There is much that I can agree with in what Prof. Arlo Duba says in the two articles posted in the Outlook. There is great emphasis in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and the NT as a whole on inclusiveness…
Philadelphia (BOP) The chairman of a committee studying the issue of benefits for the same-sex partners of PC(USA) employees has said the panel’s deliberations will take more time than expected.
WARSAW, POLAND (ENI) The head of Ethiopia's Lutheran church has welcomed government efforts to curb a spate of attacks on Christians in the country, but warned that political extremists were attempting to incite violence between religious communities.
STERLING, VA. (ENI) They were moved when the first Muslim elected to Congress shed tears for a Muslim who died trying to save others on 9/11. They were irked by accusations from House members and annoyed when fellow Muslims maligned their faith. At times they were an "Amen" corner. At other moments, they jeered and glared at the images beamed live from Capitol Hill.
NEW YORK (ENI) Nearly two dozen U.S. Christian leaders are calling on the Obama administration to renew diplomatic efforts to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND (ENI) Historian Simon Schama says the sudden spread of “democratic liberation” in the Middle East should prompt discussion of whether secularism has a future in emerging democracies in the region.
WASHINGTON (RNS) Faith leaders with long-term ties to Cuban organizations are hailing a change in White House policy that reduces limits on religious travel to the island nation.
SAN FRANCISCO (RNS) A Chinese Christian should be given another chance in court after an immigration judge denied his request for asylum in part because he couldn’t answer “basic questions” about Christianity, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
LONDON (RNS) A Florida pastor who sparked fury when he threatened to burn a pile of Qurans on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has been officially banned from Britain for preaching religious extremism.
LONDON (Ecclesia) The increasingly targeted attacks on gay people in a number of African countries, which are thought to have led to the Jan. 27 murder of Ugandan gay activist David Kato, make it less likely gays will seek treatment for HIV infections, says the U.K.-based churches’ international development agency Christian Aid.
KHARTOUM (ENI) Now that voting has produced an almost unanimous call for secession, the head of the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) has backed a statement by the president of southern Sudan that the southerners should forgive the northerners for the deaths and atrocities of the 21-year civil war.
RICHMOND, VA. As the cold month of January drew to a close, so did the tenure of Martha Skelton, who had announced in mid-December her intention to retire from serving as associate editor of the Presbyterian Outlook. She completed six years of service.
Warsaw (ENInews) A senior Turkish Protestant has said his country's small Christian churches still face severe hardships, despite recent pledges by the government to improve protection of religious rights.
LOUISVILLE – The Rev. Gradye Parsons, General Assembly stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has written a letter to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, urging him to call off a plan to balance the state budget in part by de-unionizing state workers.
New York, 2 March (ENInews)--The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, best known as an imposing but beloved figure on the campus of Harvard University, where for many years he served as the minister of the university's Memorial Church, is being remembered as one of the era's great preachers. Gomes, 68, died 28 February in Boston of complications from a stroke he suffered in December.
I truly wanted to vote for a more concise, less cumbersome new Form of Government (“nFOG”). One that would inspire and send the church fully empowered and engaged in what God is doing in the world. But the proposed new Form of Government actually moves our church backwards, distracts us from actually doing ministry, and further illustrates our denomination’s disconnect with our culture.
Even if you are in favor of gay and lesbian ordination, you should vote against Amendment A, for three reasons. The same reasons pertain to battle-weary centrists eager to put the conflict to rest.
INDIANAPOLIS – What is next for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)? The 350-or-so folks who gathered in Indianapolis for the Next Church Conference, Feb. 28-March 1, know pretty much what it’s not going to be. Not a return to the 1950s … to rules and regulations and bickering …Click here to read full article.
