Episcopal Press and News
News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. May 21, 2002 [2002-130]
NCC urges churches to mark September 11 with interfaith open houses
(NCC) After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Islamic centers and mosques across the country held open houses, inviting their neighbors of other faiths to grieve together and build bridges of understanding.
"For many Christians it was their first occasion to enter a mosque and talk with a Muslim," said the Rev. Jay Rock, director of interfaith relations for the National Council of Churches (NCC). He said that Muslims were eager to be seen not as terrorists but "peace-loving, PTA-going, regular Americans who came here from all parts of the world."
Rock pointed out that churches spontaneously opened their doors for prayer following the terrorist attacks and that "responsible leaders reminded us that it was a group of Islamist terrorists and not Islam nor ordinary Muslims that had attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."
Now the NCC is urging Christian churches to hold interfaith open houses on or around September 11, commemorating the first anniversary of the attacks by extending hospitality to Muslim neighbors. The Open Doors: Interfaith Hospitality Project received unanimous approval at an NCC executive board meeting in mid-May in Harrisburg.
Resources are available on the NCC Web site at www.ncccusa.org/interfaith/openhouse-intro.html and include steps for planning and holding an open house, how to contact Muslims, the story of one congregation's involvement in interfaith dialogue, how to move forward after the open house, and basic facts and resources about the Islamic faith.
Jimmy Carter meets with church leaders during recent visit to Cuba
(ENI) Cuba's Protestant church leaders welcomed former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's visit to their country, expressing hopes that the recent visit would help improve relations between the two countries. Carter met privately with 33 church leaders and attended an ecumenical service. The president of the parliament and other government officials also attended the service.
The church leaders told Carter how their churches were meeting the needs of their communities and suggested areas of cooperation with U.S. organizations on a range of social issues. "One of the biggest needs we have in Cuba is the housing problem--and as Carter is related to Habitat for Humanity, I told him we are open for cooperation," said the Rev. Raul Suarez, director of the Martin Luther King Center in Havana where the meeting was held. He said that "it has not been easy to understand and live the faith during these 43 years," adding that the U.S. blockade has inflicted hardship on the Cuban people.
"Most of the time was dedicated to explaining what happens in Cuba, the freedoms the church has, the opportunities to serve our people," said Methodist Bishop Ricardo Pereira. "I think this is a very important visit that will serve as a means of reconciliation." The Rev. Hector Mendez, a member of the central committee of the World Council of Churches, said that the visit "is a concrete example of trying to improve the relationship between the two countries" and a concrete example of celebrating the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence.
Carter is viewed by many Cubans as the American president who has done the most to lower tensions between the two countries since the 1959 Cuban revolution. For example, he helped open the way for Cubans living in exile to visit their relatives in Cuba.
"The Cuban church is a live church," said Dr. Reinerio Arce, president of the Cuban Council of Churches, pointing out that the churches continue to grow. Cuba has 54 denominations, 23 of them members of the council.
Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy describes difficult negotiations in Bethlehem
(Church Times) Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey's envoy to the Middle East described the difficult negotiations over the standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity as "a saga from hell."
The Rev. Andrew White said that he had been invited by both Palestinian and Israeli authorities to participate in the negotiations because of his long links with the region. "For the first three weeks we were negotiating about negotiating," he said in an interview after his return to England. "We became traumatized by the whole event."
The five-week-long siege ended when the Palestinian militants and civilians left the church peacefully on May 10. The 13 most-wanted militants were flown to Cyprus and then to several European destinations. Although seven died during the siege, White said that the dreaded bloodbath had been averted. Orthodox and Roman Catholic church leaders who administer the site did not participate in the negotiations, he said.
White said that the day-to-day uncertainty was very frustrating because "we could not predict anything--inside or out. Just as we thought everything was in place, something would go wrong on one side or other, and everything would halt." He said that "at times it seemed a long, lonely struggle but I received support from Lambeth Palace and the archbishop, as well as my own bishop of Coventry, Colin Bennetts."
