WORLDWIDE PHOTOS Ltd The Religious Media Agency

WEEKLY NEWS REVIEW

March 6, 2003

INDEX

AUSTRALIA: 1. QUEST KICKS OFF FOR WORLD RUGBY CUP (Worldwide Photos) 2. MAKING VOTES COUNT FOR CDP (Worldwide Photos) 3. CMS CLOSES LAST BOOKSHOP (Southern Cross) 4. SYDNEY’S HOMELESS’ NEW FREE DENTAL SERVICE (Mission Australia) 5. FREMANTLE’S YEAR OF JUBILEE PLANNED (Baptist Advocate) 6. PRAYING AND LOBBYING FOR WATER (Crosslight)

OVERSEAS: 7. MOODY CLOSES PUBLICATION (EP News) 8. LAW TO BAN RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS IN INDIA (EP News) 9. AID FOR HEALTH PROBLEMS FOR IRAQI CHILDREN (Church World Service) 10. RUSSIAN LEADERS MEET TO PRAY FOR PEACE (ANN) 11. CHRISTIAN RADIO GOES INTO PRISON (Christian Herald) 12. THE 40 BEST CHRISTIAN PLACES TO WORK (Christianity Today) 13. DR WILLIAMS CALLS ALL ANGLICANS TO UNITE (C of E Newspaper) 14. KESTON NEWS SERVICE PUT OUT IN THE COLD (Church Times) 15. IT’S ONLY A GAME – OR IS IT? (Baptist Times)

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1. QUEST KICKS OFF FOR WORLD RUGBY CUP (Worldwide Photos) “Quest Australia, More Than Gold”, the co-ordinating organisation known for its unique and highly successful ministry during the Sydney Olympics, launched its Rugby World Cup programme on Wednesday, with a special business breakfast in The Salvation Army Conference Centre, Sydney. Dr John Best, the Chair of the National Executive explained the opportunities and resources that would be available for churches and sports clinics during this top sport event for 2003. The guest speaker, Nick Farr Jones shared some of the opportunities and difficulties that could be experienced and David Willson challenged those present to not only pray and support Quest at this time but also to financially contribute to the ongoing expenses of the needed administration.

2. MAKING VOTES COUNT FOR CDP (Worldwide Photos) On Tuesday, March 4, three members of the Christian Democratic Party, the Rev. Fred Nile MLC, the Rev. Dr. Gordon Moyes and the Rev. Ross Clifford, addressed the New South Wales Council of Churches’ “March Forum”, explaining their policies and how they can defend Christian values for families and the community. Their presentations explained what had already been achieved through the presence and thorough examination of every Parliamentary Bill during the Rev. Fred Nile’s 22 years in the Upper House and their determination to advance a Christian perspective at all time. All they asked was that Christians vote for the CDP as number one on their ballot papers, so as to make their vote support the Fred Nile group. “Two hundred thousand primary votes returned Fred Nile to Parliament, while the million secondary votes had no effect whatsoever. Whereas, voting for the CDP and giving preferences to the major parties, meant that all benefited,” said Dr Moyes.

3. CMS CLOSES LAST BOOKSHOP (Southern Cross) The editor of the Sydney Anglican monthly, Southern Cross, Jeremy Halcrow has reported that the Church Missionary Society has announced that its Bathurst Street, bookstore will close in April, making it CMS’ total withdrawal from book-selling in New South Wales, following half a century of trading in Sydney’s CBD. The CMS NSW branch chairman, Robert McPaul said that “changing trends in book-selling” meant that CMS could “no longer guarantee that the bookstore would not become a drain on missionary funds.”

