wfn.org | Episcopalians: News Briefs

[dmack@episcopalchurch.org]

July 2, 2002

2002-170

Episcopalians: News Briefs

Russians return church windows taken during war to German 
church

(ENI)The Russian government has returned 111 medieval 
stained-glass windows to a German church almost six decades 
after the Soviet Red Army seized them. The Evangelical Church in 
Germany (EKD) hailed the action as "a good sign for peace and 
reconciliation" in Europe and a "remarkable sign of the 
Christian fellowship" between the German church and the Russian 
Orthodox Church.

The windows, depicting biblical scenes from Creation to 
Judgement Day, were handed over in St. Petersburg to German 
culture minister Julian Nida-Ruemelin on June 24. They will be 
reinstalled in their original location in the Marienkirche in 
Frankfurt-an-der-Oder on the German-Polish border.

"The Marienkirche stands at the centre of Frankfurt and these 
incomparable artworks are its outstanding feature," said Bishop 
Wolfgang Hueber of Berlin-Brandenburg. "In this sense, the very 
heart has been given back to this city."

The 14th century windows were seized by Soviet troops who 
occupied the city in 1946, three years after they were 
dismantled and stored to prevent damage from Allied bombing. 
German church leaders have been negotiating their return since 
the early 1990s.

Hueber said that he had discussed the issue privately with 
Patriarch Alexy II of the Russian Orthodox Church. "This helped 
the Russian authorities accept that they weren't state property 
but the possessions of a Christian church," he said. It will 
take four years to reinstall the windows but Hueber said that he 
hoped several would be back in place for the Marienkirche's 
750th anniversary in 2003 when the city would host the nation's 
first ecumenical Kirchentag or church festival.

Several million German artworks, manuscripts and archive 
collections removed by the Soviet Army at the end of the Second 
World War as compensation for war damage were declared Russian 
property in 1999.

European churches urged to scrutinize their investments

(ENI) Churches in Western Europe are being urged to examine 
their investment portfolios to help counter the negative aspects 
of the globalization of the world's economy. The call came from 
80 church leaders at a five-day meeting in the Netherlands in 
mid-June.

Participants are asking churches to examine how they are 
managing their financial resouar4ces, such as pension funds, to 
see if there are ways they can use their financial muscle to 
promote positive changes in the world economy. The meeting 
followed regional gatherings of Asian, eastern European and 
Pacific churches over the past three years that examined the 
links between Christian faith and the global economy and 
formulated a number of critical questions for churches in 
western Europe. They pointed to a perception, for example, that 
"for Christians in the west and their churches, material values 
and possessions have taken a far too important place in their 
lives."

Sam Kobia, a senior staff member at the World Council of 
Churches, told the gathering that the interests of the world's 
poorer countries were being overshadowed by the "war on terror" 
launched in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on 
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. He said that worldwide 
justice should top the political agenda, rather than the 
security priorities of the developed world.

The gathering was sponsored by the WCC, the Lutheran World 
Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the 
Conference of European Churches.

Archbishop of Canterbury calls for restraint following 
decision to bless same-gender couples

(ACNS) Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey has called for 
restraint and a period of reflection in the wake of a decision 
June 15 by the Diocese of Westminster in the Anglican Church of 
Canada to approve a rite for blessing same-gender couples. They 
had approved a similar resolution at several previous synods but 
Bishop Michael Ingham insisted that a substantial majority 
approve before he would give his consent.

Writing to the other primates of the Anglican Communion, 
Carey said that the decision had major implications for the 
whole of the church and urged that individual dioceses should 
not "go it alone" in making decisions in such matters.

"Precisely because there are strong views on all sides of 
this issue, I believe that departure from the main thrust of 
Anglican moral tradition is sufficiently significant for 
individual dioceses not to act alone in relation to it," Carey 
wrote.

Carey has also written to Ingham seeking clarification on 
five points:

* The precise status of the decision, the consent and 
ratification needed, and the process which now ensues;

* The extent and limitation of the pastoral oversight delegated 
to any episcopal visitor scheme to protect those who object to 
the decision;

* Safeguards for clergy and others dissenting from the move;

* The contribution so far, and possible future role, of the 
Canadian House of Bishops;

* The extent to which wider factors, including the implications 
for the Canadian province and the Anglican Communion, were a 
part of the debate.

Carey called on his fellow primates to resist invitations to 
intervene in the matter and thereby avoid aggravating an already 
volatile situation. He also asked for their prayers and support 
in the dialogue he has initiated with the diocese and the 
Anglican Church of Canada.

