WORLDWIDE PHOTOS LTD The Religious Media Agency

WEEKLY NEWS REVIEW

December 26, 2002

INDEX

AUSTRALIA:

1. “THE YEAR OF THE CHILD” (Worldwide Photos)

2. ANSWERED PRAYERS OF INDIGENOUS BELIEVERS (Southern Cross)

3. CHURCHES BENEFIT FROM WEB LISTING (Tom Glynn Associates)

4. ANGLICARE QLD HELPS MATURE AGE SEEKERS (Focus – Brisbane)

5. CARE IN CRISIS (Crosslight)

6. WALLENBERG AWARD FOR BAPTIST PASTOR (Vic Baptist Witness)

OVERSEAS:

7. CHRISTMAS VIOLENCE AROUND THE WORLD (Worldwide Photos)

8. CHRISTMAS BROADCAST IN NEPAL (Gospel for Asia)

9. CHRISTMAS EVE IN JERUSALEM (ICEJ)

10, THOUSANDS START NEW YEAR WITH PRAYER (idea – Germany News)

11. UK LICENSING BILL: A RETHINK (Church Times)

12. FESTIVAL FOR WESLEY TERCENTENARY (Methodist Recorder)

13. ‘OUTRAGE’ ENDS EXHUMATION BY DIGGER (Church Times)

14. GROWING CONCERN AT RESTRICTIONS IN INDIA (Methodist Recorder)

15. NEW: FAIRLY-TRADED PINEAPPLES (Methodist Recorder)

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1. “THE YEAR OF THE CHILD” (Worldwide Photos) In 1937, one million children out of a population of nine million, attended Sunday School or a church related activity. In 2000, out of a population of 20 million only 200,000 children attended Sunday School or a church related activity. The conclusion is that less than 5% of Australian children are connected with a local church. “Children aged 4-14 are 5 times as likely to make a meaningful decision to follow Jesus Christ than any other comparable age,” according to George Barna Surveys. In Australia, denominational leaders and children’s ministries across Australia have supported the setting up of “The Year of the Child 2003” project, giving special effort and attention to the needs of children. The year is intended to “enhance existing ministries and enable initiatives to create closer connections between children and the Church”. One suggestion, amongst many, has been to set aside the 5th Sunday of the month next year as “children special” Sundays. For further information, power point presentations and possible activities, contact the “Year of the Child” National Office: Phone: (02) 9263 5480; or go to the website: http://www.yearofthechild.org.au

2. ANSWERED PRAYERS OF INDIGENOUS BELIEVERS (Southern Cross) Jim and Maxine Lawrence, of Minto, have been appointed by the Anglican Church to reach thousands of indigenous people in Sydney’s Macarthur district. After three years of waiting, hoping and praying, an indigenous congregation at Minto has finally found a pastor to help them take the next step in their ministry. The long-term goal at Minto is to reach the thousands of indigenous people in the Macarthur region, which, according to statistics, is one of the largest resettlement area in NSW. Maxine Lawrence said the church is now praying for an opportunity to start a midweek children’s ministry.

3. CHURCHES BENEFIT FROM WEB LISTING (Tom Glynn Associates) A website with over 6,000 Australian Anglican, Protestant Churches listed on-line will commence in January 2003. The site, http://www.whichchristian.com.au has been active for three years, listing Christian Missions, Colleges, Resources and Schools in conjunction with the free published guides. Run by the Christian communications agency, Tom Glynn and Associates, the aim is to make this the most comprehensive Christian information website in Australia.

4. ANGLICARE QLD HELPS MATURE AGE SEEKERS (Focus – Brisbane) In Queensland, Charles Holmes suggested to the executive director of Anglicare, Ray Anderson, that Anglicare might like to support an agency to assist job seekers in the 45-plus age group. As a result, “Anglicare Age Advantage” was created with offices in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Mr Holmes explained that: “There are a large number of recruitment and Human Resource specialists in south-east Queensland but few if any specialise solely in assisting mature aged job seekers.” It is Mr and Mrs Holmes’ intention to tender for a number of job network sites in south-east Queensland and if they are successful it is anticipated that the service will grow quite rapidly.

5. CARE IN CRISIS (Crosslight) Australia’s biggest provider of residential aged care, the Uniting Church, faces an ongoing crisis in its work because “looking after older people is not popular”. Colleen Pearce, Director of UnitingCare, Victoria and Tasmania, explained that it’s partly a staffing crisis. She said: “There just aren’t the people around who want to work in aged care. It’s not seen as being a rewarding job, either career-wise or financially. We need to become a more aged-friendly society. We don’t value older people enough,” said Ms Pearce. Jenny Ellis, the Uniting Church’s director of appeals added that “Aged care doesn’t have a lot of interest in the church now and we need to look outside the church for capital funding. Research has shown aged care to be at the bottom of donors’ priorities.”

6. WALLENBERG AWARD FOR BAPTIST PASTOR (Vic Baptist Witness) The Rev. Tim Costello, President of the Baptist Union of Australia, has received the Raoul Wallenberg humanitarian award, an award given to someone outside the Jewish community, in recognition of their social justice campaigning. The award is named after Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat in Hungary at the end of World War II, who is said to have saved 100,000 people fleeing the concentration camps. Mr Costello said: “It’s a great honour to have your name associated with a man such as Raoul Wallenberg, a true hero who saved thousands of lives.” Mr Costello was presented with the award in acknowledgement of his advocacy in fighting and representing those struggling with gambling, substance abuse and homelessness.

