Vol. VII. No. 3
*****
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
*****
Colleagues List Blog:
http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com/
My E-Mail Address:
waholst@telusplanet.net
*****
In This Issue -
Special Item This Week:
Book Notice
"Speaking Christian" by
Colleague Marcus Borg
___
Colleague Comment:
Fr. Ned Carolan
___
Colleague Contributions:
Jim Irvine
Douglas John Hall
Jim Taylor
Ron Rolheiser
Martin Marty
___
Net Notes:
Mindless Norwegian Gunman
Good Religion Bad Religion
Ireland's Watershed Moment
John R. Stott Dies in London
New Reason to Support the CBC
India's Unbaptized Christians
The Retreat of the Legionnaries
UCC Survey Shows Range of Beliefs
Conservation Restores Church in Goa
Bejing Responds to Excommunications
Polarized - Believers/Non-Believers?
Yancey: How Can We Know an Invisible God?
___
Global Faith Potpourri:
Seventeen ENI Geneva stories this week.
___
Quotes of the Week:
Martin Luther King Jr.
Sojourner Truth
Henri Nouwen
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Oscar Romero
Annie Dillard
Ignacio Ellacuria
___
On This Day:
July 25, 1956 -
Italian liner Andrea Doria hits Stockholm
July 27, 1953 -
Korean War armistice signed at Panmunjom
July 29th, 1981 -
Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer
July 31, 1964 -
Ranger 7 sends pictures of moon's surface
August 1, 1936 -
100,000 salute Hitler at Berlin Olympics
August 4, 1914 -
Britain declares war on Germany; US neutral
___
Closing Thought: Teilhard de Chardin
***************
Dear Friends:
Welcome to my mid-summer edition of
Colleagues List!. These mailings come
to you every other week during July
and August, and weekly issues will
return in September.
In this issue, I introduce the latest
book from our colleague Marcus Borg.
Here is an important study on how we
use Christian language, for good or ill.
Borg presents a blueprint for a renewed
way to understand and express our faith.
It is based on his life-long career as
a theological teacher. I like it!
Thanks, Marcus!
---
Colleague Comment this week is from
Fr. Ned Carolan of Dublin, Ireland.
He surprized me with a special gift
that I will treasure. Read on.
___
Colleague Contributions this week:
Jim Irvine - (Fredericton, NB) shares an
insight about the poor; worth considering.
Douglas John Hall - (Montreal, QC) comments
on a recent study of member's beliefs
in the United Church of Canada. It
appears in the summer issue of the
Observer.
Jim Taylor - (Okanagan, BC) writes about
the contribution of liberal theology today.
Ron Rolheiser - (San Antonio, TX) reflects
on the dark night of the soul, when God
seems absent from our lives.
Martin Marty - (Chicago, IL) challenges
those who think terrorism is the domain
of modern Muslims, and who fail to see
it as an enemy of all faith traditions.
He opens with an intriguing illustration.
___
Net Notes:
"Mindless Norwegian Gunman" - the tragedy
occurring in Norway is noted, at well as
the significant response of the churches
(Ucan News, ENI, Christian Science Monitor)
"Good Religion Bad Religion" - expanding on
the complex nature of faith, here is a good
article that helps us better understand that
faith is not going to disappear in modernity
and that both good and bad religion exists as
part of the same package (Christianity Today)
"Ireland's Watershed Moment" - more on the
serious crisis of the Catholic Church in
Ireland (Eureka.com, The Guardian (UK))
"John R. Stott Dies in London" - a major
evangelical church leader, whom I have
always admired (for reasons I will share
below), passed away in London recently.
(ENI, Christianity Today, Globe and Mail,
Guardian, UK, and omments from colleague
John Stackhouse Jr. of Vancouver)
"New Reason to Support the CBC" - I am a
fan of Canada's public radio system and
share an article from The Toronto Star.
