Vol. VII. No. 32
*****
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
*****
Colleagues List Blog:
http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com/
Canadian Anglican Google Groups:
http://tinyurl.com/7o899yg
My E-Mail Address:
waholst@telusplanet.net
New "Quicklinks" are now included
with many items. Otherwise, scroll
down to find your selection in the
body of the blog, as in the past.
*****
COLLEAGUE KUDO
FR. NED CAROLAN
Dublin, Ireland
March 20th, 2012
Many thanks for your St. Patrick's Day
greetings!
Thanks also for your weekly inspirations
which I never miss. It is great to have
the results of all your research at one's
"finger tips" - literally.
Ireland has let us have a very mild Winter
this year. In fact it has been very little
different from the greater part of the past
two Summers.
All the very best. Easter is just around the
corner, so may you have all the Blessings of
that Holy Season!
Ned Carolan, omi
*****
Dear friends:
This week my special item is a book notice on
the appearance of colleague Gretta Vosper's
new title:
"Amen:
What Prayer Can Mean in a World Beyond Belief"
http://tinyurl.com/6s9a4nq
I hope you will give it the attention it deserves,
as Gretta has invested much of herself in this work.
___
Colleague Contributions:
Lorna Dueck (Toronto) writes of the new Sunday
night prime time soap opera "GCB" that presents
evangelical Christians as optimistic folk.
http://tinyurl.com/84pkln5
Martin Marty (Chicago) reflects on the passing
of William Hamilton and Robert Schuller.
http://tinyurl.com/7c2rkex
___
Net Notes:
"Coptic Pope Dies" - this week, Egyptian
Coptic Christians lost their leader, and
a time of uncertainty faces the community
(ENI, ABC, National Post)
http://tinyurl.com/6oc4hmt
http://tinyurl.com/7mhov2b
"Attacks on Christians" - the heightened
incidence of persecution suggests a global
monitoring of what is taking place
(America Magazine)
http://tinyurl.com/84xvmvz
"Pope Raps Irish Church" - the Irish
hierarchy has already taken its lumps
from the state, but victims still cry
fowl (Reuters News, Irish Examiner)
http://tinyurl.com/7qxr9mf
http://tinyurl.com/78unoht
"The Common Sense Catholics" - it looks
like Republican candidate Santorum
is finally our of the running, not least
because Catholics have turned against him
(New York Times)
http://tinyurl.com/7sgxkr8
"Jewish Tragedy at Toulouse" - the major
tragedy of the week took place in France,
and the assessment continues
(ENI, Jerusalem Post, Globe and Mail)
http://tinyurl.com/6ucldea
http://tinyurl.com/8ysqyaw
"Rise of Mormon Feminist Bloggers" -
no patriarchal religion is free from the
probing internet. Here is evidence that
Mormon patriarchs are facing feminism
(The Guardian, UK)
http://tinyurl.com/7snmde7
"Lutheran Pastor New German President" -
first it was the chancellor, then the
president. Both offices are now filled
by Lutherans of East German background
(Anglican Journal)
http://tinyurl.com/7gtjtfn
"Archbishop Reconciles with Gay Priest" -
a heartening story that bishops can
change and seek to reflect the healing
power of the Gospel (Anglican Journal)
http://tinyurl.com/7k9w6yv
"Philippine Conference Preps WCC Korea" -
in anticipation of the 2013 WCC Assembly
in South Korea, an important meeting
begins this week on global evangelism
(UCA News) http://tinyurl.com/6w8ztsh
"Brazil Pressure May Save Iranian Pastor" -
a sign that more key diplomatic moves are
being handled under the radar of the big
powers and churches (Anglican Journal)
http://tinyurl.com/7vzvvrp
"Franklin Graham, Fox News - Faith's Distortion"
- an Catholic take on how Franklin Graham and Fox
News are skewing the image of the USA globally
(National Catholic Reporter)
Open with Mozilla Firefox
http://tinyurl.com/8y7mcqu
"Crystal Cathedral Downfall - a Cautionary Tale"
- we have reported the demise of this once
flashy mega church. Here are some lessons
(Religious News Service)
http://tinyurl.com/7uyzutv
___
Global Faith Potpourri:
Twelve faith stories appear this week courtest
of Ecumenical News International, Geneva.