7. CHRISTMAS VIOLENCE AROUND THE WORLD (Worldwide Photos) In Easter India, a Protestant Church was attacked Christmas Eve, resulting in six wounded and hundreds robbed by the 20 assailants. Apparently they let off several bombs before taking valuables from the members of the congregation and robbing the church safe. In Indonesia, the ingredients for bombs capable of more destruction than the Bali bombings, were discovered before they could cause any damage. Christians worshipping at the Jakarta Cathedral had to pass through metal detectors as they entered the building. In the township of Daska, 40 miles north-west of Lahore. Pakistan, two masked assailants tossed a hand grenade at a small church, holding a Special Christmas Day Service for women and children, killing three girls and wounding 14 others.

8. CHRISTMAS BROADCAST IN NEPAL (Gospel for Asia) As families in many parts of the world sat around their Christmas trees and opened presents, many in Nepal were able to hear, for the first time, about the eternal gift Christ offers. On December 25, the unreached of Nepal had the opportunity to hear the Gospel presented in a Gospel For Asia radio program. For the first time ever, this special broadcast was aired on Nepal’s government-run radio station. This was an unprecedented opportunity to proclaim Christ’s love to so many. It is hoped that many hearing the Nepali broadcast will embrace Christ this Christmas season.

9. CHRISTMAS EVE IN JERUSALEM (ICEJ) Hundreds of Christians gathered in downtown Jerusalem on Christmas Eve to celebrate the light of the world. The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem sponsored Christmas carolling in Safra Square where a choir and miniature orchestra braved the cold weather to celebrate Jesus’ birth and sing of the hope He brings. Just down the street from the scene of a number of terror attacks within the past year, carollers sung of light and peace. Chuck King, organiser of the event, said the evening was charged with a unique atmosphere. “I especially appreciated the way the evening ended with prayer for the peace of Jerusalem,” King said. “That makes our gathering here significant.” The outdoor concert, in front of City Hall, was followed by another concert at the West Jerusalem YMCA.

10, THOUSANDS START NEW YEAR WITH PRAYER (idea – Germany News) Hundreds of thousands of Christians in Europe will start the New Year with a week of prayer. Evangelicals from different denominations in 30 European countries have been invited to join in the Evangelical Alliance’s Week of Prayer, January 5 – 12. The general theme will be “Meeting God”. Requests for prayer and intercession focus on spiritual and socio-political issues such as single parent families, the environment, the economy, science, media, mission and evangelism. The program was compiled by the German Evangelical Alliance in Stuttgart. In a joint effort Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox churches in Germany are organising a “Year of the Bible” next year. The week of prayer will also emphasise the importance of God’s word. Last year 450,000 Christians in 1,500 cities, towns and villages in German-speaking parts of Europe participated in the prayer week. The annual event has a history of more than 150 years and is the oldest institutionalised interdenominational prayer project.

11. UK LICENSING BILL: A RETHINK (Church Times) The British Government is to look again at proposals that churches should pay licence fees to stage concerts. During the committee stage of the Licensing Bill, the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, moved an amendment in the House of Lords which would rule out the controversial proposal. Speaking in the debate, Bishop Chartres said he had tabled the amendment “with the support of friends from all the major faith communities” ; and that they needed encouragement to maintain important community links by staging concerts and other public events. His amendment would reinstate the exemption on places of worship from public-entertainment licensing, and would extend that exemption to places of worship within London.

12. FESTIVAL FOR WESLEY TERCENTENARY (Methodist Recorder) A big birthday celebration for John Wesley is being planned for next summer in England. It is expected that a thousand Methodists, gathered from all over Europe and speaking a dozen different languages, will meet in Potsdam, near Berlin, for a European Methodist Festival to mark the tercentenary of John Wesley’s birth. The festival will take place from July 30 to August 3 on the Hermannswerder Peninsula. Accommodation will be available to suit all tastes and budgets, from camping to luxury hotels.

13. ‘OUTRAGE’ ENDS EXHUMATION BY DIGGER (Church Times) Moral pressure from the Church of England in Britain, has helped to persuade the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Company to revise its use of mechanical diggers, to exhume 7000 bodies buried in an 18th-century graveyard close to St Pancras Station in London. Burial Ground Services, the operatives for the project, had estimated that it would take two years to exhume the coffins, if they were kept with the remains. In a compromise, the earth is now being scraped back until a coffin is uncovered. The coffin lid is then removed and the remains extracted, before being taken off for reburial. The Revd Nicholas Wheeler of Old St Pancras, adjacent to the burial site, said: “We welcome the fact that Union Railways and Rail Link Engineering have been willing to put commercial considerations second to moral ones. However, if this was still a Church of England churchyard we would not allow the bodies to be exhumed in this way.”

14. GROWING CONCERN AT RESTRICTIONS IN INDIA (Methodist Recorder) A Methodist minister in England who campaigns on behalf of some of India’s most excluded citizens has visited the Foreign Office to express his concern about growing restrictions on religious freedom in India. The Rev David Haslam, who is the chair of the Dalit Solidarity Network (DSN), told the Minister for South Asian Affairs, Mike O’Brien MP, that there was growing concern about the human rights of Dalits, who are the lowest order in India’s caste system. Many Dalits have become Christians or Buddhists as a way of escaping the social exclusion created by their caste status. In October, however, a new law banning “forced conversions” from Hinduism was introduced in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, prompting fears that the law would be used to stop all conversions in the state.

15. NEW: FAIRLY-TRADED PINEAPPLES (Methodist Recorder) The growing campaign in the United Kingdom, for fair trade has received another valuable boost with the launch of a fairly-traded pineapple on to the UK market. The launch means that pineapples have joined bananas and mangoes as the only fresh fruit certified to carry the “Fairtrade” label. The Co-op has announced that all the pineapples sold in its stores will now be fairly-traded. Other supermarkets are expected to start selling the pineapples next year. (Just where do you place a label on a pineapple?)

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