Lutherans using survey to determine who is attending church

(ELCA) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is using a 
national survey of 420 of its congregations to determine trends 
in worship attendance and how the results can be used to shape 
ministry. The results are showing not only who attends but 
indicates many of them have been members for quite a while. It 
is also indicating, however, that diversity continues to be a 
challenge.

"The biggest thing we can get from the survey is how we can 
strengthen our churches and learn more about who is coming to 
church," said Martin Smith, senior research analyst for the 
ELCA's Department for Research and Evaluation. He said that the 
survey, the largest of its kind, began when U.S. Congregations, 
a research group that works from the offices of the Presbyterian 
Church (USA), used a $1.3 million grant from the Lilly 
Endowment, to conduct the massive interfaith survey among 43,463 
congregations.

Smith said that the church is still looking at the results, 
comparing them with other denominations and the national 
results, but using some caution because of differences in 
religious practice.

The survey shows that a majority of those who attend ELCA 
churches are white women. Smith said that one staggering fact 
that is cause for alarm was that 93 percent of attendees are 
white or Caucasian. "We need to understand our need to be 
diverse," he said. "Evangelism is a high priority issue."

While the national results indicated that one in every three 
worshipers is new to the congregation, 41 percent of those who 
attend ELCA churches have been members of the congregation for 
more than 20 years.

Congregations that participated in the survey will receive 
the results from ELCA churches and the national results. To help 
churches sort through the material, the churches will also 
receive a video and a book, "A Field Guide to U.S. 
Congregations," outlining the national results.

For more information about the survey, go to 
http://www.uscongregations.org on the Web.

Christians in Malaysia fear imposition of Islamic law

(Barnabas Fund) Moderate Muslims, Christians and other 
non-Muslim minorities are expressing horror over attempts to 
impose full Islamic Shari'ah law in Malaysia's Terengganu State.

The opposition PAS party wants to see the country, 
traditionally one of the modest Muslim nations in the world, 
transformed into an Islamic nation under the strict Islamic law. 
The party already controls two of Malaysia's 13 states but its 
attempt to impose Islamic law has been blocked by the federal 
government in the past. 

The attempt in Terengganu is being vigorously opposed by 
women's groups and minority groups, as well as Prime Minister 
Mahathir Mohamad. Christians are concerned that he has announced 
that she will step down in favor of his deputy in 16 months, 
creating a power vacuum that could fuel tension. An organization 
of Muslim lawyers has taken the matter to court, seeking a 
ruling that would stipulate that only the federal government, 
not individual state governments, has the authority to pass 
criminal laws.

Christians and other non-Muslims fear that under Shari'ah 
their rights and freedoms would be eroded. The law prescribes 
harsh penalties. Converts from Islam to another faith, for 
example, would be put to death. It also counts the evidence of 
non-Muslims and women as worth only half that of Muslim men in 
legal courts, in some cases discounting their testimonies 
altogether.

Christians look at the example of Nigeria, a nation similarly 
divided between Muslims and non-Muslims, where attempts by 
states in the north dominated by Muslims to impose Islamic law 
have led to savage violence that has killed an estimated 2,000 
people and left many homeless. Despite repeated promises that 
the law would be applied to Muslims only, vigilantes are 
enforcing the law's dress codes on Muslims and Christians alike. 
Christian churches have been threatened and some closed in the 
states under Islamic law.

For more information check the Barnabas Fund on the Web at 
www.barnabasfund.org.

Carey suggests that Roman Catholics may ordain women in the 
future

(Telegraph) During a two-day visit to visit Pope John Paul II, 
Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey suggested that the 
Roman Catholic Church may one day follow the path of Anglicans 
and ordain women to the priesthood. He also said during an 
interview that the fact that the Church of England ordains women 
while Rome does not was "an eternally insurmountable" problem.

The Church of England began to ordain women in 1994, despite 
a warning two years earlier by the pope that the move would 
represent a grave obstacle to unity. The pope pointed out that 
Christ had chosen only men as his apostles. "I know there are 
lots of women in the Roman Catholic Church who would like 
ordination themselves," Carey said. "So let's see it as a 
problem, but not as a final break that is going to stop the 
unity that we want to see."

Carey said that the Church of England's break with more than 
four centuries of an exclusively male priesthood meant that 
"sometimes churches have to change and to go with the leading of 
the Holy Spirit and sometimes this takes hundreds of years." Yet 
this "doesn't mean to say one church is right and another church 
is wrong," he added. "We move in different steps, different 
paces. We have lagged behind the Roman Catholic Church in many 
directions but maybe on this issue we are leading the way."

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