___
Wisdom of the Week:
John Lennon, Mahatma Gandhi,
Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Aldous Huxley
and Claudia Lapp share their insights.
___
On This Day:
The New York Times reports on stories as they
they were unfolding:
The first spacewalk by Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei
Leonov (1965) http://tinyurl.com/6mbax9o
12 people are killed and 5,500 others are sickened
when poisonous gas is leaked on five Tokyo subway
trains (1995) http://tinyurl.com/8xdfdzf
3,000+ civil rights demonstrators led by MLK Jr.
began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala
(1965) http://tinyurl.com/7pl6e4t
___
Closing Thought
This week geologian Thomas Berry celebrates
evolutionary theology in a most winsome way.
Lenten blessings,
Wayne
********************************
St. David's and ACTS Ministry Announce:
OUR SPIRITUAL TRAVELERS TOUR FOR 2013
TURKEY AND THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
April 22nd - May 8th, 2013
Tour sale begins with deposit starting June, 2012
Full payment due, January, 2013
More details such as costs to be made available
in the Sunday worship guide and the St. David's
Spiritual Travelers Discussion List Group as they
become available.
To join the list discussion contact:
Deb. Charnusaki - debcharnuski@hotmail.com
Your tour hosts:
Marlene and Wayne Holst
waholst@telusplanet.net (or)
marleneaholst@gmail.com
403-286-7416
*****
SPECIAL WINTER STUDY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Introducing the Full Program
ST. DAVID'S MONDAY NIGHT STUDY
WINTER 2012
"The Other Face of God:
When the Stranger Calls Us Home"
by Mary Jo Leddy
Ten Monday Nights -
January 16th - March 26th, 2012
See the study schedule:
http://tinyurl.com/78f2ll2
Information about the book from Amazon.ca:
http://tinyurl.com/c6aror6
Visit Romero House, Toronto on the web:
http://tinyurl.com/7c9dsb4
NOTE: Mary Jo Leddy is coming to St. David's
the weekend of September 20th-22nd. Watch for
new information as it becomes available.
*****
ST. DAVID'S ACTS MINISTRY AND
THE FAITH AND SPIRITUALITY CENTRE
ON THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY CAMPUS
Welcome to our -
LENTEN STUDIES 2012
Noon Hour Book Discussions for Faculty,
Staff and Students Winter Series for 2012:
"An Altar in the World" by Barbara Brown Taylor
Discovering God in the ordinary experiences of life
March 2nd - March 30th - five Friday noon sessions
Time and Location for all sessions:
12:00 to 1:00PM in the Native Centre Board Room
Located above the Dairy Queen, Mac Hall Student's
Centre
Led by: Wayne Holst,
Coordinator of the ACTS Ministry, St. David's United
and a Faith and Spirituality Centre Liaison.
Cost of the book: $15.00 each
http://tinyurl.com/7qpxcmw
http://www.ucalgary.ca/faithandspirituality/
Join us this year for stiumlating campus discussions!
For more information: Adriana Tulissi 403-220-5451
Co-ordinator, Faith and Spirituality Centre, U. of
C. - artuliss@ucalgary.ca
*****
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/St_Davids_United_Church/Audio.html
*****
STUDY ARCHIVES
An accumulation of thirty-five books studied
since 2000 can quickly be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/6oxmyj4
This collection of study resources represents
more than 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 -
AMEN
What Prayer Can Mean
In a World Beyond Belief,
by Gretta Vosper
HarperCollins Canada: Toronto
Release Date: April 3rd, 2012
340 pages. $33.00 CAD
ISBN #978-1554686476
Publisher's Promo:
Prayer is an essential part of the daily
lives of many people. Some believe it
connects them with God, a cosmic force,
the universe or life itself, and that it
can change circumstances or bring them
comfort, protection and peace.