4. SYDNEY’S HOMELESS’ NEW FREE DENTAL SERVICE (Mission Australia) Australia’s first free dental service for homeless people, the Special Needs Dental Service, was launched by Ms Robyn Kirk, Director General, NSW Health, and Mr Nick Hortle, State Manager, Mission Australia, on Thursday March 6. Mission Australia and the Southeast Sydney Area Health Service Area Dental Service joined together to provide homeless people with free general dental care two days a week in the one-chair clinic, located in Mission Australia’s iconic men’s homeless refuge, Campbell House. Kay Elson, Community Services Operations Manager, Mission Australia, said “This service is a new and innovative way of supporting homeless people.”

5. FREMANTLE’S YEAR OF JUBILEE PLANNED (Baptist Advocate) The community of Fremantle is going to experience extraordinary acts of kindness and generosity this year as the City celebrates its Year of Jubilee. As part of the celebration a Jubilee Festival is planned during the week preceding Easter, culminating in a ‘March for Jesus ‘ on Easter Sunday. Fremantle ‘s Year of Jubilee, is an initiative of the churches of Fremantle. “A community caring for the community,” explained Julie Hollett, the Founding Director of the Fremantle Jubilee. The week-long Jubilee Festival at Easter will include the saturation of prayer over the Fremantle area, an open-air celebration event, community acts of kindness and the cancellation of various debts for some households. The Celebration March through the city streets on Easter Sunday will be held in partnership with Awakening 2000 and coincides with many others of its kind throughout the nation and the world.

6. PRAYING AND LOBBYING FOR WATER (Crosslight) The uniting Church has become part of “Water Matters”, a campaign during this year’s “International Year of Fresh Water” to promote safe water for poor communities in developing countries. A coalition of more than 30 church and aid organisations will focus on lobbying the government to increase Australia’s share of overseas aid funding for water and sanitation services. On World Water Day, Saturday March 22, the “Water Matters” campaign will recreate “typical third world water activities” in the Yarra River in central Melbourne. Activities will include washing clothes and dishes, water races and making water filters. For more details contact TEAR Australia on (03) 9877 7444.

7. MOODY CLOSES PUBLICATION (EP News) The Moody Bible Institute announced Feb. 24 that it will cease publication of its magazine Moody after the July/August issue. The publication dated back to 1891 when it was called The Institute Tie and it served as a publication for Moody Bible Institute (MBI) alumni and friends. After a series of name changes and modifications, the publication adopted its current name of “Moody” and focused on “in-depth coverage of key topics designed to helping readers think and live biblically,” according to a statement from MBI. The statement cited a crowded magazine field, the resultant decline in subscriptions and the ongoing need for significant subsidisation as key factors in ending publication of “Moody”. Moody’s daily devotional guide, “Today in the World”, will now be the organisation’s primary periodical. The devotional guide is presently used by more than 200,000 readers.

8. LAW TO BAN RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS IN INDIA (EP News) The government of the Indian state of Gujarat announced Feb 25. that it is introducing a draft law that would ban religious conversions. According to the BBC, Gujarat governor Sunder Singh Bhandari has pledged to bring an anti-conversion law before the state’s assembly on March 4. In 2002, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu passed a similar anti-conversion law despite protests by Christian and Muslim groups. Politicians claim that the anti-conversion laws are designed to stop coerced conversions, but Christian leaders denounced the laws as underhanded attempts by radical Hindus to stop the spread of Christianity in poor and underprivileged communities.

9. AID FOR HEALTH PROBLEMS FOR IRAQI CHILDREN (Church World Service) Church World Service is participating in the $1 million “All Our Children” coalition campaign to help meet the critical ongoing health needs of Iraqi children for antibiotics, anaesthesia, IV solution kits, and clean water resources. It is estimated that there is only a month’s availability of medicine in Iraq. CWS has provided $308,000 worth of “Gift of the Heart” School Kits for distribution to Iraqi children, and has given cash grants of $48,000 to the Mennonite Central Committee for purchasing medicines and hygiene supplies. Since 1991, CWS has provided more than $3 million in blankets, food, medical supplies, recovery kits, and other aid for families and children in Iraq.