He plans to return to the area in the near future because "there is now a desperate need for religious and political leaders to pull together in response to the terrible things that have happened."
California court upholds dismissal of employee on religious grounds
(Los Angeles Times) The California Supreme Court has ruled that religious institutions cannot be held liable for discriminating against employees on the basis of religion. The court threw out a lawsuit brought by an evangelical Christian who was fired from his position with a Catholic medical foundation after he proselytized other employees.
The court held that both the U.S. and California constitutions protect thousands of religious employees--including religious publishing houses, television and radio stations, churches and schools--from litigation, according to a layer representing churches and religious groups in the case. Terence Silo had been warned several times to desist his soul-saving activities on the premises of the medical clinic.
A Superior Court awarded Silo damages and attorney fees and a state Court of Appeals upheld the awards on the grounds that the state constitution bars religious discrimination in the workplace. But the Supreme Court said that religious institutions have the right under the First Amendment to "define themselves and their religious message" and may fire workers for "objectionable religious speech."
Episcopal Divinity School offering certificates in theological study
(ENS) Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has announced three new certificate programs in theological study for those who are seeking to "expand their knowledge of faith, spirituality and leadership," according to a press release.
The programs will begin this fall in Christian Spirituality for the Contemporary World; Justice, Mission and Reconciliation; and Anglican Leadership. The programs will consist of six to eight courses, generally completed within a year of study. EDS will also offer a customized certificate for those who want to design a program for specific needs.
The courses will be offered days, evenings or weekends for those who want to study full-time or part-time. Individuals who are preparing for ordination in the Episcopal Church may pursue a special program to prepare them for canonical examinations.
The program is designed for professionals seeking to strengthen the relationship between their vocation and spiritual life, for lay ministers of the church or those with no previous theological education, or perhaps seminary graduates and clergy wishing to continue their education.
For information check the seminary web site at www.episdivschool.edu or call 1-866-4EDS-NOW, extension 307.
National Council of Churches continues its search for a broader vision of unity
(NCC) The search for a broader expression of Christian unity in the United States is eliciting "a good deal of hope and common good will," according to Elenie Huszagh, president of the National Council of Churches (NCC) in comments to a recent executive board meeting in Pennsylvania.
Two meetings of Protestant, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal and Evangelical church leaders have met twice so far to continue that exploration, and they are planning a third meeting in January. The 34 church leaders who participated in the April meeting in Chicago issued a statement, "An Invitation to a Journey," describing how they "began to see a vision of new life together. This vision has led us to provisionally call ourselves Christian Churches Together in the USA," they said in a statement.
Huszagh emphasized that the statement reflected the progress in the exploratory conversations but "nothing is committed" yet and, she said, there is no indication of how long the process would take. But she described it as "an evolutionary process" rather than a process that could "signal the demise of the NCC."
NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar urged executive board members to share the April statement widely with their member communions. He said that a more formal document could come out of the January meeting.
The text of the statement is available on the NCC web site at www.nccc_usa.org.
Seminary amends conduct policy on human sexuality
(ETSS) Underscoring its intent to be a seminary of the entire Episcopal Church, the board of trustees of the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest has amended its conduct policy on human sexuality to mirror the current position of the national church.
"This action makes more explicit the possibility of homosexual or lesbian persons living in committed relationships being able to serve as faculty and staff or enrolling as students at the Seminary of the Southwest," said the Rt. Rev. Claude Payne, board chair, and the Very Rev. Durstan McDonald, seminary dean, in a joint statement following the annual pre-commencement board meeting on the seminary campus May 20.
The seminary policy continues to state that "all members of the seminary community are to be guided by the highest standards of moral and ethical behavior, including charity, chastity and fidelity in personal relationships, and respect for the dignity of every human being."
Living out its commitment to mission, the seminary intends to reflect the entire Episcopal Church, living in an ordered tension, mirroring the world, and furthering a vision of being able to live with mutual respect and reverence, the statement said.