|
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 23-26,
2000, there was a conference
called, “Multiculturalism for a New
Millennium.” It was co-sponsored by seventeen
secular and educational entities. In the
literature announcing the conference was, “The
Declaration of Interdependence.” We passed it
along to our readers.
Date posted:Feb 27, 2000
|
|
|
As reports of killings, church burnings, and
plots to overthrow the government rage around
him, a Methodist leader in Indonesia insists that
this is the time for the church to practice what
it preaches. "The church must do what we believe,
which is love and action toward one another
regardless of religion and race," asserted Bishop
H. Doloksaribu, head of the Methodist Church in
Indonesia.
Date posted:Feb 25, 2000
|
|
|
The day before Thanksgiving, the St. Phillips
United Methodist Church, Patterson, New Jersey,
serves its annual Thanksgiving luncheon for the
community. This past year, a young woman walked
into the church accompanied by two young men.
With a broad smile, she proudly announced that
she has just left court with her son and that all
the drug charges against him had been dropped.
Everyone applauded.
Date posted:Feb 22, 2000
|
|
|
Invited by the country's religious leaders to
take to the streets in favor of peace, more than
100,000 Puerto Ricans waved white flags and
walked in silence through the streets of San Juan
on February 21 to demand an end to the U.S. Navy
bombing of the tiny Caribbean island of Vieques.
Date posted:Feb 22, 2000
|
|
|
United Methodism in Russia continues to grow, but
political, economic and social factors in the
country cause church leaders to feel trepidation
for the future.
Several speakers shared their concerns during the
eighth consultation of the Russia Initiative Feb.
17-19 in Atlanta. The initiative is a program of
the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
Date posted:Feb 22, 2000
|
|
|
United Methodist Seminars on National and
International Affairs will host a Seminar
Saturday April 8, 2000 at The United Methodist
Building in Washington, DC on Jubilee 2000.
United Methodists are being encouraged to join
others in a human chain around the U.S. Capitol
on April 9 to call for the cancellation of all
debts owed by poor countries.
Date posted:Feb 22, 2000
|
|
|
A march organized by religious leaders in San
Juan, Puerto Rico, became a peaceful and powerful
indicator of opposition against the U.S. Navy
presence on Vieques, according to Methodist
officials.
Date posted:Feb 20, 2000
|
|
|
Women should be allowed to have more active
leadership roles in the Korean Methodist Church,
the World Methodist Council's top official said
during a recent event in Seoul, South Korea.
Date posted:Feb 18, 2000
|
|
|
Of the 22 million people living in Africa with
the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, the
Ethiopian Ministry of Health reports that 3
million of those infected are in Ethiopia. But
Ethiopian HIV-AIDS activists say those infected
may be as many as 10 million.
Date posted:Feb 17, 2000
|
|
|
United Methodist pastors agree the church should
become more involved in education about mental
illness and families affected by the disease, but
few deal with the mentally ill on a regular
basis, a new survey shows.
Date posted:Feb 17, 2000
|
|
|
A Methodist minister was part of a delegation
from the Puerto Rican island of Vieques bringing
a non-violent but defiant message to the U.S.
government Feb. 16.
The diverse group held a press conference at the
United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill before
meeting with officials. The priests, teachers,
fishermen, politicians and others concluded their
visit with a rally in front of the White House.
Date posted:Feb 17, 2000
|
|
|
On their way to protest U.S. Navy bombing of
their Caribbean island, Cristina Vasquez and
Leonor Cruz stop at Ana Melisa Santiago's home.
There they pray for Santiago and her baby girl
born in December with severe birth defects.
Date posted:Feb 17, 2000
|
|
|
For almost two decades, the former Zaire, now the
Democratic Republic of Congo has ceased to
function as a state. Many of the social and
educational institutions have collapsed, because
of mismanagement, corruption and armed conflicts.
Today most social services and formal education
are being provided by non government and church
organizations, including the United Methodist
Church.
Date posted:Feb 16, 2000
|
|
|
A General Board of Church and Society Release
March 1st marks the first anniversary of the
Mine
Ban Treaty's entry into force. It is a great
opportunity for United Methodists in the United
States to contact the federal government and
demand that the U.S. join the international
consensus that antipersonnel landmines should be
banned and eradicated forever from the earth.
Date posted:Feb 16, 2000
|
|
|
Puerto Ricans of all political stripes will take
to the streets of their country's capital on
February 21 to demand the permanent cessation of
bombing on this small Caribbean island.
Date posted:Feb 16, 2000
|
|
|
More than 1,100 religious leaders, churchgoers
and civic activists gathered Feb. 13 to protest a
city official's ruling that closed down a meals
ministry and set a limit on worship attendance at
a local United Methodist Church.
The ruling against Sunnyside Centenary United
Methodist Church has sparked a debate over
constitutional rights and also focused attention
on the challenges of ministering to the hungry
and homeless.
Date posted:Feb 15, 2000
|
|
|
Were it not for the unexploded bomb just 30 feet
away from where he slept, Enrique Mercado could
have enjoyed a dream vacation.
Date posted:Feb 15, 2000
|
|
|
United Methodist Bishop Felton E. May pledged to
work for gun control during the Feb. 10 funeral
of a slain police officer and called on all
congregations in the church to teach the
commandments, "Thou shalt not steal" and "Thou
shalt not kill."
