Putting behind them a controversial document, Pope Benedict XVI met with leaders of the World Council of Churches June 16 and reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s “irreversible” commitment to the search for Christian unity.
The May 9-16 Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, held outside of Athens, was the 12th such meeting since 1910—when the modern ecumenical movement began in Edinburgh.
After several years of experimentation, the main governing body of the World Council of Churches has formally adopted a consensus method of decision-making for all WCC organizational entities.
The World Council of Churches has urged its 347 member denominations to give “serious consideration” to pulling investments out of Israel in protest of what it sees as mistreatment of Palestinians.
The Fox television network has aired a public service announcement during its popular drama 24, urging Americans not to stereotype Muslims. The disclaimer aired during the show in early February about a counterterrorism unit in Los Angeles, which stars Kiefer Sutherland.
The World Council of Churches has appealed to the international community to help lift sanctions against North Korea and to restore humanitarian aid to defeat hunger and malnutrition in the country.
PeterW.Marty, 45, senior pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa, in February will become the host of Lutheran Vespers, the radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Mel Gibson’sThe Passion of the Christ movie about the death of Jesus earned $17 million over the Easter weekend, making it the eighth-highest grossing film of all time. Gibson’s self-financed blockbuster had earned $354.9 million since it debuted on Feburary 25, Ash Wednesday.
For years church leaders have been looking for ways of conducting church business other than by parliamentary procedure. The politics of voting resolutions up or down, and the practice of following the routines of Robert’s Rules of Order, tends to divide people into winners and losers. Is there another way?