Others engage in the act of prayer as a
traditional ritual from which they neither
demand nor expect results. Many who pray
cannot imagine living without it. For many
others, however, prayer has no significance
in their lives at all. Having left a practice
they once knew or matured without religious
intervention or instruction, the idea of
praying regularly might be considered by
these individuals as nothing more than a
waste of time. In Amen, Gretta Vosper,
United Church minister and author of the
controversial bestseller "With or Without
God," examines these diverse positions in
the light of harsh realities of unanswered
prayer, the secular critique of supernatural
intervention and the need for a deep sense of
ownership for the suffering in the world.
With characteristic honesty, she calls the
reader to submit the tradition of prayer to
the test of integrity. Can we draw from it
useful principles for addressing human and
global needs? Or is it safe, and maybe even
more effective, to get up from our knees and
live out the answers we seek?
---
Author's Words:
... doing things the way you've always done
them just because you've always done them
that way may be neither productive nor an
efficient use of resources (and the author
applies this to our practice of prayer.)
To some, it is present in a meaningful
day-to-day inspirational way; to others, it
is mostly out of sight, present only for
occasional ceremonial purposes. Sometimes
it is entirely absent, its emply place, if
noticed at all, only a curiosity...
For some... prayer is a positive element in
their lives. It connects them with God...
Prayer makes their lives more meaningful,
more purposeful, and in the meaning they
derive from it, their world makes sense.
Yet for others who still hold on to it,
prayer has been a source of frustration,
confusion and despair... they have repeatedly
asked God for help, for healing, for change;
they have believed and trusted and tried to
be patient; they have surrendered their will
to God... And nothing happened. Nothing.
Things have stayed the same or got worse.
If other people have prayers answered, why
not them? Is it their faith? Their method
of praying? Their unworthiness? Their sin?
... for these people, prayer has not been
a blessing.
For still others, prayer serves a purely
ceremonial function (they pray, for example,
when they sit down to Thanksgiving dinner)
... but prayer now holds only a symbolic place
in their busy lives.
Still others... know little, if anything,
about prayer... Most of the time there is
not even an empty space in their lives
where prayer might have been. They have
lived long and well without it...
Some experience incredible benefits from
prayer, while some experience great
disappointments (people seem to thrive with
or without prayer and the author reflects
profoundly on this apparent contradiction.)
In most of my experience with communal
prayer in the mainline denominational church
(I find little or no opportunity to experience
deep and meaningful prayer experiences.) (So)
if someone asks me if I pray, the answer is
not a simple one.
(The author concludes that just as the way
we live is more important than what we believe
- and that compassion trumps doctrine every time -
so also it is with prayer or no prayer. The way
we live is more important than whether we pray
or not.)
In this book, I'm inviting you on an
exploration of the concept and practice
of prayer - with or without god - to see
what we'd like to put into a model for
living and growing together - with or
without prayer. We will examine what it is
that prayer has offered and might offer the
world into the future. If all prayer can
mean in a world beyond belief is distraction
and disappointment at best - and strife,
segregation and discontent at worst - then we
must get up from our knees, unclench our
hands, and let it go. If we find that prayer
is an essential ingredient to well-being,
then we will have to find ways to preserve
it and make it as practically accessible as
possible. If there is even one beneficial
aspect to prayer that we can extract and
bring with us, we will.
I'm inviting you to explore the intellectual
terrain, toughen up your feet on it for a
bit, and let your ideas grow.
- from the Introduction
Throughout human existence we have prayed
because prayer went out before us as a line
of protection... we have sheltered ourselves
behind it, confident that it would hold off
the greater sorrows, the ones we couldn't
bear, and filter through to us only those
our hearts could carry...
We know, you and I, that (this) image isn't
the reality. We haven't known protection...
(As I wrote this book I had the faint hope...)
I would find a thread that would weave itself
into a tapestry I could throw over the horrid
truth of utter aloneness.