"India's Unbaptized Christians" - it is
quite apparent that there are many more
closet Indian Christians than we had
thought. Some parallels with China, even
though the enemy is different (Ucan News)
"The Retreat of the Legionnaries" - the
Catholic order that has been under a
severely dark cloud since its leader was
disgraced as a traitor is going through
its own 'dark night' right now (Ucan News)
"UCC Survey Shows Range of Beliefs" - a
major study of the operative beliefs of
members of the United Church of Canada
is reported this summer (UCC Observer)
"Conservation Restores Church in Goa"
- the Indian government has invested
large sums in the restoration of an
ancient church in the state of Goa
(The Times of India)
"Bejing Responds to Excommunications"
- beside Ireland, the other world
Catholic hotspot right now is China.
But conflict is also a sign of the
growth of the church there (Ucan News)
"Polarized - Believers/Non-Believers?"
- some time back, we were introduced
to Reginald Bibby's new book on the
state of religion in Canada "Beyond
the Gods and Back." Here is another
good assessment from an evangelical
perspective (Faith Trends, EFC)
"Yancey: How Can We Know an Invisible
God?" - a favourite writer of our's,
here is Yancey's most recent column
(Christianity Today)
___
Global Faith Potpourri:
Seventeen ENI Geneva reports this week
provide us with a plethora of global
faith stories.
___
Quotes of the Week:
Offered, as usual, through the
services of Sojourners.online
Martin Luther King Jr., Sojourner Truth,
Henri Nouwen, Abraham Joshua Heschel,
Oscar Romero, Annie Dillard and
Ignacio Ellacuria - share their wisdom.
___
On This Day:
Liner Andrea Doria hits the Stockholm (1956)
Korean armistice signed at Panmunjom (1953)
Prince Charles marries Diana Spencer (1981)
Ranger 7 sends moon surface pictures (1964)
100,000 'heil Hitler' - Berlin Olympics (1936)
Britain declares war on Germany (1914)
___
Closing Thought:
Teilhard de Chardin and Matthew Fox
---
Blessings on your summer (if you are
enjoying summer where you live.)
Wayne
************************
CELTIC TOUR REUNION WEEKEND AT ST. DAVID'S
"Report to the Congregation and Reflection"
Sunday, Sept. 11th, and Monday, Sept. 12th
As St. David's congregation returns from
the summer break, we plan a special weekend
of gathering/worship for those participating
in our Fiftieth Anniversary Tour of the Celtic
Lands, April 26th - May 10th, 2011.
Sunday, September 11th - worship with a
Celtic theme, and a special "Sight and
Sound Report" to the congregation prepared
by Jock McTavish (some of this material will
be posted on Colleagues List).
A CD Jock has produced will be given gratis
to all tour participants and extras will be
made available for those who are interested.
Monday, September 12th, TM Room, 7-9PM
the venue of a special reunion for persons
who took the tour. It will be an opportunity
for reflection and suggestions for future
spiritual travel projects sponsored by
the ACTS Ministry of St. David's.
David Rostad of Rostad Tours, the person
whose tour company planned and organized our
experience in the UK and Ireland, will be
present to join our reflections and suggest
future possibilities.
Mark your calendars!
Here is a beautiful poem, birthed while on
the tour, by Jock McTavish:
http://tinyurl.com/3q3qrjt
*****
SPECIAL FALL STUDY ANNOUNCEMENTS
ST. DAVID'S MONDAY NIGHT STUDY 2011
"Living Ethically Amid Chaos"
Two Books by Richard Holloway
September 19th - November 28th
TM Room, St. David's United Church
7:00PM - 9:00PM
"Godless Morality"
Learning how to separate "God says"
from doing what is right
Information about the book from Amazon.ca
http://tinyurl.com/3d45x3t
---
"Between the Monster and the Saint"
Spiritual support for pursuing a life
that seeks above all to be good
Information on the book from Amazon.ca:
http://tinyurl.com/4369obx
---
Led by Jock McTavish and Wayne Holst
Book sale begins at the end of August!
