c. 2005 Religion News Service

Religious Relief Agencies, Already Busy, Aid South Asia

(RNS) Religious relief agencies, already faced with numerous disasters in the last year, have begun assisting survivors of a massive earthquake in South Asia.

After a 7.6-magnitude earthquake shook Pakistan, India and Afghanistan on Saturday (Oct. 8), Catholic Relief Services staffers already based in the region were able to reach victims within six hours, said Sean Callahan, vice president of overseas operations of the Baltimore-based organization.

“This year has been an incredible emergency year,” said Callahan, citing drought and hunger needs on the African continent as well as the more recent hurricanes and flooding that have struck the U.S. Gulf Coast and Central America.

“Since the Sudan situation of about a year ago and then the tsunami … this last year has been incredible.”

His charity has begun preparing food and shelter items for families hit by the quake even as it continues a five-year plan for those still recovering from the late-December tsunami that hit another section of Asia.

Meanwhile, other religious relief organizations are addressing old and new needs.

Church World Service is responding with food supplies and shelter kits for survivors in Pakistan and its medical teams have started providing tetanus shots. Southern Baptist workers have furnished tents and other supplies to homeless families. Both groups also have been involved in relief efforts on the Gulf Coast.

The American Jewish World Service has begun assessing the damage in the ravaged earthquake area as it also responds to needs of Central Americans, who have been traumatized by Hurricane Stan, mudslides and a volcanic eruption since the start of October.

Other religious groups have begun seeking donations to respond to the latest crisis.

“Just as Americans came together to help the victims of recent Gulf Coast hurricanes, we must do whatever we can to help those suffering from natural disasters in other parts of the world,” said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group.

(OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)

And even as efforts begin on the Asian catastrophe, relief agencies are advocating for those who have spent a month and a half in shelters since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and other communities.

Jim Kelly, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of New Orleans, said his organization, churches, governmental agencies and other relief groups have been overwhelmed by the volume of displaced people.

“We need help and the people in the shelters need help,” he said. “Their spirits cannot last another 45 days.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Episcopal Church Says No to Divestment in Middle East

(RNS) The Episcopal Church has flatly rejected a church-based movement to pull investments from Israel, instead choosing a strategy of “positive investment” among Palestinians and “corporate engagement” with Israel.

The church’s Social Responsibility in Investments committee said the church should keep investments in the region and not follow the Presbyterian Church (USA) and others who are seeking to divest from Israeli companies.

“The goal is for selected companies to change behavior resulting in a more hopeful climate for peace,” the committee’s 12-page report said. “If the church simply divests, nothing positive has happened.”

The church’s Executive Council approved the plan during a meeting in Las Vegas on Saturday (Oct. 8). The church’s investment portfolio totals $265 million; church officials could not say how much was tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The church will file shareholder resolutions beginning in 2006. Targeted companies would include those who “contribute to violence against either side” or whose products contribute to the “infrastructure which supports and sustains” the Israeli occupation of Palestinians.

The church also said it will encourage companies to invest in economic development in the Palestinian territories. “A stable Palestinian state will make for a more secure Israel,” the report said.

David Elcott, the U.S. director of interfaith affairs for the American Jewish Committee, praised the Episcopalians for not pursuing divestment. “For all of us committed to peace, this is further evidence that there is a growing consensus on how people of faith must work together,” Elcott said.

Currently, only the Presbyterians have endorsed outright divestment. In July, the United Church of Christ voted to use “economic leverage” in the region. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) both decided not to join the divestment movement.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Oregon Christian Coalition Chairman Resigns After Sex Abuse Allegation

SALEM, Ore. (RNS) The chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon said he will “withdraw from public life” until sexual abuse accusations made against him by three female family members have been resolved.

The Oregonian and the Associated Press reported that Louis Beres, 70, denied any criminal conduct in a statement posted Monday (Oct. 10) on http://www.coalition.org, the Christian Coalition of Oregon’s Web site. Beres said he will pursue “the biblical response” and do all within his power “to reconcile with that person.”

He added: “Even Christ refused to be called `good.’ Who am I to proclaim my righteousness?”

Beres didn’t respond to messages on Monday and his statement could not be found on the Web site on Tuesday. In the Monday statement, Beres blamed a nephew for spreading false information.

Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk told The Oregonian on Saturday that authorities are investigating complaints that Beres molested three relatives when they were in their pre-teens.

All three are now adults, but authorities confirmed that one case could fall under Oregon’s statute of limitations on sex abuse, which expires after six years.

Beres family members told The Oregonian that they called the child abuse hotline last month after several women in the family said they spoke openly on the matter for the first time. The names of the family members have been withheld because the newspaper generally doesn’t identify alleged sex abuse victims.

Beres is a longtime leader of the Christian Coalition in Oregon and is the former head of the Republican Party in Multnomah County.

Oregon Republican Chairman Vance Day told The Associated Press that Beres hasn’t been a significant factor in state GOP politics since he stepped down as county chairman about 10 years ago.

“I don’t view this as having any major impact on politics here in Oregon; I don’t think the Christian Coalition has a big footprint here at all,” he said.

_ Michelle Cole

Methodist Pastors to Get Lifetime E-Mail Addresses

(RNS) United Methodist pastors will be carrying more than God’s Word with them for life. Beginning next spring, permanent e-mail addresses will become attached to the denomination’s clergy throughout their careers.

The United Methodist Commission on Communication voted to provide pastors with the permanent electronic addresses during the board’s Sept. 16-18 meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

Pastors will be asked to register for the lifelong accounts, which will automatically forward messages to the individual’s personal e-mail address. The communications agency hopes the initiative will allow the denomination to remain in contact with its clergy throughout his or her ministry.

The Rev. Thomas Bickerton, president of the Commission on Communication, said the plan will give the church greater organizational consistency and will help to save time and resources when contacting pastors for annual conferences and other events.

“In this technological age that we’re in, it just seems to me that it’s absolutely critical, as we talk about United Methodist Communications, to have a convergence of resources together,” Bickerton said in a statement.

The church is looking into expanding the effort to congregations throughout the globe.

_ Jason Kane

Quote of the Day: Williamsburg Bridge, leaving Brooklyn into Manhattan

(RNS) “Oy vey!”

_ A large sign affixed to the Williamsburg Bridge for motorists leaving the New York borough of Brooklyn for Manhattan. The sign, displaying a Jewish expression of regret, was the idea of Brooklyn President Marty Markowitz.

MO/JL END RNS