Oklahoma immigration law: First step in wrong direction?

The issue of immigration reform continues to stymie politicians at the national level, and to be a matter of honest disagreement at the grassroots.

But in Oklahoma, the legislature has pushed through some of the toughest rules in the nation opposing illegal immigration, and some religious leaders are concerned about the impact the new law could have on their ministry with the poor and dispossessed. And even stricter legislation will be up for consideration in the state early in 2008.

Taizé urges young people to promote church unity

(ENI) Geneva -- The leader of the Taizé community urged tens of thousands of young Christians from Europe, who gathered in Geneva at the New Year to organize "vigils of reconciliation," for unity between churches that are divided from each other.

"How can we be credible in speaking of a God of love if we remain separate?"

Brother Alois, prior of the ecumenical Taizé community said in his meditation at a televised prayer service on December 30 at Geneva's Palexpo exhibition center:

Pope and WCC head Kobia to pray together for Christian unity

GENEVA(ENI)-- Pope Benedict XVI and the Rev. Samuel Kobia, the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, will meet in Rome on 25 January, at a ceremony to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

         The WCC said in a statement on 21 January that Kobia will meet the Pope in a private audience along with members of the Joint Working Group of the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC, during a yearly working group meeting in Rome from 21-26 January.

Christians worldwide mark 100 years of prayers for unity

Geneva, 17 January (ENI)--Believers in many parts of the world are preparing for the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which this year marks the 100th anniversary of an initiative to promote unity between Christians of different traditions. The week of prayer for 2008 is using the theme 'Pray without ceasing', a Biblical verse from St Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 5:17).

         The week offers local churches and congregations belonging to different Christian traditions, an opportunity to exchange prayers, or to join together for prayer for prayer and worship. In many parts of the world the week is marked from 18 to 25 January, but in some places in the southern hemisphere, another time is used, such as the period of Pentecost.

Wheeler, Mouw decry ‘bumper sticker’ theology: Auburn, Fuller presidents model mutual respect despite theological disagreement

PASADENA, CA -- "How will we draw anyone else to us if we don't show them that there is some extraordinary power in Jesus Christ?" asked Barbara Wheeler, president of New York's Auburn Theological Seminary, at a public forum here sponsored in conjunction with Fuller Theological Seminary and hosted by Pasadena Presbyterian Church. 

         The forum -- entitled "Repairers of the Breach" -- was the latest in a series of public dialogs that Wheeler and Fuller President Richard Mouw have shared over the past seven years, coming together to discuss their differences, but perhaps more importantly to model the ability to come together in the midst of theological disagreement.

         "I hope that both sides can build enough trust to learn and to do some good things together," Mouw said. "This mutual learning and cooperative doing requires both sides, or more accurately, all sides, since we don't divide evenly into two, to cultivate some important sensitivities."

Evangelicals to media: Stop pigeonholing us

Exit polls only ask Republicans faith question "Are you an evangelical?"

Prominent evangelical leaders have called on media outlets to correct flaws in their presidential primary exit polls by asking only Republicans that question. The result is "pigeon-holing evangelicals as beholden to the Republican Party," according to their letter made public today.

PC (USA) Pakistan missionaries safe after latest bombing in Lahore

LOUISVILLE -- All Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission personnel in Pakistan are reported safe after the latest bombing in Lahore, which killed at least 22 people and injured scores more today (Jan. 10).

Ishmael Beah shows what hope can do

MONTREAT, N.C. --  If Hope* ... *has a voice, as the theme of the conference went, then 800 students attending the College Conference at Montreat in western North Carolina got to encounter as vivid an example as they might ever hear or see on January 5. Ishmael Beah, author of the best-selling A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, showcased for the students how a wrecked child's life had been turned from killer to humanitarian, thanks to the efforts of a few ordinary radicals. 

         Beah delivered a plenary address in the morning and responded to questions in an afternoon session.  In his address, he told his story in two chapters: his old life and his new life. They couldn't be more different.  The old life took shape when a band of young rebels engaged in his nation's civil war arrived in his small Sierra Leone town. Soon this 12-year- old was far away from his home and parents, toting an AK-47, taking drugs (marijuana, amphetamines, and a toxic mix of cocaine and gunpowder), wandering around with a band of trained teen and pre-teen hoodlums. He cannot count the number of people he killed in the ensuing two years. He had become a brutal killing machine.

An ever-present witness: A message to the PC(USA) from the General Assembly stated clerk

LOUISVILLE -- As I write this column, the Iowa caucuses are set to take place. What seems to be the longest Presidential campaign ever is about to enter an important stage as voters begin to make public their choice for the person who will fill the Oval Office next January.

            As negative as I fear the campaign will most likely become before it's over, it pales drastically in comparison to other parts of the world that are also in election seasons.

            The assassination of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto just days before a scheduled election is one heart-wrenching example. The violence has ended, according to PC(USA) mission coworkers Robert Johnson, Jr. and Marianne Vermeer, but the tension and uncertainty continue.

George F. Barber III resigning Montreat Conference Center presidency

MONTREAT -- George F. Barber III announced today his resignation as president of the Montreat Conference Center effective February 15. He will be available for consultation through April 30.

         In his resignation letter, Barber said that he and his wife, Wanda, "feel we have completed the chapter of leadership God intended us to bring here and are confident that it is time for us to move on. We are excited about the new phase and potential for our lives."

Vatican tells missionaries good works aren’t enough

VATICAN CITY -- Roman Catholic missionaries should aim to win souls and not restrict themselves to humanitarian good works, the Vatican said Dec. 14.

A new 19-page document, which was personally approved by Pope Benedict XVI, draws on a controversial Vatican declaration he issued in 2000 that asserted Catholics alone have "the fullness of the means of salvation."

Grassley says no hearings on ministry financing, subpoenas planned

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is investigating the finances of six prominent evangelical ministries, said Dec. 7 he doesn't plan to hold hearings on any individual ministry and hopes he won't have to subpoena any of them.

But in response to critics who wonder if his investigation into alleged lavish spending is too broad, Grassley said he simply expects tax-exempt ministries to follow the law.

Sweden gears up for interfaith climate summit in 2008

Nusa Dua, Indonesia (ENI) -- The (Lutheran) Church of Sweden says it is to convene an interfaith climate summit in Uppsala, Sweden immediately before a United Nations climate change conference in Poland in 2008.

"On the basis of my experience here in Bali, I am all the more convinced this kind of initiative is absolutely urgent," the Rev. Henrik Grape, sustainable development officer at the Church of Sweden told Ecumenical News International, during the final stages of the December 3-14 UN climate change talks in Bali, Indonesia.