News


ELCA sends more funds for Haiti C


ontinuing to respond after Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake, the


ELCA released $525,000 in Novem- ber to help the Lutheran World Fed- eration contain a cholera outbreak. The ELCA also sent $50,000 for


emergency aid directly related to Hurricane Tomas, which struck the country in November, exacerbating health and food security issues. According to a Dec. 18 CNN report, fears of cholera contamina- tion were preventing many from harvesting and buying much needed rice crops.


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building. According to the Seattle Times, the center—in partnership with other community agencies—will serve some 15,000 people annually.


Religion’s role declining Seven in 10 Americans say religion’s influence on the country is waning, and 61 percent say they belong to a church or synagogue, equaling the lowest number since Gallup began asking the question in the 1930s. “Although views that religion was increasing its influence were high- est during the Republican adminis-


Quote


Sometimes I think evangelicals come at people so hard and so fast and don’t take time to listen to where somebody is. We can just try to have a lighter touch sometimes.


Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Christianity Today.


trations of Eisenhower, Reagan and George W. Bush, this political con- nection does not appear to be the primary explanatory factor,” said Gallup’s Frank Newport. A variety of social, political and economic trends are likely factors in Americans’ view of religion’s clout, he said.


See how you’ve helped A video series features the stories of four individuals whose lives have been impacted by gifts to ELCA World Hunger. The videos average six minutes in length to allow for view- ing during Sunday morning offerings, temple talks, adult forums and youth group events. Included in the free DVD is a four-minute segment that introduces the work made possible by gifts to World Hunger. For more infor- mation, visit www.elca.org/hunger.


Tree falls on church


Members of Creator Lutheran Church, Bonney Lake, Wash., in January continued to repair extensive damage from a tree that came down


10 The Lutheran • www.thelutheran.org “In Port-au-Prince, 1.4 million


people still reside in camps, and within the camps, hygiene, sanita- tion and clean water are scarce,” said Megan Bradfield, associate director, ELCA International Devel- opment and Disaster Response. The LWF is distributing hygiene supplies to people in camps and schools, training workers to help control infections and helping to establish emergency treatment cen- ters for cholera victims. Find updates on the work at www.elca.org/disaster.


during a November windstorm. The tree smashed through the roof, break- ing a beam and rafters and destroying much of the church’s fellowship hall. It broke several waterlines in the ceil- ing, sending water everywhere. Fenc- ing and playground equipment were damaged, and the preschool had to be temporarily moved. The church was insured and a donation covered the deductible.


Friends help pew sitting Close friendships among church mem- bers seems to be the key to happiness among religious people, according to the Faith Matters Survey of U.S. adults. One-third of Americans who attend religious services weekly and have three to five close friends in the congregation said they are “extremely satisfied” with their lives.


Hot off the griddle IHOP, the restaurant (IHOP.com), is no longer mixing it up with IHOP, the church (IHOP.org). The restaurant chain dropped a trademark infringe- ment lawsuit against the Kansas City, Mo.-based International House of Prayer in December. IHOP restaurant spokesperson Patrick Lenow said the pancake purveyor voluntarily dis- missed its suit in hopes of “resolving this matter amicably.” In the lawsuit filed in September in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the restaurant claimed church leaders “intended to misappropriate the fame and notori- ety” of IHOP to promote their church, well, like hotcakes.


‘Christianophobia’ After 21 Christians were killed New Year’s Day in a car bombing outside a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Christians to “persevere in the faith and in the witness of nonviolence.” He denounced this and other out- breaks of what he called “Christiano-


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