The Religion World

Faith leaders discuss childhood obesity at White House today

jeff kunerth — Thu, 31 May 2012 14:03:24 +0000

Twenty faith leaders from across the country will meet today at 10 a.m. with the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Office to discuss ways of engaging the faith community in the ongoing fight to end childhood obesity. The meeting with Let’s Move Advisor Sam Kass is hosted by the Campaign for Healthy Kids.

Among those scheduled to attend are:

Rev. Cynthia Abrams, Director, Alcohol, Other Addictions and Health Care Program, General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church
Barbara Baylor, Congregational Advocacy Office, United Church of Christ
Josselyn Bennett-Health Advocacy Director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
C. Louise Brown, Vice President, Health Ministries, Progressive National Baptist Convention
Martha Bettis Gee -Associate for Child Advocacy, Presbyterian Church USA
Miriam Burdett, M.D., Medical Director, African Methodist Episcopal Church
Doug Carlson, Manager For Administration and Policy Communications, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention
Rabbi Paul Drazen, Special Assistant to the C.E.O., United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Vincent DeMarco, National Coordinator, Faith United To End Childhood Obesity
Dr. Barrett Duke, Vice President For Public Policy and Research, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention
Mathew Ellis, Episcopal Church, Health Network Coordinator
Marlene Feagan, President, Health Ministries Association
Jane Givens, Presbyterian Health Network, Presbyterian Church
Jeanne Kahn , Women of Reform Judaism
Rev. Eileen Lindner, Chair, Health Care Task Force, National Council of Churches of Christ
Katia Reinert, Director of the Health Ministries Department, North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventists
Mike Rodgers, Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Public Policy, Catholic Health Association
Dr. Sayyid Syeed, General Secretary, Islamic Society of North America
Jim Winkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church

Don’t miss the Mass to Avert the Storms

jeff kunerth — Thu, 31 May 2012 13:57:09 +0000

On Friday, June 1, the first day of the official hurricane season, Orlando Catholic Diocese Bishop John Noonan will hold a Mass to Avert the Storms at 12:10 p.m., at St. James Cathedral, 215 N. Orange Ave., Orlando.

Noonan will pray for God’s protection from hurricanes, but also for God’s peace and protection from the storms of the heart, such as anxiety, fear and depression.

Benny Hinn and former wife reconcile

jeff kunerth — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:24:37 +0000

Path Magazine reports that former Orlando preacher Benny Hinn has patched it up with his former wife:

Popular televangelist Benny Hinn has officially announced that he and his former wife are on the path to reconciliation after the couple decided two years ago to end their 30-year marriage.

“Our God is a God of restoration and reconciliation. The cross is the ultimate symbol of His unending yearning to reconcile man to God and will be our only hope for healing. I know, for I experienced this healing when I gave my heart to my precious Master Jesus so many years ago; but I have experienced His healing touch more recently when He began His glorious healing work in my own family, as the process of restoration in my marriage has begun,” Hinn announced in a recent statement on his website. The charismatic leader revealed that the reconciliation process had started over Christmas.

Suzanne Hinn separated from Benny Hinn on Jan. 26, 2010 and filed a petition for divorce in Orange County Superior Court on Feb. 1, citing irreconcilable differences, court papers revealed…

Click Here to Read Full Report

Vatileaks: Did the butler do it?

jeff kunerth — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:34:51 +0000

Paolo Gabriele, valet to Pope Benedict XVI, was arrested May 25 for possessing secret Vatican documents. Gabriele is accused of leaking information about corruption and political intrigue inside the Vatican. He’s now cooperating with investigators.

Bishop Noonan anounces opposition to health care mandate today

jeff kunerth — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:46:39 +0000

Orlando Catholic Bishop John Noonan will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. today to announce a campaign to be launched over the summer to bring attention to the important issue of religious freedom and to mobilize people of faith into action, including the 400,000 registered Catholics from 92 parishes and missions in the Diocese of Orlando, which encompasses nine counties in Central Florida.

The press conference will be held at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, 6200 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando.

The Diocese of Orlando is hosting this ecumenical news conference to voice concerns over the Health and Human Services ruling that requires health care plans to include “services” such as contraception, sterilization and abortion inducing drugs for the insured. However, employers – even religious employers who are fundamentally opposed to these “services” – are required to participate.

The bishops of the U.S. have rejected this HHS mandate, insisting that it forces the faithful to pay for “services” which violate their religious convictions.

Also in attendance will be Terri R. Day, Professor of Law, Barry University Dwayne O Andreas School of Law; Bishop Louis Campese, Bishop Ordinary, Anglican Cathedral of the Incarnation; and Fr. Shenouda R. Kalleeny, St. Mary and Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church and other religious leaders.

