http://www.wfn.org/ Official news releases of national and world faith groups en-us http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00143.html Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:05:06 -0600 Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00142.html Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:05:06 -0600 Each week, new stories are posted to Reporter Online, the Web-based version of Reporter, the national newspaper of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. New this week are: =09 * Structure task force to present to districts =09 * Vandals hit LCMS church =09 * CPH offers new Christmas resources http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00141.html Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:05:06 -0600 NEW YORK =96 Archbishoop Demetrios of America, invited by the Most Reverend Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, will deliver the Sixth Annual Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua Lecture in Pastoral Theology at the Roman-Catholic Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, on Sunday Nov. 23 at 3:00 pm. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00140.html Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:50:07 -0600 In Sri Lanka, the conflict between the army and Tamil rebels has caught the civilian population between a rock and a hard place. Although the world turns a blind eye, Christian global advocates say churches should insist that attention be paid to victims caught in the violence. For several years, a civil war in Sri Lanka has placed in opposition a government dominated by the Sinhalese majority population and rebels who claim to defend the rights of the Tamil minority. Defenders of human rights protest that this war is being fought at the expense of the civilian population, with displaced peo http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00139.html Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:35:03 -0600 An international ecumenical delegation of church representatives will pay a solidarity visit to churches, ecumenical organizations and civil society movements in Haiti from 24 to 28 November. The team will visit the capital Port-au-Prince and areas affected by recent hurricanes. The visit aims to express solidarity with the Haitian people and listen to the churches in the country. Through visits to local Christian communities, civil society organizations, humanitarian agencies and political representatives, the international ecumenical representatives will learn about their concerns and hopes http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00138.html Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:30:15 -0600 Religious freedom and interreligious dialogue will be on the agenda of an international ecumenical delegation visiting Pakistan from 24 November to 1 December. The group will discuss how churches can help ease political and religions tensions with representatives from churches, the Muslim community and government officials. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00137.html Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:30:03 -0600 Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00135.html Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:30:03 -0600 In what Long Island, N.Y., police are calling a hate crime, 37-year-old Marcelo Lucero was stabbed to death by a group of seven youth on Nov. 8, 2008. Police say Lucero was targeted by the youth who wanted to beat up someone who looked Hispanic. Lucero, a native of Ecuador, moved to the Long Island village of Patchogue 15 years ago. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00134.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:10:16 -0600 President George W. Bush today announced the recipients of the 2008 National Medal of Arts, the nations highest award for artists and arts patrons. The Jubilee Singers from the UCC-related Fisk University and 8 other recipients will receive medals presented by the President and Mrs. Laura Bush in a ceremony at the White House. The National Endowment for the Arts manages the National Medal of Arts nomination process and notified the artists of their selection to receive a medal, the nations highest honor for artistic excellence. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00133.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:15:05 -0600 The Northern Virginia chapter of Lutherans For Life (LFL) invites other pro-life supporters to join its members, Synod President Gerald B. Kieschnick, and the LCMS Sanctity of Human Life Committee for the Jan. 22 March for Life in Washington, D.C., and several other march-day activities. That chapter also is offering to help arrange complementary housing through host families for out-of-towners who join the Lutheran delegation. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00136.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:15:05 -0600 Addis Abeba (Aethiopien)/Genf, 19. November 2008 (LWI) - VertreterInnen von Mitgliedskirchen und Partnerorganisationen des Lutherischen Weltbundes (LWB), die vom 13. bis 17. Oktober an einer globalen Diakonie-Konsultation in Addis Abeba (Aethiopien) teilnahmen, haben Ihre Unterstuetzung fuer bereits bestehende kirchliche Sozial- und Entwicklungsdienste zum Ausdruck gebracht und gleichzeitig eine Reihe von Wachstumsbereichen fuer die Zukunft herausgestellt. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00132.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:15:05 -0600 Threats to peace and security around the world ought to give urgency to the quest for Christian unity, says Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC). Does the church have a moral voice or credibility when our divisions are so visible? he asked during an address at the Civilization of Peace =96 Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue conference in Nicosia, Cyprus, on 18 November. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00131.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:30:03 -0600 CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The economic, political and social decline in Zimbabwe has taken a disastrous toll on the countrys food supply and medical institutions, including four hospitals of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ). To help sustain the services of the hospitals, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is providing $600,000 to the ELCZ. The ELCA is allocating another $330,000 for the purchase of 90 metric tons of seed and fertilizer to help secure food production. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00130.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:20:09 -0600 CORRECTING the date of Eastern Christmas in the last paragraph. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00129.html Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:35:06 -0600 Episcopal Life Online is available at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/elife. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00128.html Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:50:03 -0600 LONG BEACH, Calif. =96 The Metropolis of San Francisco, under the leadership of Metropolitan Gerasimos, welcomed to the Los Angeles area, Archbishop Demetrios of America who made a two-day visit, Nov. 13-14. Archbishop Demetrios received an honorary doctoral degree from Loyola Marymount University in the afternoon of Nov. 13. Later that evening the community of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of Long Beach welcomed Archbishop Demetrios and the local hierarch Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco. Fr. John Roll, along with parish president George Demos, Philop http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00127.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:45:03 -0600 Three settings of the United Church of Christ have filed a legal petition before the Supreme Court of California to challenge the validity of the voter-approved Proposition 8 which ended same-gender marriage in the state. The General Synod of the United Church of Christ, as well as the UCCs Southern California =96 Nevada Conference and Northern California =96 Nevada Conference, joined other religious bodies in filing litigation on Nov. 17 that argues that Proposition 8 amounted to a constitutional revision because it took away a fundamental civil right. In California, a constitutional revisi http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00124.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:35:03 -0600 As you know, the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to fester. Much is still underreported. In addition to the crisis in the Goma region, there are two areas of rebel activity in Congo which have not hit the news: the Dungu area, in the north, where the Lords Resistance Army has attacked villages and abducted adults and children in recent weeks, and also the Gety/Aveba/Nyankunde region, close to Bunia, where a new militia group emerged in late September and displaced many people from their homes. http://www.wfn.org/2008/11/msg00126.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:20:08 -0600 UVIRA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 18 November (BWNS) - A war close a t hand and myriad financial and security challenges did not stop nearly 800 people from reaching a historic Bahai conference in Uvira. Most of the participants came from the DRC, but 13 were from Burundi and fo ur from Rwanda.