Keep it simple In an effort to ensure a more sober ritual, the Vatican urged its bishops to clamp down on singing, moving around and other casual expressions of affection when the sign of peace is exchanged during mass. Some years ago, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the need for simplicity and restraint in sharing the peace: “Nothing is lost when the sign of peace is marked by a sobriety which preserves the proper spirit of the celebration, as, for example, when it is restricted to one’s immediate neighbors.”
Rabbi tapped for post President Barack Obama in July said he plans to name Rabbi David Saper- stein as the next ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, the first non-Christian to hold the job. Named as the most influential rabbi in America by Newsweek maga- zine in 2009, Saperstein will head the State Department’s Office of Inter- national Religious Freedom and will be tasked with monitoring religious freedom abuses around the world.
COURTESY OF LWF/MARK BROWN
Medical mission to Gaza Taking advantage of a cease-fi re in early August, the Lutheran World Federation’s Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem sent a team of fi ve physicians and nurses (above) who traveled voluntarily to the Gaza Strip to help alleviate the suffering. A seven-member team followed. Augusta Victoria also opened up 16 beds for war casualties. During an Aug. 1 visit with patients brought to Jerusalem hospitals, Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land told them to “continue in their faith and to trust God, who is a God of love. We pray that justice will prevail in this country.” In August, ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response gave $100,000 for Augusta Victoria’s medical response in Gaza and Jerusalem.
Portico increase
When the board of trustees of Portico Benefit Services met July 31-Aug. 2, it approved an 11 percent increase in the 2015 ELCA Primary and Medi- care Primary health contribution rate for employers, effective Jan. 1, 2015. In an Aug. 3 statement, Por- tico noted that the increase is “due to
higher than expected health claims incurred by plan members and their family members, as well as expected increases in future health-care costs.” Portico is also reinstating the disabil- ity contribution (suspended in 2014) at 2.5 percent of defined compensa- tion, higher than the 2013 rate of 0.8 percent. To learn more, visit https://
porticobenefits.org.
“ JIM WEST
A call for limits on burning oil Leah D. Schade (in black clerical), pastor of United in Christ Lutheran Church in Lewisburg, Pa., participates in a rally supporting President Barack Obama’s proposed limits on burning coal to generate electricity. She was one of a dozen or so Lutherans participating. The rally took place July 31 in Pittsburgh, where the Environmental Protection Agency was holding hearings on the proposal.
There’s still angst in the pews, but if they listen more
to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John than to Rush Limbaugh (American radio talk show host), they’ll act with compassion toward these children.
Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, speaking to The New York Times about evangelicals’ response to the flood of unaccompanied migrant children along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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