Registration: $50.00 for class fees,
the two books and special hospitality
Purchase only the books - $35.00
*****
UNIVERSITY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHTS
Two Study Programs Sponsored by:
The Department of Continuing Education
At the University of Calgary
Taught by: Wayne Holst
Recommended books:
"God, Atheism and Morality" (ten sessions)
Tuesday Nights, 7:00PM - 9:00 PM
September 27th - November 29th
Register:
http://tinyurl.com/2fc7xr4
---
"Paul the Apostle" (ten sessions)
Wednesday Nights, 7:00PM - 9:00PM
September 28th - November 30th
Register:
http://tinyurl.com/mh2dto
*****
SPECIAL ST. DAVID'S LINKS
Contact us at: asdm@sduc.ca (or)admin@sduc.ca
St. David's Web Address - http://sduc.ca/
Listen to audio recordings of Sunday services -
http://sduc.ca/services.htm
___
ST DAVID'S ACTS WEB PAGE
Created and maintained by Colleague
Jock McTavish
http://stdavidscalgary.net/
NOTE: This page is being reconstructed.
*****
STUDY ARCHIVES
A collection of twenty-five+ studies conducted
since 2000 can quickly be found at:
http://bookstudies.stdavidscalgary.net/
This collection of study resources represents
a decade of Monday Night Studies at St. David's,
plus extra courses too!
You are welcome to use our course outlines,
class notes and resource pages in your personal
and group reflections.
******************************************
SPECIAL ITEM
Book Notice
SPEAKING CHRISTIAN
Why Christian Words Have Lost
Their Meaning and Power -
And How They Can Be Restored,
by Marcus J. Borg
HarperCollins, Toronto. 2011.
Hardcover, 255pp. $29.55 CAD.
ISBN #978-0061-97655-1.
Publisher's Promo:
Modern Christians are steeped in a language
so distorted that it has become a stumbling
block to the religion, says internationally
renowned Bible scholar Marcus J. Borg. Borg
argues that Christianity’s important words,
and the sacred texts and stories in which
those words are embedded, have been narrowed
by a modern framework for the faith that
emphasizes sin, forgiveness, Jesus dying for
our sins, and the afterlife. Here, Borg
employs the “historical-metaphorical” method
to understand Christian language that can
restore for us these words of power and
transformation.
For example,
Redemption: now narrowly understood as Jesus
saving us from sins so we can go to heaven,
but in the Bible it refers to being set free
from slavery.
Savior: now refers to Jesus as the one who
saves us from our sins, but in the Bible it
has a rich and wonderful variety of meanings
having nothing to do with the afterlife.
Sacrifice: now refers to Jesus’s death on the
cross as payment for our sins, but in the Bible
it is never about substitutionary payment for
sin.
In "Speaking Christian," Borg delivers a language
for twenty-first-century Christians that grounds
the faith in its deep and rich original roots
and allows it once again to transform our lives.
---
Author's Words:
Christian language has become a stumbling block
in our time. Much of its basic vocabulary is
seriously misunderstood by Christians and non-
Christians alike.
Big words like salvation, saved, sacrifice,
redeemer, redemption, righteousness,
repentance, mercy, sin, forgiveness, born
again, second coming, God, Jesus and Bible
and collections of words like the creeds,
Lord's Prayer, and liturgies have acquired
meanings that are serious distortions of
their biblical and traditional meanings.
The misunderstandings flow from two major
causes shaping the way the Christian
language is heard. The first is the
literalization of language in the modern
period... the second is the interpretation
of Christian language within a common
framework that I call "heaven and hell"
Christianity... When this is the primary
framework for understanding Christianity,
as it often is, it diminishes and distorts
the meaning of Christian language...
This book's purpose is to exposit an
alternate understanding, one that draws on
the Bible and premodern Christian tradition.
This book's purpose is (also) to redeem
or reclaim Christian language in all its
richness and wisdom.
This book's purpose is (yet again) to
help us read, hear, and inwardly digest
Christian language without preconceived
understandings getting in the way.
It is about learning to read and hear
the language of our faith again.
- from the Introduction
---
My Comments:
I begin with a bit of simple, poignant
levity.
Years ago, a humorous exchange in
seminary homiletics classes involved
assisting ourselves and our hearers when
making a pulpit declaration about which
we were uncertain -
"Weak point, pound hard" - we said.
