News
By the staff of The Lutheran, ELCA News Service and Religion News Service
Biblical illiterates Three out of 10 British children have next to no understanding of the Bible, and their parents aren’t that knowl- edgeable either. A Bible Society sur- vey said most 8- to 15-year-olds didn’t know that Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark or Jesus’ birth were rooted in the Bible. More than a third of the 800 children surveyed didn’t know that David and Goliath and the story of the good Samaritan were Bible tales. Nearly half of the 1,100 parents surveyed failed to identify Noah’s ark as a Bible story, and more than one-third thought a Harry Potter plotline was or might have come from the Bible. “There is work to be done,” said Richard Char- tres, the Anglican bishop of London.
Serving our neighbors On Sept. 7, the ELCA will cel- ebrate its second “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday. “[This day of ser- vice] reminds us that we are church together for the sake of the world ...,” said Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton. “When one congregation or a group of congregations gather for service in their communities, they are the church in that place, tak- ing care of that part of God’s vine- yard. But this is all work that we do together. When one congregation works to feed people who are hungry, that is also the entire church coming together.” Congregations can start planning now by downloading a tool- kit at
www.elca.org/dayofservice.
Religious freedom A Pew Research Center report, “Reli- gious Hostilities Reach Six-Year High,” looks at which of nearly 200 countries and territories were the most repressive when it comes to religious matters. Nearly 30 percent
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MAI GAD/ACT/LWF/DCA
At Nyumanzi Settlement in Uganda’s Adjumani District, the Lutheran World Federation dis- tributes nonfood relief items to people displaced by the violence in South Sudan. Two settlements, Nyumanzi and Dzaipi, together house more than 50,000 of about 80,000 South Sudanese refugees (87 percent of whom are women and children) who have found shelter in Uganda.
Pray for South Sudan S
ince December, armed conflict and reports of mass killings in South Sudan have caused
nearly 900,000 people to flee their homes. The fighting began Dec. 15 after
Salva Kiir, the country’s president and an ethnic Dinka, dismissed Riek Machar, the vice president and an ethnic Nuer. To help South Sudanese refugees,
Lutheran Disaster Response com- mitted more than $700,000. LDR is working to help the Lutheran World
of the nations studied (with 64 per- cent of the world’s population) had high or very high levels of govern- ment restrictions on religion. The top 20, in order of ranking are Egypt, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Maldives, Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Somalia, Russia, Myanmar, Uzbeki- stan, Malaysia, Azerbaijan, Tajiki- stan, Pakistan, Brunei, Morocco and Sudan. Researchers said North Korea was missing from the list because they lacked the data needed for quan-
Federation and local partners in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Ethi- opia and Chad provide displaced people with food, water and non- food items. LDR asks for prayers for peace
and gifts. Send gifts (write “South Sudan Conflict” on the check memo line) to Lutheran Disaster Response, 39330 Treasury Center, Chicago, IL 60694-9300; or give by credit card at 800-638-3522 or
www.elca.org/ disaster.
titative study since the country is “effectively closed to outsiders.”
Prayers for Ukraine ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada National Bishop Susan Johnson joined two North American Anglican and Episcopal leaders in a March 5 call for peace and prayers for Ukraine. “We can- not remain indifferent in the face of the injustice befalling the people of
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