Latest Headlines
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CBS special highlights role of faith communities in resettling refugees
“Refugee Resettlement: Faith Communities Making A Difference,” a CBS Television religion special about refugees who resettle in the United States, will be broadcast Sunday, Sept. 25 on the CBS Television Network. John P. Blessington is the executive producer and Liz Kineke is the producer of the special is produced in cooperation with the Interfaith Broadcasting [...] -
When the cross and the crescent meet
When Irshad Learning Center, a Muslim congregation in Illinois, asked to use Woodridge United Methodist Church facilities for fellowship and worship, it didn’t take long for the church to say yes. “They came knocking on our door saying they were looking for space,” says the Rev. Dave Buerstetta, a pastor at the church. Woodridge is a [...] -
Rethinking theology for HIV response
For churches in Africa, the Old Testament has historically occupied a prominent place in theological thinking. “Our theology is constructed with the image of God in the Old Testament,” says Charles Klagba, theological consultant for the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA). “It is for that reason the reaction of many churches on [...] -
Ministry in the “Boundary Areas”
The city of Oakland, California, is marked by hills and flats–with equally obvious geographic boundaries along racial and socioeconomic lines. But a new congregation is committed to bringing people together and breaking down the dividing lines.our meetings looked more like AA meetings,” McPaul says. “We got pretty real with each other and kept it simple. We [...] -
Religious leaders arrested in Capitol in budget justice protest
Washington, July 28, 2011 – Frustrated that their pleas to the Administration and Congress to protect funding for the nation’s most vulnerable are being ignored, nearly a dozen leaders from the faith community were arrested inside the U.S. Capitol Building on Thursday. Despite repeated warnings from the U.S. Capitol Police, the leaders refused to end their [...] -
66 years on, A-Bombing of Japan renews calls for disarmament
New York, August 6, 2011 — Sixty-six years ago today, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. More than 80,000 people died instantly, and 60,000 more died shortly afterwards of injuries and radiation poisoning. Three days later an additional 80,000 died August 9, 1945, when a second atomic bomb [...] -
A song of new hope
No matter the genre, quality music draws people in. So, since its beginning in January 2008, New Hope Presbyterian Church, a new church development in the heart of Orange County, Calif., has placed an emphasis on music. Three years later, New Hope has not only moved from monthly worship gatherings to weekly, but has also helped bring [...] -
Oklahoma ministry helps ex-convicts adjust
Bureau of Justice statistics indicate that about half of the prisoners released from U.S. federal and state prisons during recent decades have been back behind bars within three years. Stan Basler understands why. During his 17 years as director of Criminal Justice and Mercy Ministries of the Oklahoma Annual (regional) Conference of The United Methodist Church, [...] -
How to build relationships
By Dave Pedersen Andrea and Arnie Koenig devoted 43 years of their lives to an ELCA congregation in the rural town of Hutchinson, Minn. The Koenigs felt genuine anguish when their congregation voted to leave the ELCA in May 2010, partly in response to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly decisions. For support, the Koenigs met with others from [...] -
NCC offers prayers and support for the people of Norway
New York, July 24, 2011 — The general secretary of the National Council of Churches has sent a message of love and support to the churches of Norway, and to World Council of Churches general secretary, the Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, a Norwegian pastor. Tveit was in Norway and had just left Oslo when the [...]
