Category - Church

Internet mapping bypasses 'church and pub' navigation

staff writers — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:22:21 +0100

People in Britain, whether religious or not, have been used to negotiating their directions by churches, pubs and other landmarks. But in the age of web maps that will have to change, because traditional sites are disappearing.

A real agency of transformation

Simon Barrow — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:53:01 +0100

'A love genuinely lived by a people joined to Christ for the sake of the world' is how Simon Barrow defines the mission of the church. It is about something more transformatory than projects or agencies alone, he says.

Australian church leader issues challenge to help rebuild Iraq

Ecumenical News International — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:00:03 +0100

The president of the Uniting Church in Australia has said his country should spend as much on reconstructing Iraq as its did on its military operations there - given the desperate need for healing and hope in the war-torn country.

Blogging against theocracy

Simon Barrow — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:16:23 +0000

A variety of bloggers have been involved in a 'swarm' over the Easter weekend, speaking out for religious freedom and against attempts to manipulate the state to an exclusive allegiance.

The church and the deadly sin business

Glynn Cardy — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:16:18 +0000

The Seven Deadly Sins have been given a makeover. Yet before the makeover artists get to work maybe all Christians should pause and consider the sin business, says Glynn Cardy.

Being on the side of the crucified

Savi Hensman — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:25:47 +0000

In a reflection on faith and human rights for Easter, Savi Hensman argues that issues of life and death and the question about whether Christians are on the side of the powerful or the powerless go to the heart of the Gospel story.

Violence in Indian state is partly fuelled by religious intolerance

Ecumenical News International — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:35:07 +0000

Recent religious conflict in the Indian state of Orissa has been aided by the aggressive evangelising of missionaries from outside the region, says an official with the largest traditional Protestant denomination in northern India.

Church asks Japanese to restore indigenous people's rights

Ecumenical News International — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:13:18 +0000

The Japanese government and Christians should support the rights of the Ainu indigenous people in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, a United Church of Christ leader in Japan has said.

Tax and politics row over Barack Obama church speech

agency reporter — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:44:37 +0000

The US Internal Revenue Service has told the United Church of Christ's national offices that it has opened an investigation into Barack Obama's address at the UCC's 2007 General Synod as the church engaging in "political activities."

Binding the church and constraining God

Savi Hensman — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:40:17 +0000

In a paper carefully analysing the popular use and misuse of biblical and doctrinal language about God and Church, Savitri Hensman shows that inflexible, one-sided, naïve or ideological conceptions of God in sections of the Christian tradition can reinforce domineering models and practices in the Church – which is in fact supposed to be a creative vehicle of Jesus’ broken body in the world, not a defensive fortress. God is not confined by rules set by humans and our institutions, she argues, however powerful they may be by earthly standards. In the biblical tradition, God is at work outside as well as within institutions, including those that claim to be about God’s business. Liberation, reformation and healing will continue to happen even if, at first, they are not acknowledged by the authorities (ecclesial and otherwise); and in time truth will break through our illusions. This paper is highly relevant to issues being discussed in and beyond Anglicanism, concerning its disputed future, and in other sections of the worldwide Church. It makes specific reference to the debate about an Anglican Covenant in the run-up to the Lambeth Conference 2008. It may also give those outside the Church a better understanding of how language and tradition is being applied and misapplied within very diverse Christian communities during a time of considerable upheaval and anxiety, both inside and outside the Church.

Savi Hensman