Presbyterians split
The National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, a nearly 2 million-member body, voted 116-22 to end a 139- year relationship with the 2 million- member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) over the latter’s decision to allow ordi- nation of partnered gays and lesbians. The decision could affect Presbyterian work along the U.S.-Mexico border, mission trips to Mexico and other part- nerships. The Mexican church also reaffirmed its position not to ordain women. It said that any Mexican pres- byteries that do so must immediately revoke the ordinations.
Green teams
More than 30 members of All Saints Lutheran, Cottage Grove, Minn., are responsible for tending the outdoor church campus by weeding, planting, trimming and watering. The “Gang Green Team” received a grant for a rain garden where more than 40 per- cent of runoff from the parking lot is gathered, filtered and reabsorbed into the soil. The church received the city’s commercial green garden award and an honor from a local gardening club. A “Go Green” team is now responsi- ble for assessing the church’s energy stewardship on a wider scale.
Double standard
According to “What It Means To Be American,” a study from the Pub- lic Religion Research Institute and Brookings Institution, there’s a double standard in beliefs about terrorists with a Muslim background and those with a Christian background. While 83 percent of Americans say people who commit acts of violence in the name of Christianity aren’t really Christians, 48 percent say those who commit acts of violence in the name of Islam aren’t really Muslims. Terrorists who claim to be Muslim really are Muslims, said 44 percent of those surveyed.
Deal on church property
Joel Ruml, chair of the Czech Ecu- menical Council, welcomed a draft settlement that allows churches in the Czech Republic to reclaim build- ings and land seized under communist rule. Ownership of those church prop- erties, seized in the 1940s and 1950s, has been disputed since the 1989 Velvet Revolution ended communist rule. Ruml said official legislation is expected to come early next year, with restitution beginning as soon as Janu- ary 2013. The settlement agreement also means churches would have to give up subsidies in a country where the state has paid clergy salaries since the 18th century.
Ratings for German clergy?
A website lets members rate Ger- many’s clergy on worship, work with seniors and youth, credibility and engagement with current issues. Top marks are given in sheep. Site co-founder Andreas Hahn said the ratings create “an open platform for dialogue between priests and the members.” But critics of the Hirten- barometer (shepherd barometer) said the website isn’t serious and allows anonymous comments. Although the website could be useful for a new- comer to the city, “you really need to go to a service and see for yourself,” said Christiane Bertelsmann, spokes- person for Protestant churches in Ber- lin’s city center district.
Trouble in Pakistan
Pakistan’s police said Shahbaz Taseer was kidnapped Aug. 26 in Lahore. Taseer, the son of a Pakistani politician assassinated in January for criticizing the country’s blasphemy law, and his family have continued to receive threats from extremists. Meanwhile, Islamabad police chief Bani Amin said an Islamic militant group named Tehreek-e-Taliban
COURTESY OF NANCY SCHMITT
Ringing out the faith At the Wittenberg, Germany, church
where in 1517 Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door, Erika Elbe (left), Cordula Hulbrig and Christina Zimmer- mann ring two octaves of handbells donated by Paradise [Calif.] Lutheran Church. Part of the New Castle Church Handbell Choir, the women took part in a handbells workshop led by St. James Lutheran Church and First Presbyterian Church Carillons Handbell Choir of Redding, Calif. The Americans traveled to Wittenberg in June to train adults and youth in the basics of ringing.
Pakistan engineered the assassina- tion of Shahbaz Bhatti, federal min- ister for religious minorities. Bhatti, a Roman Catholic, had pleaded for 10
Quote
I’d love to say that we atheists did it all ourselves; I’d love to be able to say that our dazzling wit and slashing rhetorical attacks are per- suading people to abandon orga- nized religion in droves. But the truth is that the churches’ wounds are largely self-inflicted. By obstinately clinging to prejudices that the rest of society is moving beyond, they’re in the process of making themselves irrelevant.
Author Adam Lee, writing at
Alternet.org about the growing popularity of atheism.
October 2011 9
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