No room at inns as Bethlehem sees upswing and seeks investors

BETHLEHEM (ENI) — Unemployment has shrunk to 23 percent and hotel capacity is often around 100 percent these days, so things are looking up for Bethlehem says the head of the city's chamber of commerce and industry board.

"While some may gasp at the mention of 23 percent unemployment, when we have witnessed 45 percent unemployment, 23 percent is an improvement," said Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairperson, Samir Hazboun, at a recent meeting with journalists.

WCC members seek revitalization at Seoul meeting

GENEVA (ENI) — Sixty years ago, 147 churches met in Amsterdam to bring into being the World Council of Churches, which is now the world's largest Christian grouping. Today, the organization exists in a world where the landscape for Christianity and other faiths is changing.

At a service at the beginning of 2008 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the WCC, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I, who is often considered the spiritual leader of Christians from the Orthodox tradition, said churches should be prepared to confront their differences honestly, and to examine them in the light of the Scriptures.

University of the Ozarks receives $800,000 gift

University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark., has received a $800,000 gift from the Rogers Foundation in Fairfax, Va., to help expand and renovate its student center.

Scott Anderson enrolled as minister candidate

DUBUQUE, IOWA — The John Knox Presbytery voted here Nov.18 to enroll as a candidate for ministry an inquirer who declared a scruple to the denomination’s ordination standards.

All you need is love?

c. 2007 Religion News Service

Being a child of the 60s, my theology was shaped by those great British theologians, The Beatles, who announced good tidings of great joy: “All you need is love,” followed by “Love, love me do, you know I love you” and “She loves you yeah, yeah, yeah.”

She didn’t have the words

Always we are chasing words, and always

   words recede. 

But the greatest experiences are those for

   which we have no expression.1

U.S. panel criticizes abuse of religious liberty in Iraq

(ENI) — A government-backed independent U.S. commission has recommended that Iraq be designated "a country of particular concern" for what it calls "ongoing, severe abuse of religious freedom".

Survey says most Americans believe in multiple paths to salvation

(ABP) -- A majority of American Christians believe that at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life, says a new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Obama defends choice of evangelical Warren for inauguration

(ENI)--U.S. president-elect Barack Obama has defended his selection of evangelical leader and best-selling author Rick Warren to deliver the prayer at his 20 January inauguration, a move criticized by some gay groups and supporters of abortion rights, saying Warren opposes what they stand for.

Cut off Mugabe’s lifeblood, say Southern African Catholic bishops

(ENI)--The Southern Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference has called on all nations to stop colluding with Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe who is trying to stay on as president of his country that has been reduced to pauper status under his rule.

Terri Bate to head GAC’s funds development ministry

LOUISVILLE — Terri Bate, a veteran fundraiser who has worked for such non-profit organizations as Outward Bound and Habitat for Humanity, has joined the staff of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s General Assembly Council as the director of funds development ministry.

Israeli archaeologists work on “further evidence’” of Herod’s tomb

(ENI) -- Israeli archaeologists at Jerusalem's Hebrew University are working on what they believe is further proof that a site uncovered in 2007 is the tomb of  King Herod, the king of Judea, whose actions are noted in New Testament texts of the Bible.

Pastor calls for “un-blending” secular, sacred Christmas traditions

LEAWOOD, Kansas — A Baptist pastor thinks he has a solution to the dilemma about whether it's more appropriate to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" in secular settings like department stores.

Funeral Dec. 20 for Carl H. Geores

(PNS) Carl H. Geores, a champion for rural and small church ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for more than 50 years, died at his home in Monmouth, Maine, Dec.15. He was 86.

Memorial service Jan. 8 for Bruce Larson

(PNS) Bruce Larson, who served as pastor of Seattle’s University Church from 1980-1990 and then joined Robert Schuller as co-pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., died Dec. 15 at age 83. He had suffered for a number of years with Parkinson’s Disease.

World Lutheran leader ‘anguished and outraged’ over Zimbabwe

(ENI) — Lutheran World Federation General Secretary Ishmael Noko, has in a letter to Lutheran church leaders in southern Africa expressed anguish and outrage over the increasingly worsening crisis in Zimbabwe.

On Robert Mugabe's current leadership role in the country, Noko noted that while many Zimbabweans paid the ultimate price during the struggle for freedom from colonial rule, the "independent government that they fought for has turned liberation into repression, and finally into calamity."

Building houses of peace, bridges to the future

GHOST RANCH, N.M. — More than 80 “alumni” and their families gathered here recently for a reunion of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s “Junior Year Abroad” (JYA) program.

“I think it really made a difference, don’t you?” 96-year-old Margaret Flory commented to Bruce Rigdon about the program she originated in 1953. JYA prompted about 500 Presbyterian college students to study and serve overseas
for one year. Rigdon participated in Hong Kong as part of the first JYA group.

WCC invites applications for top executive position

GENEVA  — The World Council of Churches (WCC) has invited member churches and ecumenical partners to nominate candidates for the position of general secretary of the world’s largest ecumenical organization. The deadline for applications is Feb. 28, 2009.

         The general secretary is the organization's chief executive officer and serves as a spokesperson for the council. He or she is charged with the responsibility to interpret and promote the strategic vision of the WCC.

Love for Jesus Can Bring Christians, Muslims Together

“Behold! The angels said: ‘O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Jesus Christ,..

“New BLOG post from Michael Jinkins, dean of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary”

Last weekend I delivered the installation charge of my old friend Scott Black Johnston as he officially assumed the position of senior pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. A minister and member of the Presbytery of New York in the congregation that day suggested I share it with other colleagues so I decided to make it this week’s BLOG.