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Beliefs in the afterlife grow with age, survey shows

(RNS) As Americans get older, their confidence in an afterlife increases, according to a recent survey of people over 50 conducted by American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the advocacy group for seniors.

Seventy-three percent of older people believe in life after death, and two-thirds of those believers say that confidence has grown with age, according to the survey.

But while 86 percent of respondents say there is a heaven (70 percent believe in hell), they were split on what it looks like and if humans go there. Forty percent of those who believe say heaven is a place, while 47 percent think heaven is a "state of being."

"Americans see life after death as a very dynamic thing," said Alan F. Segal, a professor of religion at Barnard College, in the AARP article. "You don't really hear about angels and wings, sitting on clouds playing melodies. ... They talk about humor in the afterlife, continuing education, unifying families -- like a retirement without financial needs."

While most people believe that heaven exists, and about nine in 10 of them say they'll end up there, they are less sure about others. People who believe in heaven say an average of 64 percent of others will get there, too.

Other findings in the survey:

·         Women are more likely to believe in an afterlife (80 percent) than men (64 percent).

·         Income matters: Of those who believe in an afterlife, 90 percent of those earning $25,000 or less believe in heaven, compared to just 78 percent of people with an income of $75,000 and above.

·         29 percent of those who believe in a heaven think one must "believe in Jesus Christ" to enter. Twenty-five percent believe "good people" go to heaven, and 10 percent think everyone is admitted.

The survey was conducted by telephone between June 29 and July 10. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

By the numbers: 2006 statistics help shape current face of PC(USA)

(PNS) Active membership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) continues to decline, decreasing by more than 46,000 in 2006, and the number of people being baptized also continues to slide, according to statistics.

Membership went from 2,313,662 in 2005 to 2,267,118 in 2006, according to the annual statistics compiled by the Office of the General Assembly (OGA). The numbers also show that fewer adults, 946 less, and children, 234 less, were baptized in 2006.

David C. Hancock, 93, died August 1 in Minnesota

(PNS) David C. Hancock, a longtime leader in Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) efforts to minister with people suffering alcohol and drug addictions, died Aug. 1 in a Minneapolis nursing home. He was 93.

Guide to go: Elders told to be leaders in mission

NASHVILLE - Love. Go. Guide.

Corey Schlosser-Hall wants Presbyterian elders to use that job description to help the church take a turn toward mission.

Schlosser-Hall, an elder and executive presbyter of North Puget Sound Presbytery, picked the verbs from the greatest commandment and the great commissioning - love and go - and added 'guide' to the list of elder duties, as in guiding a ship through shoals and reefs.

Church council welcomes release of kidnapped Koreans

Tokyo, 31 August (ENI)--The National Council of Churches in Korea has welcomed the release of 19 Korean Christians who were kidnapped in Afghanistan and held by the Taliban for more than 40 days.

'We hope that the event [the kidnapping] will be a start of enabling us to do more effective and safer services and missions,' said the Rev. Kwon Oh-sung, general secretary of the national church council in South Korea.

'For that purpose, after the victims of the abduction return safely, we will make efforts in various ways such as holding a major debate,' Kwon said in a statement.

Dangerous elders: ‘Claim ministry for your own,’ first-ever national conferees told

NASHVILLE-- The Rev. Gradye Parsons laid down the challenge from the very start of the first-ever National Elders Conference Wednesday.

"We want to create a bunch of dangerous elders," Parsons said, elders "who know what the ministry of being an elder is about and want to claim that ministry for their own."

Part of that role is that of worship leader. Melva Costen and the Rev. Rhashell Hunter, presenting together, thanked the 330 elders in attendance for, as Hunter called it, "saying yes when (pastors) come to you with big puppy dog eyes."

Costen, one of the denomination's foremost authorities on worship and music, noted that centuries ago both men and women from Africa, the Orient and Native American culture were respected as elders because they "had their fingers on the pulse of the community. Can they say the same about us today?"

Worship, witness and service are inseparable, Costen said. "We live as we worship, and we can't lead without realizing that."

Norway’s Christians, Muslims agree on conversion between faiths

Oslo, 24 August (ENI)--The signing of a declaration between a group representing Muslims and another, Christians in Norway, that supports the right to convert between faiths without harassment, is the first pact of its type in the world they say.

The Islamic Council of Norway and the (Lutheran) Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations on 22 August jointly declared that everyone is free to adopt the religious faith of their choice.

Court Says Minister Should be Rebuked for Lesbian Wedding

(RNS) A mid-level court of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has overturned a lower court ruling and ruled that a lesbian minister should..

JH&H Weekly News Update – Earthquake in Peru

The Joining Hearts & Hands News Update has been reserved this week for a special message from Linda Valentine, Executive Director of..

