Religious hostility declines, terrorism increases Religious hostility and restrictions around the world are declining for the second consecutive year, according to a Pew Research study. Religious restrictions and interferences from governments decreased from 28 percent in 2013 to 24 percent in 2014. But religion-motivated terror activities rose from 37 to 41 percent in 2014. Of the 198 countries in the study, 82 had religion-related terrorist activi- ties, with 60 of those encountering incidents that led to injuries or deaths.
Harrison re-elected as LCMS president Matthew C. Harrison was re-elected June 15 to a third term as president of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). The nomination process began in fall 2015 with a mailing to congregations. Then four weeks before its July 9-14 convention in Milwaukee, an electronic voting service was used to determine the next president. In a message to LCMS congregations, Harrison said his No. 1 priority as president will be “Every One His Witness,” the church’s new evangelism effort to “teach people how to share Jesus with those who don’t know him.”
Historic elections at PC(U.S.A.) assembly Denise Anderson (below, left) and Jan Edmiston were elected as co-moderators of the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in June. This is the first time the 1.6 million- member denomination’s top governing body was led by two women. J. Herbert Nelson was elected as PC(U.S.A.) stated clerk, the first African- American to hold the position. At the June 18-25 event, Presbyterians approved a new Directory for Worship; expressed deep regret for ways lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning people, “God’s beloved children,” have been led to feel they stand outside the grace of God and are unwelcome in the denomination; and passed several resolutions aimed to pressure Israel to leave territories it has occupied since its 1967 war with neighboring states.
LWF Council re-elects Junge
During the first worship service of the Lutheran World Federation Council meeting, Joachim Gauck, Germany’s president (right), shakes the hand of Munib A. Younan, LWF president and bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (left), with Martin Junge, LWF general secretary.
At its June 15-21 meeting in Wittenberg, Germany, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council re-elected Martin Junge, a Chilean theologian, as LWF general secretary.
In his report to the council, Junge emphasized collaboration among LWF member churches, which “makes them powerful advocates of peace, justice and reconciliation in a world facing frightening levels of violence, mistrust, radicalization and breakdown of relationships.”
This was the council’s last full meeting before the Twelfth Assembly of the LWF, to be held in 2017 in Windhoek, Namibia. In other action, the council: • Heard from Munib A. Younan, LWF president and bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, who urged member churches to engage in critical conversation about the communion’s foundations and its common responsibility. “The crises facing the world demand more than our politeness; they demand our action,” he said. “But we cannot act fully without interrogating our foundational assumptions and motivations.”
• Passed, on World Refugees Day, June 20, a resolution urging Lutherans worldwide to sign a U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees petition calling upon world leaders to show solidarity and find solutions for people displaced by war or persecution. Younan and Junge led council members in signing the petition.
• Took part in a pilgrimage of historic sites of the Reformation, witnessed the inauguration of a symbolic cross at the city’s Luther Garden, and received greetings from Joachim Gauck, the president of Germany.
RELIGIOUS NEWS & SOCIAL ISSUES •
LIVINGLUTHERAN.ORG 9
Photo by Danny Bolin, courtesy of PC(U.S.A.)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