Years later, in the church choirs to which
I belong, we cross our fingers as we sing
beautiful lyrics with questionable words.
We keep reminding ourselves that -
"We can still sing what we cannot speak."
Both statements reflect what I believe
Marcus Borg is trying to tell us concerning
the modern state of Christian language.
We know that much of it has become quite
meaningless to many but we are nonetheless
inclined to overcompensate for this by
repeating the old words "with emphasis."
We love the music that accompanies themes
we no longer believe, but we keep singing
them anyway, simply ignoring the words we
are belting out.
"Weak point pound hard" and "Sing what we
cannot speak" describe a lack of integrity,
it seems to me.
I think these anecdotes describe a rather
common and unfortunate state of affairs
existing for many Christians today.
Traditional words no longer express what
is important to many of us. Yet, we seem
to lack a framework and a vocabulary to
describe our contemporary faith stance.
I thank Marcus Borg for helping us to deal
with this dilemma. Here is my take on what
he is attempting to do in his new book.
---
Borg knows language is important. He seeks
to build bridges, not barriers, with the
words describing our faith. He is not so
much interested in chucking the old words
as he is infusing them with new meanings.
Return to old meanings - is perhaps a better
way of putting it. Borg believes that many
images we have inherited from Christian
tradition were not originally Christian.
Using an approach he has long advocated -
"the historical-metaphorical method" -
Borg digs deeply into early Christian
biblical thinking. He claims, for example,
that the first Christians of the Bible
were not so much guided by a "heaven and
hell" philosophical framework as one which
emphasized "peace and justice."
In other words, their faith declared -
"I am a Christian, and therefore I will
work to make this world a better place."
Only secondarily did they advocate: "I am
a Christian, and I want to go to heaven
when I die."
Biblical faith, for Borg, was very
different from the faith most of us
have inherited through more recent
church tradition.
In a true sense, Borg is invoking a
new reformation, not unlike the one
experienced by many Christians five
centuries ago when 'faith words' had
to change to fit life's realities
and to give people a renewed sense
of life's meaning.
Today, fortunately, we can anticipate
a new reformation that many Catholics,
Protestants and others can jointly
claim together.
---
Borg's concern is also about Christian
integrity. If our words do not reflect
what we really believe - (reflected in
the terms 'pound hard' and 'sing it
anyway') - we can be justifiably
criticised as hypocrites. The author
wants to help us use words that
describe who we really are and what
we are experiencing.
When what we say and do matches who
we really are, we can again become
people of integrity - and others will
see and perhaps identify with it.
---
Borg's task is an honourable, authentic
one. He does not disparage those who need
the traditional assurances of the faith
terms they genuinely know and love. To
these, he offers his blessing.
But for those of us who need words and
meanings that are genuine reflections -
Borg provides a blueprint and some
important building blocks for the
faith journey.
---
Borg is writing what he writes best.
His greatest gift to us comes when he
offers biblical studies with theological
depth, clarity and personal applicability.
___
Buy the Book from Amazon.ca:
http://tinyurl.com/3g2o5md
*****
COLLEAGUE COMMENT
FR. NED CAROLAN
Dublin, Ireland
"You may remember, Wayne, during your visit
to Dublin, I promised to send you a copy of
The Oblate Historical Dictionary. My colleague
from Ottawa, Fr. Yvon Beauoin, omi, informed
me that he has forwarded a copy to your home
address so I hope that you will soon receive
it. (It provides) a further resource on the
history of Western Canada and a few other
places as well."
--
Editor's Note: I did indeed receive the
book, a veritable gold mine of information
on the global spread of the Oblate mission
outside France at the time of the founder
of the order, Fr. Eugene de Mazenod.
Several years ago, Marlene and I stayed at
the international Oblate Centre in Aix en
Provence, France - the place from which the
founder Eugene de Mazenod first guided his
missionary confreres.
We visited there, in 2008, as guests of
Fr. Carolan and his staff. Ned has since
retired to Ireland, his homeland.
Thanks Ned, and Yvon!