House of worship of the week: Holy Cross Episcopal Church

jeff kunerth — Sun, 27 May 2012 12:00:40 +0000

Holy Cross Episcopal Church

Who: Holy Cross Episcopal Church

Where: 410 S. Park Ave., Sanford 32771

Phone: 407.322.4611

Website: www.facebook.com/sanfordholycross

Services: Sunday, 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

When founded: 1873

Members: about 450

Demographic: predominately white, middle aged and older

Religious affiliation: Episcopalian

Rector: Rev. Rory H.B. Harris

Sermon snippet: “Unless we see him coming out of the clouds just as he ascended from us, you are not to believe this person is Christ,” said Rev. Rory Harris. “Unless we see him coming out of the clouds we are not to believe anyone who says his is Jesus Christ.”

Tidbit: The first and oldest church in Sanford, Holy Cross served as a community center with a library, bowling alley, billiards table and motion picture machine.

“Does the Body of Christ Have AIDS?” forum on May 30

jeff kunerth — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:03:41 +0000

A forum on “Does the Body of Christ Have AIDS?” about HIV/AIDS awareness and the role of the church will be held at 7 p.m., May 30, at the Mills Building at Rollins College in Winter Park.

The forum is sponsored by Orlando Black Pride in partnership with the Center for Multicultural Wellness and Prevention, Rollins College and the Orange County Health Department.

The a panel discussion between local, state and national health officials, educators and religious leaders, will explore how the church can be a resource for providing HIV/AIDS awareness to help fight the stigma, fear, discrimination and homophobia about the disease and negative perceptions about HIV testing.

The forum will be held in the Galloway Room of the Mills Building, 1000 Holt Ave., Winter Park.

Moderated by media consultant Clarence Reynolds, the panel will include Dr. Kevin Sherin, director of the Orange County Health Department; Dr. Missiouri L. McPhee, district secretary of the 11th Episcopal AME Church; Rev. Makeba D’Abreu, director of programs at Balm in Gilead Inc.; Pastor Brei Taylor, founder of Oasis Fellowship
Ministries; Ron Henderson, statewide minority AIDS coordinator for the Florida Department of Health; and Aleisha Langhorne, public health advisor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The event is free and open to the public.

The initiative is the first collaboration for the four organizations presenting the event and will be held as part of Orlando Black Pride week, May 29 through June 3, at various venues throughout Orlando. To register to attend the forum, contact Katherine Chatman at the Center for Multicultural Wellness and Prevention, 321-278-4365; or email her at kchatman@cmwp.org

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, African-Americans are the racial/ethnic group most affected by HIV in the United States. In 2009, they comprised 14 percent of the population, but accounted for 44 percent of all new HIV infections. Lack of awareness about the disease in the African-American community and resistance to testing are part of the reason for those new infections.

Some activists and advocates believe black churches should play a role in preventing the spread of HIV.

In addition to educating African-American and Hispanic clergy about HIV/AIDS to reduce the stigma of the disease and dispel myths surrounding it, the event will provide HIV testing to participants.

Orthodox rabbis rail against the Internet

jeff kunerth — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:53:22 +0000

About 40,000 Orthodox Jewish men filled New York’s Citi Field on May 20 for an impassioned rally against the evils of the Internet, according to the Jewish Daily Forward.

“[The people Israel] has arisen like a lioness protecting her cubs,” said Rabbi Ephraim Wachsman, a well-known Orthodox lecturer.

The Internet, Wachsman said, is “changing who we are…You can see it in the ebbing eyes of the younger generation, of the jittery inattentiveness of our children, in the flippant and callous language and attitude, the cynicism … the unbelievable breaches of [modesty],” in Orthodox communities.

The story goes on to note: Despite the rabbis’ inveighing against technology, many of those in attendance carried Blackberrys, iPhones and digital cameras. At the Carroll Street subway stop in Brooklyn two hours before the event’s scheduled 7 p.m. start, a dozen men in black hats gathered discussed the directions they had found on the online map site HopStop.

Mitt Romney and the re-branding of Mormonism

jeff kunerth — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:00:12 +0000

Bloomberg writer Noah Feldman writes about how Mitt Romney’s candidacy is re-writing the narrative of Mormonism in America — especially as how it is viewed by evangelicals:

…as a Mormon, Romney is a participant — indeed, he is the most important participant — in the long-term project of convincing mainstream American Protestants that Mormonism is a normal denomination like all the others. Given this historic opportunity to “normalize” Mormonism, Romney is acting not opportunistically but on deeply felt principle. By embracing evangelicals and being embraced by them, he is bringing Mormonism into the denominational scheme that characterizes mainstream American Christianity.

Read the whole story here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-20/in-romney-mormons-see-path-to-christian-mainstream.html

Black pastor who supported gay marriage about to lose his church

jeff kunerth — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:59:40 +0000

In 2005, a black pastor of a United Church of Christ congregation stood in support of same-sex marriage at the UCC’s General Synod. His side won, but upon returning to his small church in St. Paul, Minn., Rev. Oliver White found a congregation split by his decision.

Immediately, membership in the Grace Community United Church of Christ began to decline.

Today, burdened by a large debt and small congregation, the church faces the loss of its building.

“Technically, we should be packing,” White told Religion New Service reporter Lauren Markoe.

Read Markoe’s whole story here: http://www.religionnews.com/faith/clergy-and-congregations/church-that-stood-up-for-gay-rights-faces-closure