For me, there is no thread - only the yearning
for one. (I must continue to "seek the truth,
come whence it may, cost what it will") For
me, the truth must "Lead where it will..."
We have no prayer that can keep us safe. We
have no prayer that can intervene in the laws
of the universe and keep away illness, evil,
calamity. We have no prayer that can heal a
sick child or extend the life of a loved one.
... We have no prayer that can move mountains.
We have only ourselves. We have only ever had
ourselves. But we have done all these things.
And we can do more. Amen.
- from the Epilogue.
---
My Comments:
Gretta Vosper of Toronto, whose earlier book
"With or Without God" was a helpful exercise
on the meaning of god for our time now offers
challenging insights on the meaning of prayer
in her new book "Amen."
Both books challenge traditional understandings,
and, in many ways, my praise and critique of
her first volume apply here. I respect the author
for her honesty and her desire to probe bravely
below the surface of our sometimes unclear and
ever-changing assumptions which she calls our
"core narratives." At the same time, I need to
question whether her experience of these matters
is anything close to my own.
These starting-points made, I assume some good
debate is to be anticipated.
The church has a long history of 'obedient rebels' -
that is, of people some called heretics but others
knew better. I do not consider Vosper's views
heretical on the subject of prayer. In fact, I find
her dead right in some of the challenges she raises
against our traditional assumptions.
I often wonder myself about the depth of spirit that
exists in a typical Sunday morning service in
churches of the mainline Protestant tradition. From
what I've experienced of some Catholic masses, I
think things are quite similar - in spite of the
beauty of many liturgies, both Catholic and
Protestant. In truth,much of what passes for
prayer is quite infantile.I agree with Vosper
that it is high time we grew up!
Her attempts to critique sacred cows are not bad,
and I would agree that she must certainly speak for
many people in, and beyond, the pews. Anyone who
writes more than 300 pages on the subject of prayer
has got to be taking it seriously. So I am quick
to discard the loose talk that the author is no
Christian.
Still, I have to question whether she has done enough
probing of what is available and happening out there
in the world of faith. I know many who have been
equally concerned about the spirituality of prayer
within and beyond the Christian tradition. Probing
minds and hearts are never content with the status
quo. They are constantly being challenged to go
outside mundane practices and to venture into new
experiences.
Vosper assumes a decidedly rational approach to
prayer, and that may be her limitation. For me,
'reasonable prayer' is an oxymoron. Prayer as
meditation and mysticism transcend the mind and
link our heads and hearts in a profound way.
In that regard, she may be much more 'protestant'
than she realizes.
---
Let me express one additional concern I have about
the book. It ends on a rather sad note. The author
is very honest about her own stance at this point.
"We have only ourselves. We have only ever had
ourselves." She ends by saying that, when all is
said and done, we stand alone in a universe without
any transcending meaning.
Her understanding of our human condition is not
unlike what I understood Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)
the English poet was saying in 'Dover Beach' more
than a century ago -
"The Sea of Faith
Was once too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down to the vast edges drear
and naked shingles of the world...
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
---
Arnold spoke for his time, yet his was but one
voice, and not all were convinced then, as now,
that the era of faith had been eclipsed.
---
I resume:
I need to continue claiming there is a God, and
that we have the ability to exchange communication.
For me, that is expressed well in the United Church
of Canada creedal statement of some decades back:
"We are not alone. We live in God's world."
---
I encourage you to read Vosper's important book.
It should challenge you at some of those 'vulnerable'
spots on the meaning of prayer. It should also help
you refine where you stand.
---
Buy the book from Amazon.ca:
http://tinyurl.com/6s9a4nq
*********
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
LORNA DUECK
Toronto, ON.
Globe and Mail
March 21st, 2012
GCB (Good Christian Belles/Bitches)
http://tinyurl.com/84pkln5
*****
MARTIN MARTY
Sightings 3/19/2012
"Sic Transit- - The Passing of
William Hamilton and Robert Schuller"
http://tinyurl.com/7c2rkex
*****
NET NOTES
COPTIC POPE DIES
Shenouda III was 88
Ecumenical News International
March 19th, 2012
Egyptian Christians mourn death
of Coptic Pope Shenouda III
(ENI news) - Thousands of Egyptians are
mourning the death of Pope Shenouda III,
the longtime leader of the Coptic Orthodox
Church, who died 17 March at the age of 88.
