor of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, and will not be disciplined for his controversial position on how to describe God.

A special assembly of Zierikzee, a regional church body tasked with investigating the theological statements of Pastor Klaas Hendrikse, said on Feb. 3 that its work is completed.

The decision to allow Hendrikse to continue working as a pastor followed the advice of a panel that said the pastor's views "are not of sufficient weight to damage the foundations of the church."

"The ideas of Hendrikse are theologically not new, and are in keeping with the liberal tradition that is an integral part of our church," the special panel concluded.

Canon law prevents the national leadership of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands from initiating disciplinary measures against serving clergy. According to the church's constitution, that task falls to bodies such as the church's regional authorities.

Hendrikse said he was "very satisfied with the result," the Dutch news service Ikon Kerknieuws reported. He added that he was particularly pleased with a parallel announcement that the general synod, the national church's governing body, is to discuss the issue he raised about how to declare one's belief in God. "I have always pushed for this," said Hendrikse. "Now I have reached my goal."

In 2007, Hendrikse hit the headlines with the publication of his book, "Believing in a God That Does Not Exist: The Manifesto of an Atheist Pastor."

In the book, Hendrikse distinguishes between believing in God, which he affirms, and believing in the existence of God, which he rejects. Instead, he refers to God as "happening."

Hendrikse, who is due to retire in September 2012, has for more than 20 years been a minister to one Protestant congregation in the southwestern Dutch town of Middelburg and another in the nearby village of Zierikzee.

U.S.-Islam summit comes at delicate time

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:21:07 GMT

By OMAR SACIRBEY

(RNS) "Talk with as many people as you can. Talk vertically, talk laterally."

That's the advice of the Rev. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, for attendees of the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar.

Gaddy went to last year's forum, which drew big names like former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, and dozens of religious leaders, military officers, politicians, journalists, technology experts.

"It helped put a face and identity and personality on a people that we only see in media portrayals," Gaddy said.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is among those expected to attend this year's forum -- the seventh annual -- which is scheduled for Feb. 13-15 and sponsored by the Brookings Institution. The summit comes at a sensitive time in U.S.-Muslim relations. Following the attempted Christmas Day airliner bombing and other recent terror-related arrests, many Americans are increasingly worried about terrorism, and critics are accusing President Obama of being soft on Muslim extremists.

In the Muslim world, many people are angry about the war in Afghanistan, U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, their own economic problems, and expect Obama to deliver remedies faster than his administration may be able to.

"All of us know that the standing that the United States has with young people in the Muslim world is quite negative," said Episcopal Bishop John Chane of Washington D.C., who has attended two previous forums. "The U.S. has such a checkered past in international relations."

The sensitive state of U.S.-Islamic relations requires increased religious involvement in American diplomacy, argued Chane and other U.S. religious figures going to this year's conference.

"When you have 1.5 billion Muslims, 2 billion Christians, and 13 million Jews, from an Abrahamic perspective, you have a lot of influence," said Chane. "Twentieth-century diplomacy has failed so far, and we have to recognize that you need religion in the mix."

Pastor Joel Hunter of Northland Church in Florida, who is going to his third forum this year, agreed. "In the Muslim world, that's not the way they do things. Their faith is a very integral part of their foreign policy. They want to hear secular and religious ideas," he said.

Despite current tensions, observers say U.S.-Islamic relations under Obama are much improved from the Bush administration.

"A lot of the Islamic world is more anxious to engage because we have a president who wants to restart relations with Muslims," said Hunter. "We've gone from a defensive mode to a development and diplomatic mode."

Al-Husein Madhany, a Muslim-American scholar and technology activist who will be convening a conference workshop on how to use new media to build grassroots organizations and civic institutions, agreed.

"We have a moment in history where there's been a promise made by the leader of the free world for a new beginning," he said. "There's an excitement in people's voices about America that I didn't hear during the previous administration."

But after six forums, there are some skeptics who wonder whether such conferences can achieve anything substantive.

"During the Bush administration, they were eye-openers because the Bush administration had a narrow view of the Muslim world. But the new administration is open to a more complex view of the Muslim world. I don't know what these people can do at this point," said Muqtedar Khan, director of the Islamic studies program at the University of Delaware.

"There have been many conferences, but nothing came out in terms of security," added Khan, who has attended earlier Doha forums, but is not going this year.

Archbishop of Canterbury laments 'chaos' over women, gays

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:20:26 GMT

LONDON (RNS) Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams warned Anglican clergy on Tuesday (Feb. 9) that their debate about female and gay bishops is causing "chaos" that must be resolved if the Church of England is to be unified.

In a key address in London, Williams pleaded with the General Synod -- the church's parliament -- to start listening to each other and stop pursuing a "zero-sum, self-congratulating" course.

Otherwise, he said, "the present effect is chaos."

The archbishop added, in an apparent reference to the Episcopal Church, that "certain decisions made by some provinces impact so heavily on the conscience and mission of others that fellowship is strained or shattered and trust destroyed."

In December, the Episcopal Church, which is the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, elected an open lesbian as an assistant bishop in Los Angeles. The 2004 consecration of an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire has caused deep dissent within the Anglican Communion.

As head of the worldwide communion, Williams is fighting to keep it from flying apart amid disagreements and feuds over gay bishops in the United States and female bishops in Britain.

What's needed, the archbishop said, is a new set of guidelines for the communion. "We need to look for a resolution that allows some measure of continuing dignity and indeed liberty to all."

In an appeal for unity, the archbishop said, "The challenges of our local and global Anglican crises have to do with how this shapes our councils and decision-making. It is not a simple plea for the sacrifice of the minority to the majority."

He called for a "major change of heart all round" among Anglicans and urged them to "discover an ecclesiastical fellowship in which we trust each other to act for our good."

Vatican official calls for 'ecumenical catechism'

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:33:52 GMT

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A senior Vatican official called on Monday (Feb. 8) for "an ecumenical catechism" setting forth the common beliefs of the Catholic and major Protestant churches.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, announced the proposal at a Vatican symposium with representatives of the Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches.

Citing the need for an "ecumenism of basics that identifies, reinforces and deepens the common foundation" of Christianity, Kasper said that the proposed catechism would be written "in consultation with our partners," according to a report by Catholic News Service.

Kasper noted that "we do not yet have any idea how such a catechism could be structured and written."

The cardinal himself is unlikely to preside over such a project, since he turns 77 next month, placing him two years past the normal retirement age for the heads of Vatican offices.

As head of the council since 2001, the noted German theologian has led the Catholic church's ecumenical dialogue with other Christian churches as well as with Jews.

In Monday's address, Kasper warned that ecumenism "is perhaps in danger of becoming a matter for specialists and thus of moving away from the grass roots," and appealed for "a people-centered ecumenism" to revitalize dialogue with other faith communities.

Pastor angry after torched church denied loan

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:33:06 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (RNS) The pastor of a black church that was torched just hours after President Obama's election says the bank that initially made a $1.7 million building loan has declined to issue another one.

Bishop Bryant Robinson Jr., pastor of Macedonia Church of God in Christ, said TD Bank will not provide the money, even though the church had insurance that covered the first loan and the bank received its money plus interest following the fire on Nov. 5, 2008.

Robinson said he is "disappointed greatly" by the bank's decision. "My information was they were going to stand with us," he said.

Construction on the church's new building was about 75 percent complete when the fire was set. Three Springfield men are charged in the case, and witnesses told the FBI the men said they set the fire in response to Obama becoming the first black president.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick has urged leaders in the financial-services industry to help rebuild the church. "We need this church to rise as a symbol that hate doesn't win," he said Monday (Feb. 1) at a local Urban League luncheon.

"I know that there are people here who are in the finance field or know people who are, who can rally to help this very, very worthy cause," Patrick said. "And, I ask you to help because that is what a community is about."

Attorney Bradford R. Martin, who's representing the church, said about $1.2 million of the construction loan had been spent when the church was torched. The bank received that money plus about $80,000 in interest when the claim on the fire was settled.

"The bank got all its money back," Martin said.

Martin said the church attempted to take advantage of a federal Housing and Urban Development program that assists in the reconstruction of churches destroyed by arson, and that the federal government was prepared to guarantee $500,000 of the new loan. But without a full federal guarantee, the bank declined to provide the loan, Martin said.

TD Bank spokeswoman Jennifer Morneau said in a statement that the church was unable to meet some loan terms. However, no details were provided.

"It was certainly our goal to help the church rebuild and continue serving the community," Morneau said. "However, the church was not able to meet some of the financing terms. We're hoping to continue our discussion with church leadership to determine how we can help support their efforts to grow."

Haitian bishop warns against 'militarization' of U.S. aid

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:58:48 GMT

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A Haitian Catholic bishop said the United States "can do much more" to help his earthquake-stricken country, and warned against an "excessive militarization" of American relief efforts.

Bishop Pierre-Andre Dumas, head of the Haitian branch of the Catholic relief network Caritas, made his remarks at a press conference in Rome on Wednesday (Feb. 3). The Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti has left more than 180,000 dead, at least 195,000 wounded, and more than 1 million homeless.

Dumas praised Washington's recent decision to subsidize the treatment of wounded Haitians in Florida hospitals, but said that "given its geographic position with respect to Haiti, the American government can do much more."

Echoing criticism by some Latin American and Italian officials of the large U.S. troop presence in the country, Dumas said "it is necessary to avoid an excessive militarization of aid, and to rediscover the humane and humanitarian side of the aid that must be given to the Haitian people."

Dumas called on "President Obama, as a Nobel Peace Prize winner, to use all his influence to make aid efforts more comprehensive and global." He said he hoped Obama himself would visit Haiti "in the next days or weeks."

The bishop spoke to the press shortly after meeting briefly with Pope Benedict XVI, following the pope's weekly public audience at the Vatican. Dumas said he told Benedict of the urgent need to rebuild the many Haitian churches, including Notre Dame Cathedral in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, which was destroyed by the earthquake.

"But it is not only a question of rebuilding churches," Dumas said he told the pope. "We must also create spaces, near the churches, of welcome and education for our people."

Clergy blast Supreme Court ruling on election spending

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:58:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (RNS) A coalition of religious leaders from a variety of faiths on Wednesday (Feb. 3) blasted the Supreme Court's ruling that allows large corporations unlimited financial support of candidates during elections.

The group of more than 200 leaders, many affiliated with the National Council of Churches, also pledged to support legislation to limit the ruling's impact by empowering voters, not special interest groups.

The letter was organized by Common Cause, a public-interest advocacy group whose president is Bob Edgar, a United Methodist minister and former general secretary of the NCC.

"We believe existing campaign finance laws already permit the unfair influence of persons and groups with extraordinary wealth over the political process by providing them with special access to elected officials," the leaders wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"This special access ultimately results in legislative outcomes that reflect the needs of those with the financial means to make political contributions, and not the needs of the poor or disenfranchised."

The faith leaders, including current NCC head Michael Kinnamon, urged Congress to pass the Fair Elections Now Act, a campaign-spending reform law that's backed by congressional Democrats and a host of left-leaning advocacy groups.

"This measure would empower average people to participate in politics with small donations, and would return the gaze of our elected officials solely to the needs of their districts and the nation as a whole, rather than the interests of those with significant financial resources for campaigns," the letter stated.

Other signers include Sayyid M. Syeed, national director of the Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances of the Islamic Society of America; Rabbi Michael Lerner, chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives; the Rev. James Forbes, former senior pastor of Riverside Church in New York; and the Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., president and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus.

Last of burned Alabama churches rebuilds

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:58:04 GMT

(RNS) As the congregation stood on dusty concrete floors and sang "Sweet, Sweet Spirit" from Baptist hymnals, Pastor Eddie Hughes slipped quietly outside the sanctuary of Ashby Baptist Church to cough and clear his throat.

"There's still a lot of drywall dust," he said, before ducking back in and climbing the rough plywood steps and onto the stage to deliver his Sunday sermon.

Church members offered soft apologies for the plywood stage and the dusty concrete. "We've got a lot of work left to do," said parishioner Myrtle Fox.

The church is nearing completion on the red-brick building to replace the old church that was torched by arsonists four years ago. It was one of nine rural Alabama churches burned over five days in 2006, and is the last to finish rebuilding.

It has been an arduous journey, as the church met in modular buildings at the site of the fire, then struggled with what to build, how and where. It also changed pastors along the way.

"It took much longer than our church expected," Hughes said. "We've heard a lot about `this is the last church to rebuild.' It's been a struggle keeping things together and getting to this point."

Several churches targeted in the arsons, including Ashby, had to deal with leadership changes and disagreement about how to proceed after the fires. Hughes took over as pastor March 31, 2008.

"This last year's been difficult, but there's been a spirit of cooperation," Hughes said. "Things are not exactly like each individual wanted it to be. Through compromise we've been able to get it done. No matter what happens, God is still in control. God was getting the circumstances and the people right for this."

The three Birmingham-area college students convicted of arson -- Matthew Lee Cloyd, now 24; Russell Lee DeBusk, 23; and Benjamin Nathan Moseley, 23 -- are serving time in separate federal prisons.

"Most of the people have had a spirit of forgiveness from the beginning," Hughes said. "That's the past and we've been diligent to look toward the future. I believe out of that tragedy God has blessed us. There's good things that can come out of this, as bad as it was."

Online archive opens the Reformers' works

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:49:48 GMT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) Some surprises started unfolding when a team of Calvin Theological Seminary professors and graduate students recently launched the Post-Reformation Digital Library.

Chief eye-openers included successfully tracking down rare Reformed theologians' manuscripts once thought lost.

Another revelation: 16th-18th century theologians and philosophers were brutally honest about their doctrinal positions and emotions, including the well-known Reformer John Calvin, who pushed the boundaries of good taste in a sermon about rowdy adolescents.

"We've got things coming out of the woodwork that (were) lost for centuries," said Todd Rester, a doctoral student who served on the project's six-member editorial board.

Google Books, the Internet Archive and digital libraries in Europe and North America already had the documents scanned and online, Rester said. Calvin's site makes tracking down these original writings easier by bringing them all under one online roof.

Working under the direction of Richard Muller, professor of historical theology at the seminary, the site required two years of work to complete and features a finding list of research libraries, scholarly initiatives and other sources.

The bibliography is organized alphabetically by authors' names, which take users to digital versions of their works.

The site is not simply an archive of Reformers' works, but also those of their influencers.

There are links to Reformed, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Anabaptist, Arminian-Remonstrant and Socinian-Unitarian thinkers as well as secondary sources.

The site is intended for scholars, students and the inquisitive who previously were unable to travel to university libraries in Europe or were unwilling to wait six months to check out a book.

Documents once thought vanished include a profession of faith from John Calvin's successor, Theodore Beza.

There is a link to manuscripts arguing against allowing pianos and pipe organs in Reformed church services because they were considered too ostentatious.

And there's a sermon by John Calvin, who compares unruly teens to "little turds," Rester said.

The site raises the research bar for students who once were able to get away with writing academic papers based primarily on local sources, said Jordan Ballor, a member of the project's editorial board and a doctoral student in moral theology.

Church-state battle brews over shuttered churches

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:44:33 GMT

By SOLANGE De SANTIS

(RNS) When a church is deemed no longer viable and is ordered to be closed, who gets to decide what happens to the building?

Catholic dioceses in Ohio and Massachusetts are resisting moves by local officials to apply landmark designations to shuttered churches saying such moves raise issues of religious freedom and expression.

Landmark advocates, meanwhile, say they are preserving the historic character of neighborhoods -- a concern that isn't always shared by bishops preoccupied with more immediate needs, like shrinking budgets and dwindling numbers of priests.

On Dec. 29, the City Council in Springfield, Mass., voted unanimously to designate Our Lady of Hope Catholic church as a historic district. Built in 1925, the Italian Renaissance-style church boasts the tallest bell tower in Springfield, and state Rep. Sean F. Curran, a parishioner and a supporter of the historic designation, told the Springfield Republican that "it is a building worth saving."

Then in early January, the city's Historical Commission recommended that a second church, Immaculate Conception, also be named a historic district.

On Thursday (Jan. 21), the Diocese of Springfield filed suit to stop the designation, accusing lawmakers of acting out of "unnecessary haste" and "political expediency."

Landmarking church buildings over the objection of church leaders is "a serious threat to our ability to control church buildings, including very clear religious symbols -- a control which protects our religious freedom and expression," diocesan spokesman Mark Dupont said in a statement.

The four-county diocese has announced plans to shutter about one-fourth of its 101 churches. "The population has fallen by one-third in our diocese as the industrial base has declined. The bishop is determined to right-size the diocese in terms of parishes and not over-extend our priests," Dupont said in an interview.

The legal dispute represents a new wrinkle in traditional church-state disputes. The designation for Our Lady of Hope covers the exterior -- including statues and crosses -- and the government has no right telling churches what to do with such religious items, Dupont said.

"If we don't defend this right," he added, "every city and town could tell churches what they can and can't do."

A similar fight has already erupted in Cleveland, where church leaders plan to close about 50 churches due to shifting demographics, financial pressures and shortages of priests. Last March, the Cleveland City Council moved to landmark not just the exteriors, but also the interiors, of shuttered churches.

"I will not stand for stained-glass windows to be boarded up," said Councilwoman Dona Brady. "And many churches have built-in icons. These have got to stay there."

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (a former mayor of Cleveland and two-time presidential candidate) even suggested the city should use the power of eminent domain to acquire closed churches. City officials declined to comment on the idea.

Robert Tayek, a spokesman for the Diocese of Cleveland, said the situation has not moved into lawsuit territory -- yet. Interior landmarking, he added, "raises a bigger question" under the First Amendment than the already contentious fight over preserving a church's outward appearance.

The diocese believes there is a precedent in law that "internal facets of a church cannot be controlled by government or legislation." Such moves are "nothing short of an attempt to exert direct governmental control over the very symbols and elements utilized by the church in its most sacred and defining act of worship: the Mass," he said.

Everyone agrees that a church closing is an emotional issue, even for those who may not have worshipped there. But church leaders say their eyes remain focused on eternal things above, not brick-and-mortar structures down below.

"There are moments, memories, rites of passage at that location that provoke a lot of emotion," Tayek said. However, he added, "our faith goes far beyond buildings. The faithful are part of the household of Jesus Christ."

After quake, Haiti missionaries ask: 'Why (not) me?'

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:41:49 GMT

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald

(RNS) Having survived a devastating earthquake during a 10-day mission trip to Haiti, Freedom Gassoway now savors every minute she spends at home with her family in Beaverton, Ore.

But for this 33-year-old mother of two, some of life has also lost its sweetness.

Meals no longer taste good, she said, since she's always thinking about the thousands of homeless and hungry people in Haiti. Her closet seems to have "too many clothes," she said, and she feels a duty -- by virtue of her survival -- to share Haiti's suffering with other Americans.

"I didn't even know where Haiti was before this trip," Gassoway said. "But now I feel like I have a responsibility for Haiti and helping people be aware of how they can be involved."

As the dust settles from Haiti's devastating quake, mission workers of all types are pondering the deeper meanings of their survival. They're wondering why they survived, why others didn't and what they're supposed to do with their new leases on life.

"As long as you've got something to occupy your mind, you can keep it off the horror of what's just happened" in the field, said Randy Strash, strategy director for emergency response at World Vision, a massive Christian relief agency with almost 800 aid workers in Haiti.

"But once that (urgency recedes), I think you'll find that many of them are really struggling -- in their families, in their personal lives, in their health and in their theology."

While theological interpretations vary, missionaries who survived the quake are consistently professing a heightened sense of calling. They speak of feeling new "responsibility," both to God and to the Haitian people, because they've been blessed to live another day.

As one of the world's poorest nations, Haiti is a magnet for Christian ministries. An estimated 1,700 career missionaries serve in Haiti, according to Todd Johnson, director of the Center for the Study of World Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Hundreds more travel to Haiti each year for short-term trips of a week or two at a time.