Date posted:Feb 14, 2000
|
|
|
Methodist women from throughout Puerto Rico
traveled here on February 12 to lend their
support to a struggle to drive the U.S. Navy off
this small Caribbean island.
Date posted:Feb 14, 2000
|
|
|
United Methodists are being encouraged to join
others in a human chain around the U.S. Capitol
on April 9 to call for the cancellation of all
debts owed by poor countries.
Date posted:Feb 10, 2000
|
|
|
Africa University's board of directors is
watching the Zimbabwe's troubled economy with
concern, and financial issues are expected to be
front and center this year for the school.
Date posted:Feb 10, 2000
|
|
|
The web site of the General Board of Global
Ministries (GBGM Web) has garnered several honors
in the past month, including recognition by the
Brittannica Internet Guide, the New Testament
Gateway, HuJaMbo!, and Africa Daily.
Date posted:Feb 10, 2000
|
|
|
Opposing capital punishment in the Lone Star
State is seen as a contrary opinion. But it's a
position that United Methodist Bishop Joe A.
Wilson of the Fort Worth Area staked out long
before he sent a letter last month to Texas Gov.
George W. Bush, a United Methodist, pleading for
a moratorium on capital punishment.
Date posted:Feb 10, 2000
|
|
|
Clifford B. Aguilar, a widely known United
Methodist layman who helped found the
denomination's Hispanic caucus, died at home in
Long Beach, Calif., Feb. 8, 2000. He was 82.
Date posted:Feb 10, 2000
|
|
|
Developments Regarding Vieques
Compiled from various sources, February 2000
Date posted:Feb 09, 2000
|
|
|
Dr. Strobel, originally from the Philippines, is
expected to address the interconnectedness of
these issues when she speaks at a social justice
workshop in Three Rivers, California, sponsored
by the Deaconess Program Office of the General
Board of Global Ministries. Deaconesses from the
Philippines currently engaged in various forms of
ministry in the United States will participate in
this February workshop.
Date posted:Feb 07, 2000
|
|
|
A United Methodist deaconess working with issues
of environmental justice and rural homelessness
claims it was her Appalachian roots that inspired
her ministry of caring for the earth and its
people.
Date posted:Feb 07, 2000
|
|
|
Commentary By Germán Acevedo-Delgado*
In the name of national defense the health and
welfare of US citizens, children, women and men,
is endangered in the island of Vieques, Puerto
Rico. Also, multiple laws to protect the
environment are being broken. Toxic waste is
being dumped in water surrounding Vieques and on
land, disregarding the negative impact this will
have in generations to come.
Date posted:Feb 07, 2000
|
|
|
"Religious motivation," said the Rev. Roy
Lloyd, "is always difficult to explain."
Even so, the broadcast director for the National
Council of Churches (NCC) said near the end of an
intense week of "saturation" coverage of the
Elián González case that the just-completed visit
of Elián's grandmothers seemed to have solidified
public support for the boy's return to Cuba, and
that the NCC had played a proper and useful role
in those efforts.
Date posted:Feb 04, 2000
|
|
|
United Methodist giving to churchwide mission and
ministry grew during 1999 - both in millions of
dollars and in the percentage of budget raised.
Date posted:Feb 04, 2000
|
|
|
As Cuban exiles and their former countrymen
loudly demonstrated over the fate of 6-year-old
Elian Gonzalez, one of those in the middle,
standing with the boy, was the Rev. Robert Edgar.
This was the same Robert Edgar who, as a
congressman and seminary president, built a
reputation for overcoming odds and turning
troubles around.
Date posted:Feb 04, 2000
|
|
|
United Methodists set an all-time record for
voluntary giving to mission, relief and
rehabilitation projects during 1999.
Date posted:Feb 03, 2000
|
|
|
We have just learned through our sources in
Bukavu that several prominent members of the
Congolese Civil Society in Bukavu have been
arrested by the Rwandan-backed Congolese rebels.
Those arrested, include among others, Patient
Bagenda, Ramazani Musombo and Gustave Lwijire.
Date posted:Feb 02, 2000
|
|
|
Human Rights Watch today condemned the ongoing
crackdown by authorities of the rebel Congolese
Rally for Democracy against civil society
activists, and particularly human rights
defenders in areas under rebel control in eastern
Congo. Human Rights Watch called upon the RCD to
immediately and unconditionally release all
detained activists, and to allow the local human
rights organizations and other non-governmental
associations in eastern Congo to express their
views openly and to operate freely.
Date posted:Feb 02, 2000
|
|
|
We have just learned through our sources in Bukavu
that several prominent members of the Congolese
Civil Society in Bukavu have been arrested by the
Rwandan-backed Congolese rebels. Those arrested,
include among others, Patient Bagenda, Ramazani
Musombo and Gustave Lwijire.
Date posted:Feb 02, 2000
|
|
|
Recent attention to the accelerated use of the
death penalty, discussions of moratoriums on the
death penalty, and editorial commentary
questioning the fair imposition of the death
penalty have drawn new attention to this criminal
justice issue.
Date posted:Feb 01, 2000
|
