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WARC issues call to prayer and action for Gaza

LOUISVILLE — Leaders of the Geneva-based World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) have called upon member churches to pray for an immediate cease-fire and for “a lasting peace with justice in this region ...”

“None of the violence is acceptable,” said WARC President Clifton Kirkpatrick of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and WARC General Secretary Setri Nyomi — a Ghanaian Presbyterian — in their Jan. 7 statement, entitled “A Call to Prayer and Action to End the Violence in Gaza.”

U.S. university to examine religion’s impact on global human rights

(ENI)--The University  of California in Santa Barbara is to host what it says is a first-of-its-kind series of meetings between humanitarian organization leaders and scholars in international studies to examine the role of religion in human rights work around the globe.

The Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies at the university will conduct the research thanks to a $400,000 grant awarded by the Henry Luce Foundation.

Study on Vatican’s wartime diplomacy wins author top award

(ENI)--A new book on Vatican diplomacy during World War II that examines the stance of Pope Pius XII on the persecution of the Jews has been hailed as "a path-breaking study" that will shed light on a controversial issue facing the Roman Catholic Church.

The book by Charles R. Gallagher, a London-based Jesuit priest, tells the story of Joseph Patrick Hurley, a priest who was the first U.S. citizen to become a diplomat for the Vatican, and who found himself embroiled in debates about communism and Nazism during the build-up to war in the 1930s.

Stated Clerk issues statement on Gaza-Israel crisis: Parsons: “All violence in Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank must stop”

LOUISVILLE — Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons called Jan. 7 for an immediate end to the violence in Israel/Palestine and reiterated the church’s call for the “two-state solution” endorsed by the Bush administration and the World Council of Churches among many others.

Kenyan church leaders fear press gag is sign of coalition cracks

(ENI)--Some church leaders in Kenya fear cracks within the ruling coalition could worsen, if the parties fail to mend their differences and they say that laws seen as seeking to stifle free speech and muzzle the press reflect the tensions.

Roman Catholic Bishop Martin Kivuva Musonde of Machakos described a proposed media law as unfortunate, and urged an amendment of controversial clauses. "The State should not do what the majority of the population is against," Bishop Kivuva, a former journalist, told the Daily Nation newspaper January 5.

College Conference: A tech-savvy generation gets together

Market researchers have done studies on the generation of Americans who are now around college age, a generation sometimes known as Generation Y or the Millennial generation.

An information sheet that the international profession services firm Deloitte put out in 2005 included a list of characteristics shared by this younger sector of the population. “Techno-savvy” and “Connected … 24/7” topped the list. Farther down the page, the sheet included the statements “Never experienced life without computers” and “The world is a click away.”

Byzantium display stirs interest in Christian and Islamic culture

(ENI) —The Antioch chalice, regarded by some as the Holy Grail, the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, is attracting the attention of about 6,000 visitors each day at an exhibition in London depicting 1,000 years of the Byzantine Empire.

Churches in Sri Lanka rue ‘war mongering’ as rebels lose HQ

BANGALORE (ENI) — Sri Lanka's National Christian Council has urged religious leaders to speak out against "warmongering" following violent celebrations by majority Sinhala groups after government forces captured the headquarters of ethnic Tamil rebels at Kilinochchi in the northern part of the country.

Israeli aide says Norwegian church Gaza statement ‘one-sided’

OSLO (ENI) — The general secretary of the (Lutheran) Church of Norway's council on foreign and ecumenical relations, the Olav Fykse Tveit, says he was summoned to the Israeli embassy in Oslo after criticizing Israel's use of military force in Gaza.

Many injured can’t be reached says Gaza hospital director

(ENI) Civilians injured by bombings in Gaza are stuck in their homes without food and water, unable to seek medical attention, says the director of an Anglican hospital in Gaza City. Nurses working at the hospital are unable to reach their own injured children at home.

German Protestants in Luther’s heartland form united church

(ENI) Two regional German Protestant churches situated among many of the historic sites associated with the 16th-century reformer Martin Luther have merged to form the Evangelical Church in Central Germany.

“Simplicity theology” for sustainable future urged at Manila forum

(ENI) — A group of Christian leaders is pushing for a "theology of simplicity and caring" to bring hope to a "prodigal world" teetering under a burden of widespread economic crisis, and climate change that could submerge small islands in the Pacific.

PC(USA) Mission Yearbook launched in new formats

LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study, which dates back to 1892, is now available in formats never dreamed of by earlier generations of Presbyterians.

‘So help me God’ opponents seek to change U.S. swearing in

(ENI)--Supporters of a strict interpretation of the separation of church and state in the United States have filed a lawsuit seeking an end of the use of the term "so help me God" during President-elect Barack Obama's January 20 inaugural ceremony.

Malaysian Christians urge government to ease Bible restrictions

SINGAPORE (ENI) — Christians in Malaysia have urged the government to lift restrictions to allow the distribution of Bibles in the local Bahasa Malaysia language and also to ease restrictions on a Roman Catholic newspaper effectively barred from publishing in the mother tongue of most of the country's Malay majority.

College Conference: John Lewis, Civil Rights leader, to college students: “Find your passion”

MONTREAT, N.C.—Rep. John Lewis, the Democratic congressman elected by the state of Georgia, felt his calling early in life. When he was 8 or 9 years old he began to preach in the chicken yard of his home in Troy, Ala.[caption id="attachment_20072" align="alignleft" width="225"]John Lewis, U.S. Congressman and veteran Civil Rights leader, spoke to students on Sunday, Jan. 4, during the annual College Conference at Montreat, OUTLOOK photo by Catherine Williams.[/caption]

Campolo kicks off collegians’ conference

MONTREAT, N.C.—After months of planning meetings, Facebook campaigns, video blog posts and eager anticipation, the 2009 College Conference at Montreat Conference Center kicked off Friday in a very animated, and nearly full, Anderson Auditorium. Conferees greeted friends new and old as they swarmed into the first keynote session of the four-day conference on “Outrageous Generosity.” Students swayed and clapped to the soulful strains of “Wade in the Water,” played by a talented and as-yet-unnamed band from Nashville.

U.S. Christian leaders urge Obama to tackle Mid-East peace issue

(ENI) — A coalition of U.S. Christian leaders is calling on president-elect Barack Obama to “make achievement of Israeli-Palestinian peace an immediate priority” during his first year in office.

Uppsala: Faiths sign Uppsala Manifesto to demand action on climate change

(ENI) — Global faith leaders at a meeting in Uppsala, Sweden, have signed a document calling for an extensive and rapid reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the wealthy parts of the world.

Russian Orthodox leader Alexy II dies at 79

NEW YORK — (RNS) Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II, who shepherded his church through the rubble of communism but was unable or unwilling to heal a longstanding breach with the Catholic Church, died Dec. 5. He was 79.

Presbyterian Writers Conference scheduled April 23-24

The Presbyterian Writers Guild and author Cecil Murphey are sponsoring a Presbyterian Writers Conference April 23-24, 2009, at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga.

Mission pastors wrestle new world complexities

It’s a point of pride for many. Presbyterians have been involved in mission work across the globe for generations.