For many of Haiti's surviving missionaries, the distance between life and death was only a few feet when the Jan. 12 quake struck. Tragic episodes left missionaries wondering "why?" and believing that God must have a plan in mind.

"I know that God has our family here for a reason and he kept us alive for a reason," wrote Leslie Rolling, administrator of the Christian aid organization Clean Water for Haiti, in an e-mail from Haiti. "We now have an even greater responsibility to carry out the work we're doing."

On the night of the quake, Leslie's husband tried to save a young girl named Jacqueline, buried in the rubble of a collapsed school. Unable to reach her, he eventually left the scene late at night to prepare for a work crew's arrival. He later confessed on his blog.

"How could I leave someone who was dying, trapped in a building! That's so wrong!" Chris Rolling wrote. "Leaving her was one of the hardest things I've ever done ... I think this is going to trouble me for a long time."

(Jacqueline later died. She had suffered such extensive injuries, Leslie said, she likely wouldn't have survived even if she'd been pulled out alive).

Kay and Gary Walla of Indianapolis felt similarly helpless after the quake rocked the mountain community where their United Methodist church group was helping repair a school and orphanage. The Wallas, both in their 70s, were in "survival mode" -- foraging for wild coconuts and grapefruit by day, huddling close to other missionaries for warmth by night -- when they heard scratching beneath a pile of rubble.

Buried alive were a 21-year-old woman who had been training for a religious order and the 18-month-old boy whom she had recently adopted. Unable to save them, the Wallas instead held a memorial service for them two days later.

"My husband and I said, `Why did we survive and all of these Haitians have not?"' Kay Walla asked. "We know there's more work for us to do ... God just spared us to help the Haitians."

As missionaries try to make sense of their survival, they're considering anew why disasters happen in God's world. In Kay Walla's view, God has nothing to do with deaths from natural disasters, but God does actively spare the ones who survive. Why God spares some and not others is unknown, she said, but survivors surely inherit special responsibilities.

Others echoed a similar sense of duty.

"We do owe it to those who lost their lives," World Vision spokeswoman Maggie Boyer e-mailed from Port-au-Prince, "to commit to building a Haiti that they would be proud of."

Middle East Group Votes to Support Ordination of Women

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:13:22 GMT

Harissa, Lebanon -- Ordaining women as pastors to serve Middle Eastern churches took one step closer to becoming reality today. Delegates at the Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches (FMEEC) voted unanimously to adopt a statement in support of this change. The statement was drafted on the spot in response to a report by the fellowship's theology committee, which found no biblical or theological reasons to oppose female ordination.

The vote occurred at the Sixth General Assembly of the Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches. FMEEC is an association of evangelical (Anglican, Lutheran, and Reformed) churches of the Middle East.

The report inspired lively conversation as to how to respond to it, with delegates expressing support for it as well as concern for how their congregations would accept it. Dr. Mary Mikhael, President and Professor of Christian Education at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, acknowledged the obstacle presented to the church by societal traditions but, she asked, "Who should reform who?" Finally, conference leaders agreed to reconvene after drafting a short statement in support of the report and of female ordination. It passed unanimously among the fellowship's 29 voting delegates, including two women.

ELCJHL Bishop Munib A. Younan, who serves as FMEEC's president, developed the statement in Arabic. An English translation provided by the conference interpreter reads: "The Sixth General Assembly supports the ordination of the women in our churches in the position of ordained pastor and her partnership with men as an equal partner in decision making. Therefore we call on member churches to take leading steps in this concern."

Speaking later of the historic vote, Younan said it is in keeping with the Middle Eastern evangelical tradition of leading the way in ministry. The fellowship's action means its 16 member churches are urged to open the doors to women's ordained ministry, he added.

The vote resonated with the remarks with which Younan opened the conference the previous day. "If we have any influence in the Middle East, it is the theology of grace," he said.

To a world that values work, achievement and ritual, "Jesus Christ gave us the theology of grace that we may influence the community that we live in," he said to some 70 people gathered for the Jan. 11-13, 2010, conference.

FMEEC was formed in 1974, the fruit of a long history of ecumenism among member churches. The purpose of FMEEC is to strengthen the mission and ministry of its member churches through training and formation of leadership and laity, both women and men, and promoting unity through joint work and education.

New WCC head says churches must bring message of peace, hope

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:52:29 GMT

GENEVA (RNS/ENI) The global ecumenical movement must bring the hope of peace and justice to a suffering and divided world, said the new general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit.

"As we enter into the second decade of the 21st century, the world continues to face many crises ... financial crisis, climate crisis, a food crisis, a new wave of terrorism and violence, new burdens of injustice and violations of human rights," said Tveit, preaching on Monday (Jan. 11) at the WCC's headquarters in Geneva.

"We start this year also with a greater concern for the religious freedom of some of our Christian sisters and brothers in several places," noted Tveit, a Norwegian pastor who assumed leadership of the world's biggest church umbrella group.

The WCC counts 349 churches -- mostly Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant -- and represents some 500 million Christians worldwide. Tveit, 49, was elected to the WCC's top post in August.

"In this beloved ecumenical movement, we also enter into the depths of this world and its suffering and divisions -- and together, we shall be the voice calling to newness of life in the name of the beloved Son," he said.

Tveit is the former general secretary of the (Lutheran) Church of Norway's Council on Ecumenical and International Relations. He is the second Lutheran to head the WCC in its 62-year history. He succeeds the Rev. Samuel Kobia, a Methodist from Kenya, who stepped down at the end of 2009.

Experts hope joint principles can ease church-state fights

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:51:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (RNS) Legal experts from the left and right say they hope a new statement of shared principles on religious expression in public life will lead to fewer church-state lawsuits.

"There's tremendous confusion about this area of the law," said Melissa Rogers, whose Center for Religion and Public Affairs at Wake Forest University School of Divinity published the document after five years of work. Rogers is a member of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

"We hear broad inaccurate statements all the time: on the one hand ... that somehow religion has been kicked out of the public square; on the other hand ... that there are no limits when government deals with religion."

The 32-page document, which was unveiled Tuesday (Jan. 12) at the Brookings Institution, is an effort to "try to blow away those mischaracterizations," said Rogers, who is finalizing recommendations for reform of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The document covers such thorny legal matters as governmental displays and monuments that contain religious elements; public school lessons about religion; and religious symbols in retailers' holiday ads. While its drafters disagree on what some laws should say, the document summarizes current law as it is.

It answers such questions as:

-- May a city require individuals to obtain a permit prior to engaging in door-to-door advocacy on religious issues? (No)

-- May elected officials reference religious ideas and discuss their personal religious beliefs while in their official capacities? (Sometimes)

-- May gravestones at government-run cemeteries display religious symbols chosen by the families of the deceased? (Yes)

Some questions were more difficult than others for the 28 legal experts -- who represented groups ranging from the Anti-Defamation League to the Southern Baptist Convention. Several experts cited particular kinds of lawsuits they hope will decrease if the document succeeds in bringing greater legal clarity.

"I'd like to see religious symbol litigation go away," said Marc Stern, acting co-executive director of the American Jewish Congress and a member of the drafting committee. "I can think of cases where plaques stood on the corners of courthouses for 75 years and then somebody challenged them. Yes, you understand why some people might be offended, but nobody was for 75 years."

Another drafter, Charles Haynes of the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center, said some suits involving religion and public schools are "frivolous and ridiculous."

Rogers said the document will be distributed to government officials and will be available through her center's Web site (www.divinity.wfu.edu/rpa).

Bob Ritter, legal coordinator for the American Humanist Association, criticized parts of the document for favoring "the belief community over the nonbelief community," he told panelists presenting the document.

Rogers described the document as an ongoing project that has attempted to include a broad range of viewpoints. "The conversation continues and we value those voices as well," she said.

The document follows publications produced over the last two decades in which legal experts with differing stances have found agreement on issues such as religion and the public schools, including a 1995 statement that was distributed by the Clinton administration.

'Davey and Goliath' creator Art Clokey dies at 88

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:51:05 GMT

(RNS) Art Clokey, the creator of the animated icon Gumby and his clay Christian counterparts "Davey and Goliath," died Friday (Jan. 8) at his home in California. He was 88.

His son, Joe Clokey, told The New York Times that his father died in his sleep.

Though Art Clokey was best known for "Gumby," his work on the television program "Davey and Goliath" showed "the spiritual side of my dad," Joe Clokey told the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's news service. A forerunner of the ELCA, the United Lutheran Church in America, approached Clokey and his wife, Ruth, in 1959 to create a Gumby-like show for the church, Joe Clokey told the ELCA. "The Lutherans contacted them, and asked them to create a show with the theme of 'God loves everyone'," he said.

"They put all of their hearts into it," Joe Clokey said.

The "Davey and Goliath" episodes, which developed a loyal following from 1960-1975, were 15 minutes long -- about the length of some sermons -- and known for imparting simple moral lessons. Often Davey invited trouble by ignoring the advice of Goliath, his conscience-ridden talking dog, before repenting and returning to Christian values.

According to a 2006 documentary called "Gumby Dharma," Clokey was a spiritual seeker who attended seminary intending to become an Episcopal priest before working in television; later he became interested in Eastern religions during the countercultural wave of the 1960s. He believed his luck turned around after an Indian guru blessed Gumby, according to the film.

The ELCA continues to own the rights to "Davey and Goliath," and resurrected the duo for a 2004 Christmas special that featured new characters like Sam, who was Jewish, and Yasmeen, a Muslim.

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and associate editor of America magazine, said the "gentle morality" of the "Davey and Goliath" shows "made an impression."

"Of course I learned the same things at home ... but these Protestant lessons had, somehow, a different flavor to them," Martin wrote on America's blog. "It reminded me of what the minister used to give Davey: simple, sensible, no-nonsense morality."

Pope laments slow pace in tackling climate change

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:50:38 GMT

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Lamenting "economic and political resistance" to dealing with climate change, Pope Benedict XVI on Monday (Jan. 11) called on the world's nations to reach an agreement on the matter by the end of 2010.

The pope's statement was delivered as part of his annual address to foreign ambassadors.

Referring to last month's United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen, where political leaders failed to negotiate a way to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, Benedict said the summit offered evidence of "economic and political resistance to combating the degradation of the environment."

"I trust that in the course of this year ... it will be possible to reach an agreement for effectively dealing with (climate change)," Benedict said. "The issue is all the more important in that the very future of some nations is at stake, particularly some island states."

Many scientists say that man-made global warming is responsible for a dramatic rise in sea levels over recent years.

Benedict's speech to the diplomatic corps, traditionally an occasion for surveying military and political conflicts around the world, focused this year on ecological concerns. Benedict had earlier devoted his annual World Day of Peace message to environmental concerns.

On Monday, the pope noted that the "struggle for access to natural resources is one of the causes of a number of conflicts, not least in Africa," and that "such conflicts damage and degrade the environment."

Benedict also repeated previous calls for nuclear disarmament; an end to terrorism; safety for Christians in the Middle East; a peaceful end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and the "protection of human life, including the life of the unborn."

RCA Members in Quake-Hit Haiti

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:42:29 GMT

RCA members from First Reformed Church (Sheldon, Iowa), Bethany Reformed Church (Sheboygan, Wisconsin), First Reformed Church (Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin), and Brighton Heights Reformed Church (Staten Island, New York) were in the Port-au-Prince vicinity when the earthquake hit.

This included General Synod President James Seawood and his wife Emra; Brigido Cabrera, coordinator for the RCA's Hispanic Ministries; and RCA pastor Andres Serrano. This delegation was able to make their way to safety in the Dominican Republic.

Read more.

Thousands Feared Dead as Major Quake Strikes Haiti

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:46:50 GMT

RCA Delegation in Port-au-Prince

Most powerful quake in Haiti in 200 years
Haiti ill-equipped to deal with disaster
Church World Service and other aid agencies responding

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A major earthquake rocked Haiti, killing possibly thousands of people as it toppled the presidential palace and hillside shanties alike and left the Caribbean nation appealing for international help.

General Synod President James Seawood and his wife Emra; Brigido Cabrera, coordinator for the RCA's Hispanic Ministries; RCA pastor Andres Serrano; and Yeral Ogando, secretary for Iglesia Reformada Dominicana, are all in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Efforts are still being made to contact them.

Please keep them and the people of Haiti in your prayers.

Church World Service (CWS) staff are quickly responding, contacting long-term partners in the country and working with them to assess the situation. The Ecumenical Foundation for Peace, whose House of Hope day school is supported by CWS, reports the school is damaged and they are trying to determine the well-being of some of the staff and children. Colleagues from Christian AID, SKDE report that their office is damaged and they are also trying to reach staff who remain unaccounted for.

Specific needs will be announced by Reformed Church World Service soon, although donations are already being accepted.

Donate Now

A five-story U.N. building was also brought down by Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude quake, the most powerful to hit Haiti in more than 200 years according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Reuters television footage from the capital, Port-au-Prince, showed scenes of chaos on the streets with people sobbing and appearing dazed amid the rubble.

The quake's epicenter was only 10 miles (16 km) from Port-au-Prince. About 4 million people live in the city and surrounding area. Aftershocks as powerful as 5.9 rattled the city throughout the night and into Wednesday.

Reports on casualties and damage were slow to emerge due to communication problems but Brazilian General Carlos Barcellos said at least four Brazilian members of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti were killed. A large number of Brazilian soldiers were also missing.

The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is ill-equipped to respond to such a disaster, lacking heavy equipment to move debris and a sufficient emergency personnel.

"I am appealing to the world, especially the United States, to do what they did for us back in 2008 when four hurricanes hit Haiti," Raymond Alcide Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to Washington, said in a CNN interview.

"At that time the U.S. dispatched...a hospital ship off the coast of Haiti. I hope that will be done again...and help us in this dire situation that we find ourselves in. I'm asking the Haitians who are abroad to work together and bring all the effort in a concerted manner to help those back home."

Sara Fajardo, a spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services, told the Los Angeles Times its representative in Haiti said the death toll could be in the thousands.

The Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) aid organization said it was treating about 600 people in its hospitals in Haiti. It also was sending reinforcements to the disaster zone, as was the International Red Cross.

Much of this information and all of the images are provided by Reuters' AlertNet.org; used with permission.

Christians Unite through Week of Prayer

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:44:21 GMT

During the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010, Christians throughout the world will be listening together to the promise and commission that are part of Christ's final words before his ascension: "You are witnesses of these things."

Traditionally celebrated between January 18 and 25 (in the northern hemisphere) or at Pentecost (in the southern hemisphere), the Week of Prayer enters into congregations and parishes all over the world. Preachers are exchanged, and special ecumenical worship services are arranged.

The production of the liturgical and biblical material for the week of prayer is jointly coordinated since 1968 by the World Council of Churches (Faith and Order Commission) and the Roman Catholic Church (Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity).

The theme for 2010 was chosen in Scotland, where churches were, at the same time, preparing to celebrate the anniversary of the 1910 World Mission Conference which marked the beginnings of the modern ecumenical movement.

Resources for the week include an introduction to the theme; a suggested ecumenical celebration which local churches are encouraged to adapt for their own particular liturgical, social and cultural contexts; biblical reflections and prayers for the "eight days"; and additional prayers from, and an overview of the ecumenical situation in Scotland.

More information and the Brochure for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are available on the WCC website.

Report: Executions rise as death sentences decline

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:43:49 GMT

Report: Executions rise as death sentences decline

(RNS) The number of state-sponsored executions jumped 41 percent in 2009 even as the number of death penalty sentences dropped, according to a new report from the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center.

Last year's 52 executions nationwide represented a 41 percent increase from the 37 executions in 2008, the DPIC said in its annual report on capital punishment trends.

Much of that increase was due to the end of an eight-month informal moratorium on executions nationally through mid-2008, while the U.S. Supreme Court considered a case on methods used in lethal injection, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the DPIC.

"The rise in 2009 was expected as states were backlogged with cases," he said. "But the country continues to move away from the death penalty. This decade has been marked by a declining use of the death penalty."

Fewer death sentences were imposed by courts nationwide in 2009 than in any year since 1976, when states began operating under new laws after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down most death penalty laws in 1972.

The 106 death sentences issued nationwide in 2009 marked the seventh year of decline, and were 68 percent fewer than the 328 death sentences imposed in the peak year, 1994, the DPIC reported.

The decline nationally in death sentences has been greatest in Texas, which added life without parole as an alternative to death sentences in 2005, the DPIC reported. Texas, the nation's historical leader in the use of the death penalty, averaged 34 death sentences per year during the 1990s. Last year, Texas sentenced nine to die, the DPIC reported.

In Alabama, which ranked No. 2 in 2009, judges ordered nine death sentences in 2009, versus 13 in 2008.

"It's a reflection of skepticism about the death penalty," Dieter said. "When juries see strong alternatives like life without parole, they often view that as sufficient punishment."

DisciplesWorld magazine to cease publication

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:55:01 GMT

(RNS) DisciplesWorld, an award-winning magazine that covered the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) as an independent journal, is shutting its doors after eight years of publication.

"We made a valiant effort," publisher and editor Verity A. Jones said in a Dec. 16 statement announcing the closure, citing declining subscription and advertising revenue and a decrease in charitable gifts.

DisciplesWorld had come close to ceasing publication several times in recent years, though had been able to continue after receiving a major grant earlier this year "to formulate new strategies to adapt to the changing publishing landscape," the magazine said. It had also switched to bi-monthly publication after originally being published 10 times annually.

The journal had planned to re-launch its Web site next month with more space for features and an expanded ability for readers to share content. But that was not enough to stave off the problems of a declining revenue and subscription base and an increasingly difficult environment for all types of print-based journalism.

"We chose to move forward rather than just hold the course through the recession," Jones said. "I am saddened that this publication is coming to an end, but I am proud of the magazine, its staff, readers, writers and supporters."

As a publication that covered the denomination but was independent of it, DisciplesWorld was able to cover a variety of controversial issues, including homosexuality, war, immigration and gun control. The magazine won numerous awards from the Associated Church Press, a trade association, for its reporting.

In announcing the closure, Jones said that DisciplesWorld, Inc., the non-profit entity that has publishes the magazine, will also dissolve. However, the DisciplesWorld website -- www.disciplesworld.com -- will remain live during the magazine's "wind-down process."

DisciplesWorld was formed after The Disciple, an official denominational publication, ended publication in 2002 for financial reasons.

Survey: Two-thirds of Protestant pastors consider Islam 'dangerous'

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:54:33 GMT

(RNS) Two out of three Protestant pastors believe Islam is a "dangerous" religion, according to a new survey from a Southern Baptist-affiliated research group.

The survey of more than 1,000 Protestant clergy by LifeWay Research, released Monday (Dec. 14) found that 45 percent strongly agree with the statement "I believe Islam is a dangerous religion" and another 21 percent agree somewhat with it.

Evangelical pastors were more likely to agree with the statement than mainline Protestant pastors -- 77 to 47 percent. Likewise, pastors with a bachelor's degree or less education are more likely to strongly agree than those with a master's degree -- 64 percent to 37 percent.

"It's important to note our survey asked whether pastors viewed Islam as `dangerous,' but that does not necessarily mean 'violent,"' said LifeWay president Ed Stetzer in a statement about the survey results.

"`Dangerous' can be defined in a variety of ways, including from the perspective of spiritual influence. Regardless of the definition, the numbers tell us that Protestant pastors are concerned."

The results of the telephone survey were based on a random sample of 1,002 senior pastors taken in October 2008 and had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

On Dec. 10, evangelist Franklin Graham told CNN that while he loves the Muslim people in countries he's visited with his Samaritan's Purse ministry, "I don't agree with the teachings of Islam and I find it to be a very violent religion."

Graham's comments prompted the Council on American-Islamic Relations to request a meeting with the evangelist. As of Friday (Dec. 18), he had not responded, said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.

Can't choose your religious game? Here are some options

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:53:41 GMT

(RNS) "Toying with God" authors Rebecca Sachs Norris and Nikki Bado-Fralick offer a list of recommended religious toys and games. "This is a highly personal evaluation, of course, based on our perspective on religious games and dolls," Norris said, "and even so this is not a `seal of approval' on every item."

