c. 2008 Religion News Service
San Francisco pastor elected Presbyterian moderator
(RNS) The nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination has elected a young pastor from San Francisco as moderator of its General Assembly, taking place through June 28 in San Jose, Calif.
The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, 39, who is active in the “emergent church” movement, will lead the Presbyterian Church (USA) through its weeklong assembly and serve as a key denominational ambassador through the rest of his two-year term.
Reyes-Chow, the grandson of Chinese and Filipino immigrants, pastors Mission Bay Community Church in San Francisco, and is known for his energy and commitment to new church development, according to the PCUSA’s news service.
He was elected on the second ballot, garnering 55 percent of General Assembly delegates’ votes.
Like most mainline Protestant denominations, ongoing debate over homosexuality and Scripture has wracked the 2.3 million-member PCUSA for years.
As many as 130 churches, including several large congregations, have threatened to leave, or left the PCUSA for a more conservative Presbyterian denomination.
Delegates at this week’s assembly are again expected to debate church strictures that limit ministry to those who are celibate or in a heterosexual marriage.
Reyes-Chow addressed tensions within the church after his election.
“If the church steps out in faith rather than clinging to survival, to be more intent on being faithful than on being right, to be together based on our common covenant in Jesus Christ rather than by property or pensions, then we will be able to live into a future in which we are a vital and vibrant presence in the world,” he said, according Presbyterian News Service.
_ Daniel Burke
Catholic leaders in G8 countries stress poverty, climate change
(RNS) Leaders of the G8 nations who will meet next month in Japan should commit to reducing global poverty and addressing worldwide climate change, say the presidents of each nation’s Catholic bishops conferences.
“Our religious and moral commitment to protect human life and promote human dignity moves us to be particularly concerned for the poorest and most vulnerable members of the human family, especially those in developing countries,” the prelates wrote in a joint letter on June 17.
Scheduled for July 7-9 in Toyako, the G8 Summit gathers international heads of state each year to discuss issues of shared concern, including trade, health, energy policy and the environment.
The letter was addressed to President Bush and the secular leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and Britain. Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was among the letter’s eight signatories.
Catholic prelates urged the political leaders to remember Pope Benedict XVI’s warning that many people are “at risk of experiencing only the negative effects of globalization.”
Likewise the effects of climate change fall disproportionately on poor nations, the bishops said, while calling on the nations to honor the pledges of aid made at previous G8 summits.
“We ask you to consider concrete proposals that mitigate the impact of the world food crisis on poor communities, increase health and education spending and move towards just world trade policies that respect the dignity of the human person,” the bishops wrote.
_ Daniel Burke
First woman elected head of Wesleyan Church
(RNS) The Wesleyan church has elected the Rev. Jo Anne Lyon as the denomination’s first female General Superintendent.
Lyon was elected at the 11th Wesleyan General Conference in Orlando, Fla., on June 9, according to Wesleyan News.
“What a wonderful statement you have made as the Wesleyan Church,” said the Rev. Earle L. Wilson, the church’s outgoing General Superintendent. “We have been trying to say to the Christian world that we believe in women in the ministry.”
Lyon was appointed to one of three positions on the General Superintendent board. Her duties will include overseeing district superintendents in the western half of the U.S., serving on the International Board of the Wesleyan Church, and ordaining ministers.
The Wesleyan Church counts approximately 400,000 members in 5,000 churches across 80 countries. The church traces its roots to the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, and was formed in a 1968 merger of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of America and the Pilgrim Holiness Church.
“I believe the Lord is positioning the Wesleyan Church to have a voice in the 21st century like never before,” Lyon said after accepting her new position.
Lyon founded World Hope International in 1996, which focuses on HIV/AIDS initiatives, prevention of human trafficking, and microfinance institutions in 30 countries. Before founding WHI, she worked on urban and rural human service programs for 30 years.
“My Father used to tell people, `I trained that girl to be a good churchman.’ He didn’t know about gender-specific language,” Lyon said.
_ Ashly McGlone
Quote of the Day: Military lawyer Lt. Cmdr. William C. Kuebler
(RNS) “It is a powerful way to be a witness for Christ by demonstrating your capacity not to judge the way everybody else is judging and to serve unconditionally.”
_ Lt. Cmdr. William C. Kuebler, a Navy lawyer who is representing a detainee of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was quoted by The New York Times (June 19).
KRE/RB END RNS