---
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
JIM IRVINE
Fredericton, NB
August 1st, 2011
“If this is going to be a Christian nation
that doesn’t help the poor, either we have
to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish
as we are, or we have to acknowledge that
He commanded us to love the poor and serve
the needy without condition, and then admit
that we just don’t want to do it.”
–Stephen Colbert
---
DOUGLAS JOHN HALL
Montreal, QC
Q&A About UCC Member Survey
reported in the summer Observer.
See the 'Net News' item below on
"Beliefs in the United Church"
---
JIM TAYLOR
Okanagan, BC
Personal Blog
July 27th, 2011
"What Good is Liberal Theology Anyway?"
http://tinyurl.com/3whzzn6
---
RON ROLHEISER
San Antonio, TX
Personal Blog
July 31st, 2011
"Of Nietzsche, Feuerbach
and Dark Nights of the Soul"
http://tinyurl.com/3vgoxgr
---
MARTIN MARTY
Chicago, IL
Sightings 8/1/2011
"Breivik’s Christianity"
http://tinyurl.com/3lx8sds
*****
NET NOTES
MINDLESS NORWEGIAN GUNMAN
Ucan News
July 28th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/44qs7hf
---
Ecumenical News International
August 27th, 2011
Is the Norwegian gunman
a Christian terrorist?
New York (ENI). The mass murders in
Oslo have raised a host of agonizing
questions, but few have such an ancient
lineage and contemporary resonance as
whether Anders Behring Breivik, the
right-wing extremist behind the attacks
that killed 76 Norwegians last Friday
(22 July), is a Christian. Breivik
claimed that he is a Christian in
various forums, but most explicitly
and in greatest detail in the 1,500-
page manifesto he compiled over several
months and posted on the Internet.
---
Ecumenical News International
July 29th, 2011
Norway's churches at center of country's
efforts to heal after attacks
Trondheim, Norway (ENI) A Norwegian bishop
addressing the recent bombing and shooting
attacks in his country said Norway has
"countered this insane terrorism by
demonstrating love and solidarity." "We
have brought out a social capital we maybe
even did not know was there. We must rebuild
our trust in human beings as fellow human
beings," said Church of Norway Bishop Tor
Singsaas of Nidaros at the opening of the
annual St. Olav Festival in Trondheim on
28 July.
---
Religious Leaders Offer Comfort
Norway's Faith Emerges in Crisis
Christian Science Monitor
July 28th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3cjydd8
*****
GOOD RELIGION, BAD RELIGION
We're Incurably Religious (Survey)
Christianity Today
August 1st, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3rjgqqg
*****
IRELAND'S WATERSHED MOMENT
Irish Church at Crossroads
Eureka.com (Australia)
July 27th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/44ejwcg
---
Vatican Recalls Irish Envoy
PM's Criticism Offends
The Guardian UK
July 26th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3prbl77
*****
JOHN R.STOTT HAS DIED
Global Evangelical Pioneer
Ecumenical News International
July 29th, 2011
Famous Anglican evangelist dies at 90
listening to Handel's "Messiah"
Canterbury, England (ENI). Rev. John Stott,
one of the most influential Anglican clergymen
of the 20th century, died of natural causes
on 27 July at the age of 90. "Time" magazine
once described him as one of the 100 most
influential people in the world, and historian
Adrian Hastings, in "A History of English
Christianity, 1920-1985," called him "one of
the most influential figures in the Christian
world."
---
Commemoration:
Christianity Today
July 27th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/4xdeg4z
---
Obituary, Globe and Mail
August 2nd, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3nbp8pm
---
Obituary, The Guardian, UK
July 28th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3fqayug
---
Testimony to his life by
Colleague John Stackhouse Jr.
Personal Blog,
July 28th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3ztvswo
---
Editor's Note: As a young student,
doing graduate work in Europe, I
heard Stott preach on a Sunday
evening at All Soul's Langham Place,
London UK (August, 1967.) I have
always appreciated his intelligent,
non-compative style, his avoidance
of a 'holier than thou' stance,
his commitment to remain within the
Church of England, and his clear
determination not attempt to found
yet another 'purified' denomination.
