A Peaceful Perspective... July 26, 2010

In this edition...

• Column: The Female Body of Christ
• Pentecostal pastor is new Nigeria Christian Association president
• Lutherans to seek Mennonite forgiveness for historic persecution
• Justice is at heart of HIV commitments, multi-faith conference hears
• Column: Laughter as a Means of Grace
• ‘The Arch’ blesses new radio station
• A toast to the Rainbow Nation's man of peace
• Uniting to protect foreigners
• Nompumelelo cleans up for Madiba
• 'Teabag' water filter hailed

Column: The Female Body of Christ

One of the primary reasons women and men around the world ignore organized Christian religion is due to a perceived disconnect between who Jesus was and what churches of the 21st century have become. In other words, there are many who are incredibly fascinated with the way of Jesus, yet the same individuals refuse to participate within churches due to observed levels of hypocrisy, closed-mindedness, and self-righteousness among Jesus’ (supposed) followers. As I have been told on countless occasions, there are many who love Jesus, but just as many who dislike – or even despise – the Christian church. While my first reaction as an ordained pastor is to defend churches, I have come to the harsh reality that many of its practices are quite different from what Jesus taught and embodied through his earthly actions recorded in the Bible. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

Pentecostal pastor is new Nigeria Christian Association president

For the first time in 34 years, the Christian Association of Nigeria has elected a Pentecostal pastor as its president and he has vowed to fight corruption and religious intolerance. 
 The Rev. Ayo Oritsejafor, national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, defeated the incumbent CAN president, the Rev. John Onaiyekan of the Roman Catholic Church, by 66 votes to 38 at the national executive committee elections in Abuja on 5 July. 
 The election of Oritsejafor was ratified by the 302-member national assembly of the Christian association on 6 July in Abuja, the capital city. 
 The new CAN president is a founder and general overseer of the Word of Life Bible Church located in Warri, in the southern Niger Delta region of the country. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

Justice is at heart of HIV commitments, multi-faith conference hears

A multi-faith meeting on the eve of the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna has heard calls for faith communities to keep commitments they have made to promote universal access to HIV treatment, care, support and prevention. “This has to do with a basic issue of justice, not at least gender justice,” the general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, said in an address to the 17 July multi-faith conference at Vienna’s Technical University. The conference gathered more than 250 people, including leaders of religious groups, networks of people living with HIV and international organizations, under the theme, “Rights Here, Right Now: What’s faith got to do with it?” more >>
Source: ANiSA News

‘The Arch’ blesses new radio station

Mandela Bay airwaves will never be the same again after Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu blessed a soon-to-be launched community radio station based in Motherwell. A bubbly Tutu shared a message of hope with the workers, donors and patients at the Emmanuel Haven for HIV/ Aids patients, praising them for their efforts. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

Uniting to protect foreigners

A national campaign to combat xenophobia was launched yesterday in a troubled Cape Town township known for attacks on foreigners. A wide coalition of church and civil society leaders gathered in Du Noon, near the city, to sign a pledge of unity against xenophobic violence. Organisers hope to collect more than 1million signatures countrywide within three months. They plan to host community events in hot spot areas such as Du Noon, where foreigners have been routinely targeted since the first wave of xenophobic violence in 2008. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

'Teabag' water filter hailed

A South African professor has invented a hi-tech "teabag" that can purify polluted water instantly - at a cost of just three cents a litre. The filtration system is so small it fits into the lid of a water bottle, and has already been hailed as a breakthrough in the battle against waterborne disease in poor areas. It was developed using tiny nano-fibres - each about one hundredth the width of a human hair and packed together into a teabag-like sac that filters out microscopic bacteria. Instead of tea the nanotech bag contains activated carbon which then kills the harmful bacteria. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

Lutherans to seek Mennonite forgiveness for historic persecution

The Lutheran World Federation assembly meeting in Stuttgart from today is likely to adopt a historic statement asking for forgiveness from Mennonites for the persecution of Anabaptists by Lutherans in the 16th century, and for the legacy of such condemnations to the present day. The statement's reception is planned for a plenary session on Thursday 22 July which will include participation of an international delegation from the Mennonite World Conference, led by the organisation's president, the Rev Danisa Ndlovu of Zimbabwe. Mennonites, one of the 'historic peace churches', along with the Church of the Brethren and Quakers, are expected to respond with the gift of an old basin used in the characteristic Anabaptist practice of foot-washing. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

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Column: Laughter as a Means of Grace

A few weeks ago we took our grandchildren to Le Gran Circ Fatazisies which can best be described as a high-tech version of a good old fashioned circus staged in a modern theatre rather than a tent. As in all good circuses, there was a clown who played the fool and provided continuity for the show. After we marveled at the amazing acts of the other performers, the clown brought us back to earth with a laughing bump. He reminded me of Tickey the Clown, the dwarf in Boswell’s Circus many years ago who delighted us when we were kids with all his antics between the dazzling performances of trapeze artists and Boswell himself in the lions’ den. Like the court jester of Medieval times or the trickster in every culture, the clown fulfils an important role, making us laugh not just at himself but also at ourselves, our foibles and silliness. How necessary that is especially when we take ourselves too seriously. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

A toast to the Rainbow Nation's man of peace

Asked yesterday what he wanted for South Africa, Desmond Mpilo Tutu said: “I will go to my grave happily when I see us become what we have it in us to become: caring, compassionate, gentle, sharing.” Tutu was announcing that he was finally withdrawing from public life, starting in October, when he turns 79. “The time has now come to slow down,” he said. Much has been written about Tutu's courageous role in the fight for democracy - how he used the pulpit to stand up to the apartheid government when the space for political opposition had been closed off, how he helped galvanise international opinion against the terrible policies of BJ Vorster and PW Botha, how he highlighted the daily abuses suffered by ordinary people. more >>
Source: ANiSA News

Nompumelelo cleans up for Madiba

Nompumelelo residents have honoured former President Nelson Mandela by cleaning up their township in response to a call for people to do 67 minutes of community service on Mandela Day. Community members came out in droves yesterday morning to pick up rubbish. more >>
Source: ANiSA News