It is not an exhaustive list, but may help people who are overwhelmed when they first go to look for one of these items, she said.

Dolls:

Gali Girls (Jewish)
Razanne, Fulla and Farah (Muslim)
Holy Huggables and Messengers of Faith (Christian)
Siva, Ganesh, Buddha plush dolls

Snakes and Ladders games for many religious traditions:

Torah Snakes and Ladders
Leela (new-age)
Sufi
Muslim
Sikh

Various versions of the "-opolys":

Bibleopoly
Mormonopoly
Episcopopoly
Catholicopoly

Buddhist:

BuddhaWheel
Karma Chakra

Christian:

Vatican: The Board Game
Journeys of Paul
Settlers of Canaan
Bibleland

Jewish:

Kosherland
Let My People Go
The Holigame

Muslim:

Mecca to Medina
Hajj Fun Game
Race to the Kabah
Madinah Salat Fun Game

Historical-cultural games:

Maharajah
Taj Mahal

Book finds that religious toys are more than child's play

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:50:41 GMT

(RNS) On the first day of her introductory religion class at Merrimack College just north of Boston, professor Rebecca Sachs Norris put her students to work at having some fun.

She assigned teams of three or four students to play some of the many religious board games that fill her office shelves. Weeks later, they had to present their classmates with what they gleaned from each game.

As one team discussed BuddhaWheel, a game that teaches about Buddhism, Norris, chair of Merrimack's religious and theological studies department, asked, "Can you win this game?

"One of them said, `Well, yes, but it takes a very, very long time! You just keep getting born over and over and over again.'

"I said, `Exactly, that's it!', and they learned it in a way that is very different."

Norris and Nikki Bado-Fralick, an associate professor and director of religious studies at Iowa State University, examined the educational BuddhaWheel game as one component of the growing market of religious games and toys for their upcoming book, "Toying with God," which is due out in February from Baylor University Press.

It may be a niche market, but it's big business nonetheless: MarketResearch estimated a $6 billion-plus market for religious publishing and products in the U.S., with growth fueled since mainstream mega-retailers like Wal-Mart and Target recently began carrying faith-based toys.

To be sure, some religious playthings are tongue-in-cheek and even potentially offensive -- games like "Fleece the Flock" or the myriad toys like the "Nunchuck Nun Catapult" that poke fun at nuns. Yet others, like the board games Episcopopoly, BuddhaWheel and Kosherland can be educational and even help to reinforce religious identity.

Then there are those that are downright perplexing, like the Job action figure that comes complete with boils and sores; the Plagues Bag (billed as "the Passover/Seder Enrichment Toy"); or the Missionary Conquest board game, earnestly billed as "One giant game of laughter and strategy."

Both avid collectors of religious toys and games, Bado-Fralick and Norris said there are many contradictions inherent in the items they studied. Christian games and toys, they observed, are frequently marketed as educational yet many claim "no Bible knowledge required." Some talking dolls, like Queen Esther, play fast and loose with Scripture quotes.

Such contradictions intrigued the academics.

"One of the goals as advertised on the boxes and Web sites is to give children good, clean, wholesome fun," said Bado-Fralick. "The (makers of) talking dolls that seem to place an emphasis on Scripture don't necessarily care about whether the Scripture's accurate or not, or whether you can reduce the entire (biblical) story of Esther down to about 60 seconds of text, or whether some of the board games ... are really doing a disservice to real religious dialogue.

"You take a game like Missionary Conquest -- it's hardly a game of ecumenical goodwill with a name like that!"

The authors acknowledge, too, that the marketing claims of "fun" by toymakers are entirely subjective. The Hajj Fun Game poses mild questions like, "How many days must a pilgrim spend in performing Hajj (Muslims' pilgrimage to Mecca)?" The Mahabharata Game, meanwhile, comes with a hefty 38-page instruction booklet that includes an abbreviated version of the Mahabharata, an epic Hindu myth.

"Toying with God" also examines the origins of religious games. The popular board game Chutes and Ladders was adapted from Snakes and Ladders, a game reportedly invented in the early 13th century by a Tibetan lama.

While some people might scoff at religious toys and games, viewing them as frivolous or irreverent or both, the book argues that such playthings are simply examples of "contemporary lived religion" in a postmodern world. It's not all about angels strumming harps on fluffy clouds, either: One Catholicopoly game card, for example, reads, "Make general repairs on all property. $25 per chapel. $100 per cathedral."

Such toys and games also reflect the reality that today's religion is marketed like many other pastimes and consumer products.

Norris and Bado-Fralick said their toy collections often provoke surprise and raised eyebrows from students and colleagues. Occasionally, some are offended.

"One of my jobs is teaching people how to talk about religion," said Bado-Fralick. "There may be people who don't really have a sense of humor, who think there should be a very sharp line between religion and other aspects of life ... but I think most people are going to be fascinated by what our book says in terms of how it reflects modern life."

Norris added, "These are not things that we made, we found these. We collect them and invite people to think about them."

Commentary: My top 10 religion stories of 2009

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:49:53 GMT

By A. James Rudin

(RNS) David Letterman has his Top-10 lists ever night, and every year I have one of my own. Here are my picks for the year's top 10 religion stories:

President Obama's speech to the Islamic world and his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance address reflect religion's central role in today's world. In Cairo, he reached out in respect and friendship to Muslims, a gesture many observers believe has not been reciprocated. In Oslo, Obama invoked the spirit of the late theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, a "Christian realist" who urged people to recognize the existence of radical evil in the world and use force to oppose it.
The Vatican's welcoming "open door" policy designed to attract disaffected Anglicans reveals the deep differences within the global Anglican family that counts the Episcopal Church as its U.S. branch.
The impact of Islamic extremism -- including al-Qaida, Hamas, and the Taliban -- remains an important story. In addition, Army Maj. Nidal Hasan's massacre at Fort Hood and the journey of five young American Muslims to Pakistan to allegedly join a "holy war" against the U.S. stirred fears that U.S.-born Muslims may not be immune to Islamic extremism.
A Pew survey confirmed the continuing membership decline among many established religious groups in the U.S. and an increase in personal spiritual rituals and beliefs. The percentage of Americans who identify as "Christian" dropped to its lowest point ever -- 78.4 percent -- and Protestants constitute only 51 percent of the nation's population, even as the number of atheists and those who chose "None" as their religious identity grow ever larger.
Pope Benedict XVI's fourth year as pope was marred when he lifted the 1988 excommunications of four bishops of the ultra-conservative Pope Pius X Society. The excommunications, ordered by John Paul II, included Richard Williamson, who has denied there were mass murders during the Holocaust. Benedict's action created a firestorm of criticism from both Christians and Jews.
In a surprise election result, Swiss voters who pride themselves for being "tolerant" and "neutral" approved a ban on building minarets at mosques. The 2.6 million Swiss voters supported the ban by a healthy 57.5 percent to 42 percent. Many Jewish, Christian and Muslim groups condemned the vote.
The Christian group "The Family" or "The Fellowship," is best known for sponsoring the annual national Prayer Breakfasts," but this year attention focused on some of the group's most prominent members who publicly admitted marital infidelity: Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.; Gov. Mark Sanford, R-S.C.; and former Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss. Meanwhile, another Family associate, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., "counseled" the husband of Ensign's mistress to forgive and forget.
Three major streams of modern Judaism -- Orthodox, Conservative and Reform -- originated in Europe. But 65 years after the Holocaust and the near-annihilation of European Jewry, Jewish life (even with the strong influence of Israel) is rapidly becoming more "American" in its religious education, literature, music, architecture, philanthropy, and political involvement. This process is also evident in the increasing role of women rabbis and lay leaders and multimedia worship services that would bewilder earlier generations of Jews.
An important but overlooked religion story was NASA's discovery of water on the moon. For thousands of years, traditional religions have proudly proclaimed that human beings are God's highest form of creation, "little lower than the angels" (Psalm 8). The possibility that some form of "life" may exist elsewhere in the universe has raised many theological questions. In November, the Vatican Academy of Sciences convened an astrobiology conference that explored whether there is life in the vast cosmos and as well as studying our beginnings on earth.
The 2009 deaths of two cherished rabbinic colleagues were especially painful: Leon Klenicki, the Anti-Defamation League's interfaith director; and Michael Signer, the University of Notre Dame's Jewish Studies professor.

(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee's senior interreligious adviser, is the author of "The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us.")

Rogue Zambian archbishop defrocked

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:49:07 GMT

Vatican City (RNS): Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, the excommunicated African prelate who scandalized the Catholic Church by marrying in 2001, has been defrocked for continuing to ordain bishops without permission of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican announced on Thursday (Dec. 17).

Citing Milingo's "grave crimes" against church unity, and his "persistent contumacy" in defying papal authority, the unusually strong Vatican statement said the Zambian-born archbishop had been dismissed "from the clerical state," meaning that he may not minister as a priest or bishop, nor even wear clerical attire.

Milingo, 79, who heads the Washington-based group Married Priests Now!, was excommunicated from the church in 2006, when he ordained a group of married men as bishops.

Thursday's announcement was the latest turn in the charismatic prelate's long and highly public struggle with church authorities.

The archbishop resigned as head of the archdiocese of Lusaka, Zambia, in 1982, after the Vatican challenged his practice of large-scale faith-healing and exorcism.

In 2001, Milingo bucked the church's celibacy requirement and married a South Korean woman in a ceremony conducted by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church.

Milingo's marriage to Maria Sung scandalized the Vatican, prompting a personal appeal from the late Pope John Paul II. The archbishop avoided excommunication at that time by renouncing the union and returning to the fold.

In 2006, however, Milingo went missing from the Rome convent where he had been assigned, and turned up a month later at a press conference in Washington, where he called on the Vatican to drop the priesthood's celibacy requirement

After the archbishop ordained four married men as bishops in Washington that September, the Vatican announced that Milingo and the newly ordained bishops had incurred the penalty of automatic excommunication.

Since then, Milingo has campaigned for an end to priestly celibacy as head of Married Priests Now!, which Milingo has acknowledged is funded by the Unification Church.

According to Thursday's Vatican statement, Milingo has continued to ordain bishops, as recently as the last few months.

The church "does not recognize these ordinations, nor does she intend to recognize them, or any subsequent ordinations based on them, in the future," the Vatican statement said, noting that all those ordained by Milingo have been automatically excommunicated.

Report: Near 70 percent of nations face religious restrictions

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:48:34 GMT

Washington (RNS): About one-third of the countries in the world have high restrictions on religion, exposing almost 70 percent of the globe's population to limitations on their faith, new research shows.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life based its analysis, released Wednesday (Dec. 16), on 16 sources of information, including reports from the U.S. State Department and human rights groups as well as national constitutions.

Overall, one-third of the countries were found to have high or very high restrictions on religion as a result of government rules or hostile acts by individuals and groups. Religious minorities often feel the brunt of hostilities because they are perceived as a threat to the culture, politics or economy of a country's majority population, the 72-page report said.

"The highest overall levels of restrictions are found in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran, where both the government and society at large impose numerous limits on religious beliefs and practices," the Pew Forum concluded.

In some countries, such as China and Vietnam, government restrictions on religion were high, compared to moderate or low social hostilities. In contrast, nations such as Bangladesh and Nigeria had moderate level of government restrictions but ranked high in social hostilities.

Three-quarters of the countries affirm religious freedom in their laws or constitutions, and an additional 20 percent protect some religious practices. But researchers found that about a quarter of the governments "fully respected" the religious rights included in their laws.

The findings were based on an investigation of 198 countries and territories, which represent 99.5 percent of the world's population, from 2006 to 2008.

Clergy unite on a common message: Thou Shalt Be Civil

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:14:17 GMT

By Bruce Nolan

New Orleans (RNS) It's gotten ugly out there in the public square -- on television, at public meetings, on the Internet.

Whether it's health care reform specifically, or politics generally, people seem to demonize each other, shout each other down and gleefully circulate vicious e-mail messages distorting the other side.

So much so that Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy here recently found common ground about one, clear thing. They've decided to give their congregations a message: Get ahold of yourself!

"The whole atmosphere has been getting just nasty," said Rabbi Robert Loewy of Congregation Gates of Prayer. "We're not going to change the world, but we've decided we need to raise people's awareness -- that this is just not right. It's wrong."

A standing group of about two dozen New Orleans-area clergy recently drafted and began circulating a "Faith Statement on Public Discourse." It urges members of their congregations and the public to show basic respect to those with whom they disagree.

Some of the two dozen or so priests, ministers, rabbis and an imam have agreed to raise the admonition from their pulpits -- and some, like Loewy, already have.

At his congregation's Yom Kippur service earlier this fall, he pronounced himself "disgusted" with the "obnoxiously partisan" tone of the national debate around health care reform.

Some clergy have handed it over to their church communication networks, and the civility statement has begun circulating among regional Episcopal and United Church of Christ clergy. Copies are going to local, state and federal politicians urging them, too, to keep a civil tongue.

The statement is founded on the shared Christian, Jewish and Islamic premise that "since we regard all human beings as God's children ... we regard an offense against our neighbor as an offense to God."

"Violence begets violence," the statement says, "in speech and in action."

It calls on people to display respect for those with whom they disagree; to debate issues, not demonize opponents; to stop misrepresenting opponents' views; and to stop circulating e-mail messages that "demonize or humiliate persons or groups."

The initiative comes from an interfaith group that was born last year in response to hateful intolerance, when somebody burned "KKK" into the lawn of a black couple in a predominantly white neighborhood in suburban Metairie.

A little more than a year later, the group has taken stock of the general level of anger in the public arena.

The new effort was triggered when a relatively new member, the Rev. Ginger Taylor, interim pastor of Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, came to a clergy meeting, having attended a raucous town hall meeting on health care reform sponsored by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.

"To say they were a bunch of wing nuts would be absolutely inaccurate. They're the people who go to church, who mow each others' lawns when they're sick, who bring a pot of soup over," Taylor said.

But that evening, she said, they were shouting at each other and so distorting each others' ideas the event amounted to "bumper sticker discourse."

Soon after, Omar Suleiman, the imam of a Metairie mosque, Masjid Abu Bakr al Siddiq, told fellow clergy that local Muslims changed venues for a public celebration when they learned that a gun show also was booked into the facility at the same time.

Coming on the heels of the massacre at Fort Hood -- allegedly at the hands of a Muslim gunman, Maj. Nidal Hasan -- Suleiman said his community has become wary of public reaction, especially the women.

"We're all on edge. We know when something like this happens, there's usually some kind of backlash," Suleiman said.

In that kind of climate, spectators' passiveness can be seen as implicit consent, so some clergy said the civility resolution was all the more necessary.

"Silence allows more and more incivility to develop. It allows people to develop a culture of incivility, and as clergy people we should make some kind of statement," said Episcopal Deacon Priscilla Maumus, who drafted the one-page document.

"What we're hoping is it'll get conversations started. "Not about what your opinion is, or what mine is, but that we both have an opinion, and if we disagree we'll be civil. Not because we're polite, but because as people of faith, we're called on to do that."

Oral Roberts, dean of Pentecostal evangelists, dies at 91

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:12:09 GMT

By Lisa Singh and Adelle M. Banks

(RNS) Oral Roberts, the pioneering TV evangelist and faith healer who became the dean of America's Pentecostal preachers, died Tuesday (Dec. 15) at the age of 91.

He died in Newport Beach, Calif., of complications from pneumonia, his publicist announced.

One of the nation's first television evangelists, as well as the founder of the Tulsa-based Oral Roberts University, Roberts was the author of more than 130 books, including his massive autobiography, "Expect a Miracle: My Life and Ministry."

To millions, Roberts' name was synonymous with faith healer. But it was a term Roberts himself disliked; though he once claimed to have healed 1.5 million people, he preferred to emphasize a concept of "seed faith" -- the belief that something given in good faith, whether prayer or money, would be returned exponentially in the form of personal happiness.

"If God had not ... raised up the ministry of Oral Roberts, the entire charismatic movement might not have occurred," said the Rev. Jack Hayford, former president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, in a statement.

Ordained by the Pentecostal Holiness Church -- he joined the United Methodist Church in 1968 and left after 19 years -- Roberts drew nationwide attention during his 60-plus-year career for his healing services and "discussions" with God.

Ever since Roberts came to Oklahoma's second largest city six decades ago and established what would become a $500 million empire that included an ornate, 200-foot-tall prayer tower, he became a source of admiration to many locals who saw his university especially as a valuable economic addition to the city.

But to Roberts' critics, he was an Elmer Gantry-like preacher who manipulated the emotions of his audience for financial gain through claims of repeated personal visits from God. Among Roberts' famous gaffes was his 1986 appeal to his television audience to contribute $8 million to a medical missionary program or God "would call me home," as well as his claim that Jesus appeared to him as a 900-foot-tall person.

But Roberts never faced the sort of criticism leveled at the likes of Jim and Tammy Bakker for their personal excesses. Criticism of him was often tempered by the belief that Roberts was no outright charlatan, but rather a sincere, if maybe misguided, man motivated by his theology, as well as his mounting personal tragedies -- the loss of a daughter in a plane crash in 1977, the 1982 suicide of his eldest son, Ronnie, who had battled drug addiction, and the death of a grandchild, the only heir to be named after him, who died two days after birth in 1984.

Roberts often said that his own fate was sealed before birth, but his slew of professed visions over the years may have colored his early history, making it seem more parable than fact.

A preacher's son, Granville Oral Roberts was born Jan. 24, 1918, in Pontotoc County, near Ada, Okla., the youngest of five children.

Roberts later recalled that his mother was pregnant with him when she was asked to pray for a neighbor's seriously ill child. A Cherokee Indian, his mother vowed that if God healed the child, she would dedicate her own unborn child to the ministry. She prayed, too, that she deliver a blue-eyed son (her other children had black eyes). According to Roberts, every wish came true; the sick child recovered, Oral was born with blue eyes and his mother told him early on that he was set to do God's work.

But Roberts had much to overcome, including a stuttering condition and the constraints of poverty. In his book, "My Story," Roberts said that one of his first encounters with faith healing occurred at 17, when stricken with tuberculosis he was healed by a traveling evangelist.

On Christmas Day 1938, Roberts married Evelyn Lutman Fahnestock, the daughter of a minister. Over the next few years, Roberts served as pastor of several small churches and attended Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee. In 1947, Roberts, then 29, moved to Tulsa from Enid, Okla. His ministry flourished when he began traveling nationwide, laying hands on the sick in revival tents and proclaiming the newly faithful healed in the name of God.

In 1954, Roberts became the second evangelist to appear on television -- Rex Humbard was the first by a few months -- when NBC began broadcasting his tent crusades. He switched to a half-hour Sunday show 13 years later, and by 1977, his Sunday morning show reached 1.1 million households and was the top-rated religious program on television.

In 1961, Roberts declared that God told him to build a university. Most Tulsans assumed that Roberts foresaw a small Bible college, but Roberts had other ideas and soon, gold-covered buildings rose from Oklahoma's flatland. In 1965, Oral Roberts University, a four-year, liberal arts, Christian institution, opened its doors. Formal dedication ceremonies were held in 1967, when friend Billy Graham led a sermon on the new grounds.

"Oral Roberts was a man of God, and a great friend in ministry," Graham said in a statement. "I loved him as a brother."

Today the university has more than 3,000 students enrolled and offers more than 75 undergraduate degrees and graduate programs in business, education, nursing, and theology.

In 1993, Roberts' son, Richard, was elected as the university's second president and Roberts assumed the position of chancellor, a title he held until the time of his death.

In September, Mark Rutland, president of Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla., succeeded Richard Roberts, who had resigned after being embroiled in a scandal related to lavish spending.

"The past few months, my father has talked about going home to be with the Lord on a daily basis. He has run his race and finished his course," the younger Roberts said in a statement. "Now he is in heaven, and we as Christians have the Bible promise that someday we will be reunited."

