News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. February 6, 2003 [2003-025-1]
Columbia astronaut Brown was Episcopalian
(Beliefnet) "If I'd been born in space I would desire to visit the beautiful Earth more than I ever yearned to visit space. It's a wonderful planet," wrote Capt. David Brown to his parents in the last e-mail they'd receive from him.
Brown was close to his parents, visiting their Virginia home often--once to deliver a computer so they could receive his e-mails from space. Raised Episcopalian, he was an acolyte at his Arlington, Virginia parish. His father is now an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Washington, Virginia. At the request of his father, Capt. Brown spoke to the church's Brotherhood of St. Andrew--a men's fellowship group--during one of his visits. "He made a wonderful presentation," recalls Trinity's rector, the Rev. Jennings Hobson. "I saw a truly happy, passionate, caring person." Brown was a member of an Episcopal church near his home in Texas, according to Hobson.
Episcopal churches across the nation are mourning the loss of the shuttle crew; in Texas, several Episcopal churches are directly in the pathway of the debris. Many NASA employees and their families are parishioners at St. Thomas the Apostle in Nassau Bay, Texas, where a Saturday night prayer vigil was held.
In Lufkin, Texas, the rector of St. Cyprian's included a dedicated Eucharist for the astronauts and their families in his Sunday service. The Collect for Burial was read from the Book of Common Prayer, and in many churches, the names of the astronauts were included in the Prayers of the People.
Jerusalem's Anglican bishop threatens to sue Israelis over church bombing
(ENI) The top ranking Anglican cleric in Jerusalem is threatening to sue the Israeli government if it refuses to pay compensation for the bombing of a church in Gaza City last month.
Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal said he would have no choice but to take legal action if Israel did not fund the costs of repairing St. Philip's Episcopal Church, located within the Ahli Arab Hospital complex. "I am going to put a claim into the Israeli government and I hope that they will come to terms with compensating the church so that we will rebuild, renovate, repair the damage that was done," he told ENI. "But if they don't apologize and pay for the damage they have done, I will have to take them to court."
Riah was reacting to the strike against the church and the hospital on January 24. Israeli Brigadier-General Tzvika Fogel claimed that Israeli helicopters had fired five missiles at a suspected Palestinian weapons factory but that two of the projectiles had malfunctioned, one of them landing in the "vicinity" of St. Philip's.
Riah, however, took a different view of the events. "Well, certainly I was shocked, not because the missile missed its target and hit our church, but because we were targeted as a church," he said. He estimated the damages to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, including damages to the hospital. "The roof will have to be changed, the walls will have to be rebuilt," he said. "And with the [recent winter] rains and no roof, the damage will be far greater than when it was hit on January 24."
The bishop said the military strike had demonstrated once again how deeply the Arab Christian community was caught up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Neither the church nor its followers were immune from the fighting, he said.
Anglicans number only about 10 among the estimated 3500 Arab Christians living in Gaza, the bishop said, and it was a community worth fighting for. "Certainly they [Christians as a whole in Gaza] are a small minority. But the ministry in Gaza goes beyond its smallness, and the services are greatly appreciated, not the least of which is the hospital, which has been operating for more than 100 years," he said.
The Anglican church is also active in other parts of the area, including Ramallah, where it runs a school, and it has a medical facility at Nablus, also more than 100 years old. There is also an Anglican school and cathedral in Jerusalem. Across the Holy Land, there are 34 Anglican institutions, employing about 1500 people. The Diocese of Jerusalem, which includes Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, embraces about 7500 members.
Riah said the importance of the Anglican church operating in the troubled Middle East should not be underestimated. "We provide hope in a hopeless situation," he said.
European church leaders at emergency meeting reject war on Iraq
(ENI/NCC) A high-level emergency meeting of European church leaders in Berlin has rejected the use of military action against Iraq, saying that a war would have "unacceptable humanitarian consequences" including the possibility of unleashing a civil war and major unrest in the whole Middle East region.
