News 11
May consultation in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Justice for women Theologians and leaders from Lutheran World Federation mem- ber churches in Latin America and the Caribbean formed a network to promote women’s leadership and gender justice. Theologian Gloria Roja Vargas, former president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile, said the network affirms the achievements of Lutheran women, who are now ordained throughout all 16 LWF-member churches in the region.
Accompaniers in Colombia International observers are serv- ing as human rights monitors and
providing a “protective presence” to communities in the violence- ridden Montes de Maria and San Onofre regions of Colombia. The Program of Ecumenical Accompa- niment in Colombia is coordinated by the Latin American Council of Churches and based on the ELCA- supported Ecumenical Accompani- ment Programme in Palestine and Israel. Over the last four decades, violence caused by land struggles and political instability has led to killings, disappearances and some 5 million people being driven off their land in Colombia, the World Council of Churches reports.
Bullying & free expression “Harassment, Bullying and Free Expression: Guidelines for Free
and Safe Public Schools,” writ- ten mainly by the American Jew- ish Committee and endorsed by the Muslim Public Affairs Council as well as the National School Boards Association, offers ways to balance school safety with First Amend- ment rights. The authors hope the resource helps students learn how to express themselves civilly in a democratic society.
Softball league calls a foul This year a St. Clair, Mo., church softball league shrank from six to five teams when the pastors of three Baptist congregations said their groups wouldn’t take the field against St. John United Church of Christ because of its openly bisexual pastor. James Semmelroth Darnell, 27, pastor of St. John, called the reac- tion surprising—“I don’t even play.” Noting his opposition, Ben Kingston, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in nearby Lonedell, said, “We believe God’s word speaks clearly about boundaries, and that lifestyle is out- side of those boundaries.”
Patriarchy panned
Shipping hymnals Choir members at Augustana Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, wore their robes for
the last time in late April. After 147 years the church was moving to a new loca- tion. The robes were also moving—to Liberia. Augustana also shipped 45 boxes of hymnals to Tanzania in a 40-ton container of medical equipment, said Roger Ose (left), Richfield, Minn. With him is Warren Westvig, warehouse manager at Global Health Ministries in Minneapolis, which helped with this shipment. Ose, a retired ELCA pastor who runs his own ministry, has been sending robes, hymnals and quilts to more than 40 countries for years.
Henriette Hutabarat Lebang, the first woman general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia, said churches’ efforts to support women leaders must be serious. “The patri- archal mindset in the churches … may come from man, and also from woman,” Lebang said. “Both man and woman are the children of patri- archal society, have been socialized in such context, and often uncriti- cally accept and apply the mindset of patriarchy.” Lebang “politely” cautioned some church leaders about harmful comments and promoted “the partnership of [men and women in] ministry.”
For more news, visit
www.thelutheran.org/feature/july 12 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
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