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2001-177

News Briefs

Christians and Muslims at odds over Nigerian constitution

     (ENI) A leading organization of Nigerian Christians is urging that the 
country's constitution be strengthened to reinforce religious liberty in a nation 
experiencing tremendous tension between Christians and Muslims.

     The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), an umbrella organization of the 
country's Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, expressed particular concern 
that Muslim governors in northern Nigeria are circumventing the section of the 
constitution that prohibits local and federal governments from adopting a state 
religion. CAN wants to strengthen the provision that prevents governments from 
enacting religious laws at odds with the country's secular status.

     Thirteen states in the country have adopted and are implementing Sharia, the 
Islamic legal code, leading to religious clashes that have killed hundreds of 
people. With more than 100 million people, Nigeria is Africa's most populous 
nation, with Muslims in a majority in the north, Christians a majority in the 
east, and a mix in the southwest.

     A committee appointed to review the constitution, written in May of 1999, 
said that the issue of the secular character of Nigeria had not been adequately 
addressed. It recommended that the constitution be amended to make the secular 
status clearer.

     "Christians living in the affected states are with some historical 
justification fearful of misapplication of Islamic law to them, and fearful also 
of the fanaticism the new laws might encourage among Muslims," said Philip Ostein 
of Jos University, located in the northern part of the country.

     

Church communicators urged to support reconciliation

     (ENI) "Lack of communication can indeed breed misunderstanding and 
exclusion," argued Eveline Herfkens, Dutch minister of development, in an address 
before the third congress of the World Association for Christian Communication in 
July. Yet she added that better communication was not "a kind of miracle cure 
that automatically leads from confrontation to reconciliation." 

     Church communicators need not concern themselves with preventing conflict, 
said Herfkens. "It's not confrontation we need to avoid but violence. Clashes 
between conflicting interests are perfectly normal, even in stable states…. It 
would be a very dull world without them. The challenge for society is to deal 
with conflict constructively," she said.

     She warned that communications is sometimes used to reinforce the image of 
the other as the enemy. "This murderous spiral of distrust and disinformation 
must be broken to give peace a chance."

     Preaching at the opening worship service at the congress, General Secretary 
Konrad Raiser of the World Council of Churches cautioned church communicators 
against making the world's conflicts worse. "Wherever Christian proclamation in 
word or in acts contributes to sharpening confrontation and conflict, it is in 
danger of betraying the ministry of reconciliation that has been entrusted to 
us," he said.

     Founded in 1968, the WACC links media, educators and activists in 117 
countries and supports programs designed to encourage the development of more 
democratic media.

     

Identity Project increases name recognition for Lutherans 

     (ELCA) A five-year project designed to increase recognition of the Lutherans 
in the general public has been successful, according to a random sample of the 
U.S. population.

     The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) launched the Identity 
Project, a multimedia advertising campaign, "to help us measure public awareness 
of the Lutheran church and any change in the level of awareness since 1996," said 
Kristi Bangert, who managed the project as director for internal church 
communication and marketing.

     The study revealed that those between the ages of 18 and 24 tended to 
mention mainline denominations less frequently than other age groups, but still 
the name recognition increased from 16 to 24 percent.

     Those who identified the Lutheran church without prompting or looking at a 
list of churches increased from 25 to 30 percent. "That's remarkable and was one 
of the major goals of the Identity Project," said the Rev. Eric Shafer, director 
of communications for the ELCA.

     The project also provided funds for advertising at the local level and 80 
congregations reported increases in attendance--ranging from 3 percent to over 78 
percent. At least 55 of the ELCA's 65 synods were involved in the project and at 
least 720 matching grants were provided to synods and congregations. More than 
4,000 of the church's 11,000 congregations were involved. Aid Association for 
Lutherans, an insurance company in Wisconsin, provided $1.75 in matching grants 
and the ELCA Church Council allocated nearly $3.5 million to fund the project.

     The project has a companion Web site in Spanish.

     

Anglicans sign accord with French Protestants

     (ENI) With July 1 signing ceremonies in Canterbury and Paris, the main 
Protestant churches in France have entered a historic accord with the Anglican 
churches of Britain and Ireland. The Reuilly Common Statement commits the 
churches to sharing "a common life and mission" and commits them to take further 
steps leading to "full visible unity."

     "We are writing a page of our churches' history and at the same time a page 
of the history of the universal church," said the Rev. Werner Jurgensen, an 
Alsatian Lutheran who was one of the chief negotiators for the agreement.

     The Reuilly Statement echoes the Meissen Agreement of 1988 between the 
Church of England and the Evangelical Church in Germany, but stops short of the 
1996 Porvoo Agreement that brought the Anglicans of Britain and Ireland into full 
communion with the Nordic and Baltic Lutheran churches. Porvoo permits the 
"interchangeability" of clergy, allowing them to preside at services of churches 
signing the agreement.

     

Anglicans and Lutherans in El Salvador continue search for unity

      (ENS) Anglican and Lutheran leaders in El Salvador met in a retreat "for 
the purpose of continuing a process towards unity," according to statement 
released after the June meeting. The declaration pointed out that the search for 
unity follows the mandate of Christ and "is the impetus of our faith and practice 
in that our evangelical option is for pastoral commitment to the most needy of 
our society, especially in critical situations."

     The declaration added, "Our clear decision is to continue our journey toward 
unity with the conviction that this movement is the will of God and that it 
responds to a history and authentic spirituality that permits us to share both 
pulpit and altar in a true ecumenical spirit."

     Anglican Bishop Martin Barahona and Lutheran Bishop Medardo Gomez "share and 
are profoundly committed to this process of unity," the declaration said.

     The declaration commits the two churches "to continue our service to the 
most needy; to carry through with the process already begun towards official 
union between both communions; to form a commission that will continue the 
process of unity between our churches."

     The retreat was facilitated by Cristosal, a foundation that supports the 
Anglican Church of El Salvador.