Even in his last years, Roberts remained active, traveling nationwide and penning a new book, "Still Doing the Impossible."

"I can't figure out God," an 84-year-old Roberts said in a January 2002 appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live." "I don't know if I'd had been God, I'd have chosen me ... But David says that God's ways are past finding out and I believe that."

Preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn, Roberts is survived by his son and a daughter, Roberta Potts, as well as 12 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.

Swiss aren't only ones to resist mosque construction

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:31:42 GMT

(RNS) When Switzerland recently voted to ban the construction of minaret towers at mosques, some observers interpreted it as an expression of European xenophobia that would never find a home in multicultural America.

But to say it couldn't happen here would be wrong, or at least premature.

In hundreds of communities across the U.S. where Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and other religious minorities have sought to build or expand their houses of worship, private citizens have gone to great lengths to block their construction. Tactics range from using eminent domain and citing traffic concerns to running pig races and stirring up fears of terrorism.

There are currently at least five such cases, including in suburban Chicago, where the DuPage County zoning board of appeals voted unanimously on Monday (Dec. 7) to deny the Irshad Learning Center a permit to build a mosque in tony Naperville, Ill.

Decisions on construction permits are also pending for mosques in Piscataway, N.J., and Northville, Mich. A Muslim group in Lilburn, Ga., is threatening legal action after city officials rejected their proposal to expand their mosque, while neighbors in Morada, Calif., have filed suit to stop the construction of a 13,820-square-foot mosque.

Lawyers supporting religious congregations in land use disputes say the right to build houses of worship is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution, and amplified in laws such as the 2000 Religion Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which is supposed to protect houses of worship from onerous regulations.

Despite those legal protections, the fates of proposed worship spaces are often determined by local regulations, or lack thereof. States like California, New Jersey, and Illinois are extensively regulated by such laws, requiring that proposed buildings meet strict requirements on noise, traffic, utilities and environmental impact of surrounding neighborhoods.

Worshippers and experts say they take those concerns seriously, but argue that much of the opposition is rooted in bigotry. They say the not-in-my-backyard opponents use zoning laws to keep mosques, temples and other houses of worship out of their neighborhoods.

"It becomes a heckler's veto. It empowers people who might not have a clean motive," said attorney Eric Rassbach with the Washington-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. "Nobody admits to hating Muslims because they know they're not going to win that way."

Amin Mahmood, a member of the Morada, Calif., congregation, said he initially believed opposition to the proposed mosque was based on routine neighborhood concerns, but became doubtful when opponents in the Morada Area Association didn't object to proposals for a new Baptist church nearby.

"They didn't go to court to oppose the church, but they go to court to oppose the mosque?" said Mahmood. "Come on."

Calls to members of the Morada Area Association were not returned.

While local zoning meetings usually attract just a few interested parties, hearings concerning mosques can attract dozens, and often hundreds, of people on both sides. Wasi Zaidi, a founding member of the 11-year-old Muslim congregation in Lilburn, Ga., said between 400 and 500 people attended the Nov. 18 city council when his mosque was discussed.

"We didn't get our rights. To get our rights, we have to go to a higher authority," said Zaidi, explaining his group's decision to sue.

Zaidi said he believed some opposition was legitimately rooted in noise and traffic concerns, but noted that many comments made on local news sites revealed deep-seated anti-Muslim sentiment among Lilburn residents.

One blogger, Dinah Lord, headlined one entry with "Allah went down to Georgia he was looking for souls to steal," paraphrasing Charlie Daniels' 1979 hit song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."

"They don't like Muslims," Zaidi said flatly, "and they don't want us in their backyard."

Scott Batterton, a member of the Lilburn City Council, acknowledged that bigotry may have motivated some opponents, but said that most had legitimate quality-of-life concerns. What's more, he added, Lilburn is not a racist town, noting that it's home to two other mosques and a Hindu temple.

"I can't say what's in everyone's hearts, but the opposition we listened to was based on merit, not religion," Batterton said. "People were going to be directly affected."

Some cases approach near absurdity. In Westchester County, N.Y., in 2001, neighbors cited noise complaints to try and prevent Buddhist monks from holding silent meditation services in a private home. In 2006, when a group of Muslims sought permission to build a mosque on a rural road in Katy, Texas, neighbor Craig Baker hosted Friday night pig races -- Muslims consider pigs to be dirty, and Friday is a holy day for Muslims.

Undeterred, the local chapter of the Muslim American Society obtained its construction permit for the mosque, and has in the meantime placed two modular buildings on the land for prayer services and community meetings.

Baker did not return phone calls, but Hesham Ebaid, director of the Katy Islamic center, tried to be diplomatic, conceding that Muslims could have done a better job in outreach. More recently, the mosque has invited families for open house meet-and-greets.

As for Baker, Ebaid said, the pig races have stopped, and he even hired two Muslims to work at the bath and kitchen business he owns.

"He said, 'I'm trying,"' Ebaid said. "So I give him credit for that."

COMMENTARY: How the mighty are still falling

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:30:49 GMT

By TOM EHRICH

NEW YORK (RNS) I took my sister on a seven-mile walk through Manhattan. We talked about marriage -- each of our oldest sons is getting married next year. We are pleased for our sons, thrilled with their fiancees, and filled with hope for their new lives.

We also talked about marital failures, especially headline waywardness by golfer Tiger Woods and late-night TV host David Letterman. With a predictable script -- evasion, admission, apology, promise -- they joined a cascade of celebrities and politicians whose squeaky-clean images vanished overnight amid lurid details and rumor run amok.

If adultery were limited to celebrities (whose outsize egos often lure them beyond normal bounds), it would be a brief refrain of the adulterous King David's line, "How the mighty have fallen."

But it's not just celebrities: America is facing an adultery epidemic, with surveys showing an estimated 20 to 25 percent of people stray regularly from their marital vows, and as many as 50 percent cheat at least once.

Discovery of adultery evokes the sad realization that we live in immoral times. Then again, none of the Ten Commandments remains widely in force. Graven images are common, especially in churches. The Sabbath is now a prime day for shopping and soccer. Murder has been defined carefully to allow extensive taking of life. Covetousness is the heartbeat of modern advertising. Stealing and dishonoring are common. Bearing false witness has become an Internet art form.

Hypocrisy, too, is rampant. Zealots shout Bible verses to denounce practices they happen not to like but ignore Bible verses that would cramp their own style. When some get caught in the very practice they have been denouncing, you realize it's about politics, not morality. Witness the high horses that Catholic prelates ride, except when it comes to sexual predators in their own ranks.

Wall Street firms aren't pausing for an ethical breath as they scheme to award themselves vast compensation. The only cautionary word comes from public relations staff, and their concern is about image, not morality.

The problem is that real immorality hurts real people. A celebrity's lapse might be amusing to some, but at the level of an actual marriage, adultery can be devastating.

Real greed hurts real people. Wall Street's siphoning off $30 billion to enrich a few executives could also pay 600,000 medium-pay jobs. The $200,000 platinum watch that is this year's top mega-toy would spare one family from foreclosure.

Real coveting hurts real people. Ads about longing after our neighbors' cars -- and houses, lawns, physiques, and spouses -- seep deep into our consciousness and instill fundamental feelings of envy, inadequacy and hostility.

Real theft hurts real people. Thievery means ruined credit through identity theft, sad children whose bicycles have been stolen, poorly trained workers who cheated their way through school and now are pilfering expense accounts. Stolen merchandise -- half taken by staff, half by customers -- plagues Christmas retailers.

Real dishonesty is also harmful: plagiarism is so common that a new category of software known as "plagiarism checker" has emerged to help teachers detect abuse. Nevertheless, a Web search on "preaching against sin" calls up an advertisement for "free sermons" written by someone else.

Where to start turning this tide? In the spirit of those Ten Commandments, I suggest a few 'Thou Shalts ...'

Parents, thou shalt focus less on college admissions and more on teaching your children right and wrong, as well as being honest yourselves.

For the faithful, thou shalt seek ethical instruction -- and ethical behavior -- from your preachers, not just pandering on a few crowd-stirring issues.

And citizens, thou shalt demand honesty and probity from your leaders, not just conforming ideology.

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of "Just Wondering, Jesus," and the founder of the Church Wellness Project, www.churchwellness.com. His Web site is www.morningwalkmedia.com.)

Faith-based objections to vaccines may threaten common good

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:30:10 GMT

ST. LOUIS (RNS) Most of the world's religions share some version of the golden rule of treating others as you wish to be treated.

That notion was important to the theology of Mary Baker Eddy, who founded the Church of Christ, Scientist in 1879. But another central feature of Eddy's theology -- the belief that healing prayer renders medical care unnecessary -- can be in conflict with the golden rule when it comes to infectious diseases such as pandemic flu.

That conflict played out at least five times between 1978 and 1994 in the St. Louis area, when measles outbreaks spread at two large Christian Science schools, killing three Christian Scientists and in some cases, moving beyond campus borders, sickening hundreds.

President Obama has declared the H1N1 virus (swine flu) a national emergency; it's already sickened an estimated 22 million people and killed 4,000 nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Though officials believe the wave of infections has likely peaked, doctors say the holiday combination of travel and family visits could increase cases of the virus. And as a swine flu pandemic looms, some bioethicists say members of religious groups who choose to forgo vaccines put their neighbors' health at risk and threaten the common good.

"Viruses and other contagious diseases don't care about our personal beliefs," said Nancy Berlinger, deputy director of the Hastings Center, a New York-based bioethics research institute.

At the same time, others point out that constitutional protections for religious worship easily outweigh any pressure on members of religious groups to capitulate to voluntary vaccinations if they choose prayer over medicine.

Epidemiologists call people who can't be vaccinated, or choose not to be, "free riders" because they benefit from the widespread immunity of large populations that receive the vaccine. Yet, when free riders get sick, it puts even those who have been vaccinated at risk.

Compulsory vaccination for diseases such as measles or mumps has ensured widespread immunity, but religious exemptions -- allowed in most states -- have the potential to disrupt its effectiveness. So far, H1N1 vaccinations have not been deemed mandatory.

Still, Berlinger cited a 1944 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the "right to practice religion freely does not include the liberty to expose the community or the child to communicable disease or the latter to ill health or death."

While the law protects Americans' right to practice religion as they wish, Berlinger said "it also places limits on the practice of religion when it starts to intrude into public health or the health of (a) child."

She said another ethical concern was that when a population refuses to be vaccinated, public health resources have to be diverted to that population if an outbreak occurs.

"We're all members of the public, no matter what our personal beliefs are," Berlinger said, "and there's a point at which those beliefs start affecting someone else."

A church spokesman said that although most Christian Scientists choose to rely on prayer exclusively to stay healthy and get better when they are sick, the church does not mandate that choice.

"Health care decisions are personal decisions, and no church elders, leaders or officials weigh in on that," said Phil Davis, the church's top spokesman. "This is a church that honors individuality and individual decision making."

Samuel Kobia reflects on being WCC general secretary

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:58:06 GMT

Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia reflects on his six-year term as the general secretary of the World Council of Churches in a 10-minute interview.

Kobia talks about some of his good and not so good memories, encouraging experiences, progress and challenges of the ecumenical movement, his hopes and dreams for the future of Christian unity, and what being the WCC general secretary meant to him: "the greatest privilege an individual could ever have".

View the video

Vatican vetoes use of Catholic church for women's ordinations

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:35:50 GMT

(RNS/ENI): Melbourne, Australia
An Anglican ordination that was scheduled to be held in a Roman Catholic church in rural Australia was moved to a Protestant church because the Vatican refused to have women ordained in a Catholic building.

Catholic Bishop Joseph Grech of Sandhurst had given permission for the Anglican bishop of Bendigo, Andrew Curnow, to ordain seven candidates in St. Killian's Catholic Church on Nov. 29 after the local Anglican cathedral was closed for safety reasons.

But when it was discovered that four of the ordinands were women, Rome vetoed the local leadership, saying the ordinations could not take place within the Catholic building, even though it was an Anglican service.

Curnow told Ecumenical News International that he had been informed that the decision was entirely due to the presence of female ordinands. "It was felt that this would be sending the wrong signal regarding the ordination of women from a Catholic perspective," he said.

Instead, the ordinations were shifted to a local church of the Uniting Church in Australia, a Protestant denomination that has a history of ordaining women.

The decision to stop the ordinations in the Catholic church building was handed down through the office of the apostolic nuncio, or Vatican ambassador, to Australia, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto.

"After much discussion with Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto and the Vatican, the ramifications were investigated," Grech told the Bendigo Advertiser. "The Catholic Church's doctrine on the ordination of deacons and priests is well known.

"There were certain issues within the doctrine that created problems. It's the best thing for both churches."

Second gay bishop poses stark choice for Episcopal Church

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:34:03 GMT

(RNS) After years of warnings from Anglican leaders, Saturday's (Dec. 5) election of a lesbian bishop poses a stark question for the Episcopal Church: Does it want to continue to be a full member in the global Anglican Communion, or go its own way?

In the coming months, more than 100 Episcopal dioceses and bishops will answer that query by confirming or rejecting the election of the Rev. Mary Glasspool as suffragan (assistant) bishop of Los Angeles.

Glasspool, 55, has been with her partner since 1988, according to a biography she provided to the Diocese of Los Angeles; she is poised to become the second openly gay bishop elected in the 2.1 million-member Episcopal Church.

But a majority of bishops and standing committees in the Episcopal Church's 110 dioceses must vote to give their "consents," or confirmation to Glasspool's election before she can be consecrated a bishop. Because that process involves the breadth of the church, it is likely to be an accurate reflection of Episcopalians' willingness to defy, or heed international pressure.

Within the U.S., the confirmation process has become more politicized in recent years, as the Internet has fostered online campaigns against candidates. Two elections have been nullified in the last two years, though one of the bishops was later re-elected.

On Sunday, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Rowan Williams, strongly and swiftly warned Episcopalians that confirming Glasspool "will have very important implications."

Glasspool's election "raises very serious questions not just for the Episcopal Church and its place in the Anglican Communion, but for the communion as a whole," Williams said.

Williams lacks the authority of a pope to summarily excommunicate churches or members that stray from the fold, but he has proposed a two-track system that could significantly reduce the Episcopal Church's role in the communion.

"I think it's a clear warning that we need to think seriously before giving consents," said Bishop Edward Little of the Diocese of Northern Indiana. "Clearly what Archbishop Rowan is implying is that if the American church goes forward and ordains a second person living in a same-sex partnership as bishop then it will damage, perhaps permanently, our place in the communion, and contribute toward its unraveling."

Little is one of about 15 bishops who have pledged to abide by a moratorium on gay bishops, and so will not consent to Glasspool's election, he said in an interview on Monday.

Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia, said Monday that Glasspool's election gives Williams "every reason" to "dissociate the Episcopal Church" from the Anglican Communion and to instead recognize a conservative breakaway church, the Anglican Church of North America, as the legitimate U.S. branch of Anglicanism.

The threats from Williams and other Anglican leaders have been steadily rising in intensity ever since Episcopalians elected V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest, as bishop of New Hampshire. Because his election fell within 90 days of the church's triennial General Convention, Robinson was confirmed by delegates and bishops at the assembly, instead of the process facing Glasspool.

In many parts of the Anglican Communion, which has 77 million members and includes the Episcopal Church as its U.S. branch, homosexuality is viewed as sinful. In Uganda, for example, Anglican leaders have refused to condemn a proposed law that would severely punish homosexuality and people who counsel gays and lesbians. The church did say, however, that homosexuals should not face the death penalty.

In contrast, large majorities of U.S. bishops and delegates voted in July to lift a three-year-old moratorium on gay bishops and blessing same-sex unions, despite pleadings from Williams not to do anything that would "push us further apart."

Episcopalians have begun to tune out warnings from Williams and other Anglican leaders, said Jim Naughton, spokesman for the Diocese of Washington. "If the sky is falling, it's been falling for a long time," he said, "and it doesn't appear any closer."

The Episcopal Church has said for years that it is committed to both the Anglican Communion and the full inclusion of gays and lesbians, said the Rev. Jo Bailey Wells, a professor and director of Anglican studies at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C. Glasspool's election is, in a sense, a fork in the road.

"I think Williams' statement points out the incommensurability of both agendas," she said. "Episcopalians are prone to deny the consequences of their actions, because they so believe in what they are doing that they don't believe that others do not believe."

As Glasspool's confirmation moves to local dioceses across the country, the votes of church bishops should be watched closely, said the Rev. Kendall Harmon, a conservative theologian from South Carolina.

Williams leaned on the bishops in his statement, reminding them that they had once agreed to "exercise restraint" when faced with the possibility of electing another gay bishop.

"It's the bishops that tend to be more institutional and seek a higher or larger view," Harmon said. "They have some sense of the international church. That's why Rowan singled them out."

Canadian judge rules breakaway churches must leave property behind

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:00:00 GMT

Toronto (RNS) In a fight that mirrors church property disputes in the United States, a British Columbia judge has ruled in favor of a Canadian Anglican diocese in a legal battle with conservative dissidents.

The Nov. 25 decision may set a precedent as other groups attempt to secede with property assets as they depart the Anglican Church of Canada in a global conflict over homosexuality and interpretation of Scripture.

Justice Stephen Kelleher of the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled the Vancouver-based Diocese of New Westminster may keep possession of four church properties worth a combined $20 million ($18.7 million US). One of the churches, St. John's Shaughnessy, is widely acknowledged to be the largest Anglican parish in the country.

Clergy and trustees of the four churches, which split from the diocese after its 2002 vote to authorize rites for blessing same-sex couples, had asked the court to give them control over their properties. The churches have joined a breakaway group called the Anglican Network in Canada, which is affiliated with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone of South America.

In his decision, Kelleher wrote that a parish "does not have authority to unilaterally leave the Diocese" and parish property "effectively remains within the Diocese unless the Executive Committee and Bishop agree to mortgage, sell or otherwise dispose of it."

Cheryl Chang, legal adviser to the ANiC, said the parishes' trustees and leadership would meet with their lawyers on Nov. 30 to examine the 98-page decision and discuss whether to appeal. The group has 30 days to decide whether to seek further action.

"We would need overwhelming consensus from the congregations and the trustees" before pursuing an appeal, Chang said.

Debates over human sexuality have isolated the Canadian church, and the Episcopal Church in the U.S., from sister Anglican churches around the world. On Sunday (Nov. 29), Episcopal Bishop M. Thomas Shaw of Massachusetts announced that clergy in his diocese may officiate at same-sex weddings, which are legal in the Bay State.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dissident group did not emerge empty-handed. Kelleher ruled a $2.2-million ($2 million US) bequest from a former parishioner at one of the churches be held in trust for the "building needs of the ANiC congregation."

Critics vow to overturn Swiss ban on minarets

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:59:05 GMT

Paris (RNS) A Swiss vote to ban the construction of minarets at Muslim houses of worship sent ripples of surprise and dismay across Europe and Islamic countries on Monday, Nov. 30, as opponents vowed to challenge the results.

"We are really sad -- for ourselves and for Switzerland's place in the world," said Geneva Muslim leader Hafid Ourardiri, after 57.5 percent of Swiss voted in favor of the ban. "This is not good for our country -- and Switzerland is our country."

An estimated 400,000 Muslims call Switzerland home. Ourardiri, who heads the Muslim Council of Interknowing, a nonprofit aimed at promoting interfaith ties, said critics of the measure would file an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

Sunday's vote amounts to a major victory for the nationalist Swiss People's Party, or S.V.P., which had championed the ban on grounds minarets were unnecessary for worship and symbolized Islamic power.

"We have nothing against the building of mosques -- it's a private affair and it's part of religious freedom," said Oskar Freisinger, a senior member of the S.V.P. "But we don't want Islam to interfere in our political or legal system."

Critics fear the Swiss vote could trigger a furious backlash -- even as far-right politicians in Europe say they are energized by the results.

"We're faced with a real anti-Muslim campaign that has begun in Switzerland and which might spread elsewhere in Europe," Kamel Kebtane, director of the mosque in Lyon, France, told France-Info radio. "Today it's minarets, tomorrow it may be banning Muslims from practicing their faith."