His funeral will be on 21 March, at St.
Mark's Cathedral in Cairo, where his body
has been sitting in state on a large wooden
throne. Tributes have come in from around
the world, with Pope Benedict XVI offering
prayers and U.S. President Barack Obama
praising Pope Shenouda as an "advocate
for tolerance and religious dialogue."
---
ABC News
March 17th, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/6oc4hmt
--
Copts Face Uncertain Future as
Thousands Gather to Mourn Pope
National Post
March 18th, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/7mhov2b
*****
ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANS
Global Watchdog Needed
America Magazine
March 26th, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/84xvmvz
*****
ROME RAPS IRISH CHURCH
Abuse and Neglect Deplored
Reuters News Service
March 20th, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/7qxr9mf
---
"Victims Still Cry Fowl"
Irish Examiner
March 21st, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/78unoht
*****
COMMON SENSE CATHOLICS
Turn Down Santorum
The New York Times
March 22nd, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/7sgxkr8
*****
JEWISH TRAGEDY AT TOULOUSE
Ecumenical News International
March 20th, 2012
French religious groups condemn
killings at Jewish school
Paris (ENI news) - As schools across France
observed a minute of silence on 20 March in
memory of three children and a teacher killed
at a Jewish school, faith groups condemned
the murders and expressed solidarity with
the victims' families. The Council of
Christian Churches in France (CECEF) said
it "shared the pain of the Jewish community
after the murderous shooting" on 19 March.
Some observers also denounced the political
rhetoric that has targeted immigrants and
religious minorities ahead of the French
presidential elections.
---
"West Encourages These Incidents Say Israelis"
Jerusalem Post
March 21st, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/6ucldea
---
"Pushed Closer to Islam's Margins"
Globe and Mail
March 23rd, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/8ysqyaw
*****
THE RISE OF MORMON
FEMINIST BLOGGERS
The Guardian, UK
March 18th, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/7snmde7
*****
LUTHERAN PASTOR NEW
PRESIDENT OF GERMANY
Anglican Journal
March 22nd, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/7gtjtfn
*****
ARCHBISHOP RECONCILES
WITH GAY PRIEST
After Twenty Years
Anglican Journal
March 23rd, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/7k9w6yv
*****
GLOBAL MISSION, EVANGELISM
CONFERENCE MEETS IN PHILIPPINES
Prep for 2013 WCC Assembly in S. Korea
Uca News
March 22nd, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/6w8ztsh
*****
PRESSURE FROM BRAZIL
MAY SAVE IRANIAN PASTOR
Anglican Journal News
March 21st, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/7vzvvrp
*****
OF FRANKLIN GRAHAM, FOX NEWS
AND FAITH'S DISTORTION
National Catholic Reporter
Editorial, March 21st, 2012
Open with Mozilla Firefox
http://tinyurl.com/8y7mcqu
*****
CHRYSTAL CATHEDRAL DOWNFALL
OFFERS CAUTIONARY TALE
Religious News Service
March 15th, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/7uyzutv
*****
GLOBAL FAITH POTPOURRI
Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
19 March 2012
Norway's Lutheran state church headed
toward dis-establishment
Oslo (ENI news) - Major steps toward the
dis-establishment of Norway's state church,
the (Lutheran) Church of Norway, were passed
by the government on 16 March in its weekly
session with King Harald V. Expected to be
adopted by the Parliament (Storting) in May
or June this year, the proposals will make
changes in the country's constitution as well
as in other church legislation, the Ministry
of Government Administration, Reform and
Church Affairs announced. "I hope we have
now prepared a good basis for the Church
of Norway to be an open and inclusive
national church, also in a multicultural
and multi-religious setting," Minister
Rigmor Aasrud (Labour Party), said in a
news release.
