ELCA

Leaders of evangelical churches in the Middle East unanimously voted Tuesday in favor of a statement supporting the ordination of women as pastors.

The statement, drafted on the spot in response to a report by the group’s theology committee, was passed by the 29 voting delegates, including two females, during the Sixth General Assembly of the Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches, reported Allison Schmitt of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

FMEEC’s theology committee stated that it found no biblical or theological reasons to oppose female ordination. The Fellowship includes evangelical Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed churches in the Middle East. more >>

The Ugandan lawmaker who proposed a highly contentious bill that would, if enacted, broaden the criminalization of homosexuality in the east African nation said Friday that he will refuse any request to withdraw the legislation.

Member of Parliament David Bahati said he felt the “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” is necessary to protect Uganda’s children from being “recruited” into homosexuality.

"I stand by the bill. I will not withdraw it,” Bahati said. more >>

Thousands of people logged on to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's first-ever online town hall forum to hear the denomination's head tackle some tough questions.

Many of the questions on Sunday addressed the pro-gay actions of the churchwide assembly in August.

"Can you give a good, solid reason why we, the dissident traditionalists, should remain in the ELCA as a decreasing minority instead of moving our memberships to other Lutheran bodies?" George Erdner of Lawrenceville, Ga., asked through an online submission. more >>

Mainline Protestant churches seem to have weathered the past decade better than many people have assumed, but the future is raising serious challenges to continued stability, said a Christian pollster.

George Barna analyzed data for The Barna Group's latest report examining mainline denominations. Weekend attendance at mainline churches has remained relatively stable, ranging from 89 to 100, over the past decade but the report suggests that they may be "on the precipice of a period of decline."

Mainline bodies – which the research group identifies as American Baptist Churches in the USA; The Episcopal Church; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Presbyterian Church (USA); the United Church of Christ; and the United Methodist Church – once dominated the Protestant landscape of America but today make up just one-fifth of all Protestant congregations today, the report notes. more >>

Leaders and members of mainline denominations are being called to add their signatures to the Manhattan Declaration and stand for the "sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage and the rights of conscience and religious liberty."

The Association for Church Renewal, an alliance of leaders representing conservative ministries within mainline Protestant churches, made the appeal Wednesday.

"[M]ake this public commitment as followers of Jesus Christ on behalf of the historic churches which once established the spiritual foundation of our nation," Association for Church Renewal President the Rev. David Runnion-Bareford urged. more >>

Though the Church has been criticized for being late to the HIV/AIDS fight, Christians around the world are now actively working to educate people about the deadly disease and dispel dangerous myths.

In Zimbabwe, The Evangelical Alliance Mission is working to educate the youth about treatment and medicine for those infected by the HIV virus. TEAM’s effort is in response to a dangerous myth that is spreading across Africa that an HIV-positive man can be cured by having sex with a virgin. Because it is hard to find a virgin adult woman, many of these men are raping young girls and infecting them with the virus.

Mark Clark, based in TEAM’s U.S. office, calls the myth the “Great Lie” that Satan is spreading throughout the continent, according to Mission Network News. more >>