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Ecumenical & Interchurch
World Alliance of Reformed Churches call on Christians to pray for Zimbabwe this Sunday
The World Council of Churches has this week called on all Christians to set aside Sunday, June 22 to pray for Zimbabwe. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches echo this call, and ask all our member churches to keep the people of Zimbabwe and the elections on Friday, June 27 in their thoughts. Please join Christians all over the world in praying for Zimbabwe this Sunday, and every day of next week. Read the full call for world prayer here
Churches say no to human:cow embryos in New Zealand
Friday 30th May 2008 03:47 PM
Hybrid embryos are not acceptable in New Zealand culture says the Interchurch Bioethics Council. Below they explain why.
British Parliament recently passed legislation to approve the formation of human:cow hybrid embryos. The technique would involve taking a cow’s egg and removing the nucleus. The cell would then be implanted with a nucleus taken from an adult human cell, such as a skin cell. The resulting hybrid would then be induced to develop into an embryo.
The embryo would be allowed to divide for up to fourteen days, which is the permitted time for which a human embryo may be maintained outside the human body. During that time scientists would use the embryo to try and produce stem cells for use in medical research and, it is hoped, ultimately stem cells for applications in medicine e.g. in organ and tissue repair.
This use of human gametes and embryos in biotechnology raises significant ethical questions. In New Zealand, under the HART (Human Assisted Reproductive Technology) Act 2004, it is prohibited to create hybrid human-animal embryos for reproductive purposes or to implant a hybrid embryo into a human or an animal.
The Interchurch Bioethics Council submission on the HART Bill recommended that we prohibit the artificial formation of a human-animal hybrid embryo for any purpose, reproductive or otherwise.
The bovine egg from which a nucleus is removed still contains some mitochondrial DNA in the cytoplasm of the egg. Maori and many others believe it is spiritually, culturally and ethically wrong to mix human and non-human DNA.
Within the broad Christian tradition, we understand that each creature has its own valued and unique identity and purpose and that recombining entities can on that basis be seen as undermining the Christian understanding of creation.
From a scientific point of view, there are risks in mixing animal and human cellular material, as already recognised in the xenotransplantation debate. One such risk may be the production of stem cells from a hybrid cell containing unknown potentially infective agents including viruses, introduced by the use of the bovine cell. There is also the potential for as yet unknown hazards.
- Interchurch Bioethics Council
For more information email Audrey Jarvis: jarvis.ab(at)xtra.co.nz
World Council of Churches Jerusalem Prayer - International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and Israel
16 May 2008
The Heads of Churches in Jerusalem invite churches around the world to pray with them. For the Jerusalem prayer for Sunday, June 8th click here.
World Council of Churches agenda for global week of actions for peace
15 May 2008
A common prayer and message for peace in Palestine and Israel is ready for use in about 100 countries. Churches in seventeen countries, plus two international ecumenical organizations, are planning various education and advocacy activities. These are part of a global week of action led by the World Council of Churches (WCC), 4 to10 June 2008. This year marks sixty years since the partition of Palestine and forty one years of occupation.
After sixty years of peace denied in the Middle East, churches on five continents are demonstrating their concern together,' said WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in announcing the week. 'It is encouraging to see so many churches speaking out together for peace. The message for the action week says It's time for Palestinians and Israelis to share a just peace.'
The International Church Action for Peace in Palestine and Israel 2008 initiated by the WCC will see meetings between churches and their governments, a 'human clock' counting off sixty years in Bethlehem, a multi-cultural peace service with Arabic and Jewish music in Oslo, Filipino children affected by violence writing letters to their Palestinian counterparts, a big-city parish in the UK erecting a full-sized section of the Wall, Sri Lankan parishes studying the conflict and, in the Netherlands, concerts by a Palestinian-Dutch orchestra and documentaries on Israeli points of view.
The common prayer for the week, sent out by the heads of churches in Jerusalem, asks that God 'send us leaders ready to dedicate their lives to a just peace for their peoples.'
The action week message calls for equal rights for both parties to the conflict and an end to discrimination, segregation and restrictions on movement. 'It's time to respect human lives in the land called holy,' the message says, 'time to do away with double standards…time for healing to begin in wounded souls.' It was developed by participants in the week.
Interest in the initiative has grown in each of its three years. This year, churches in Germany, Ireland, Sri Lanka and Hungary, and World Vision International are taking part for the first time. One mission society in Germany joined and invited 23 partner churches in ten countries to join with it. As it has each year, Pax Christi International has helped plan the week and alerted it's 100 member organizations around the world to take part. Recommended activities are prayer, education, advocacy and public action based on long-standing ecumenical policies concerning peace.
