News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. July 6, 2001 [2001-177]
Christians and Muslims at odds over Nigerian constitution
(ENI) A leading organization of Nigerian Christians is urging that the country's constitution be strengthened to reinforce religious liberty in a nation experiencing tremendous tension between Christians and Muslims.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), an umbrella organization of the country's Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, expressed particular concern that Muslim governors in northern Nigeria are circumventing the section of the constitution that prohibits local and federal governments from adopting a state religion. CAN wants to strengthen the provision that prevents governments from enacting religious laws at odds with the country's secular status.
Thirteen states in the country have adopted and are implementing Sharia, the Islamic legal code, leading to religious clashes that have killed hundreds of people. With more than 100 million people, Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with Muslims in a majority in the north, Christians a majority in the east, and a mix in the southwest.
A committee appointed to review the constitution, written in May of 1999, said that the issue of the secular character of Nigeria had not been adequately addressed. It recommended that the constitution be amended to make the secular status clearer.
"Christians living in the affected states are with some historical justification fearful of misapplication of Islamic law to them, and fearful also of the fanaticism the new laws might encourage among Muslims," said Philip Ostein of Jos University, located in the northern part of the country.
Church communicators urged to support reconciliation
(ENI) "Lack of communication can indeed breed misunderstanding and exclusion," argued Eveline Herfkens, Dutch minister of development, in an address before the third congress of the World Association for Christian Communication in July. Yet she added that better communication was not "a kind of miracle cure that automatically leads from confrontation to reconciliation."
Church communicators need not concern themselves with preventing conflict, said Herfkens. "It's not confrontation we need to avoid but violence. Clashes between conflicting interests are perfectly normal, even in stable states.... It would be a very dull world without them. The challenge for society is to deal with conflict constructively," she said.
She warned that communications is sometimes used to reinforce the image of the other as the enemy. "This murderous spiral of distrust and disinformation must be broken to give peace a chance."
Preaching at the opening worship service at the congress, General Secretary Konrad Raiser of the World Council of Churches cautioned church communicators against making the world's conflicts worse. "Wherever Christian proclamation in word or in acts contributes to sharpening confrontation and conflict, it is in danger of betraying the ministry of reconciliation that has been entrusted to us," he said.
Founded in 1968, the WACC links media, educators and activists in 117 countries and supports programs designed to encourage the development of more democratic media.
Identity Project increases name recognition for Lutherans
(ELCA) A five-year project designed to increase recognition of the Lutherans in the general public has been successful, according to a random sample of the U.S. population.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) launched the Identity Project, a multimedia advertising campaign, "to help us measure public awareness of the Lutheran church and any change in the level of awareness since 1996," said Kristi Bangert, who managed the project as director for internal church communication and marketing.
The study revealed that those between the ages of 18 and 24 tended to mention mainline denominations less frequently than other age groups, but still the name recognition increased from 16 to 24 percent.
Those who identified the Lutheran church without prompting or looking at a list of churches increased from 25 to 30 percent. "That's remarkable and was one of the major goals of the Identity Project," said the Rev. Eric Shafer, director of communications for the ELCA.
The project also provided funds for advertising at the local level and 80 congregations reported increases in attendance-ranging from 3 percent to over 78 percent. At least 55 of the ELCA's 65 synods were involved in the project and at least 720 matching grants were provided to synods and congregations. More than 4,000 of the church's 11,000 congregations were involved. Aid Association for Lutherans, an insurance company in Wisconsin, provided $1.75 in matching grants and the ELCA Church Council allocated nearly $3.5 million to fund the project.
The project has a companion Web site in Spanish.
Anglicans sign accord with French Protestants
(ENI) With July 1 signing ceremonies in Canterbury and Paris, the main Protestant churches in France have entered a historic accord with the Anglican churches of Britain and Ireland. The Reuilly Common Statement commits the churches to sharing "a common life and mission" and commits them to take further steps leading to "full visible unity."
"We are writing a page of our churches' history and at the same time a page of the history of the universal church," said the Rev. Werner Jurgensen, an Alsatian Lutheran who was one of the chief negotiators for the agreement.
The Reuilly Statement echoes the Meissen Agreement of 1988 between the Church of England and the Evangelical Church in Germany, but stops short of the 1996 Porvoo Agreement that brought the Anglicans of Britain and Ireland into full communion with the Nordic and Baltic Lutheran churches. Porvoo permits the "interchangeability" of clergy, allowing them to preside at services of churches signing the agreement.
Anglicans and Lutherans in El Salvador continue search for unity
(ENS) Anglican and Lutheran leaders in El Salvador met in a retreat "for the purpose of continuing a process towards unity," according to statement released after the June meeting. The declaration pointed out that the search for unity follows the mandate of Christ and "is the impetus of our faith and practice in that our evangelical option is for pastoral commitment to the most needy of our society, especially in critical situations."
The declaration added, "Our clear decision is to continue our journey toward unity with the conviction that this movement is the will of God and that it responds to a history and authentic spirituality that permits us to share both pulpit and altar in a true ecumenical spirit."
Anglican Bishop Martin Barahona and Lutheran Bishop Medardo Gomez "share and are profoundly committed to this process of unity," the declaration said.
The declaration commits the two churches "to continue our service to the most needy; to carry through with the process already begun towards official union between both communions; to form a commission that will continue the process of unity between our churches."
The retreat was facilitated by Cristosal, a foundation that supports the Anglican Church of El Salvador.