UMC proposes restructure Speaking of the United Methodist Church’s proposed restructuring, Council of Bishops President Larry M. Goodpaster told fellow bishops Oct. 31, “We cannot maintain the sta- tus quo.” The proposal would consol- idate nine of the denomination’s 13 general agencies into one Center for Connectional Mission and Ministry, governed by a 15-member board of directors and a 45-member advisory board. The UMC will consider the proposal at its spring 2012 General Conference in Tampa, Fla. Leaders hope restructuring will revitalize congregations and reverse declining membership and giving trends.


More oppose death penalty More than one-third of Americans now oppose the death penalty—the highest level in nearly 40 years, according to a Gallup poll. Those who believe the death penalty is being applied fairly and those who say it isn’t used often enough are at the lowest levels in a decade, under- scoring significant changes in atti- tudes. The 35 percent opposition is the highest since March 1972.


Call for climate change Calling for a moral response to cli- mate change, leaders of Canadian Lutheran and Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Baha’i and other faith groups sent a joint letter to the U.N. Climate Change Conference. Signatories urged the conference, which meets Nov. 28 to Dec. 9 in Durban, South Africa, to agree upon and implement


Quote


Three presidential candidates claim God has chosen them to win. ... At least two are wrong, and I’m guessing three are.


Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church in State, in accepting an award from the Roosevelt Institute in Hyde Park, N.Y.


For more news, visit www.thelutheran.org/feature/december


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“a binding international agreement replacing the Kyoto Protocol that commits nations to reduce carbon emissions” and contribute govern- ments’ funds to help “the poorest and most affected countries to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.” Read the “Canadian Inter- faith Call for Leadership and Action on Climate Change” at www.cpj.ca.


Antidiscrimination law hailed As they welcomed a statute against sexual discrimination in Colombia, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia Bishop Eduardo Marti- nez and Anglican Bishop Francisco Duque began planning ways to com- municate the law to members. In a statement on a Lutheran radio sta- tion, the two warned against fun- damentalist readings of the Bible, saying: “Nobody can be discrimi- nated against, for any reason, much less because of issues of gender and sexuality.”


Judge slips away


Threats from Islamic fundamental- ists forced a Pakistani judge to go underground in October. The judge had imposed a death sentence on the police officer who assassinated Salman Taseer after the Punjab gov- ernor criticized a Pakistani blas- phemy law that makes it a crime to insult Islam. Michele Chaudhry, a Roman Catholic and spokesperson for All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, said this is the “danger faced by any- one who is seen as opposing the blas- phemy law.”


Shearing for a sheep


Halfway through last summer’s Alpine Lutheran Church mission trip, a youth approached Andy Berry, pastoral intern at the Rockford, Ill., church, about having his hair buzzed into a Mohawk as a fundraiser for ELCA World Hunger (www.elca. org/hunger). Berry was reluctant, but the group wore him down and he agreed if they’d raise $125 to buy a sheep for God’s Global Barnyard. By the end of the day, they’d raised $1,377. Berry said this was the fourth and largest World Hunger drive involving Sunday school and confir- mation youth while he was at Alpine, but this was entirely conceived by the young people.


Correction


The Lutheran Writers Project (Octo- ber, page 20) grew out of the Lutheran Festival of Writing, sponsored by Luther College, Decorah, Iowa.


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