Preview of the week's events here
CWS expands emergency response to cyclone hit Myanmar
8 May 2008
Christian World Service (CWS) has expanded its emergency response to a full scale appeal after Cyclone Nargis hit large sections of coastal Burma (Myanmar).
An estimated one million people have been made homeless by the worst cyclone in the region since 1991. So far a reported 21,500 people have been reported dead and another 40,000 missing although the true toll may never be known in a country that has not held a full census since 1937.
The storm that first hit Burma in the evening of May 2 struck the country’s main agricultural region, the Irrawaddy delta. Profiteering is already starting to grip those coping in the storm’s aftermath, with prices on food, fuel and building supplies shooting up 300 percent.
Christian World Service has received initial reports of the widespread devastation from local organisations working through ACT International (Action by Churches Together). Without power or telephone lines communication is difficult. CWS is anticipating receiving a fuller assessment with the arrival of regional international emergency response personnel today.
“The first priority is food,” says Jonathan Fletcher, National Director. ACT partners are already distributing the small supplies available to them and are looking to source larger quantities in a way that doesn’t adversely affect local food markets in light of the food crisis that existed prior to the devastation.
“In such wide scale disasters it is critical to work with local people who know the situation best - even more so in Burma where the military government’s control over the local economy, political life and communications has hindered development for so long,” he adds.
For information on the Global Mission Office Myanmar emergency appeal click here.
Eat less meat, close the curtains and take the bus say church scientists
1 May 2008
“We need to act on climate change right now; the need is real and urgent”, says Dr Audrey Jarvis, chairperson of the Interchurch Bioethics Council (ICBC).
The ICBC has produced a new study that explains what individuals and communities can do to reduce climate change. Leaving the car at home, insulating your home and eating less meat are just a few of the changes people can make that could make a big difference to our future.
Written in easy to understand language, the study outlines what the situation is, how it came about, what the Kyoto Protocol and Carbon Credits are and where the NZ Government stands on these.
Titled, Real Urgent and Personal: A Christian approach to global climate change, the booklet contains material suitable for group or individual study. It can be downloaded here.
The Interchurch Bioethics Council (ICBC) represents the Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist churches of New Zealand. The role of the ICBC is to consider the ethical, cultural and spiritual issues raised by a wide range of biotechnologies.
For more information contact Dr Audrey Jarvis, chairperson of the Interchurch Bioethics Council jarvis.ab(at)xtra.co.nz
Interchurch Bioethics Council Resources
Interchurch Bioethics Council resources on euthanasia, GM organisms, transgenics and biotechnology.
Where Do We Stand?
A resource and study guide for church and community groups on the lifting of the moratorium on genetically modified organisms in New Zealand. Download here.
Making Good Decisions in Biotechnology: Stem Cell Research Cloning and Genetic information.
A study guide for church groups. Download here.
Euthanasia: Unethical Intervention or Death with Dignity?
A study resource prepared by ICBC. Includes study questions and bibliography for further reading. Download here.
Transgenics: A paper from the perspective of the Interchurch Bioethics Council
A ICBC paper looking at the transfer of human genes into other organisms. Download here.
A call from people of faith to Ban Cluster Bombs Now
21 April 2008
In one month’s time, governments from around the world will meet to negotiate a total ban on cluster bombs, weapons that pose unacceptable harm to civilians. As people of faith, we raise our voices for the protection of life and the promotion of peace by calling on all governments, and especially New Zealand, to secure the strongest possible prohibition on the production, transfer, stockpiling, and use of cluster bombs these weapons.
Cluster bombs or munitions are large weapons that release dozens or hundreds of smaller bomblets. Dropped from the air or launched from the ground, they maim and kill combatants and civilians alike. Many bomblets fail to explode on impact as designed and instead can remain active (like landmines) for decades, endangering lives, hampering post-conflict reconstruction, and hindering development.
Cluster bombs have killed and maimed civilians and caused untold suffering and hardship for communities in more than twenty countries, most recently Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Serbia.
People whose lives have already been shattered by cluster bombs call on us to take meaningful and courageous action. Our faith traditions call us to stand with those who have suffered, and to work for the well-being of the human family through relationships of respect, justice, and peace.
We commend New Zealand and more than eighty other governments that have endorsed the Wellington Declaration, committing to negotiate a comprehensive ban on cluster bombs in Dublin, Ireland starting 19 May 2008. All governments must now strive to adopt the strongest possible agreement that not only bans this weapon, but also offers helps to those harmed by its use.