"We appeal to the Security Council to uphold the principles of the UN Charter which strictly limit the legitimate use of military force," said the church leaders in a statement presented in Berlin just hours before US secretary of state Colin Powell was due to address the Security Council in New York on the issue of Iraq. "We deplore the fact that the most powerful nations of this world again regard war as an acceptable instrument of foreign policy," said the church leaders from more than 10 European countries who were joined by church leaders and envoys from the United States and the Middle East.
The church leaders said military force was an "inappropriate means to achieve disarmament of any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction" and UN weapons inspectors needed to be given the time to complete their work. But they also called on Iraq to "comply with binding UN resolutions," destroy any weapons of mass destruction, co-operate with UN weapons inspectors and guarantee human rights for all its citizens. "The people in Iraq must be given hope that there are alternatives to both dictatorship and war," the church leaders said.
The Berlin meeting was convened by the Geneva-based World Council of Churches and hosted by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Germany's main Protestant body. The bishops, church presidents and officials who came to Berlin for the meeting gathered to pray for peace in a central Berlin church that had been destroyed in the Second World War and later rebuilt.
The church leaders met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, one of Europe's most outspoken opponents of military action against Iraq. Schroeder, whom the National Council of Churches delegation said spoke "frankly and clearly," reaffirmed his intention to maintain Germany's stance that there is no compelling reason to rush to war with Iraq. He emphasized that he "is no pacifist" but that Germany believes "war should not be just one more tool" to be used routinely, the delegates reported.
Schroeder reminded the church officials that he had staked his career on changing German foreign policy to allow the deployment of 10,000 troops now on the ground in Afghanistan and the Balkans, but that his government did not think the use of military force would be useful in the Iraqi case. The delegation said Schroeder emphasized that Germany is not taking an "anti-American" position, nor does it lack a commitment to fighting terrorism. He said Germany simply disagrees on the necessity of going to war with Iraq, they reported.
Meanwhile, news agencies reported that Germany's foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, will have a meeting February 7 with Pope John Paul II, who has said that a war with Iraq would be a "defeat for humanity."
"What was striking about this meeting was the complete and firm unity of the church leaders in opposing a pre-emptive war on Iraq. I hope the statement will receive the support and endorsement of many other European churches also," said the Rev. Keith Clements, general secretary of the Conference of European Churches, who will present the statement to Chancellor Schroeder.
Speaking before the Berlin gathering, Manfred Kock, the head of the EKD, called on the international community and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to do everything in their power to avoid a war.
The church leaders who met in Berlin came from Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and from the Middle East.
The Berlin meeting came amid continuing warnings from churches, church leaders and humanitarian organizations around the world about military action against Iraq. In Britain, the new archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has also warned against war with Iraq, despite the strong support given to the US stance by Prime Minister Tony Blair. At the World Social Forum in Brazil in January, German Lutheran Bishop Margot Kaessmann said: "When US President Bush says that Iraq must disarm, I agree. But I would go a lot further than that: in fact the world must disarm, including the United States."
Believers worried new law could force churches to keep atheists on staff
(ENI) Some Christians are aghast at possible legislation that could force churches in Britain to keep atheists or even Satanists on their staff.
The Equal Treatment Directive, a piece of European Union legislation that Britain plans to adopt later this year, bans employment discrimination on grounds such as religion, belief or sexual orientation. The legislation would allow churches to claim an exemption when appointing staff on the basis that Christian belief is essential to the ethos of the organization. The evangelical Christian Institute says, however, the exemption will not apply when dismissing staff--meaning that people who might lose their faith or take up another faith could not be removed.
Churches that refuse to appoint or promote practicing gays and lesbians will also be vulnerable to legal action, and even discussions of why homosexuality is seen as wrong could prompt a lawsuit for harassment, according to the institute.
Parish clergy will be exempt from the directive because they are not viewed as employees.
The director of the Christian Institute, Colin Hart, said the British government was planning to "squeeze churches into a secular mould." He described it as "outrageous" that while churches would not be able to dismiss a staff member who became a Satanist, political parties could dismiss an employee who switched sides. Meanwhile, Paul Roberts, a lawyer in a Christian legal practice, believes the provisions of the Equal Treatment Directive could be used to muzzle churches which proclaim the faith. He said the directive's definition of harassment "raises the specter that reasoned presentation of evangelical Christian views could amount to harassment of, for example, a Muslim or a homosexual."