He set a good example for us all.
*****
A NEW REASON TO SUPPORT THE CBC
Critiquing but remaining 'above politics'
Toronto Star,
July 30th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3cucme8
*****
INDIA'S 'UNBAPTIZED CHRISTIANS'
Expressing a fear of social ostracism
Ucan New
July 25th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/44f45oy
---
Aid to the Church in India
Full Story of the 'unbaptized Christians'
http://tinyurl.com/3pnzpwr
*****
THE RETREAT OF THE "LEGIONNARIES"
Order faces a time of humility
Ucan News
August 1st, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3cp3b87
*****
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA SURVEY
INDICATES RANGE OF MEMBER BELIEFS
Just What do UCC People Believe?
United Church Observer
July/August Issue, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3gc9lf9
Comment: Colleague Douglas John Hall
http://tinyurl.com/3oea5sy
*****
CONSERVATION RESTORES ANCIENT
CHURCH IN GOA, INDIA
Times of India
August 2nd, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3aphuez
*****
BEJING RESPONDS TO EXCOMMUNICATIONS
Calls Vatican actions rude
Ucan Notes
July 25th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3kralau
*****
IS CANADA POLARIZED BETWEEN
BELIEVERS AND NON-BELIEVERS?
"Faith Trends" Assesses New Bibby Book
on Religion in Canada Today
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
July 27th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3f8fffu
*****
HOW CAN WE KNOW AN INVISIBLE GOD?
by Philip Yancey
Christianity Today,
July 26th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/3g8ulv8
*****
GLOBAL FAITH POTPOURRI
Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
22 July 2011
Belarus churches honor deceased cardinal
who bore "marks of persecution on his body"
Warsaw, Poland (ENI). Church leaders are
paying tribute to Cardinal Kazimierz
Swiatek, retired head of the Roman Catholic
church in Belarus, who died on 21 July at
the age of 96. "He made an enormous
contribution to developing good-neighborly
relations between the Belarusian Orthodox
church and the Roman Catholic church,"
Metropolitan Filaret, Belarus's Orthodox
patriarchal exarch, said in a message
on 21 July.
_____
Imams trained to adapt Islamic finance
to U.S. economy
Berkeley, Calif. (ENI). Abdullah Nana, an
imam at the Islamic Center of Mill Valley,
Calif., just north of San Francisco, has
a distinct advantage over many of his
fellow imams in the United States. It's
not fluency in Arabic or training in
Islamic jurisprudence. It's his bachelor's
degree in business. American imams get
asked about financial ethics more than
any other topic, Nana said, yet he calls
it the subject that they are least
qualified to talk about with congregants.
_____
25 July 2011
Belgian Christians divided
over banning of Muslim burqa
Warsaw, Poland (ENI). Christian
organizations in Belgium have had mixed
reactions to a criminal code amendment
making the country Europe's second to
ban the Islamic veil, or burqa. "We're
against this ruling, since it violates
basic human rights," said Kristine
Jansone, general secretary of the Brussels
-based Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe.
"Although I can't speak on behalf of all
our member-groups, I think it's the general
consensus we should oppose a measure which
will clearly impede the free practice of
religion."
*****
26 July 2011
British Museum exhibition will
help explain the Haj to non-Muslims
Canterbury, England (ENI) The British Museum,
known for its vast collection of world art
and artifacts, is preparing to hold the first
major exhibition in Britain dedicated to the
Haj, the pilgrimage to Mecca all Muslims are
expected to make at least once during their
lives if they are able. Sponsored by HSBC
Amanah, the global Islamic financial
services division of the banking group
HSBC, the exhibition will open on 26
January, 2012 and run until 15 April.
It will bring together historic artifacts
and contemporary art related to the Haj.
_____
Indian churches launch hunger strike to
protest treatment of Christian Dalits
Bangalore, India (ENI). Major churches in
India are taking part in a hunger strike
that began 25 July in New Delhi to demand
an end to discrimination against Christian
Dalits. "This strike is the expression of
hunger for justice, hunger for equality
and hunger for the human dignity of
Christian Dalits," said Rev. Roger Gaikwad,
general secretary of the National Council
of Churches in India at the launch of the
protests, set to run until 28 July.