We urge all the world’s governments to seize this opportunity to protect the vulnerable and to promote peace - now and for future generations.
Following signatures coordinated by: Caritas Aotearoa NZ, Peace Movement Aotearoa and Aotearoa NZ Cluster Munition Coalition (ANZCMC)
Representatives of Faith Communities/Organisations
Rev Martin Baker, Assembly Executive Secretary, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa NZ
Raewyn Bayliss, Public Questions Convenor, Hamilton Methodist Parish
Rev Chris Bedford, Minister, Dargaville Methodist Church
Professor Margaret Bedggood, Chairperson, Anglican Pacifist Fellowship (NZ)
Helen Bichan, Chairperson, Tawa Union Church Council
Bishop John Bluck, Bishop of Waiapu, Anglican
Rev Claire Brown, Priest at St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, Dunedin
Bishop Denis Browne, Bishop of Hamilton, Catholic
Fr Gerard Burns, Parish Priest, Te Ngakau Tapu Parish, Porirua, Catholic
Bishop Peter Cullinane, Bishop of Palmerston North, Catholic
Rev Dr Anthony Dancer, Social Justice Commissioner, The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, NZ and Polynesia
Tipene Daniels, Auckland Interfaith Council Executive; Vice President, Beth Shalom Progressive Synagogue
Bishop Patrick Dunn, Bishop of Auckland, Catholic
Janet Sim Elder, Elder, Knox Church Dunedin; Immediate Past Moderator of the Presbytery of Dunedin
Sharon Ensor, Minister, Wadestown Presbyterian Church, Wellington
Jonathan Fletcher, Director, Christian World Service
Joycelyn Foo, National Coordinator Public Affairs and Community Relations, Soka Gakkai International of NZ
Rev Dr Lynne Frith, Superintendent, Wesley Wellington Parish
Christina Gibb, Clerk, Dunedin Monthly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends, Te Haahi Tuuhauwiri o Aotearoa (Quakers)
Rev Ian Guy, Kaikorai Presbyterian Church, Dunedin
Dr James Harding, Lecturer in Hebrew Bible, University of Otago, Anglican
Rev Greg Hughson, Otago University Ecumenical Chaplain (Methodist Minister); Chairperson, Dunedin Abrahamic Interfaith Group
Rev Tim Hurd, All Saints Anglican Church, Diocese of Dunedin Social Justice Working Group
Prue Hyman, Convenor of Social Action, Temple Sinai, Wellington
Bishop Barry Jones, Bishop of Christchurch, Catholic
Zayid Jones, President, Nawawi Center, Christchurch, Muslim Community
Rev Allan Judge, St David’s Union Parish, Ashburton
Rev Rachel Judge, St David’s Union Parish, Ashburton
Ren Kempthorne, Coordinator, Amnesty International NZ’s Faith Communities Network
Rev Glenn Livingstone, St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Kathleen Loncar, Lay preacher, Wesley Wellington Church, Methodist
Karel Lorier, Presbyterian Minister, North Shore Presbytery
Rev Alistair McBride, Scots Presbyterian Church, Hamilton
Kevin McBride, National Coordinator, Pax Christi Aotearoa-New Zealand
Dr Chris Marshall, St John’s Associate Professor in Christian Studies, Victoria University of Wellington
Rev Dr Margaret Mayman, St Andrew’s on The Terrace, Wellington
Dave Moskovitz, Immediate Past President, Temple Sinai (Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation)
Archbishop David John Moxon, Archbishop of the New Zealand Dioceses, Anglican
Jackie Pearse, General Secretary, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
Rev Anne Priestley, Priest, All Saints Anglican Church, Ponsonby
Rev Robert Robati-Mani, Otara Presbyterian Church
Dr Michael Roberts, President, Auckland Inter-Faith Council
Rev Rilma Sands, Minister, Feilding Oroua Presbyterian Parish
Dame Terry Scott, Chairperson, St Pius X Parish Council, Melville, Hamilton; past National President and National Secretary, Catholic Women’s League of NZ
Michael Smith, Director, Caritas Aotearoa NZ
Rev Barbara Stephens, Oxford Union Church, Oxford
Rev Martin Stewart, Bryndwr St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Rt Rev Pamela Tankersley, Moderator of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa NZ
Rev Dr Susan Thompson, Minister, Hamilton Methodist Parish
Archbishop William Brown Turei, Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, NZ and Polynesia
Rev Brian Turner, President, Methodist Church of NZ
Rev Stuart Vogel, Presbyterian Minister, Auckland
Rev Dugald Wilson, St Mark’s Presbyterian, Christchurch
Members of Faith Communities
Presbyterian:
Rev Clare Brockett, Wellington
Rev Jean Cotter, St Andrew’s Presbyterian, Hamilton
Rev Donald Feist, Member, Knox Church, Dunedin
Ms Margaret Feist, Knox, Dunedin
Rev Ken Irwin, Wellington
Rev Robin Lane, Minister Emeritus, Wellington
Rev Margaret Martin, Auckland
Rev Dr Peter Matheson, Dunedin