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he was "scandalized" by the results, while The Times of London newspaper called it a "destructive and pernicious decision."

Prominent Swiss Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan urged Europeans to stand up against populist sentiments. "The Swiss majority are sending a clear message to their Muslim fellow citizens: we do not trust you, and the best Muslim for us is the Muslim we cannot see," Ramadan wrote in a commentary in Britain's Guardian newspaper.

In practical terms, the minaret ban will make little difference -- at least for now. Switzerland only has four mosque minarets, none of which will be affected by the measure.

But far-right parties in Denmark and the Netherlands said they would push for similar legislation, while Marine Le Pen, a senior member of France's anti-immigrant National Front party, said the Swiss vote reflected European fears of the region's growing Muslim population.

The minaret ban is only the latest example of opposition to Islamic symbols in Europe. Efforts to build mosques have stalled in a number of European countries. In France, home to Europe's largest Muslim community, the government banned girls from wearing headscarves in 2005 and is now mulling calls to ban women from wearing the face-covering niqab veil in public.

Bishop rips beloved carols as 'nonsense'

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:56:56 GMT

London (RNS): A leading Church of England bishop has slammed a number of the world's favorite Christmas carols, saying some have "nonsense" words that are embarrassing and others reek of "Victorian behavior control."

Bishop Nick Baines of Croydon said "all sorts of fantasies have grown up around Christmas" that leave many people thinking of the celebration as "nothing more than some sort of fairy story."

In his new book, "Why Wish You a Merry Christmas," Baines cites the line in "Away in a Manger" that goes "no crying He makes," and wonders, "How can any adult sing this without embarrassment?"

"It's nonsense," he says, adding that he finds it "slightly bizarre" that parents could sing that carol "as if it actually related to reality."

In the carol "Once in Royal David's City," a particular favorite in Britain, its line "mild, obedient, good as He" smacks of "Victorian behavior," Baines said.

For good measure, the bishop attacks another well-loved Christmas hymn, "O Come, All Ye Faithful," suggesting that it should more accurately be called "O Come All Ye Faithless."

Baines noted that it was not the "faithful" but the shepherds -- "the great unwashed," as he described them -- and the "pagan" Wise Men who went to see the baby Jesus.

The bishop describes such Christmas fantasies as "nothing short of tragic, because nothing could be further from the truth."

Handwritten Bible sells for $15,000

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:31:32 GMT

(RNS) The first handwritten copy of the New International Version Bible sold on eBay this weekend for more than $15,000.

Zondervan's handwritten Bible Across America project marked the 30th anniversary of the popular New International Version translation. Zondervan went on a nine-month tour across the country to give people a chance to write one verse of the Bible for the edition.

One of the two original manuscripts was sold on eBay for $15,407.53. The other was intended to be donated to the Smithsonian, but Zondervan is now looking at other museum options. The Smithsonian Institution was unable to comment on the offer.

Printed copies of the hand-written Bible will go on sale Dec. 1, including scans of the handwritten verses, photos of the tour and an index of the 31,173 contributors who penned a verse for the Bible.

Proceeds from the eBay sale will go to Biblica, the company that emerged from the merger between the International Bible Society and Christian distributor Send the Light, to support its global Bible translation and distribution efforts.

Poll: Americans pin poverty passage on Obama, not Bible

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:30:30 GMT

(RNS) More Americans believe a statement about giving "justice to the poor and homeless" came from President Obama instead of its true source, the Bible.

A survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the American Bible Society found that 54 percent of U.S. adults polled believe the statement -- "You must defend those who are helpless and have no hope. Be fair and give justice to the poor and homeless" -- came from a celebrity or politician, when the statement actually comes from Proverbs 31:8.

Of the 1,001 adults surveyed, 16 percent believed the statement came from Obama; 13 percent said it came from the Bible. Other popular answers included the Dalai Lama, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Oprah Winfrey.

Other questions in the survey also addressed poverty and the Bible. In a question about the teachings of the Bible, 40 percent said the Bible offers the most teaching on heaven, pride, or adultery, even though poverty is actually mentioned more than any of these subjects.

The survey was developed to coincide with the release of the society's new Poverty and Justice Bible, which highlights verses about poverty and justice and provides tips on helping people in need.

Report: 14.6 million American households at risk of 'food insecurity'

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:05:55 GMT

(RNS) More than one in seven American households found it hard to put enough food on the table last year, according to figures released Monday (Nov. 16) by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"The recession has made the problem of hunger worse, and it has also made it more visible," said David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, a Christian anti-hunger group. "Increased public awareness and the administration's commitment gives me hope."

Households experiencing "food insecurity" jumped 3.5 percent in 2008, to 14.6 million, the largest one-year increase since the USDA began publishing data in 1995.

SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provided by the USDA for low-income families, distributed benefits to more than 36 million people in August 2009, a 24 percent increase over the previous year.

Half of the people receiving SNAP assistance were children. According to the USDA, 4.3 million more children were food insecure in 2008 than in 2007, bringing the number to 16.7 million. In many cases, children are protected from a change in their eating patterns, but both children and adults across 506,000 households experienced times of very low food security last year.

"Child hunger is not just a casualty of the recession. It was a problem before the recession, and unless we take the necessary steps, kids will continue to suffer after the economy recovers," said Beckmann.

Report: Religion-based hate crimes highest since 2001

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:05:26 GMT

(RNS) Hate crime incidents targeting people based on their religion were at their highest frequency last year since 2001, according to a new report.

The report, compiled by the Anti-Defamation League from FBI data, found 1,519 religious hate crimes in 2008, accounting for about 20 percent of all bias crimes. It was an increase from 2007, when 1,400 crimes of religious bias were reported.

The number of crimes targeting Jews or Jewish institutions also increased in 2008. There were 1,013 hate crimes against Jews last year, accounting for about two-thirds of all religious bias crimes. It was the largest number of crimes against Jews since 2001.

Overall, hate crimes rose slightly in 2008, with participating agencies reporting 7,783 bias crimes. Racial bias accounted for about half of all those reported, with attacks aimed at ethnicity and sexual orientation accounting for much of the balance.

Attacks against Muslims dropped slightly last year, to 105 reports. The numbers spiked in 2001, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. That year, 597 attacks against Muslims were reported, bringing the number of overall bias crimes up past 9,000 incidents.

ADL officials said an increase in agencies participating in the survey could account for part of the increase last year. But they said the spike remains a concern nonetheless.

Conservatives vow resistance on abortion, gay marriage

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:04:42 GMT

(RNS) Facing what they consider "threats" from American culture, prominent Catholic, evangelical and Orthodox Christian leaders are vowing unspecified civil disobedience against abortion, same-sex marriage and limits on religious liberty.

"We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right -- and more importantly, to embrace our obligation -- to speak and act in defense of these truths," reads the seven-page "Manhattan Declaration."

"We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence."

More than a dozen Christian leaders -- including Catholic bishops, an Orthodox priest, and officials of evangelical organizations -- endorsed the document at the National Press Club. Organizers on Friday (Nov. 20) claimed about 150 initial signatories.

Archbishop Justin Rigali of Philadelphia cited increasing numbers of troubling incidents that he said sparked the new concerted approach, including doctors expected to refer or perform abortions despite their own objections, acceptance of embryonic stem cell research and assisted suicide, and the risk of marriage being "redefined in its very essence."

"If someone asks, 'Why now? What is the urgency of a declaration of conscience by Eastern Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic leaders?', we say we must speak now because justice, which is love in action, demands that we not remain silent in the face of these threats," Rigali said.

Supporters said possible civil disobedience would be up to individuals, but could include closing facilities or paying fines. Princeton University professor Robert George, a drafter of the document, said people need to be "prepared to make sacrifices," just as the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. did when he faced jail during the civil rights movement.

The declaration specifically states initiatives to recognize same-sex marriage are not the "cause" of damage to the institution of marriage, which has been eroded by divorce and infidelity.

"What we don't want to do is lock in any understanding of marriage that will become itself an impediment to us rebuilding the marriage culture," said George, a Catholic layman and prominent ethicist.

Ronald Sider, director of the traditionally progressive group Evangelicals for Social Action and a signatory, said he viewed the document as "not partisan" but an embracing of Christian values.

"This is not a political ploy," Sider said.

Several supporters said their concerns existed before President Obama took office last January, but the administration's support for expanding embryonic stem cell research only enhances their need to speak up.

Lutheran dissidents say new church body in the works

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:03:50 GMT

(RNS) In late September, Lutheran dissidents said they would hunker down for a year and study whether to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and create a new church body.

Less than two months later, on Wednesday (Nov. 19) Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal) announced that indeed such a body "will likely be necessary."

"What happened was the idea of a discussion for a year became kind of scary for people who want to leave now," said the Rev. David Baer, a CORE spokesman and pastor of an ELCA church in Whitewood, S.D.

Baer said his own church will vote this weekend on whether to join CORE, which he estimates counts around 700 congregations as members.

CORE said no "firm decisions" have been made about how the new church body will be structured; recommendations will be released in February. "The working committee is just beginning their work," Baer said. "What we've done is paint a little picture of what a church body will look like."

Conservative Lutherans have been distressed since the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly voted in August to allow gays and lesbians in committed, same-sex relationships to be ordained as clergy. The assembly also voted to allow congregations to recognize and support such relationships.

"The vote on sexuality opened the eyes of many to how far the ELCA has moved from biblical teaching," the Rev. Paull Spring, CORE's chair, said in a statement Wednesday.

ELCA spokesman John Brooks said CORE's announcement was expected. "We are staying focused on our clear priorities and clear mission. More than 10,000 congregations that want to be part of that mission."

Five congregations have taken the two votes necessary to leave the ELCA since the Churchwide Assembly, Brooks said. The ELCA has approximately 4.6 million members spread across 10,300 congregations. Eighty-seven congregations have taken the first vote, and 28 of those did not attain the two-thirds majority required to leave the denomination, Brooks said.

"That two-thirds hurdle is a big hurdle for some congregations," Baer said.

German church helped bring down Berlin Wall

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:27:18 GMT

c. 2009 Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

by Deborah Potter

St. Nikolai Evangelical Lutheran Church hasn't changed much since the 16th century. Bach once played the organ here and the music remains alluring, but it is the church's more recent history in the last days of the Cold War and its role in the fall of the Berlin Wall that draw tourists today.

The Rev. Christian Fuhrer became the pastor at St. Nikolai in 1980, when the world was divided by the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. Germany itself was split in two, most visibly by the wall the East German government -- the German Democratic Republic -- built in Berlin in 1961 in an attempt to keep its people from fleeing to the West.

In the GDR, atheism was the norm. Churches like St. Nikolai were spied on but allowed to remain open.

"In the GDR, the church provided the only free space," Fuhrer said in an interview with Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. "Everything that could not be discussed in public could be discussed in church, and in this way the church represented a unique spiritual and physical space in which people were free."

In the early 1980s, Fuhrer began holding weekly prayers for peace.

Every Monday, worshippers recited the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. Few came at first, but attendance grew as the Soviet Union began opening to the West.

The prayer service, Fuhrer said, "was something very special in East Germany. Here a critical mass grew under the roof of the church -- young people, Christians and non-Christians, and later, those who wanted to leave (East Germany) joined us and sought refuge here."

As a college student in those years, Sylke Schumann was one of the hundreds, then thousands, who joined the vigils in the sanctuary at St. Nikolai and then marched in the streets holding candles and calling for change.

"Seeing all these people gather in this place ... from week to week and more and more people gathering, you had the feeling this time really the government had to listen to you," Schumann said.

In October 1989, on the 40th anniversary of the GDR, the government cracked down.

Protesters in Leipzig were beaten and arrested. Two days later, St. Nikolai Church was full to overflowing for the weekly vigil. When it was over, 70,000 people marched through the city as armed soldiers looked on, but did nothing.

"I remember it was a cold evening, but you didn't feel cold, not just because you saw all the lights, but also because you saw all these people, and it was, you know, it was really amazing to be a part of that, and you felt so full of energy and hope," Schumann said.

"For me, it still gives me the shivers thinking of that night. It was great."

"In church," Fuhrer said, "people had learned to turn fear into courage, to overcome the fear and to hope, to have strength. They came to church and then started walking, and since they did not do anything violent, the police were not allowed to take action.

"(East German officials) said, 'We were ready for anything, except for candles and prayer."'

Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount were Fuhrer's primary motivations, but he also drew inspiration from German pastor and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer as well as Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fuhrer said King "prepared and executed this idea of nonviolence, peaceful resistance, in a wonderful way. Then it became our turn to apply the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount here in Leipzig."

Just a month after the massive demonstration, the wall between East and West Berlin came down. The church had sent a powerful message to the world: the East German government no longer controlled its people.

"If any even ever merited the description of `miracle' that was it," Fuhrer said. "A revolution that succeeded, a revolution that grew out of the church. It is astonishing that God let us succeed with this revolution."

Fuhrer, who retired last year at 65, as required by the church, has written a book about those historic days. St. Nikolai itself has gone back to being a parish church, its congregations not much larger than before the demonstrations.

But Fuhrer said he and his fellow worshippers didn't do what they did back then to draw people to the church.

Conservative Christian leader retires from radio

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:23:11 GMT

(RNS) Religious broadcaster James Dobson will end his hosting of the "Focus on the Family" program in February, a final step of resignation from the organization he founded more than 30 years ago.

The Colorado Springs, Colo., ministry announced Dobson's plans Friday (Oct. 30). Dobson resigned the presidency of the ministry in 2003 and stepped down from its board, along with his wife Shirley, in February.

"The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season -- and Dr. Dobson's season at Focus on the Family has been remarkable," said Jim Daly, president and CEO of the ministry. "We're excited about continuing the work he began, and following the biblical principles he's always followed, to reach today's families."

Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger said in an interview Monday the radio show will continue without Dobson, 73, and the decision did not relate to his health.

"He's as robust as he ever was, perhaps more robust than a lot of us who try to keep up with him around here," Schneeberger said.

But the spokesman said the latest decision is an "emotional" one for Dobson and the board as it will mark the end of official ties Dobson has with the ministry he founded in 1977. The ministry said it plans "a series of events" to honor Dobson before the end of February, when his last broadcast will air.

Though the broadcaster has no immediate plans beyond finishing a book on raising daughters, Schneeberger said he expects Dobson to remain vocal about his views.

"I would be shocked if we do not continue to hear him speak out in the public square because his passion for families and his passion for defending families is so strong," Schneeberger said.

The ministry has faced layoffs in recent years as a result of decreased donations and the changing economy. At its peak it had 1,400 staffers and it now has about 860.

Physicians give chaplains a clean bill of health

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:35:17 GMT

(RNS) Science and faith may often clash, but a new survey suggests that most American doctors believe religion and spirituality can help patients.

Published Monday (Oct. 26) in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the survey found that 90 percent of physicians are satisfied with spiritual services provided by hospital chaplains to their patients.

While most doctors in the survey acknowledged that religion and spirituality help patients cope with illness, the study found that at least one-third of U.S. hospitals do not have chaplains, and many of those that do have chaplains don't have enough to address all patient needs.

Consequently, doctors play a crucial role in ensuring that patients have access to chaplains, the study said. But most doctors have little training in connecting chaplains to patients, and instead rely on their own spiritual values and experiences.

About 5 percent of referrals connecting patients with chaplains come from physicians, while the rest come from nurses or patient family members, said Dr. George Fitchett, a chaplain at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and the study's lead author.

"Things are changing a little," said Dr. Fitchett. "There's a lot of education to help physicians become better at making referrals, but it's still not systematized."

Fitchett said an ideal ratio of chaplains to patients is hard to pinpoint, and depends on what type of patients a hospital treats. For example, hospitals specializing in cancer patients or with emergency rooms have a greater need for chaplains than hospitals specializing in joint replacements or cosmetic surgery.

The survey also found that physicians in the Northeast and those with negative views of religion's effects on patients were less likely to be satisfied with chaplain services.

Those who were satisfied tended to be physicians who worked in teaching hospitals, practiced medical subspecialties, such as cardiology, oncology, or emergency medicine. Half of the physicians surveyed said it was appropriate for them to pray with patients if circumstances warranted.

Of the 1,102 physicians surveyed, 59 percent identified themselves as Christian, 16 percent Jewish, 14 percent other affiliations, and 10 percent reported having no religious affiliation.

Lutherans ask forgiveness for 16th-century persecutions

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:25:31 GMT

(RNS/ENI) Lutheran World Federation leaders plan to apologize for their ancestors 16th-century persecution of Anabaptists, religious reformers whose successors include Mennonites and the Amish.

"We ask for forgiveness -- from God and from our Mennonite sisters and brothers -- for the harm that our forebears in the sixteenth century committed to Anabaptists," says a statement adopted unanimously on Monday (Oct. 26) by the LWF's council.

The apology is now recommended for formal adoption by the highest LWF governing body, its assembly, meeting in Stuttgart, Germany, in July 2010.

Anabaptists, whose originally pejorative name means "re-baptizers", stressed the need to baptize Christian believers, including those who had been baptized as infants. They were persecuted as heretics by both Protestants and Catholics, and many of them fled to America.

The Rev. Larry Miller, general secretary of the Mennonite World Conference, who attended the Geneva meeting, welcomed the vote by the LWF council. Miller said this request for forgiveness would require that Mennonites also change.

"Mennonites have learned from Lutherans that we are justified by faith alone, because we know that justification produces not only relations between oneself and God but also communion between the churches," said Miller.

LWF president, the Rev. Mark Hanson, who is also presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said the apology process had begun 25 years ago, "when we began to examine Luther's anti-Semitic writings".

"We are also heirs of a tradition that has borne pain in the lives of others because of how our ancestors have written, spoken and communicated," said Hanson.

A document presented to the LWF council about the apology described repentance as "the only fitting response to the persecutions of the 16th century and the continuing Lutheran characterizations of Anabaptists in the centuries which followed. "It noted how the Augsburg Confession of 1530, a central Lutheran statement of faith, explicitly condemned Anabaptists and their teachings.

Religion keeps on trucking (without the institutions)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:02:20 GMT

By Adelle M. Banks

(RNS) Religious institutions may be waning in the U.S, but private religious practices like prayer are actually on the rise, a new University of Chicago report reveals.

While weekly attendees of religious services dropped from 32 to 26 percent of the population between 1983 and 2006, people praying daily rose from 54 to 59 percent in the same time period.

"There's some weakening of traditional religious affiliation and practices such as attending religious services, but there's a slight increase in belief in the afterlife and a slight increase in the frequency of ... prayer," said Tom Smith, author of "Religious Change around the World," which was released Friday (Oct. 23).

"It's partly a transformation, or kind of a recalibration, of what it means to be religious in America, rather than a simple decline."

In 1973, 69 percent of respondents said they believed in the afterlife. By 2006, 73 percent believed in the hereafter.

Belief in God remains strong, according to a range of surveys, said Smith, the director of the General Social Survey at the university's National Opinion Research Center.

"If we were just having what secularization theory predicted, then we would be seeing everything going down across the board," he said.

Instead, while some Americans continue to attend services and be involved in other spiritual practices, others have "redefined" what it means to be religious.

"They no longer think that means they need to go to Mass or services every week, but they still have some type of religious belief and practice, more often personal than organized," said Smith.

The percentage of people who never have attended a religious service was 22 percent in 2006, a sharp increase from 9 percent in 1972.

Amid changes about how Americans view their own religious life, there has been growing tolerance of those who shun or question religion.

Asked if someone who is "against all churches and religion" should be permitted to speak in their community, 76 percent of respondents agreed in 2008. Just 37 percent agreed with allowing such a speaker in 1954. The percentage who thought such a person should be permitted to teach in a college increased even more dramatically, from 12 percent to 60 percent.

Smith attributes these changes less to any waning of religion and more to "the general growth of tolerance" in the country.