Bob Edgar evaluated after ‘saving’ National Council of Churches

(ENI) Edgar is returning to Washington, D.C. to head up Common Cause, a grassroots advocacy group for good governance, with 36 state organizations and nearly 300 000 members. He knows the city well from his time as a member of the U.S. Congress from 1975-1987.

Among his accomplishments during eight years at the NCC: more focus on fewer initiatives; some allegiances with Christian evangelical groups on issues such as the environment and poverty; and, a sturdier financial footing for a body that some, even Edgar, feared might shut down, given years of financial problems.

In a recent interview with Ecumenical News International, Edgar, 64, acknowledged that in his first year in office, 'I wasn't sure it was salvageable.'

His achievement is begrudgingly noted by some opposed to the liberal political position they see held by the United Methodist minister and former lawmaker, who is also a former seminary president.

Charlotte Presbytery collecting funds for Peru earthquake relief

The Latino Ministries of the Presbytery of Charlotte is collecting financial donations to help the victims of the earthquake in Peru (more..

Kudzu creator Doug Marlette dies in car crash

Doug Marlette, the cartoonist whose beloved character Kudzu charmed, and perhaps comforted, a generation of readers, died recently in Mississippi as the truck he was riding in evidently skidded off the road and crashed into a tree. From all evidence, Marlette died instantly. Word was that he was traveling from an airport to assist young people in an area school who were planning a performance of a musical based on the Kudzu character.

I am sure that many readers of the Outlook opened the funny papers to see what antics their southern adolescent hero was up to. Or perhaps they wanted to know what advice Momma had for her son. Again, the odds are, that for religious readers, the second most important part of the cast was the Rev. Will B. Dunn, whose advice and preachments Kudzu sought. Then there was the car mechanic, Uncle Dub, who never lifted his head from the engine he was repairing.  

Dunn, some say, was modeled on the noted Baptist preacher Will Campbell, whose folksy ways and trenchant commentary on American life caused rejoicing among some and rage among others.

In the South, it is not unusual to see preachers rise to prominence on their strongly presented views, and flamboyant style, rather than on their education and scholarship. Still, folks held the clergy in some regard. I can witness to that myself, as ribald stories ceased in the barbershop when I entered, only to resume when I left.

Marlette probably held some ministers in high regard, and the preacher at the Bypass Baptist Church is subjected to the kind of friendly criticism we might offer well-meaning bloviators in the religious or political scene. In fact, I understand that Marlette himself was not only a Christian, but an Episcopalian, until a novel he wrote was construed by the priest of his congregation as an attack on his very self. From that point on, we are told, Marlette and his family attended a small United Methodist Church at which his funeral was conducted.

There are many news reports, and more than a few editorial comments, on the life and work of Doug Marlette. So, I will not repeat details. However, it is worthwhile noting that his funeral was attended by a variety of writers, both liberal and conservative.  

Marlette was a cartoonist of the first water. He was also a novelist. A recent speech I read, which was offered at his son's school, Durham Academy, approaches the challenges to well-born youth with intelligence, imagination, wit, and love. I would love to have heard that address.

My friend Vaughn Earl Hartsell, once an editor at large of this magazine, had met Marlette, and enjoyed his work. On a trip to Mississippi to participate in the interment of the ashes of a close friend, he had the opportunity to view not only the place where the fatal crash occurred, but to view the horrible remains of the Toyota Tacoma in which Marlette was a passenger. He was able to rescue some CDs holding some of Marlette's work, and return them to the grieving driver of the vehicle. While I am at my desk, I can look at, and listen to, a youthful singer voice Kudzu's yearnings and wisdom by way of a copy.

Well, he was just a cartoonist, one might say. He was that. He was more. He was in the direct line of Jesus of Nazareth, who evidently loved a good story, and could be very witty at times. Looking at the practitioners of religion, he could declare that they "strain out gnats and swallow camels." Without drawing a picture on paper, Jesus proves himself the master of the cartoon, which in a few frames captures a piece of wisdom for now, if not for the ages.

Alas, the local morning paper I read, noted for its liberalism and its sustained rage, did not carry Marlette's strip. I believe that now and then his editorial cartoons might appear, to the delight of those who love to see pomposity deflated, with humor, and not with malice. The comic pages have, sadly, been reduced in size these days, and perhaps the quality of earlier politically slanted strips is not as high as L'il Abner, and Little Orphan Annie, which often provided a clever editorial slant on this or that issue.  

Who will take Marlette's place? Is there some person out there who can, with a few deft strokes of a drawing instrument, capture for the brief time it takes to read (and view it) some facet of life that desperately needs examination? If so, I wish for his or her appearance, and hope that our local newspaper will deign to carry it.