Rev Leanne Munro, Member, Wadestown Presbyterian Church, Wellington
Mary Lloyd & Robin Shallcrass, Clergy (retired), Christchurch
Rev Cherry Thompson, Wellington
Anglican
Jenny Campbell QSM, Member of General Synod, Dunedin
Rev Joan and Rev Russ Cook, Priests, Whangarei
Bishop Peter Sutton, Bishop of Nelson (retired)
Frank Swinney, Licensed Lay Minister, Winton Parish (retired)
Christian:
Dan Burkett
Alex Findlay
Anna Whitaker
Mrs Pat Williamson, Dunedin
Christian Anarchists:
Graham Cameron, Merivale community member, Tauranga
Jo Cameron, Anglican, Tauranga
Catholic:
Anne Lumb, Catholic Women’s League, Wellington
Jennifer Newman
Methodist:
Rev Dr James Stuart, Christchurch (retired)
Melina Takau, Wesley Wellington Church
Quakers:
Mrs Teresa Cadogan, Dunedin Monthly Meeting
Peter Low, Quaker Peace and Service, Christchurch
Phoebe and Philip Macdiarmid, Thames
Elizabeth Miller, Invercargill
Barbara Mountier, Kapiti Monthly Meeting
Neil Mountier, Kapiti Monthly Meeting
Also:
Dr Mary Butler, Sahaj Marg/Quaker, Dunedin
Alison Sheeran, Ponsonby Baptist Church
Dr Xaviour Walker, Interfaith Group Dunedin
CWS, Presbyterian Church and ecumenical partners issue open letter to Zimbabwe Council of Churches
18 April 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
As leaders of the churches in Aotearoa New Zealand we have been following the situation in Zimbabwe with deep concern and know that the difficult state of the economy and the uncertain political situation must be putting a huge strain on the churches and its resources. Please be assured that our thoughts and prayers are with you as you work to make God’s love for all people known.
We write at this critical time in Zimbabwe’s history to encourage you in your work to bring hope and healing to the people of Zimbabwe, both those living within the country and those who have felt compelled to leave their homeland. Some of those people are now valued members of our congregations and we are aware of the anxiety and hopes they have for their country. We share their considerable concern regarding the delays in releasing the election results that are undermining the peaceful voting that occurred on March 29...read more here.
Concern over the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe
April 2008
Message from the heads of the Christian denominations in Zimbabwe
As the shepherds of the people, we, Church leaders of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), express our deep concern over the deteriorating political, security, economic and human rights situation in Zimbabwe following the March 29, 2008 national elections…read full letter here.
Churches issue call for action on benefits
5:00AM Friday March 28, 2008
By Simon Collins, NZ Herald
Church leaders will issue a "call to action" to politicians today to restore benefit rates that were cut 17 years ago and have never been raised since, apart from adjustment for inflation.
The New Zealand leaders of the Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches and the Salvation Army say voters in this year's election need to know "the commitment of individual politicians to just and compassionate policies"...click here to read full NZ Herald story
Making a Difference
Two decades ago, in the wake of the 1981 Springbok rugby tour, the Public Questions Committee of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches produced a working paper on The local church and social action.
The public issues which face the Church can never be adequately dealt with at the national level alone,” the paper began. “There can be no substitute for local churches becoming involved in public issues and social action themselves.
Indeed, it could be argued that until local churches do just that, the Church will remain largely irrelevant to what is happening in the community at large.”
This is as true now, as it was then. The ways we engage may have changed, but the mission imperative has not – we are called to serve those on the margins. Being Christ-centred and community-facing is about bringing faith to the everyday life and building bridges with our communities.
Join me in advocating for issues that are important both to our communities and Kiwi Presbyterians. At a national level, I will be speaking out on several key issues including family violence, caring for the environment, ageing and youth wellness. To find out how to get involved read the information on this site.
We’d love to share your stories of speaking out in your community, so contact me with your experiences.
Rt Rev Pamela Tankersley
General Assembly Moderator
*cited in CASI Social Issues Resource Kit