He also drew comparisons between the United States and other parts of the world, finding that, overall, Americans differ with Western Europeans, who tended to have a declining sense of the importance of God.

"Americans aren't there," said Smith. "Americans are much more, 'I feel close to God.' 'God is important."'

The report's General Social Survey statistics include random samples of adults ranging from 1,500 to 4,500 with a margin of error ranging from plus or minus 2 percentage points to plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Calvin College agrees to further study ban on homosexual advocacy

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:51:33 GMT

(RNS) Calvin College leaders aren't withdrawing a controversial memo regarding the discussion of homosexuality, but say they will take more time to study how Christian Reformed Church teachings relate to academic freedom.

In a letter issued to the college's faculty Monday (Oct. 26), board of trustees chairman Bastian Knoppers said they did not change a policy banning the advocacy of homosexual practices and same-sex marriage.

But trustees said they understand many faculty members thought they did and deeply regret "confusion and distress that has resulted," he said.

Knoppers said discussions over the issue have been "intense, at times uncomfortably so," but also "grounded in good thinking, frank speaking and spirited meetings" and, perhaps, were "overdue."

"While awkwardly begun, the discussions, debates, panels, meetings and writings will, we believe, make the College a better place," he wrote.

The memo, which was adopted in May and publicly surfaced in August, said it is unacceptable for Calvin faculty and staff to teach, write or advocate counter to CRC tenets on homosexuality.

The Faculty Senate voted earlier this month to ask the board to withdraw the memo, saying it stifles academic freedoms that encourage open discussion of social issues between students and professors.

Professors still are digesting Knoppers' letter but are pleased the issue will continue to be discussed, Faculty Senate Vice Chair Karin Maag said.

"When they came to a lightening-quick conclusion in May, it wasn't good," she said. "So coming to a lightening-quick decision now wouldn't be good, either."

Maag said professors were concerned with the content of the memo but also had worries about the process by which the board arrived at a decision.

Religious freedom report lacks specifics, experts say

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:37:18 GMT

By Adelle M. Banks

(RNS) Religious freedom experts called for more specifics in the State Department's policies on international religious liberty, but welcomed a new report that highlights abuse faced by people of faith throughout the world.

Released by the State Department on Monday (Oct. 26), the status report on religious freedom in 198 countries and territories pays particular attention to authoritarian governments that control religious expression or are hostile to religious minorities.

"President Obama has raised religious freedom in his speeches abroad without those sentiments being translated into concrete policy actions," said Leonard Leo, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, "and our hope is that this report will be the administration's call to action."

The independent commission also disagrees with the State Department on the status of religious freedom in some countries. In particular, the USCIRF has called for Pakistan and Vietnam to be added to the State Department's list of "countries of particular concern."

The State Department report notes that "serious" and "significant" problems remain in those countries. Michael Posner, assistant secretary for the department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, told reporters he hopes new the list of "countries of particular concern" will be made public by January.

Thomas Farr, the first director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom, said the report shows an improvement in U.S. policy on the issue, but more than incremental progress is needed.

"It is an approach that focuses on people who are being persecuted, as it should, but it tends to talk about cases rather than the structural problems that lead to persecution," said Farr, citing China as an example.

The report notes that China's "repression of religious freedom remained severe in Tibetan areas." It also said: "Citizens do not have the ability to bring legal action based on the Constitution's guarantees of religious freedom."

Religious freedom experts knocked Obama earlier this month (Oct.) for refusing to meet with the Dalai Lama, whom China considers a "splittist." The White House said Obama will meet with the exiled Buddhist leader after he returns from a summit in China next month.

Farr, who directed the religious freedom office from 1999 to 2003, criticized the administration for not yet naming an ambassador at large for religious freedom. But he praised its opposition to efforts by the Organization of the Islamic Conference to seek "defamation of religions" resolutions at the United Nations.

In her remarks introducing the report Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted her disagreement with such proposals, saying an "individual's ability to practice his or her religion has no bearing on others' freedom of speech."

In addition to chronicling restrictions and improvements in religious freedom, the report also included what Clinton called a "special focus" on international initiatives promoting interfaith dialogue.

"We are encouraged by this growing recognition by governments and religious leaders that extremism is a common enemy and that freedom and respectful religious coexistence are critical to our shared future," the report's executive summary concluded.

Christians forgo Facebook for `digital fasting'

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:36:19 GMT

By Bobby Ross Jr.

(RNS) In the world of faith-based social networking, evangelical Christian leader Mark Oestreicher commanded a huge chunk of cyberspace.

Known as "Marko," the technological hipster amassed 4,000 Facebook friends, 1,500 Twitter followers and 2,000 daily readers of his blog.

But then he decided he'd had enough -- and unplugged from his online circle of friends.

"It's not that I don't think online connections are real. It's just that they are perpetually superficial," said Oestreicher, former longtime president of Youth Specialties, a company based in El Cajon, Calif., that specializes in youth pastor training materials and seminars.

In an age when many religious leaders embrace the latest technology and even "tweet" from the pulpit, some -- like Oestreicher -- are reassessing the potential negative impact of online overload.

"Unplugging has become essential to my spiritual journey and truly hearing God," said Anne Jackson, an author, speaker, and volunteer pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville, Tenn. "For me, all the noise can drown that out if I'm not careful."

Jackson, author of the book "Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic," maintains a church leadership blog at Flowerdust.net that draws 150,000 page views a month, by her estimate.

She has 6,700 Twitter followers.

But earlier this year, she closed her Facebook account -- saying goodbye to 2,500 friends -- and committed to spend less time on Twitter and her blog.

She finally acknowledged what her husband had hinted for a while: She had become a little obsessed with her online persona.

"For me, Facebook was a problem," Jackson wrote in an essay titled "Why I Kissed Facebook Goodbye."

"I don't believe everyone should quit using Facebook, or be afraid of it if one hasn't started," she added. "We just need to be aware of the ways any form of media can interrupt our time with God or those closest to us."

Balance is the key, said Peggy Kendall, an associate professor of communication studies at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn., who has researched the impact of technology on society.

She bristles at the notion that online connections are "perpetually superficial."

"While there are certainly limitations to online communication, there are also significant benefits to communicating online that one can only rarely experience face to face," said Kendall, author of the forthcoming book Reboot: Refreshing Your Faith in a High-Tech World.

In the old days of youth ministry, a pastor might endure years of junior high gym nights and overnight retreats before a student would feel comfortable enough to share deep hurts and uncertainties and ask authentic questions, she said.

But in an age of texting and instant messaging, a student might divulge "intensely personal things" within days of getting to know the youth pastor, Kendall said.

Students "have found that the hyperpersonal nature of online communication provides them a safe place to be real and communicate freely," she said.

Rather than unplug entirely, Kendall advocates that people of faith periodically "fast" from technology -- to assess what's helpful about their online activities and what's simply distracting.

This concept has become a "huge conversation" in the classes that theology professor Dillon Burroughs teaches at Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"I call it `digital fasting,' although I recommend short breaks since it is like asking someone my parent's age to stop using a phone or reading a newspaper," said Burroughs, a former pastor who networks extensively with ministry leaders and has more than 38,000 Twitter followers.

During the week, the Rev. Margot Starbuck, a mother of three who works as a writer and speaker, said she writes, blogs and typically replies to e-mails within minutes of receiving them.

"If I'm not at my computer, I'm wondering what I'm missing," said Starbuck, an ordained Presbyterian pastor who lives in Durham, N.C. "I check e-mail first thing in the morning and often as the last thing I do before bedtime. I am not proud of that."

Even on Sundays, when she wasn't technically working, she found herself staying busy with e-mail and computer games.

So, she implemented what she calls "Unplugged Sabbath" -- no computer all day long.

"When I wake up in the morning, when I'd typically start mentally tuning in to work on the computer, I find I have nothing better to do than crawl in bed with my daughter," Starbuck said.

"After worship, when I don't have to be about my own business, I'm freed up to take a hike with my family and be entirely present to them," she added. "By the time evening rolls around, I don't even want to check the e-mail that's backed up all day."

In Oestreicher's case, he said he's not suggesting that everyone delete online profiles and stop using the Internet.

Rather, he said he made a personal decision to choose "best over good" and stop constantly checking his Blackberry for updates.

Trying to maintain hundreds -- and even thousands -- of online connections distracted from his real-life relationships with his family and colleagues, he said.

Months after unplugging, he voiced surprise at how little withdrawal pains he experienced.

"I think that was primarily because I so immediately saw a return of four things I was hoping for: time, presence, focus and creativity," he said. "My family could tell the difference, and my co-workers also. It was rather astounding, actually."

Commentary: Halloween with all the trimmings

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:38:31 GMT

By Cathleen Falsani

(RNS) Saturday will be my 10-year-old son Vasco's first Halloween. He arrived in the U.S. from Africa just a few months ago, and as far as we can discern there is no Oct. 31 holiday in his native Malawi.

But as a fourth grader here in Southern California, Vasco is all about Halloween. He's been drawing skeletons and jack-o'-lanterns in art class, and his classmates are abuzz talking about what costumes they'll be wearing when they go trick-or-treating this weekend.

Spiderman is among Vasco's front-runners in the costume department, but then so is Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and Ace Ventura -- the Jim Carrey movie character that can talk out of his bum and has a distinct swagger, of which my son does a spot-on imitation. (The prospect of coaxing Vasco's curly hair into a Ventura pompadour makes me almost giddy.) We're heading to the local Costume Castle after school today to settle on his Halloween kit.

My most vivid childhood memory of Halloween is from 1977, the year we moved to a new neighborhood in Connecticut. I don't recall what my costume was, but I do remember going door-to-door with my father, meeting new neighbors and collecting a heavy bag of candy, as the suburban warren of Cape Cods and manicured lawns morphed into an other-worldly fairyland.

I was 7 years old and the new kid on the block, so when the cover of darkness fell at sunset, I hadn't a clue where I was. When my father navigated our way home in the crisp autumn night, it felt like he had done a magic trick. When the morning came, I couldn't believe our adventure the night before had been on these same streets. To my young imagination (and heart) it felt as if we had been walking through Narnia or Rivendell rather than a sleepy New England suburb.

A few years after that, my family stopped celebrating Halloween. We had become born-again Christians and our Southern Baptist church frowned on the practice. Halloween, I was taught, was an occult holiday (or maybe even Satanic!) and good Christians should have nothing to do with it.

So while other kids in the neighborhood continued their annual nighttime pilgrimage, we would stay in or go to a church youth group function. My mother, God bless her, even tried handing out religious tracts to the trick-or-treaters. (Not a popular choice, if memory serves.)

I'm a new mother and I'm still a Christian (and so is my son), so when the Halloween candy aisle appeared at the local grocery store, I wondered for a moment what to do. But then, recalling that magical night 32 years ago, I decided that if he chose to, Vasco could celebrate Halloween with all the trimmings -- costumes, jack-o'-lanterns, plastic spiders and spray-on webs, spooky music, face paint, and trick-or-treating.

In the seaside village to which we recently moved, Halloween is a big deal. Everyone dresses up -- moms and dads and grandparents and kids alike. And the trick-or-treating ritual is just as I remember it as that 7-year-old girl, when nearly every house opened its front door and had buckets of candy to share; the night I met many of my neighbors for the first time and when the darkness that I was normally so afraid of became a miraculous, transformative veil.

Vasco is a little afraid of the dark. Over the last few months we've been weaning him off of having every light in the room on when he goes to sleep. He's down to a single (if fairly powerful) night-light now, and, more importantly, his fear of the dark (and all that he can't see) is waning.

One of the best descriptions of Halloween's transcendent and experiential meaning comes from a book called "Seeking Enlightenment ... Hat by Hat: A Skeptic's Path to Religion" by Nevada Barr. In it the author says:

"Halloween traditionally was the night we were given the freedom to explore the dark -- not to find and be the evil but to see that the night was as beautiful as the day, that we were powerful, others were kind, that there was candy behind those closed doors and strangers who gave us treats."

Halloween's roots are in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest and the coming of winter -- a transition from the lightest days of the year to the darkest.

The Celts taught that the physical and spiritual worlds existed side-by-side, separated by a thin veil, and during Samhain that veil was so thin it was nearly transparent.

Thin moments are, to me, those times when we can see most clearly God's hands reaching into the world, whether it's in the sacred space of a church sanctuary or the beckoning welcome of a neighbor's open front door on an autumn night.

(Cathleen Falsani is the author of Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace and the new book, The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers.)

First female bishop elected to lead German Protestants

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:28:21 GMT

(RNS/ENI) The Evangelical Church in Germany has elected Bishop Margot Kassmann to be its new leader, the first time a woman has become the highest representative of 24 million German Protestants.

The decision was made on Wednesday (Oct. 28) by the EKD's highest governing body, its synod, meeting in Ulm, southern Germany.

Fifty-one-year-old Kassmann, who is divorced, is the youngest ever chairperson of the EKD council, and is the successor of Bishop Wolfgang Huber, who is retiring at the age of 67.

The EKD is the umbrella organization for 22 regional Lutheran, United and Reformed churches. It accounts for most of the country's Protestant Christians.

Kassmann has been bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover since 1999.

The general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, praised Kassmann's election.

"The election sends a signal to the church worldwide that God calls us to leadership without consideration of gender, color or descent," said Noko, a Zimbabwean theologian.

When pastors' silent suffering turns tragic

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:20:50 GMT

By Greg Warner

(RNS) What kind of personal pain would cause a 42-year-old pastor to abandon his family, his calling and even life itself? Members of a Baptist church here are asking that question after their pastor committed suicide in his parked car in September.

Those who counsel pastors say Christian culture, especially Southern evangelicalism, creates the perfect environment for depression. Pastors suffer in silence, unwilling or unable to seek help or even talk about it. Sometimes they leave the ministry. Occasionally the result is the unthinkable.

Experts say clergy suicide is a rare outcome to a common problem. But Baptists in the Carolinas are soul searching after a spate of suicides and suicide attempts by pastors. In addition to the September suicide of David Treadway, two others in North Carolina attempted suicide, and three in South Carolina succeeded, all in the last four years.

Being a pastor -- a high-profile, high-stress job with nearly impossible expectations for success -- can send one down the road to depression, according to pastoral counselors.

"We set the bar so high that most pastors can't achieve that," said H.B. London, vice president for pastoral ministries at Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs, Colo. "And because most pastors are people-pleasers, they get frustrated and feel they can't live up to that."

When pastors fail to live up to demands imposed by themselves or others they often "turn their frustration back on themselves," leading to self-doubt and to feelings of failure and hopelessness, said Fred Smoot, executive director of Emory Clergy Care in Duluth, Ga., which provides pastoral care to 1,200 United Methodist ministers in Georgia.

A pastor is like "a 24-hour ER" who is supposed to be available to any congregant at any time, said Steve Scoggin, president of CareNet, a network of 21 pastoral counseling centers in North Carolina. "We create an environment that makes it hard to admit our humanity."

It's a job that breeds isolation and loneliness -- the pastorate's "greatest occupational hazards," said Scoggin, who counsels many Baptist and other ministers. "These suicides are born out of a lack of those social supports that can intervene in times of personal crisis."

No one knows for sure how many ministers suffer depression or attempt suicide. "It's like nailing Jell-O to the wall," said London. But he estimated 18 percent to 25 percent of all ministers are depressed at any one time.

Most counselors and psychologists interviewed for this article agreed depression among clergy is at least as prevalent as in the general population. As many as 12 percent of men and 26 percent of women will experience major depression during their lifetime, according to the American Medical Association.

"The likelihood is that one out of every four pastors is depressed," said Matthew Stanford, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

But anxiety and depression in the pulpit are "markedly higher" in the last five years, said Smoot. "The current economic crisis has caused many of our pastors to go into depression."

Besides the recession's strain on church budgets, depressed pastors increasingly report frustration over their congregations' resistance to cultural change.

Most depression does not lead to suicide, but almost all suicides begin with depression. Depression causes two-thirds of the 30,000 suicides reported each year, the AMA says.

Nearly two out of three depressed people don't seek treatment, according to studies by the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. Counselors say even fewer depressed ministers get treated because of career fears, social stigma and spiritual taboo.

"Clergy do not talk about it because it violates their understanding of their faith," said Scoggin. "They believe they are not supposed to have those kinds of thoughts."

Treadway, pastor of Sandy Ridge Baptist Church in Hickory, was the exception. He told his congregation he was in treatment several months before his suicide. Still the shock was hard to absorb, co-workers said.

Rodney Powe, worship pastor at the church, said he only now understands depression is a mental illness. Christians who don't experience depression trivialize it, he said. "We just say, `Come on, get over it. We have the hope of Christ and the Holy Spirit."'

There are apparently no statistics suggesting ministers are more likely to commit suicide than other professionals. Studies purporting to measure the suicide risk of various occupations have produced wildly different results.

Stanford, who studies how the Christian community deals with mental illness, said depression in Christian culture carries "a double stigmatization."

Society still places a stigma on mental illness, but Christians make it worse, he said, by "over-spiritualizing" depression and other disorders -- dismissing them as a lack of faith or a sign of weakness.

Polite Southern culture adds its own taboo against "talking about something as personal as your mental health," noted Scoggin.

The result is a culture of avoidance. "You can't talk about it before it happens and you can't talk about it after it happens," said Monty Hale, director of pastoral ministries for the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

For pastors, treatment can come at a high price. "You are committing career suicide if you have to seek treatment," said Stanford, "particularly if you have to take time off."

In some settings, however, it is becoming a little more acceptable for clergy to get treatment, he said.

The good news, said Smoot, is "most pastors don't stay depressed. They find a way out of that frustration."

"Depression is part of the human condition," added Scoggin. "Some people simply find ways to gracefully live with it. Like other chronic illnesses, you may not get over it."

Controversial comic artist draws Genesis

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:27:17 GMT

By Lilly Fowler

(RNS) The Book of Genesis may be a sacred text to many, but it's also chock-full of sex, violence, and betrayal -- elements that underground comic artist R. Crumb was only too eager to take on.

"(It's about) ruling elites victimizing people in sadistic ways, which is human beings at their nastiest," Crumb said at a press conference in Paris unveiling his new book. "They have power over others, and they derive pleasure from inflecting pain on other humans. That's about as nasty as people get."

In Crumb's new "The Book of Genesis Illustrated," the underground comic hero illustrates all 50 chapters of Genesis, relying both on literary and religion scholar Robert Alter's translation and the King James Version of the Bible.

The famously eccentric artist doesn't take liberties with the text. Instead he painstakingly draws 224 black-and-white pages, from the creation story, where God is a Charlton Heston-type with a long gray beard, to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. There's also the attempted escape by Lot's wife, as she turns into a pillar of salt, and the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. It took Crumb nearly five years to complete the book.

"If people of faith say what I've done is blasphemous or profane, I'd shrug my shoulders and say, `I just illustrated what is there,"' Crumb said in an interview with USA Today. "I'm not ridiculing it, just illustrating the exact words that are there."

Crumb started in the art world by illustrating greeting cards for the American Greetings Corporation before moving to San Francisco and selling his comics on the streets of the old hippy district, Haight-Ashbury, creating characters like Mr. Natural, Fritz the Cat, and the comic magazine "Weirdo."

Some of Crumb's signature marks -- bulging eyes, voluptuous, big-boned women, anxiety-infused characters sweating profusely -- can be spotted in "Genesis."

"Genesis has a strong appeal to artists, I think: there's this great big mash up of the cosmic and the mundane, where God and human beings meet and interact, where divine mandates are tested in human interactions, where practical ethics are explored against a mystical backdrop," said David Zimmerman, associate editor at Christian publishing company InterVarsity Press.

Still, some take issue with Crumb -- a self-described agnostic, who has called taking the Bible literally "completely insane and crazy" -- attempting such a project.

"The Bible is not mere literature. It's a spiritual book with an eternal message and needs to be interpreted by spiritual people, guided by the Holy Spirit. Anything else is just printed pictures on paper," said Nathan Butler, president of COMIX35, a Christian comics ministry.