Professor Ian Leigh of Durham University, a human rights lawyer, said: "The government regulations place the modern concept of equality over and above religious liberty."
US Christian leaders take step towards new church alliance
(ENI) Christian leaders working to expand ecumenical unity in the United States have taken a further step towards creating a new national body of churches.
Fifty-five church leaders representing 30 denominations agreed at a meeting on January 29 in Pasadena, California, to form a new alliance, which currently is being called "Christian Churches Together in the USA." The new body is intended to include Episcopalian (Anglican), Evangelical, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.
Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the Reformed Church in America and a leading figure in the efforts to create the new alliance, told the Associated Press the Pasadena meeting represented "a remarkable breakthrough."
Neither the Roman Catholic Church--the single biggest church in the US--nor many Evangelical or Pentecostal bodies belong to the US National Council of Churches (NCC), the nation's main ecumenical grouping.
Robert Edgar, the NCC's general secretary, has made expanding the US "ecumenical table" a priority since he became head of the NCC in 2000, but it is still unclear how the creation of the new group will affect the NCC. Some church leaders have said they doubt there would be a need for the NCC if a broader ecumenical grouping were formed. An NCC spokesman told ENI it would require several more years of work to determine how the new group would operate, the form it would take and what role it would play. No decision has been made by the NCC on the matter.
The Pasadena gathering followed meetings in 2001 and 2002 and included a representative from the Southern Baptist Convention --the biggest US Protestant denomination--which is not an NCC member and up until now had not participated in the talks.
Anglican-Baptist conversations continue in Caribbean setting
(ACNS) A Caribbean phase of international conversations between Anglicans and Baptists was held in Nassau January 26-28 2003. The regional meeting follows four previous phases held in Norwich (for Europe) in 2000, Yangon (for Asia/Pacific) in 2001, Nairobi (for Africa) in 2002, and Santiago, Chile (for Latin America) earlier in January 2003. Participants came from Bahamas, Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago, representing their respective churches and joined the members of the "continuation committee" which is conducting these regional gatherings on behalf of the Baptist World Alliance and the Anglican Communion.
On the first evening, the Most Rev. Drexel Wellington Gomez, Archbishop of Nassau and Primate of the Church of the Province of the West Indies, and the Rev. Peter Pinder, Baptist Regional Secretary for the Caribbean, welcomed the delegates on behalf of the local churches.
The Anglican and Baptist representatives gave an overview of the life of their respective communions in the Caribbean. Papers were presented on "Anglican Life in the Caribbean," "Baptist Life in the Caribbean," "Colonization, Liberation and the Mission of the Church in the Caribbean (Baptist and Anglican)," "Eucharistic Theology (Baptist & Anglican)," "Anglican Identity," and "Baptist Identity."
The plenary discussion drew together rich insights from the Caribbean context and related them to the themes emerging from previous regional conversations: continuity and story; recognition and acceptance; contextual mission and ministry; baptism and Christian initiation; membership and community; oversight and episcope; and confessing the faith. Many common concerns from Baptists and Anglicans were shared with regard to the "Caribbeanization" of witness and worship. In reflecting on the story of Baptist and Anglican life in the Caribbean, many perspectives were shared on the ways to choose which external influences to welcome and which to resist.
The meeting included shared prayer and devotions conducted by Baptist and Anglicans and also Holy Communion in Holy Trinity Anglican Church. The meeting was hosted by the Diocese of Bahamas and Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Nassau. The participants were guests for dinner at the home of Archbishop and Mrs. Gomez and also at the home of Ruby and Kendall Nottage.
The next phase will be held in September 2003 in North America. There is a continuing committee consisting of four Anglicans and four Baptists who will draft a report following the regional meetings to be submitted to the Anglican Consultative Council and the Baptist World Alliance by 2005.