_____
Rio+20 summit must include
ethical principles, say experts
Geneva (ENI news) - The current draft text
for the forthcoming U.N. Rio+20 summit on
sustainable development is weak and needs
to strengthened to include ethical
principles that highlight stronger
commitments on equity, accountability,
and universal human rights norms, experts
said. "The conference should lift up human
rights mechanisms as major instruments to
hold governments and the private sector
accountable," Guillermo Kerber, program
executive with the Commission of the
Churches on International Affairs at
the World Council of Churches (WCC),
told a forum in Geneva on 16 March.
*****
20 March 2012
Pope to find challenges,
opportunities in Cuba
Vatican City (ENI news) - Two weeks
before Pope Benedict XVI was scheduled
to touch down in Cuba, a small group
of protesters occupied a church in
central Havana, asking that a message
with their requests be delivered directly
to the pope. Their action was swiftly
condemned by church authorities as
"illegitimate and irresponsible."
The group remained in the church for
two days, and only left on 15 March
after being assured by a top church
leader that they could return home
without police interference, Religion
News Service reports. The episode
illustrates the challenges that Benedict
will find in Cuba during a 23-29 March
trip that will also include a stop in
Mexico.
*****
21 March 2012
Forest burials gain popularity
among German Christians
Berlin (ENI news) - For the last decade,
some Germans have tapped into their nation's
feelings for its ancient forests and chosen
a final resting place in a woodland gravesite.
Churches used to frown on the practice but
now "friedwald" ("peaceful forest") rites
are becoming more accepted. There are
currently 41 forest burial sites across
Germany with at least five more opening
this year. Its increased popularity is due
to several factors - gradual acceptance of
alternatives to conventional burial, such as
cremation; desire for less-expensive options
than traditional funerals and a hunger to
re-connect with the natural world.
______
22 March 2012
South African judge criticized for
supporting evangelist's conference
Cape Town, South Africa (ENI news) - South
Africa's chief justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng,
has been criticized for "requesting" the
country's top judges from different
religious backgrounds to attend a
leadership conference by John Maxwell,
an American evangelist. Mogoeng, through
an e-mail sent by his staff, said judges
and their deputies should "be available"
for an evangelical leadership conference
that was held in Johannesburg on 12 March.
_____
U.S. women faith leaders call for
greater oversight of cosmetics industry
Washington, D.C. (ENI news) - Women
religious leaders in the U.S. called on
22 March for greater government oversight
of the cosmetics industry to protect
children and the environment from toxic
chemicals. "Scripture tells us that we
were made in God's image," said Chloe
Schwabe, environmental health program
manager at the National Council of
Churches (NCC), according to an NCC
news release.
_____
Malawi president rejects calls
from faith leaders to resign
Blantyre, Malawi (ENI news) Malawi
President Bingu wa Mutharika on 22 March
rejected calls from faith groups that he
resign following a political and economic
crisis that has rocked the southern
African nation. A delegation of civil
society organizations meeting at a national
conference organized by the Public Affairs
Committee (PAC) on 15 March demanded that
Mutharika "resign honorably within 90 days
or if he thinks he is still popular, he
should call for a referendum within the 90
days. Failure to follow this will call for
mass action." Last year, the government
cracked down on protesters demanding
economic changes that would ease fuel
and foreign-currency shortages.
_____
U.S. churches lost $1.2 billion
in recession, report says
Washington, D.C. (ENI news) - Even as
membership remains relatively stable in
U.S. churches, the effects of the recession
have caused contributions to drop by $1.2
billion, according to the 2012 Yearbook
of American and Canadian Churches. The
almost $29 billion contributed by church
members represented a 2.2 percent decrease
in terms of per capita giving, the yearbook
reported. The $1.2 billion decline in 2010
was nearly three times as large as the $431
million in losses reported in 2009, and
"provides clear evidence of the impact of
the deepening crises in the reporting
period," the Yearbook's editor, the Rev.
Eileen Lindner, wrote.