Bob While, Crumb's editor at W.W. Norton, which published "The Book of Genesis Illustrated," said he's surprised at how intense the reaction has been. While says when he learned Crumb had been considering such a project, Norton made an offer because they believed in Crumb as an artist and trusted that he would be respectful of the text.

"It was a very good marriage from the start," While said.

While says Crumb obsessed over every detail, and that the completion of the book affords the artist the kind of mainstream approval that has eluded him for so long.

It also allowed Crumb to steep himself even further into the ancient cultures he had already been fascinated by, like those of Babylon and Assyria.

For his part, Crumb says any controversy stirred by the release of his book won't surprise him. Nor will it particularly concern him.

"I expect that this comic version will offend some orthodox fundamentalist believers. I show God's face. I show people having sex. I illustrate the stories not as religious propaganda ... If that outrages some believers, well, you can't please everyone," he said.

Soul-searching evangelicals look to nonpolitical future

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:11:36 GMT

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald

(RNS) Repentant for having spent a generation bowing at the altars of church growth and political power, concerned evangelicals gathered last week (Oct. 13-15) to search the soul of their movement and find a new way forward.

That evangelicals, who compose a quarter of the American population, must refocus on shaping authentic disciples of Jesus Christ has always garnered wide support. But how to do that in a consumerist society with little appetite for self-denial is fueling internal debate.

The state of evangelicalism drew the scrutiny of intellectuals as 500 people attended a conference at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary on "renewing the evangelical mission." Leading thinkers called fellow believers to repent for a host of sins, from reducing the Gospel to a right-wing political agenda to rendering God as a lenient father who merely wants "cuddle time with his kids."

"We are seeing the very serious weakening of American faith, even among people who profess to be believers," said Os Guinness, senior fellow of the EastWest Institute in New York and author of "The Case for Civility." "Yet an awful lot of people haven't really faced up to the true challenge and still think they can turn it around with things like political action."

Speakers earned applause for highlighting where evangelicalism, which began as a Protestant renewal movement, has ironically come to need its own renewing. At one point, participants sang a new hymn that's setting the tone for a new era: "We spurned God's way and sought our own," they sang, "and so have become worthless."

"The church in a sense has lost its mission to go out and love the people," said Steven Mayo, pastor of Elm Street Congregational Church in Fitchburg, Mass. "We've become useless in a society that desperately needs us."

How to become useful again, however, is a matter without consensus. Calvin Theological Seminary President Cornelius Plantinga urged pastors to talk less about fulfilling personal potential and offer more from the likes of Old Testament prophet Joel, who warns God's people to wail and repent before the Lord scorches the earth. But church leaders responded to Plantinga's prescription with a reality check.

"For pastors, it's very easy to lose [a] job by taking your advice," said Rachel Stahle, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation in Carteret, N.J., after Plantinga's 45-minute lecture. "It's even harder to find another one by taking your advice. So what wisdom do you share with us to take what you've said back to the churches?"

Some evangelicals are taking little comfort these days in successes of the past two decades, which included hundreds of mushrooming megachurches and the advancement of a socially conservative agenda under former President George W. Bush. Too often, they say, Christians came to display un-Christian behavior in the public square and did their disciple-making cause a disservice.

"Beware the escalation of extremism," Guinness said. "Christian sayings such as, `love your enemies' -- they're forgotten. People are attacking their enemies, [but] they're certainly not on the side of Jesus in this."

For some, the solution lies in re-emphasizing Reformation doctrines. This approach resonates with the growing ranks of "New Calvinists," who profess such teachings as man's total depravity, God's complete sovereignty and predestination of souls to heaven and hell. Some church leaders feel the drift away from traditional teachings has led evangelicals to neglect such biblical mandates as ecumenism and organize around lesser principles, such as political preferences.

"We [evangelicals] have moved from a church grounded in solid theology to a church grounded in personal relationships," said Neil Gastonguay, pastor of Bath United Methodist Church in Bath, Maine. "We don't have a message anymore."

But others say evangelicals have worried too much about doctrinal differences when they've needed to be joining forces on larger issues. Richard Alberta, senior pastor of Cornerstone Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brighton, Mich., said preoccupations with doctrinal purity help explain why he struggles to round up fellow evangelicals to join him at anti-abortion events.

"When you get evangelicals among themselves, instead of addressing the social and moral issues, they get backwatered into some debate about dispensationalism or Calvin or Charismatic Renewal," Alberta said. "There's lots of suspicion, and those [worries] seem to act as filters that keep evangelicals from getting together."

Similar frustrations beleaguer Travis Hutchinson, pastor of Highlands Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in America) in Lafayette, Ga. He routinely gets a cool response from fellow evangelicals, he said, when he asks them to show courage and join his efforts to minister among undocumented immigrants. The problem, as he sees it, is that the doctrine-obsessed have lost touch with the heart of Jesus Christ.

"The missing ingredient is not the primacy of the mind and doctrine," Hutchinson said. "It's the willingness to suffer."

Though renewal strategies may vary in the years ahead, evangelicals agree their calling is to be found in their bedrock source: Scripture. Theologian John Jefferson Davis of Gordon-Conwell, for instance, said today's Christians "need a high-intensity experience of God" and should seek it through meditative readings of Scripture. Still, he conceded, even Bible-based worship will need to be "more attractive and more enjoyable than a trip to the shopping mall."

"Unless we can experience God [in a way] that is as real and as appealing as what we see on a 60-inch, high-definition plasma home theater screen," Davis said, "we are in trouble."

COMMENTARY: Time for a timeout

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:55:50 GMT

By Cathleen Falsani

(RNS) Do you find yourself adding more to your to-do list, even though you already feel overwhelmed?

Are your weekends just as jampacked as your workdays? When you try to pray, is your mind swimming with yesterday's worries?

If you, like me, answered yes to all of the above, you may be in need of a pause.

A spiritual timeout.

Last week, I took an online quiz called the "The Power of Pause Online Assessment." I scored a 38 out of 50. And that's nothing to brag about.

"Push Pause Now!" was the cautionary message I received along with my assessment score. "You are constantly overtired and overcommitted. You rarely take time to pause and recharge -- which makes you feel even more overwhelmed. You need to learn to pause on a regular basis -- not only will this help you to work more effectively, it will also ensure that you are not losing sight of what is truly important to you."

It's a great idea, this pausing thing.

Most of the time -- well, all of the time lately -- I'm trying to do too much and too many things at once. I end up feeling exhausted, sick, and frayed.

In fact, when I sat down to write this column, I was on a 20-minute lunch break; I thought I could squeeze the writing in between bites of a chicken quesadilla, a call from home to tell me my son came home sick from school, making dinner reservations for four and answering about 50 e-mails.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't find the time to even write about taking the time to pause, tune out, slow down, just be.

"We are wired to be present. We are built to honor the senses. We are created to be attentive, or literally just to be. But somewhere along the way, life chokes the music and poetry out of us," author Terry Hershey writes in his new book, The Power of Pause: Becoming More by Doing Less, a sort of how-to book for taking a spiritual recess.

There's a good reason why the Abrahamic faiths -- Judaism, Islam and Christianity -- believe in a Sabbath. A day of rest. A day to recharge, to worship the Creator, to stop and ... just ... be.

In Hebrew, Shabbat -- the word for Sabbath -- means to cease.

Observing the Sabbath, keeping it holy by slowing down and resting, is one of the Ten Commandments. Right up there with "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not bear false witness."

"Cool it for a day," God says. "I did."

Slowing down for a few minutes a day, and, more importantly, for one day a week, is a healthy idea physically, emotionally and spiritually. It's also a radical countercultural idea in a society that moves at warp speed and where self-worth is measured by the amount of white space on our calendars.

But adding to the list sometimes becomes untenable. One more task, one more demand, one more hurried moment of multi-tasking and superwoman-izing and this ship is going to become unmoored and drift into whatever comes next. A storm. A sandbar. Hostile waters. Who knows?

"Too easily and too quickly we dismiss our creases and shadows -- places of reluctance, uncertainty, ambiguity, confusion, angst, grief, loss, fear, shame, or passion," Hershey writes. "We see them only as darkness. And hope becomes a sort of lottery ticket, something that might just click this time and make everything change.

"But what if hope is really about the Incarnation -- God (literally) with us? In the midst? In the middle of? ... What if this shadow -- the long night with no destination in sight, and with only a stone for a pillow -- is where we encounter the truth?"

Hmmm.

I want to think about that, ponder it, turn it over in my psychic hands. But in order to do that, I have to do nothing. I have to stop.

Hershey suggests buying an old bench or chair and setting it aside in your home (or, better yet, outside) just for sitting. I have a chair I call the grace chair. It's an old, caned straight-back seat that someone painted red and recovered with faux zebra pelt.

It's on my patio. As soon as I hit send on this, I'm going to go sit in it.

And for a few minutes, just ... be.

(Cathleen Falsani is the author of Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace and the new book, The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers.)

Quote of the Day: Navy Chaplain Carey Cash

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:52:23 GMT

(RNS) "A religion that emerges from the soil of strict adherence to law as a means of gaining God's favor will always tend toward extreme self-sacrifice."

-- Carey Cash, the Navy chaplain who preaches to President Obama at the chapel of Camp David, writing about Islam in a 2004 book. He was quoted by The Washington Post.

Pope names NIH director to Vatican think tank

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:51:02 GMT

(RNS) Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, to the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Collins, 59, is the geneticist who led the Human Genome Project, the international research project that mapped out the body's complete genetic code in 2003. Among his other accomplishments, he was part of the team that in 1989 identified the gene causing cystic fibrosis.

An evangelical Christian, Collins is also prominent for his efforts to reconcile scientific knowledge with religious faith.

His best-selling book, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (2006), argued for the compatibility of Darwin's theory of natural selection with the existence of a creator God. Rejecting both creationism and intelligent design, Collins espoused "theistic evolution" as an explanation for the existence of the universe and life.

Collins' well-known religious views reportedly aroused criticism from some fellow scientists after President Obama chose him to head the NIH in July.

Collins is a supporter of embryonic stem cell research, which the Catholic Church forbids.

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences was founded in 1603 and claims to have been the "first exclusively scientific academy in the world." Its 80 members, who include many Nobel laureates and other luminaries including the physicist Stephen Hawking, meet for a plenary session at the Vatican every two years.

Report finds 1 billion hungry people across the world

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:11:18 GMT

(RNS/ENI) Failure to act by governments and international institutions has left more than 1 billion around the world undernourished, according to a coalition of religious, human rights and development groups.

"Despite record grain crops worldwide, the number of undernourished people in the world reached in 2009 the historically high figure of 1.02 billion people, about 100 million more than in 2008," says a report released Monday (Oct. 12) by a coalition of groups including Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, the Swiss Protestant agency Bread for All and the FoodFirst Information and Action Network.

The worldwide recession that started last year "pushed aside" the global food crisis, according to the report, "Who Controls the Governance of the World Food System."

The launch of the report coincides with the worldwide Churches' Week of Action on Food from Oct. 11-18.

The report says that while trillions of dollars were allocated to save banks and insurance companies, only between 10 and 15 percent of the $20 billion pledged last year to support agriculture in developing countries has been allocated.

Reports focus on the state of the implementation of the right to food and nutrition in nine countries: Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, India, Guatemala, Kenya, Nicaragua, Uganda and Zambia.

"Right-to-food violations and chronic hunger are closely linked. Most victims of hunger and malnutrition are also victims of discrimination and exclusion, with no voice to be heard," said Ester Wolf, a policy advisor on the Right to Food for Bread for All and a member of the board of directors of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance.

The alliance is an international network of more than 50 churches and Christian organizations committed to joint action on critical issues facing the world. In May, it launched a global campaign on food.

Survey says 1 in 4 people around globe are Muslim

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:15:46 GMT

(RNS) A new study released late Wednesday (Oct. 7) by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life counted 1.57 billion Muslims worldwide, making Muslims about 1 out of every 4 people in world's estimated population of 6.8 billion.

Almost 2.5 million Muslims live in the United States, comprising 0.2 percent of the world's Muslim population, according to Pew researchers.

"Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population" is based on 1,500 sources -- census reports, demographic studies and population surveys -- from 232 countries and territories.

More than half of the Muslims in the Americas live in the United States, but the comparatively small country of Suriname has the largest percentage of Muslims in the region, with 16 percent of its population identifying as Muslims. Two percent of Canadians are Muslim, more than double the United States' 0.8 percent.

A 2007 Pew study reported that two-thirds percent of U.S. Muslims are first-generation immigrants coming from at least 68 different countries. The same study stated that "Muslim Americans generally mirror the U.S. public in education and income."

Minority Muslim groups claim a substantial portion of the global Muslim population, with more that 300 million Muslims living in countries where Islam is not the main religion, including large minority Muslim populations in India, China and Russia.

The 2009 report is the largest project of its kind. It will act as a starting point for a future study conducted by the Pew Forum, scheduled for release next year, looking at the future of Muslim populations.

Evangelicals endorse immigration reform

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:29:37 GMT

(RNS) The National Association of Evangelicals on Thursday (Oct. 8) endorsed comprehensive immigration reform, saying new policies should reflect "biblical grace to the stranger."

"We seek fair and human treatment for those who are immigrants," NAE President Leith Anderson told reporters on Capitol Hill, shortly before testifying with other religious leaders at a Senate subcommittee hearing on faith-based perspectives on immigration reform.

Anderson said the NAE board adopted the resolution as growing numbers of immigrants fill the pews of churches affiliated with his organization, which includes 40 denominations and scores of other evangelical groups.

"Many of the immigrants in America are us," he said. "That is, the growing edge of evangelical churches and denominations in the United States is the immigrant community."

The resolution, approved overwhelmingly by voice vote of the NAE board, calls for the government to safeguard national borders, recognize the importance of family reunification and establish an "equitable process toward earned legal status for currently undocumented immigrants."

Asked for specifics of NAE's suggestions about undocumented immigrants, Anderson said the process should be a reasonable one that might require, for example, undocumented immigrants to pay back taxes.

"We are not suggesting that those that are already in the United States without documentation are automatically granted either residency or citizenship status," he said.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, commended the NAE for passing the resolution. He said it demonstrates that the issue is one that concerns not solely Latinos but a wide range of Americans, and represents a "Christian" rather than a political agenda.

"At the end of the day, immigration reform is an issue of justice firmly grounded on biblical truth," he said.

Are U.S. churchgoers stingy?

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:22:45 GMT

(RNS) Are U.S. churchgoers stingy?

That's one possible conclusion from a newly updated report that shows if parishioners tithed the biblically recommended 10 percent of their income -- instead of their current 2.56 percent -- an extra $161 billion would be flowing to charity.

The report, published by Illinois-based research firm empty tomb, inc., also found that congregations continue to keep more money for their own needs instead of "benevolences" beyond the four walls of a church.

"Money is training wheels," said Sylvia Ronsvalle, executive vice president of empty tomb, inc., "If we're not faithful in giving, how will we see the church grow?"

Ronsvalle, along with her husband John, co-wrote the "State of Church Giving through 2007: What Are Our Christian Billionaires Thinking -- Or Are They?" The annual report, scheduled for release on Oct. 15, examines financial trends in Christian churches.

The Ronsvalles found some room for optimism: churchgoers, at 2.26 percent given to charity, outpaced the general population, which gave 1.8 percent. Nearly two-thirds of all U.S. charitable donations were funneled through churches or religious institutions.

Unlike other studies that focus on overall charitable giving, the Ronsvalles generally restrict their research to religious institutions. Financial vitality, they say, is a key indicator of overall church health,

Money given to the church is divided into two sub-categories for analysis: benevolences (such as international and local missions, denominational support and seminary support) and congregational finances (such as salaries, operating budgets and building costs).

Giving for benevolences in 2007 hit an all-time low, with an average of just 14 percent of member contributions going to needs beyond the church, down from a high of 21 percent 40 years ago. Ronsvalle said this may indicate churches believe that "maintenance is adequate" and are more concerned with being financially sound than contributing to missions.

"If you go to maintain your institution, you're going to find that your institution dies," she said.

The report compares the amount U.S. church members gave to international missions and the amount of "remittances," or money that is sent back home by foreigners living in the U.S. In 2007, $79 billion was sent abroad through remittances -- an average of about $2,076 per person. By contrast, U.S.-born church members gave an average of $70 to international ministries. If churches sent money overseas at the same rate as the foreign born, that would mean an additional $314 billion given for international needs, Ronsvalle estimates.

Ronsvalle said churches have become complacent -- "lukewarm" is the term the Bible uses -- and are no longer challenging themselves to do extraordinary things. There is a "lack of vision" and churchgoers have a hard time seeing how their contribution to missions can affect the world or its problems.

"One of the changes that seems to have happened to the church in the United States is that it has moved away from vision," she said. "It's not challenging itself to be great. Don't go to safety, go for faithfulness."

Example A: the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant body, which has set a goal of recruiting 2,800 missionaries to contact all "unreached" people groups, but has not laid out a financial roadmap, or price tag, for how to get there, she said.

One solution the report offers is through the idea of "wholesale billionaires" -- individuals with an ability to donate large sums of money -- and "retail billionaires" -- individuals whose small contributions, when combined with others, can add up for big impact.

The report suggests that if wholesale billionaires make a pledge to match the total amount given by retail billionaires, congregations will see the impact of their individual contributions, and be more inspired to give.

"This is possible even in (a) recession," Ronsvalle said, citing earlier empty tomb studies that found that between 1968 and 2005, church giving went up in three recessions and went down in three.

RCWS Sends Relief Supplies to Devastated Indonesia

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:09:00 GMT

A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia's island of Sumatra on September 30, striking near the provincial capital, Padang, a city of 900,000 people. A day later, a second earthquake struck. The quakes measured 7.6 and 6.8 on the Richter scale.

The United Nations estimates that more than one thousand people have perished in the quake. The number is expected to rise in coming days as the rubble is cleared and a more accurate count of those missing is compiled. Overworked rescuers continue to frantically search through the rubble of schools and other buildings.

Reformed Church World Service is responding to this crisis with its partner, Church World Service, which has permanent staff in Padang. CWS responded immediately, sending two truckloads of relief items from its warehouse to the affected area. Early distribution included plastic mats, tarpaulins, family tents, relief kits, baby care kits, and a warehouse-sized tent.

How You Can Help

Pray for the people of Sumatra, Indonesia, especially for those who have lost loved ones or their homes. Pray also for Church World Service staff in Indonesia and for the many rescue workers who are working at the edge of exhaustion.

Give to provide food, temporary shelter, and medical supplies that will be so desperately needed in the coming days. Send contributions, designated "Indonesia Earthquake 2009" to Reformed Church in America, P.O. Box 19381, Newark, NJ 07195-1938 or, in Canada, to Regional Synod of Canada, 201 Paradise Road N., Hamilton, ON L8S 3T3. To donate by credit card, click the "Make a Donation" button, or call the RCA Michigan Regional Center at (800) 968-3943.
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Report: Support for abortion on decline in America

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:52:00 GMT

(RNS) Support for abortion is declining across the country, with Americans now evenly divided on whether it should be legal, a new report shows.

In 2007 and 2008, supporters of legal abortion more clearly outnumbered opponents, but recent surveys by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 47 percent now say it should be legal in all or most cases and 44 percent believe it should be illegal all or most of the time.

Those figures represent a shift away from support for abortion rights in previous years, when 54 percent of respondents supported legal abortion and 40 percent who thought abortion should be illegal.

Researchers found a broad range of Americans with significantly less support for abortion, including white mainline Protestants and white Catholics who attend worship services at least weekly, and Jews.

While increasing percentages of Republicans are opposed to legal abortion, Democrats now are more likely to be undecided.

Pollsters found an increase in Americans who agree that reducing abortions is a good idea, from 59 percent in 2005 to 65 percent this year.

The report, released Thursday (Oct. 1) jointly with the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, involved a total national sample of 4,013 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. The sample was based on phone interviews conducted in August.