_____
27 July 2011
European churches join in mourning
Norway massacre victims
Warsaw, Poland (ENI). Church leaders
across Europe expressed shock and
sorrow at the killing of 76 people
by a right-wing extremist in Norway,
and pledged solidarity and prayers
with the country's inhabitants. "We
categorically condemn such acts which
try to destabilize a democratic
country and terrorize the population,"
the Orthodox president of the
Conference of European Churches,
Metropolitan Emmanuel Adamakis, said
in a statement on 23 July.
_____
Pioneering Japanese Protestant
to be portrayed in TV drama
Tokyo (ENI). Yae Neesima, the wife
of Doshisha University founder Joseph
Hardy Neesima and one of the first
Protestant women in Japan, as well
as a decorated war nurse, will be
portrayed in a forthcoming television
series to air in Japan in 2013. "What
the world's people can learn from Yae
would be that she did what they cannot
do today," said Yasuhiro Motoi,
professor of the history of
Christianity in modern Japan at
Doshisha University's School of
Theology in Kyoto.
*****
28 July 2011
More efforts required by
faiths to prevent violence,
says Norwegian church leader
Geneva (ENI). Different faiths around
the globe need to do more to promote
human solidarity, said Rev. Olav Fykse
Tveit, general secretary of the World
Council of Churches (WCC), in the
aftermath of the bomb attack and mass
killings in his native Norway. They also
need to work together to find common
values and ways to respect one another,
and to "find ways to live together
without violence," he said.
*****
1 August 2011
Christian churches in India blame
government for 'betraying their hopes'
Bangalore, India (ENI). Church groups and
Christian activists completed a four-day
protest in New Delhi on 28 July,speaking
out against Indian government policies that
discriminate against ChristianDalits.
Nearly 10,000 Christians, including four
dozen bishops of different denominations,
took part in the protest, which included
a hunger strike and ended with a march to
India's Parliament building.
_____
U.S. politicians pass bill to help
religious minorities under attack
Washington (ENI). The House has passed a
bill that would create a special State
Department envoy for religious minorities
in the Near East and South Central Asia,
where Christians have come under attack
in recent years, particularly in Muslim
majority nations. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.,
introduced the bill in January after a
spate of violence against Christians in
Iraq and Egypt, and in response to
persistent concerns for religions
minorities in Pakistan and Afghanistan,
among other nations. The bill passed last
Friday (27 July) by a 402-20 tally.
_____
2 August 2011
Cardboard structure may replace earthquake-
damaged cathedral in New Zealand
Christchurch, New Zealand (ENI).
New Zealand's second biggest city could have
a temporary Anglican cathedral as soon as
February--but the 700-seat structure will be
made of recyclable cardboard. It would replace
ChristChurch Cathedral, which was destroyed in
the 22 February earthquake that killed 181
people. The $4 million portable A-frame
building is to be created primarily out of
cardboard tubes, with shipping containers as
the foundation. Architecture students will
assist in its three-month construction. A
$50,000 feaibility study is currently being
undertaken, which could include an extension
of planned capacity to 1000 at additional cost.
_____
Mexican ministry questioned by Vatican
over outreach to gay men and women
Mexico City (ENI). A ministry for gay
men and women operated by a northern
Mexican diocese has come under scrutiny
from the Vatican and may revert to its
original status as an unaffiliated
nonprofit organization, according to
a news release from the Latin American
and Caribbean Communication Agency.
Bishop Raúl Vera López of Saltillo,
quoted by the Catholic News Service,
says he is responding to questions
from the Vatican about Comunidad San
Aelredo, which began as a youth group
for gay Catholics and recently became
a diocesan ministry.