Visitors and villagers experience help and hope in Honduras

Down the highway, dodging potholes, we pass yet another bicycle struggling up a hill, firewood strapped to the back. Turning into town, the road becomes dirt. Chickens scoot to the side, letting us pass. A malnourished dog darts across the street, stopping to lick the salt off a discarded wrapper of chips. Time here moves as slowly as the bus negotiating puddles and driving around an oxen-pulled cart hauling adobe blocks.

It's my second visit to Jesus de Otoro, a community of approximately 20,000 in the central mountains of Honduras. Six years ago, a group of Presbyterian churches in Michigan and Indiana along with a Christian Reformed Church in Iowa began working together to improve life in this community while sharing the love of Jesus Christ to its residents. This is the eighth visit for some in our group.

Small church on a mission

South Plains Church in Keswick, Va., was surrounded by clotheslines and baby caps flapping in the breeze on June 10. Inside the sanctuary, baby caps were used to create flower arrangements and colorful wreaths. The baby caps, all 1,866, were dedicated that day as part of the church's mission commitment through the Houston-based Medical Benevolence Foundation, which partners with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The caps are hand knit by church members.

As part of the worship service on June 10, members young and old held the long line of caps and joined in singing "Jesus Loves Me." The church's pastor, David K. Garth, pronounced the benediction in the churchyard.

200 years of black Presbyterianism celebrated July 11-15 in Philadelphia

(PNS) With praise and singing that shook the roof, more than 500 African-American Presbyterians recently came together for a spirited, worship-filled bicentennial celebration marking the birth of black Presbyterianism in the United States and sounding hope for the future.

The historic 200th anniversary gala, featuring rousing sermons and gospel music that brought participants of all ages to their feet, was the focus of the 39th National Black Presbyterian Caucus convention, which was held here July 11-15.

The NBPC elected new officers at the meeting. The Rev. Gregory Bentley, pastor of Brown Memorial Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., is the new president. The Rev. Karen Brown, executive director of the Family Life Center at Madison Avenue Church in Baltimore, Md., is the new vice president. Joan Alston, a member of Westminster Church in Sacramento, Calif., is the new secretary. Incumbent Warren McNeill of Philadelphia remains treasurer.

The five-day event, whose theme was "Celebrate Our Heritage and Embrace Our Hope," was a homecoming too -- deliberately convened in the city that on May 24, 1807, became home to the nation's first African-American Presbyterian congregation: First African Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia.

A special Sunday worship service at First African church was held on the convention's final day to commemorate the congregation's 200th anniversary.

The Antioch Partners, missionary sending alliance, operational

Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship and The Outreach Foundation joined in a strategic alliance last year for the purpose of sending missionaries. This alliance, now called The Antioch Partners, has begun operating.

A few less deaths: Volunteers give aid on Mexico border

Looking for dead bodies was not what they had in mind when they joined.  Whether they work with Humane Borders, Samaritans, No More Deaths or Borderlinks, each volunteer aims to save the lives of migrants struggling to survive the Arizona desert. But when the call came in, telling of the probable death of Prudencia Martin Gomez, an 18-year-old Guatemalan woman, they turned from rescue mode to recovery mode. They went searching for her remains.

The call came through channels from her fiancé, a resident of northern California. He had found steady work there, so Prudencia decided to surprise him by migrating there herself. Lacking the immigration papers, she linked up with a group of migrants who successfully made their way across the border and began their trek -- a hike of 60-70 miles -- to the area of Tucson. With the group she journeyed on foot nearly 60 miles through the dry, hot desert.  But she developed a heavy menstrual flow. Her strength began to give out.  So the others found a spot to leave her, an area of soft sand under a tree that provided some shade.  They left plenty of water and electrolytes with her. They studied the terrain around her, noting the numbered telephone pole not too far away. 

L.A. church helps launch New Sanctuary Movement

"Immanuel joined the New Sanctuary Movement as a pastoral issue first and as a political issue secondarily," says Frank Alton, pastor of Immanuel Church in Los Angeles.

The national debate about undocumented immigrants is not simply an "issue" for Immanuel Church. Undocumented immigrants not only represent a significant part of the congregation's membership but its leadership as well. "Their status in this country impacts every area of their life," according to Alton. Pastorally he has come to realize that "there is no way to minister effectively to that part of [the] congregation without addressing immigration as both a pastoral and a political issue."

As a response, the church has joined the emerging New Sanctuary Movement. The movement is "a coalition of interfaith religious leaders and participating congregations, called by our faith to respond actively and publicly to the suffering of our immigrant brothers and sisters residing in the United States," according to its pledge.