Church of Uganda commissions a $10 million project
(ACNS) The Church of Uganda has commissioned a $10 million project expected to guarantee the welfare of Christians and clergy of the Church. Until now, church workers in Uganda have had to retire without any pension or retirement benefits. The president of the Republic of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, who was also the chief guest at a gathering that brought together civic, political and religious personalities, contributed $170,000 towards the project.
During his talk at the ground-breaking ceremonies, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Livingstone Mpalanyi-Nkoyoyo, called for the unity of all God's people as they work on various projects such as the new Church House.
Drawing from the sad history of the murder of his predecessor, Archbishop Janani Luwum, who laid the foundation stone of the Church House in 1977 to mark 100 years of Christianity in Uganda, Nkoyoyo said, "Janani was a remarkable servant of God. His humility grew as he recognized and responded to the darkness through which his people were travelling in those days."
Janani devised the Church House project as a way for Christians to respond to the world. "This was meant to serve as a symbol of our unity," said Nkoyoyo, "as we face what [former] Archbishop Carey has wisely called, the 'nitty-gritty changes and chances' of this fleeting world."
Nkoyoyo also recalled Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' words in an essay on "Different Christs." "'In the Church,' Williams said, 'There is a strong temptation to draw lines in the sand and regard those who disagree with us as beyond the pale.'"
"But this is not the Christ who calls us," Nkoyoyo said. "The Christ who calls us instructs us to love our enemies, and, as Archbishop Williams says, '...to love even what may seem the pale shadow of his face in other people's minds, because compared with the light of his glory all our thoughts are shadows.'"
Cyprus and the Gulf issue statement on Iraq
(ACNS) The Synod of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf met last week and unanimously affirmed the following statement about Iraq:
The Synod of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, representing the Anglican Churches within the region, can find no theological or humanitarian justification for the proposed invasion of Iraq. We strongly disagree that is the solution to the present stance of the Iraqi regime or for the suffering of the Iraqi people. The Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf encourages people of all faiths within the region to work together for lasting peace and justice for Iraq.
Alpha takes to the screen
(God TV) The internationally acclaimed Alpha Course will be screened on Sky Digital on Friday evenings beginning February 7. According to statistics compiled by the Christian Research Organization, more than 1.3 million people in the UK have already completed the Alpha Course. Now satellite TV viewers will be able to watch it on the GOD Channel (Sky 671).
The Alpha TV series, which will run for 15 weeks, follows the same topics as those discussed in the 24,000 Alpha groups running world-wide, helping viewers to explore the meaning of life. The screening of the complete Alpha Course follows the success of an ITV 10-part documentary hosted by Sir David Frost, who described it as "a phenomenon--an extraordinary story."
Presented by the Rev. Nicky Gumbel, the Alpha series on the GOD Channel kicks off with "Christianity: Boring, Untrue and Irrelevant?" and includes such questions as "How can I make the most of the rest of my life?"
"We have heard so many wonderful stories of people whose lives have been changed through Alpha in churches of all denominations," he said. "I'm delighted the Course is to be broadcast on the GOD Channel. It is a partnership which I believe will give many more people the opportunity to explore the meaning of life."
Alpha is aimed at people who don't go to church, offering a practical introduction to the Christian faith. It has swept Europe, Africa and the USA and is now in 130 countries around the world. For more information about Alpha, visit www.alphacourse.org. For more information about the GOD Channel, visit www.god.tv.
ERD helping families impacted by World Trade Center disaster
(ERD) Episcopal Relief and Development is continuing its commitment to help people affected by the September 11, 2001 tragedy through the Long Island Council of Churches. The council is providing financial support to households economically impacted by the World Trade Center tragedy.
"We learned soon after the terrorist attacks that numerous households directly impacted by the tragic events of September 11 did not qualify for assistance from other agencies," said Sara Weiss, director of development for the Long Island Council of Churches. "These are people such as airline employees, limo drivers, people employed in the financial or information technology industries before 9/11, or people who worked for small businesses in lower Manhattan," said Weiss.
Episcopal Relief and Development has given a $20,000 emergency grant to the Long Island Council of Churches to provide housing, food, utilities, medical prescriptions, and other basic needs for individuals and families economically dislocated by the September 11 attacks.