ENI – Rev. Israel Batista, general secretary of the Latin American Council of Churches presented a report at the fifth assembly of the church grouping's highest governing showing a shift in membership and focus. The Latin American church was once seen as a bastion of liberation theology. But some delegates noted that in recent years it has moved closer to the mushrooming Pentecostal and Evangelical churches which are outstripping the traditional Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in membership growth.

ENI – “God sends his angels in times of disasters. These are the angels God sent to us when we stood stunned unable to decide what to do next,” said V. K. Equbal, a Muslim, of a Christian project to build a disaster shelter and community centre at a Muslimmajority village in southern India hit by the December 2005 tsunami.

ENI – Poland's Roman Catholic nuns withstood pressure from the communist-era secret police far more robustly than male clergy, some new research shows.

The third and final installment of the annual REAP evangelism conference gets underway on May 11 and 12, and will focus on “growing deeper” by examining the idea that evangelism and discipleship are inseparable, with each needing the other and thriving in one another's presence.

While discussing what it means to be an interfaith committee, the question of “appreciating” the specific faith traditions of Wiccans, pagans and other faith groups was ultimately voted down by the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee at its February meeting.

Presbyterian College, Montreal

The library at The Presbyterian College, Montreal, is being renamed in honour of Rev. Dr. Joseph C. McLelland, moderator of the General Assembly in 1985, in recognition and celebration of his 50-year association with the college.

ENI – The World Social Forum, which brought together 70,000 activists, including many faith-based organizations, from around the planet, in Nairobi, Kenya in February, was declared a “non-event for world media” by some commentators. The BBC criticized the forum for “a growing lack of focus that drains it of political impact.” Bishop Mvume Dandala, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, a grouping of 134 churches and 35 national councils of churches representing 300 million Christians, responded by saying, “I am a bit disappointed with the attention that the international media seem to pay to [the World Economic Forum in] Davos, Switzerland, at the expense of recording what the poor gathered here tried to say. The message here has been clear: The dominant economic system ignores the plight of the poor of our countries. As long as the issue of poverty is not tackled adequately by the developed world, any talk of overcoming terrorism is just a waste of time; as long as the gap between the rich and the poor keeps growing, you can forget about democracy and stability in our countries. Can the message be any clearer?”

ENI – A proposal by Germany's family minister to triple the number of day care spots for young children by 2013 has led to disagreement between Protestant and Roman Catholic bishops. German day cares, known as crèches, are mostly run by churches or local authorities. There are few child-care facilities for children under three.

Presbyterian Record publisher David Harris reported an astonishing response to the 2006 fundraising effort, with an increase of 17 per cent over the 2005 effort. About 2,000 of the magazine's 37,000 subscribers contributed more than $103,000.

Presbyterian World Service and Development recently received an additional $200,000 from the Canadian International Development Agency for new projects. Along with more than $66,000 from PWS&D, the funds will help the church's overseas partners expand their current development work and have an even greater impact on vulnerable communities. The new money, secured in January, will augment the $458,000 PWS&D received from CIDA for 2006-2007 under a five-year agreement.

Kumu Tapas is a Sediq woman, a third generation Christian. She is heir to the Christian tradition in the mountains of Taiwan. The situation of the mountain people is similar to that of the first nations of Canada.

The future is now — and St. Andrew's, Kitchener, Ont., is making the most of it. Rev. Mark Lewis' Sunday sermons are available for viewing on YouTube.com, a new video website that makes filmmakers and celebrities out of the boy- and girl-next-door. The site is so hot that Google snatched it up last October for a whopping $1.65-billion.

ENI – Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are backing a new grouping of Baptists in a centrist organization that will tackle broader social issues and counter a perceived image of the Southern Baptist Convention as an exclusionary church. At the same time the new grouping has invited the Southern Baptists to its foundation convention a year from now.

ENI – Zimbabwe police have been accused of abusing power after the arrest of eight church leaders, including a blind pastor, for holding a meeting without first seeking approval. “The use of armed police to disrupt a religious meeting is a clear abuse of power and authority by the police,” said the Christian Alliance, a grouping of churches, opposition political groups, human rights organizations and civil society in the southern African country.

ENI – The U.S. National Council of Churches, a long-standing critic of US military involvement in Iraq, has criticized President Bush's call for additional American troops to be sent to the region. “Sending more troops is not a change in policy, nor is it even a change in strategy; it is more of the same,” the NCC said in a statement about the president's declaration that he wants to increase the number of troops in Iraq by 21,500.

ENI – “Ecumenism in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands is not dead, but it is seriously ill. It is so ill that, if I were to stay on, I too would get ill,” Rev. Wies Houweling said two days after announcing her resignation from the WCC central committee. She resigned from the main governing body of the World Council of Churches, saying the spirit of Christian unity in her own denomination is in crisis. Her decision followed the withdrawal of the denomination's development aid program, Kerkinactie, from United Civilians for Peace, a group working to promote an end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Kerkinactie had gained a reputation of being “one-sidedly pro-Palestinian.”

The national office has seen several staff come and go in the last few months. Sandy Philpot, administrative assistant in the General Assembly office for 23 years, left her post in January to help out at her husband's burgeoning computer business. Elizabeth Bartlett, who worked as a program assistant with the office's deputy clerk Don Muir for six years, assumed the position. Taking Bartlett's position is Sheila Lang, who served half time with Ministry and Church Vocations since 2003. She will continue in this post in addition to her new responsibilities.

The numbers are in and the news is good. Donations to Presbyterians Sharing in 2006 totaled $8,757,577 — an increase of almost $85,000 from the previous year. “Thanks to all the congregations across Canada,” said Annemarie Klassen, associate secretary for Stewardship and Education for Mission. Twenty-one per cent of the total amount came in during the first two weeks of January, which is consistent with previous patterns. “It is always amazing to see this support from congregations across the country — from congregations both small and large,” said Klassen. “God has blessed us richly in the abundance of these gifts, and in the ministry of the church. Let us not take this for granted.” – AM

The Government oF Manitoba is the first Canadian province to adopt the No Sweat purchasing policy for its apparel suppliers. The November decision means suppliers will have to meet minimum labour standards in the production of bulk purchased apparel products.