10. RUSSIAN LEADERS MEET TO PRAY FOR PEACE (ANN) Some 300 Russian religious and state leaders, including representatives of the state, parliament and the diplomatic community met at a Feb. 27 prayer breakfast at Moscow’s Marriott Royal Aurora Hotel. The event was organised by four Protestant denominations–Seventh-day Adventists, Baptists, Evangelical Christians and Pentecostals–and included intercession for Russia as well as the current world situation. At the meeting, Christian leaders expressed their concern with the developing conflict with Iraq and appealed to God that the conflict be solved by negotiations and not by war.

11. CHRISTIAN RADIO GOES INTO PRISON (Christian Herald) More than 1,000 inmates of a women’s jail in St Petersburg now hear Christian radio programmes in their cells for up to five hours every day. Yan Volkov, head of the prison ministry department of the Association of Christian Churches of Russia, said: “We installed a pre-tuned radio in each cell of the jail. Many of the inmates told us that they’ve been waiting for these programmes.” The ministry now hopes to take Christian radio into 16 further jails.

12. THE 40 BEST CHRISTIAN PLACES TO WORK (Christianity Today) “The mission is more important than the money.” – “A little appreciation goes a long way.” – “Communicate, communicate, communicate.” – These are just a few of the lessons that have emerged from the first “Best Christian Places to Work” survey, a landmark study commissioned by Christianity Today and administered by the Best Christian Workplaces Institute. It was the largest survey ever conducted on the attitudes of employees at Christian workplaces, with more than 8,500 respondents across a range of industries. An independent panel of judges weighed the employee scores, the employee participation rates, and the human resource profiles in order to select this year’s Best Christian Places to Work. The winners were announced at the Christian Management Association (CMA) conference. In the “Large Missions and Parachurch Organisations” category, the winners were: (1) Coalition for Christian Outreach . Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; (2) SIM USA . Charlotte, North Carolina; (3) Bible League . Chicago, Illinois and (4) International Bible Society . Colorado Springs, Colorado.

13. DR WILLIAMS CALLS ALL ANGLICANS TO UNITE (C of E Newspaper) In his first speech to the General Synod Dr Rowan Williams called on evangelicals, Anglo-Catholics and liberals to unite in order for the Church of England to have an effective witness to the nation. An air of anticipation hung around the packed chamber at Church House in Westminster, as Synod members waited to greet the new Archbishop, and the start of a new era in the Church of England. Rumour of protests proved ill-founded as Dr Williams received a standing ovation, with warm applause from all Synod members. While he is an advocate of debate and discussion, he made clear how important it is that the Church should work together.

14. KESTON NEWS SERVICE PUT OUT IN THE COLD (Church Times) The Keston News Service based in England, which monitors religious freedom in the former communist world, has been temporarily suspended, it was announced officially this week. As a result, the director, Lawrence Uzell, and the service’s three full-time journalists based in Russia, central Asia and the UK, have all resigned. Canon Michael Bourdeaux, who founded the Institute in 1969 and this year was elected president for life, said that new plans were afoot for the News Service, and that these would be announced at an extraordinary general meeting, to be held in March. The News Service had been costing the Keston Institute  £200,000 (AUD517,000; USD319,000) a year, while bringing in only  £60,000 (AUD155,000; USD96,000).

15. IT’S ONLY A GAME – OR IS IT? (Baptist Times) Parents worried about the rise of violent video games may be heartened by the steady growth of Christian themed games. The games are growing in popularity, particularly in the United States, where they have been created. Characters generally take on the role of an agnostic, searching for God. In “Jarod’s Journey”, players learn about Christianity as part of an adventure game, which they win by becoming an apostle. Another game, “Ominous Horizons”, makes you fight your demons not by blowing them up, but by preaching and praying. Currently the games are sold through niche websites, but that’s all set to change as  £125 million (AUD323 million; USD200 million) was made from the sector last year.

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