From left to right: Prof. Richard Falk, Welly Esau Mandowen and Archbishop Michael Kehinde Stephen at the WCC International Affairs and United Nations Advocacy Week in New York, 2003
Methodist Archbishop Michael Kehinde Stephen of Ibadan, Nigeria has appealed to Christian and Muslim leaders worldwide to act together in the face of extremist violence that threatens to divide Nigerians along religious lines.
As Egyptians gathered this week in Cairo's Tahrir Square to mark the first anniversary of the "Egyptian Revolution," nearby Jasr El Dobara church continued to be a bridge-builder between communities of faith.
Churches in India have decried the verdict of an Islamic court in Kashmir that ordered the expulsion of Christians, including a Protestant pastor and a Dutch Catholic missionary, and recommended government control of Christian schools.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in the east German state of Saxony ruled on Jan. 21 that gay pastors will for the first time be allowed to cohabit with their partners.
Conservative U.S. Presbyterians launched a new denomination on Jan. 19, saying that the Presbyterian Church (USA) is too consumed by internal conflicts and bureaucracy to nurture healthy congregations.
The hands of a cattle-herder. --Photo by Peter Muller of Safer World
Christian humanitarian agencies are delivering relief aid to thousands of people displaced in inter-tribal conflict in South Sudan, the world's newest nation.
From November 14-30, 2011, Jack and Irene Suderman and Bert Lobe participated in a series of workshops and training sessions with Asian Mennonite and Brethren in Christ leaders in several venues in India. These sessions were sponsored jointly by Mennonite World Conference and the Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India.
Gene Herr, May 11, 1932 – Jan. 1, 2012
Over a lifetime of ministry Gene Herr served as a wise, lively and ever-affirming companion to many pilgrims on the path to deeper spiritual wholeness. Along with his wife Mary, who survives him, Herr helped introduce Mennonites to the ancient tradition of contemplative spirituality.
Paul Simon: 'Always a spiritual dimension to his work.'
In a career that has spanned half a century, American musician Paul Simon says there's always been a spiritual dimension to his work. But the overt religious references in his most recent album, "So Beautiful or So What," surprised even him. There are songs about God, angels, creation, pilgrimage, prayer and the afterlife, reports Religion News Service.
Christians have the lowest growth rate among the Israeli population, according to an Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics report released on Jan. 6.
South African President Jacob Zuma: "But our roots are Christian and they will shine through whatever our present problems."
The Christian roots of the African National Congress (ANC) were cited during weekend celebrations in South Africa marking the centennial of Africa's best known liberation and political movement. More than a dozen African heads of state and representatives from around the world attended to honor the movement that eventually overcame the apartheid system of racial segregation.
The Cardinals
Pope Benedict XVI's announcement on Jan. 6 of 22 new cardinals shows that he is continuing a pattern of stacking the College of Cardinals with Europeans (mainly Italians) and with leaders of the Roman curia, the papal bureaucracy whose officials are often considered more conservative than prelates in dioceses around the world.
Patricia Kisare
On November 28, 2011 the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) held its second presidential and legislative election.
$4 million heifer of 2011.
After 30 years of raising funds for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), volunteers for the Heifer Sale are still going strong.
Christian leaders in Egypt are meeting to discuss opening a dialogue with Islamic groups as a way of addressing sectarian violence.
Linda Matties
One of the most famous announcements the world has ever heard is stated in this way: “For unto us is born this day ... a Savior.” It is no accident that the fulcrum of human history rests on a birth narrative. Given the limitations of human language, we struggle to find the vocabulary for momentous events. What better metaphor than a birth story!
Hanukkah dreidels
Both Christmas lights and Hanukkah dreidels (spinning tops) are appearing as decorations as the northern Israeli port city of Haifa throws a multi-faith party on December weekends.
Hitchens, the iconoclast.
Both opponents and advocates of religious faith are mourning the death of author, polemicist, and atheist Christopher Hitchens, who died Dec. 15 after a long battle with esophageal cancer.
Christmas can be a lonely time for non-Christians in North America. Jews have Hanukkah -- and traditionally go to Chinese restaurants on Christmas Day. Muslims, well, can always go to the movies.
Willard Metzger (2nd row, right) marches through the streets of Durban in support of climate justice with other people of faith. – photo by Kaitlin Bardswich
For Mennonite Church Canada Executive Director Willard Metzger, the 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa was an eye-opening experience that began with a twist of irony.
On the eve of the event, Durban was in the midst of a dramatic and destructive increase in rainfall – after a spring of exceeding dryness.
The 'Mennonite tree' is among the 150 maples, ashes, lindens and hawthorns in the garden as a symbol of worldwide unity. (Photo credit: Frieder Boller)
On a cold, blustery day in the German town of Wittenberg, Bishop Yuri Novgorodov of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kazakhstan patted down the dark soil at the base of a freshly-planted linden tree. Not more than a hundred yards away, the tower of the Castle Church soared into the bright winter sky.
The story of Muslim and Christian women working together on a quilt at Floradale Mennonite Church (Ont.) is one of several inspiring but obscure stories revealed in Waging Peace Muslim and Christian Alternatives. The quilt eventually found its way to Palestinian refugees.
A new one-hour documentary produced by MennoMedia’s film department, Third Way media, explores threads of peacemaking in the Christian and Muslim faiths through the centuries and shows how Muslims and Christians today are working for peace.
More than 20,000 YouTube views, a profile on CNN, posted on more than 60 blogs from around the world, and continuous sharing on facebook and twitter have taken the “Singing Tweets” video to an international audience.
Due to the shortage of houses in the Attawapiskat First Nation community, shacks like this are being used as homes. --MCC photo by Lyndsay Mollins Koene
While recent media attention has focused on the shortage of houses and lack of water and sewage systems in the Attawapiskat First Nation community in northern Ontario, many other First Nations communities are experiencing similar problems, says a spokesperson for MCC Canada.
David Victor R. Youssef from the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services in Egypt
Churches in Egypt are praying and helping migrants, who flee home due to political turmoil, violence and uncertain future. There is a great need to develop stable democratic societies if the “Arab spring” is to bear fruits. Or else it might turn into an “Arab winter” with religious minorities at the risk of persecution.