_____
More Catholic departures than baptisms
for first time in Germany
Berlin (ENI). For the first time since
membership records have been kept, more
Germans departed the Roman Catholic
Church than were baptized into it in
2010, according to new data from
Germany's Catholic Conference of
Bishops. The new statistics, which
were released with little analysis
or comment, showed 170,339 baptisms
for the year, and 181,193 departures
from the church. However, 3,576 new
members, and more than 7,400 returning
Catholics, joined the church last year.
*****
3 August 2011
Faith groups concerned about North Korean
leadership of UN committee
Geneva (ENI). Christian advocacy groups
are among a 28-strong international coalition
calling for North Korea, criticized by many
for its human rights abuses and nuclear threats,
to step down from the presidency of the United
Nations Conference on Disarmament (UNCD).
For North Korea--"the undisputed home of
international arms control" according to
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon--to lead the group is
terribly wrong, said the Christian groups in
a statement.
*****
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
Provided by Sojourners.online
July 25th, 2011
"We must learn to love together as
[brothers and sisters] or perish
together as fools."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
---
July 26th, 2011
"What we give the poor,
we lend to the Lord."
- Sojourner Truth
---
July 27th, 2011
"In another's eyes I see my
plea for forgiveness, and in a
hardened frown I see my refusal.
When someone murders, I know
that I too could have done that,
and when someone gives birth,
I know that I am capable of that
as well. In the depths of my being,
I meet my fellow humans with whom I
share love and have life and death."
- Henri Nouwen, "With Open Hands"
---
July 28th, 2011
"To speak about prayer is indeed
presumptuous. There are no devices,
no techniques; there is no specialized
art of prayer. All of life must be a
training to pray. We pray the way we
live."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel
---
July 29th, 2011
"I'm going to speak to you simply as a
pastor, as one who, together with his
people, has been learning the beautiful
but harsh truth that the Christian faith
does not cut us off from the world but
immerses us in it; the church is not a
fortress set apart from the city. The
church follows Jesus, who lived, worked,
struggled, and died in the midst of a
city, in the polis."
- Archbishop Oscar Romero
---
August 1st, 2011
"Life's most persistent and urgent question
is: What are you doing for others?"
- Martin Luther King Jr.
---
August 2nd, 2011
"The creation is not a study, a roughed-
in sketch; it is supremely, meticulously
created … even on the perfectly ordinary
and clearly visible level, creation
carries on with an intricacy unfathomable
and apparently uncalled for."
- Annie Dillard,
from "Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek
---
August 3rd, 2011
"What is it to be a companion of Jesus
today? It is to engage, under the standard
of the cross, in the crucial struggle of
our time: the struggle for faith and that
struggle for justice which it includes."
- Ignacio Ellacuria
*****
ON THIS DAY
Provided from the archives of
the New York Times
On July 25, 1956, the Italian liner
Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish
ship Stockholm off the New England coast,
claiming the lives of 51 people.
http://tinyurl.com/4ydt7fk
_____
On July 27, 1953, the Korean War
armistice was signed at Panmunjom,
ending three years of fighting.
http://tinyurl.com/3fqpjb2
_____
On July 29th, 1981 Britain's Prince
Charles married Lady Diana Spencer
at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
http://tinyurl.com/3wpzu2n
_____
On July 31, 1964, the American space
probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures
of the moon's surface.
http://tinyurl.com/3cmqf8f
_____
On August 1, 1936, 100,000 saluted
Adolf Hitler on his entrance at the
opening of the Berlin Olympics.
http://tinyurl.com/4xzw7au
_____
On Aug. 3, 1958, the nuclear-powered
submarine Nautilus became the first
vessel to cross the North Pole
underwater.
http://tinyurl.com/3bjubsf
_____
On Aug. 4, 1914, Britain declared war
on Germany while the United States
proclaimed its neutrality.
http://tinyurl.com/3nyufev
*****
CLOSING THOUGHT
"To understand the world, knowledge is not
enough. You must see it, touch it, live in
its presence and drink the vital heat of
existence in the very heart of reality."
- Teilhard de Chardin
Knowledge is not enough. We must taste life
and make it very personal, erotic and
unforgettable. For wisdom to occur, we must
experience life in all its dimensions.
- Matthew Fox
(end)
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