A separate report released Thursday by the group Catholics for Choice found that 48 percent of Catholic registered voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared to 37 percent who thought it should be legal in a few instances, and 14 percent who said it should never be legal.

Slightly more than two-thirds (68 percent) of those surveyed said they disagreed that, as Catholics, they should completely oppose health care reform if it includes abortion coverage.

That survey of 932 Catholic voters by the Washington research firm Belden Russonello and Stewart had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Celebrating the work of ecumenism, done and undone

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:34:50 GMT

(RNS) Catholic, Lutheran and United Methodist leaders will gather in Chicago on Thursday (Oct. 1) to commemorate the 10th anniversary of a milestone agreement on the long, slow and often painful road to Christian unity.

The celebration, held at Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago, will pay tribute to the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation on Oct. 31, 1999. In 2006, the World Methodist Council affirmed the agreement as an expression of how Methodists, too, understand the character of salvation.

The declaration aimed at resolving a key Reformation-era doctrinal dispute between Roman Catholics and Martin Luther's emerging Protestants on salvation, how human beings are made right with God and the role of grace and works.

The document declares: "Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works."

At the same time, the two churches said some of the 16th-century condemnations they hurled at one another no longer applied.

"The 10th anniversary ... provides a joyful occasion for thanking God for our level of agreement on this central doctrine of our Christian faith," said the Rev. Mark Hanson, president of the LWF and presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, who will join Chicago's Cardinal Francis George at the anniversary event.

While the joint declaration represents a significant step in ecumenical efforts, the Chicago celebration also comes at a time when the ecumenical movement is in something of the doldrums, floundering -- some would even say stagnating -- as it searches for new methods to both broaden and deepen the quest.

Until now, the focus of unity efforts have been almost exclusively doctrinal -- forging agreements through bilateral and multilateral theological discussions on such historic church-dividing "faith and order" issues as baptism, the Eucharist, ministry and, as the joint declaration, acknowledges, how salvation works. A host of these dialogues have generated shelves of agreed-upon statements, common understandings, and joint declarations.

Yet for all that progress, much remains undone.

For one, most ecumenical dialogues have been with more traditional church bodies -- Roman Catholic, and those Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant that make up the World Council of Churches, which was founded a half-century ago with the elusive quest for unity as a paramount goal. But that has left out much of the Christian world's most vibrant and rapidly growing groups -- evangelicals and Pentecostals in the global South.

As the Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the Reformed Church in America, noted in a recent issue of The Christian Century, today one in four Christians in the world is a Pentecostal -- more than there are members of all the World Council of Churches' members put together.

What's more, there is not yet a viable global body that can bring these churches together with the unity-minded WCC, much less the Vatican. While efforts are underway to create new means of engaging these groups in theological discussions aimed at unity, they suffer from lack of resources and a sense of urgency.

Secondly, there is uncertainty and confusion as to the Vatican's and Pope Benedict XVI's vision of, and commitment to, ecumenism. In 2000, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) issued "Dominus Iesus," a theological shot across that bow that seemed to reject Protestants as "ecclesial bodies" or "Christian communities" rather than legitimate "churches." A clarification in 2007 said those churches suffer from "defects" but still have been used "as instruments of salvation." At the same time, Benedict has said the Roman Catholic Church's "commitment ... to the search for Christian unity is irreversible."

Third, even as the churches make bilateral and multilateral progress on doctrinal issues, a number of contentious practical issues -- women and gays in the ministry, abortion and contraception, among others -- make it difficult for the separated churches to forge any kind of life together on any but the most superficial liturgical level.

In the U.S., the fledgling Christian Churches Together in the USA has brought together Catholics, Protestants (black and white), evangelicals/Pentecostals and the Orthodox, but a lowest-common-denominator commitment to unity has kept the group from tackling the most sensitive of social or theological issues.

Finally, in the post-9/11 world, the urgency of interreligious and interfaith dialogue and encounters, especially with Islam, has taken much of the energy that might otherwise have been given over to ecumenical talks.

"This is a historic moment on the journey toward Christian unity," said the Rev. James Massa, who directs the U.S. Catholic bishops' Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

Indeed it is -- a moment that underscores the hard-fought work of the past, and perhaps unintentionally, the daunting difficulties of the work still undone.

Lutheran conservatives delay decision to leave ELCA

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:11:26 GMT

(RNS) Conservatives upset over the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's recent decision to allow non-celibate gay clergy have voted to create a free-standing synod and study for a year whether to leave the denomination.

"Basically, what we're saying is that a year from now, we're going to have a proposal of some form," said the Rev. David Baer of Whitewood, S.D., a member of Lutheran CORE, which hosted the meeting of 1,200 conservatives in an Indianapolis suburb last week (Sept. 25-26).

The group approved a constitution for CORE and asked a steering committee to return in a year with recommendations on whether to leave the ELCA, merge with another Lutheran denomination, or start their own. Ultimately, the group hopes to "reconfigure" Lutheranism in North America to accord with traditional views of Scripture and homosexuality.

In August, the ECLA voted to allow Lutherans in "lifelong, publicly accountable, monogamous, same-gender relationships," to serve as clergy. The 4.6 million-member church also voted to allow congregations to "recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships."

But regional synods and local congregations are not required to hire gay or lesbian pastors or recognize same-sex couples, a compromise intended to acknowledge the deep divisions on homosexuality within the ELCA.

Already, though, some congregations are leaving. On Sunday (Sept. 27), Community Church of Joy in Glendale, Ariz., which was the ELCA's 10th largest congregation, voted to split from the denomination and join the more conservative Lutheran Congregations in Missions for Christ, according to the ELCA's news service. The Arizona church took the first vote to secede -- two votes are required under ELCA guidelines -- in June, before the ELCA decided to allow non-celibate gay clergy.

The free-standing synod CORE created on Saturday (Sept. 26) includes members of the ELCA, but is not affiliated with the denomination, according to CORE, which has asked members to funnel donations away from the ELCA's Chicago headquarters.

CORE leaders say their synod will assume the tasks of regular ELCA synods: providing congregational resources, planting new congregations, supporting global missionaries, and offering theological education.

"God is calling us to do something," said CORE's chair, the Rev. Paull Spring of State College, Pa. "The ELCA has fallen into heresy. It is a time for confession and a time to resist."

Pope Urges Czechs to Reclaim Christian Heritage

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:09:00 GMT

(RNS) Visiting the Czech Republic 20 years after a Velvet Revolution overthrew the nation's communist regime, Pope Benedict XVI called on one of the world's most secular societies to reclaim its Christian heritage as the basis for "true freedom."

"True freedom presupposes the search for truth -- for the true good -- and hence finds its fulfillment precisely in knowing and doing what is right and just," Benedict told a gathering of politicians and diplomats in Prague on Saturday (Sept. 26), the first day of a three-day papal visit.

"For Christians, truth has a name: God," he said. "And goodness has a face: Jesus Christ."

The trip was Benedict's 13th outside of Italy as pope, and his second to a former Soviet Bloc state, after Poland in 2006.

Yet unlike Poland, where the Catholic Church was a powerful force of resistance against Communism and remains influential today, the Czech Republic has a long tradition of secularism which has grown only stronger over the last two decades.

More than half of the country's population of 10 million espouses no religion, and though about a third are baptized Catholics, church officials report than no more than 5 percent of those regularly attend Mass.

"I call upon all the citizens of this Republic to rediscover the Christian traditions which have shaped their culture, and I invite the Christian community to continue to make its voice heard," Benedict said at an airport ceremony upon his arrival in Prague.

Yet the pope made clear that his message was aimed beyond the country's borders to Europe as a whole.

"I wish to underline the irreplaceable role of Christianity for the formation of the conscience of each generation and the promotion of a basic ethical consensus that serves every person who calls this continent home," he told an audience of politicians on Saturday.

Diverse faith groups agree on disaster-relief ethics

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:53:04 GMT

(RNS) More than 20 faith-based organizations, from Scientologists to Buddhists to Catholics, have come together to produce a guide on addressing the spiritual and emotional needs of disaster victims.

The document was released by the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, an organization made up of 49 U.S. non-profit groups whose missions includes disaster response.

National VOAD brings the groups together to focus on the five stages of disaster: preparedness, relief, response, recovery and mitigation.

In 2008, these groups gave more than $200 million in direct financial assistance and volunteered more than 7 million hours of labor. While National VOAD works to restore homes and businesses after disasters, it also recognizes that spiritual, emotional and psychological trials may persist after the physical ramifications of a disaster have been addressed.

The diverse group of Catholics, Scientologists, Buddhists and Jews teamed up to form a 10-point set of minimum standards when dealing with survivors of catastrophes.

"As significant as the adoption of these points of consensus is the cooperation conversation that took place among these partners to form them," the Rev. Kevin Massey, a current National VOAD board member, said in a press release. "We did not start with consensus; rather, it was created through respectful conversation."

The Spiritual Care Points of Consensus address basic types of disaster care, and ethical standards of care, among other points. The document tries to set minimum standards for addressing the spiritual needs of those in the midst of disaster, as well as for relief workers.

The guidelines also warn against inappropriate proselytizing or evangelizing in disaster zones, as well as discrimination based on "culture, gender, age, sexual orientation, spiritual/religious practices and disability."

"Spiritual care providers refrain from manipulation, disrespect or exploitation of those impacted by disaster and trauma (and) respect the freedom from unwanted gifts of religious literature or symbols, evangelistic and sermonizing speech, and/or forced acceptance of specific moral values and traditions," the guidelines say.

Survey: Number of female senior pastors doubles in 10 years

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:51:04 GMT

(RNS) One in 10 U.S. churches employs a woman as senior pastor, double the percentage from a decade ago, according to a new survey by the Barna Group.

Most of the women -- 58 percent -- work in mainline Protestant churches, such as the United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Episcopal Church; only 23 percent of male senior pastors are affiliated with mainline churches, the survey said.

The UMC and its forerunner has ordained women for five decades; the ELCA and its predecessor has for almost 40 years, and the Episcopal Church has ordained women since 1976.

Barna's survey found that female pastors tend to be more highly educated than their male counterparts, with 77 percent earning a seminary degree, compared to less than two-thirds of male pastors (63 percent).

But male pastors still rake in larger incomes. The average compensation package for female pastors in 2009 is $45,300, Barna says, while males earn $48,600. The compensation gap has closed in the last decade, though, with females earning 30 percent more than they did in 1999, according to the survey.

Barna says the difference in pay rates may be attributable to congregation size. Churches with male pastors average 103 adults at Sunday worship, compared to 81 for female pastors.

The median age of female pastors rose from 50 to 55 in the last decade; male pastors' median age rose from 48 to 52.

Barna conducted the study by interviewing 609 senior pastors and balancing the sample according to the distribution of Protestant churches in the continental U.S. The range of sampling error was between 1.8 and 4.1 percentage points, according to Barna.

Graham's grandson will keep Fla. pulpit

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:49:31 GMT

(RNS) The Rev. Tullian Tchividjian, the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham, will remain as pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after dissidents failed in their attempt to oust him.

At a congregational meeting on Sunday (Sept. 20), members of the congregation rejected, 69 percent to 31 percent, a motion to end their relationship with Tchividjian.

"My family and I thank the Coral Ridge family for standing behind us and supporting me as your new pastor," Tchividjian said after the vote. "While conflict is never easily resolved, this matter was handled in accordance with our denomination's guidelines and we now look forward to moving forward with the work I believe God has called us to do in this community."

He succeeded the founding pastor, the Rev. D. James Kennedy, a prominent conservative religious broadcaster, who died in 2007. When Tchividjian was accepted as pastor in March by 91 percent of the voting members, Coral Ridge merged with the South Florida congregation he had founded, New City Church. Prior to Sunday's vote, supporters and opponents of Tchividjian's leadership aired their views in a process overseen by officials of the Presbyterian Church in America.

Dissidents, including Kennedy's daughter Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy, were upset that, unlike Kennedy, Tchividjian has shunned a clerical robe and chosen not to focus on political issues from the pulpit.

Jewish groups protest Iowa's Saturday caucus scheduling

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:47:43 GMT

(RNS) Moving Iowa's mid-term caucuses to a Saturday disenfranchises Jewish voters who can't participate in such events during their Sabbath, according to a letter signed by 18 national Jewish organizations on Friday (Sept. 18).

The complaint about the Jan. 23, 2010 scheduling was sent to Iowa Republican Chairman Matt Strawn and Democratic Chairman Michael Kiernan, who have each said that weeknight caucuses have historically made it difficult for working people and parents to participate in the political process.

The parties have not decided, however, whether the events would be moved to Saturdays permanently, including for the first-in-the-nation 2012 presidential caucus.

There are fewer than 6,500 Jews in Iowa, less than 0.3 percent of the state's population, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives -- and not all of them are registered voters or strict observers of traditional Sabbath prohibitions. But the numbers shouldn't matter, said Ethan Felson, vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

"One would hope that the people planning this would note that an action that disenfranchises an entire constituency could be avoided," he said. "There are absentee voting opportunities with other kinds of elections, but you can't participate in a caucus absentee, or volunteer for your candidate."

The JCPA successfully advocated to move Nevada's 2007 caucuses from a Saturday; Jews previously lobbied to have Saturday elections rescheduled in Connecticut, Ohio and elsewhere. Such complaints have been shared by Seventh-day Adventists, who also observe a Saturday Sabbath.

"This issue pops up every now and again," Felson said. "It's a matter of bringing it to everyone's attention, and asking them to change the date." More recently, some Jews questioned the Family Research Council's decision to hold its annual Values Voter Summit during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, Sept. 18-20. The only Jewish Republican in Congress, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., addressed the conference Friday morning, before the holiday began.

Zondervan to publish updated NIV Bible

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:44:40 GMT

(RNS) The copyright holder of the New International Version of the Bible said Tuesday (Sept. 1) it plans to release an updated version of the popular translation in 2011.

"As time passes and English changes, the NIV we have at present is becoming increasingly dated," said Keith Danby, CEO of Biblica, the copyright holder and translation sponsor of the NIV. "If we want a Bible that English speakers around the world can understand, we have to listen to, and respect, the vocabulary they are using today."

The NIV was created by the Committee on Biblical Translation, which began its work in 1965. Published by Zondervan, it has more than 300 million copies in print worldwide.

Previous versions of the NIV were published in 1978 and 1984. A decade later, an updated version known as the TNIV, or Today's New International Version, divided the evangelical community over its use of gender-inclusive language.

Douglas Moo, chairman of the Committee on Bible Translation, said in a news conference that the new edition will include a "complete review of every gender-related change since the publication of the 1984 edition."

He added that he is sure there will be pressure on translators to include or exclude certain language. "We recognize that not everyone will be happy with all the decisions that we make," he said.

Zondervan President and CEO Moe Girkins said she hopes the new version's publication, timed to the 400th anniversary of the King James Version, will boost interest and sales.

"We want to extend the reach of the English Bible and we believe that this update will meet the needs of a broader audience," said Girkins, who expects publication of previous versions of the NIV, including the TNIV, will be phased out after the publication of the new edition.

Russian Orthodox visit to Rome signals a thaw

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:42:36 GMT

MOSCOW (RNS/ENI) A Russian Orthodox official's five-day visit to Rome, including a meeting with the pope, is being seen as a sign of thawed relations between the two churches under Pope Benedict XVI and the new Russian Patriarch Kirill I.

Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion, who chairs external church relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, met with Benedict on Friday (Sept. 18) at Castel Gandolfo, the pope's summer residence. He also took part in a service at the Catacombs of St. Callixtus and spoke of the martyrdom of the early Christians in Rome.

"Now, when the Orthodox and Catholic churches are not in Eucharistic communion, and when many Protestant denominations have deviated from the fundamental principles of Christianity, we must understand clearly that division is a sin that tears apart the body of the church and weakens the strength of Christian witness before the secular world," Hilarion said, according to the Russian church's Web site.

During his visit, Hilarion also met with Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and Cardinal Walter Kasper, who heads the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Casper later told Vatican Radio that "the situation in Moscow has very much improved … We have overcome the tensions … We are in a new situation."

Through much of the post-Soviet era, relations between Moscow and the Vatican were tense as a newly resurgent Orthodox church accused the Vatican of proselytizing in the former Soviet Union. The late Pope John Paul II longed to visit Russia, but his requests were repeatedly turned down.

Relations remain tense between Moscow and Istanbul, where Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is considered the spiritual leader of world Orthodoxy. Moscow says Bartholomew's primacy is honorary and his jurisdiction does not extend beyond his own church.

Leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches have recently spoken of each other as allies in defending traditional spiritual values in the secular world, particularly Europe.

Signs now point to a meeting between Benedict and Kirill on neutral territory. Plans for such a meeting in Austria in 1997 between the late Russian Patriarch Alexy II and John Paul fell through at the last moment.

Last May, shortly after Kirill was elected to lead the Russian Church and Hilarion succeeded him in the external relations department, Hilarion told Ecumenical News International that "such a meeting is very close, as close as never before."

College students set for marathon C.S. Lewis reading session

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:40:39 GMT

MOBILE, Ala. (RNS) Students at the University of Mobile will begin reading aloud "The Chronicles of Narnia" on Thursday (Sept. 24) and won't stop until the story's completion on Friday.

Narnia is the magical kingdom entered through a wardrobe closet in C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," the first installment of the "Chronicles of Narnia" books.

Katherine Abernathy, associate professor of English at the school, said students will begin reading aloud "The Chronicles of Narnia" at 10 a.m. Thursday, continuing through the day and night until the story's completion.

A special invitation has been given to children who are being home schooled. Kathy Dean, the university's spokesperson, said there is a tradition of home schooled children ultimately attending the University of Mobile.

"This is a small, private Christian university with a lot of opportunity for creativity, for learning," said Dean. "It's attractive to students who've come up through the home school ranks."

The reading is being organized by Sigma Tau Delta, the English honors society, which has devoted past read-a-thons to classic novels from diverse traditions, including "Don Quixote," "Moby Dick," and "Crime and Punishment."

"‘The Chronicles of Narnia' really hit home for a lot of us with its Christian allegories," said Amber Collinsworth, the student who is president of Sigma Tau Delta.

"The themes of Christ's sacrifice and man's redemption found in C.S. Lewis' writings are timeless and applicable to our lives," she said.

"The allegorical elements of the books point to Christian ideals which many people guide their lives by today. The truths reflected in this book series are fundamental to the Christian faith."

Christian leaders urge sanctions against Iran

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:38:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (RNS) High-profile evangelical leaders and religious liberty groups called for get-tough sanctions against Iran on the eve of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday (Sept. 23).

The group, Christian Leaders for a Nuclear-Free Iran, sent a letter to Congress calling for sanctions on refined petroleum exports and a total arms embargo to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"For the world's most dangerous regime to obtain the world's most dangerous weapons is something that neither the United States nor the community of nations can allow," the leaders said to Congress.

The letter expressed the concern about a possible arms race among Middle Eastern and Arab nations in response to a nuclear-armed Iran.

The Christian Leaders for a Nuclear-Free Iran is made up of evangelical, Roman Catholic and other faith leaders, including (among others) religious broadcaster Pat Robertson of Christian Broadcasting Network, Catholic League President Bill Donohue, Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt and Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship.

Meanwhile, the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ), a religious liberty watchdog and affiliate of the American Center for Law and Justice founded by Robertson, urged the United Nations' human rights office to hold Iranian leaders accountable for recent human rights abuses.

The letter cites cases of prison abuse and torture, rape and an estimated 72 people who were killed during the protests after Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in June.

"It is clear that the Iranian government and its president have no respect for the human rights of its citizens," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ECLJ, in a statement, "It's time that Iran is held accountable for its serious and repeated violations of human rights and international law."

Quote of the Day: Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:35:35 GMT

(RNS) “There hasn’t been what I would, as a Christian, call repentance. We haven’t heard people saying, ‘Well actually, no, we got it wrong and the whole fundamental principle on which we worked was unreal, was empty.”‘

-- Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams speaking about the global economic downturn in an interview with the BBC on Tuesday (Sept. 15).