*****
23 March 2012
Church leaders stress partnership as
Christianity grows in global South
Manila, Philippines (ENI news) - As delegates
to a World Council of Churches (WCC) gathering
noted Christianity's growth in the global South,
church leaders from Africa and Asia stressed
that partnership in mission and evangelism is
needed more than ever. "We acknowledge that
the growth of Christianity in the global South
(Africa and Asia) is the result of the success
of the North's mission and evangelism work,"
the Rev. Opoku Onyinah of the Pentecost Bible
College in Ghana told ENInews on 23 March.
Speaking before a pre-assembly of the WCC
Commission on World Mission and Evangelism
(CWME), Onyinah said Pentecostal churches'
emphasis on personal religious experiences
and encounters with the Holy Spirit has
helped many churches in Africa grow.
_____
Churches say Hong Kong needs universal suffrage
Hong Kong (ENI news) - As Hong Kong heads toward
the choice of a chief executive on 25 March, its
churches are raising their voices in support of
universal suffrage. Under the present political
system, the government head will be chosen by
1,200 electors who mainly coming from the
business sectors and pro-Beijing groups.
The Hong Kong Christian Council held a prayer
meeting 23 March in support of democracy in
the former British colony, which was returned
to China in 1997. "We are disoriented and angry,"
said the council and the prayer meeting asked for
suffrage in the next election in 2017.
*****
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
Provided by Sojourners Online
March 19th, 2012
"If everyone demanded peace
instead of another television set,
then thereÂ’d be peace."
- John Lennon
---
March 20th, 2012
"We have to make truth and nonviolence
not matters for mere individual practice
but for practice for groups and communities
and nations. That at any rate is my dream.
I shall live and die trying to realize it."
- Mahatma Gandhi
---
March 21st, 2012
"The silence required of the Christian is
not found fundamentally and primarily of
human making. Rather, believers must realize
that they already possess within themselves
and at the same time in God the quiet, hidden
“chamber” into which they are to enter and in
which they are with [God].”
- Hans Urs Von Balthasar
---
March 22nd, 2012
"Every moment of our human life is a moment
of crisis; for at every moment we are called
upon to make an all-important decision - to
choose between the way that leads to death and
spiritual darkness and the way that leads toward
light and life; between interests exclusively
temporal and the eternal order; between our
personal order will... and the will of God."
- Aldous Huxley
---
March 23rd, 2012
"If peace were our greatest industry,/
harmony our best-selling product,/
and no one unemployed in its pursuit,/
this scene would be as common as
chicory flowers in June/
as we soaked in solar pleasure and/
the simple beauty of humans in harmony/
at the jade green lake."
- Claudia Lapp
*****
ON THIS DAY
Provided by the New York Times
On March 18, 1965 - the first spacewalk took
place as Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov left
his Voskhod 2 capsule and remained outside the
spacecraft for 20 minutes, secured by a tether.
http://tinyurl.com/6mbax9o
---
On March 20, 1995 - in Tokyo, 12 people were
killed and more than 5,500 others sickened
when packages containing the poisonous gas
sarin leaked on five separate subway trains.
http://tinyurl.com/8xdfdzf
---
On March 21, 1965, more than 3,000 civil
rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma
to Montgomery, Ala.
http://tinyurl.com/7pl6e4t
*****
CLOSING THOUGHT
"Now, in our modern scientific age, in a
manner never known before, we have created
our own sacred story, the epic of evolution,
telling us, fromm empirical observation and
critical analysis, how the universe came to
be, the sequence of its transformations down
through some billions of years,, how our
solar system came into being, then how the
earth took shape and brought us into
existence... This is our sacred story.
- Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry celebrates our new, collective,
sacred story, one that permeates our globe
at this time, one that is truly universal,
and one that derives from science. He
emphasises in other places how important
sacred stories have always been to human
tribes in order to ground them in morality
and in celebration. Today, "the tribe" is
no longer just local. It is our entire
species. Our whole species share the common
story.
Do you find yourself grounded by it?
- Matthew Fox
(end)
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