Azucena Zelaya Antunez doesn't think of nutrition as only a health issue, but also a political force. In developing countries, like her native Nicaragua, good nutrition can give women the energy to take charge and assume a leadership role in their communities. "We're already seeing changes!" she said during a visit to church offices in May. "Many women are making their own decisions and growing new foods, giving them an income."
Nigerian churches, amongst them the Presbyterian, urged the country's government to immediately suspend its membership of the Islamic Development Bank. Christian Council of Nigeria said in a statement that the issue is "explosive, corrosive and suggestive of a subterranean move to Islamise Nigeria."
Presbyterians are helping raise money for starving families in Niger, where drought and a locust plague have left the West African country in a severe state of famine. Presbyterian World Service & Development is supporting a major relief effort through Action by Churches Together. ACT members Swiss Interchurch Aid (HEKS) and Lutheran World Relief have already distributed more than 1,000 tonnes of food to about 60,000 people.
Marion Boyd "did not find any evidence to suggest that women are being systematically discriminated against as a result of arbitration of family law issues." She believes that arbitration should continue to be allowed in family law cases, and that the Arbitration Act should continue to allow arbitrations using religious law — both of which would be subject to the safeguards she recommends in her report. Some of these safeguards include:
"We do not want the same to happen here as is happening in Nigeria and Sudan because of religious laws," said David Githii, the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, on behalf of Kenyan church leaders responding to proposed laws that they fear will legalize Sharia or Islamic law.
A minister of the Reformed Church in America was found guilty and punished for presiding over the marriage of his daughter to another woman. Rev. Dr. Norman Kansfield, 65, was tried at the RCA's General Synod in June and was fired from his teaching post and suspended from the office of minister until he repents for his actions.
Loving thy neighbour comes with strings attached. Jesus taught Christians to forgive the person who wronged them; trading anger and retaliation for trust, tenderness and a rebuilt relationship. Of course, these instructions are easier said than done. The sobering reality upsets Rev. Leonel Narvaez, a Roman Catholic missionary priest from Colombia. "It causes me great sadness how we Christians know so little about forgiveness and reconciliation — especially when these things are at the core of our faith."
Government questions surrounding the application of Muslim or Sharia law in legal family arbitration has women's groups calling for the removal of such practices from the 1991 Arbitration Act. The Canadian Council of Muslim Women is leading the dispute, saying all Ontarians should be under one law (in this case, the Family Law Act), and that allowing Sharia law will infringe upon women's equality in custody battles, property disputes and other marriage separation matters.
People of faith in the Malvern neighbourhood of Scarborough, Ont., are working together to make the often troubled community a better place. The second installment of Celebrate Us brought together Presbyterians, Anglicans, Pentecostals, Muslims and Hindus at Malvern's Wickford Trail Park for a family day in August. "No matter what your culture or language, you're welcome here," said Habeeb Ally, the event's MC and disc jockey of an Islamic talk radio program. "We're here to promote peace, love and harmony among ourselves and celebrate our diversity in a grand way."
The national conference for Elders and Lay Leaders in Edmonton was such a tremendous success that General Assembly unanimously approved a mandate to continue the pre-Assembly training sessions over the next five years. There was a record attendance of more than 150 people at the June 4th event at Dayspring, Edmonton.
St. Andrew's, Ottawa, proudly displayed their support of the Make Poverty History campaign by hoisting a 20-foot white banner. Located in the heart of downtown Ottawa, just minutes from the Parliament buildings, the church was the perfect place for Presbyterians to tell the federal government they want more foreign aid for impoverished countries. Members of the congregation are pictured at the unveiling in June.
VisionTV is jumping onto the reality TV bandwagon with its new production, Gospel Challenge. Described as a lifestyle/documentary series, the show will give aspiring Canadian gospel singers a chance at their big break.
Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has invited Pope Benedict XVI to visit the Holy Land, in another sign of warming ties between the Jewish state and the Holy See.
An enormous church centre that will serve at least 15 churches is under construction in an Amsterdam suburb. The Candlestick Project, which broke ground in Bijlmer on July 6, will have five worship areas in its building catering to the needs of different and diverse faiths such as Greek Orthodox, Ghanian and Iranian. The centre will also house a nursery, apartments, offices and a café. It is due to be completed in 2007.
The US United Church of Christ has joined the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the World Council of Churches in adopting a resolution to use "economic leverage" to promote peace between Israel and Palestine.
The global Make Poverty History campaign had great hope that the July summit of eight leading industrial nations would take a major leap towards alleviating the debt of poorer countries. "The Group of Eight started well with cancelling US$40 billion worth of debt," Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote in an editorial prior to the summit. "Now let them continue in that direction and change the trade laws."
The Presbytery of Montreal has approved the sale of two properties and the amalgamation of several congregations in order to improve the financial health of its churches and expand membership. The changes stem from recommendations of a strategic planning committee who released its report last summer.
For the first time members of the Women's Missionary Society were invited to the annual meeting of the National Christian Women's Association of the Korean Christian Church in Japan in June.
The funding for the Kenora Fellowship Centre has not been cut, but has merely run the course of its contract according to Alex Faulds of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. The July/August issue of the Record reported that the centre is facing a funding crisis, after the approximately $125,000 yearly federal government grant was lost.
While anti-semitism is a sin, not every critique of Israeli policies qualifies as anti-Semitism, Rev. Samuel Kobia told a Jewish-Christian gathering in July.