Free Republic

The excommunicated priest of a breakaway St. Louis parish has said he would be willing to step down if it would help the parish. Fr. Marek Bozek had left his previous position without the permission of his bishop to become the pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in December 2005. The parish, which is owned and governed by a secular corporation, had resisted the Archdiocese of St. Louis’ efforts to bring parish bylaws into accordance with canon law. After years of dispute, in 2008 the then-Archbishop Raymond Burke declared Fr. Bozek and the parish board members to be excommunicated and...

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While many U.S. bishops have publicly acknowledged problems with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) has confirmed that at least four bishops opted to not take up this year's national collection.A controversy has erupted in the U.S. Church in recent weeks after evidence came to light showing that numerous CCHD grantees have promoted issues and practices in violation of Catholic teaching, including abortion, contraception, and same-sex "marriage."  In response to the revelations a coalition of Catholic organizations, the Reform CCHD Now Coalition, formed, calling for a boycott of the November 21-22...

A new group calling itself The LGBT Anglican Coalition, network 'working for the full and equal inclusion of LGBT Christians within and beyond the Church of England', has sent an open letter to the Archbishop of Uppsala, the Most Rev Anders Wejryd and Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams at the Church of England's decision to shun the consecration of the new lesbian bishop Eva Brunne of Stockholm. I like the sound of Eva. She's a mum, like me. Blogger Sandra Showtime writes: 'Her sense of humor doesn’t hurt either. When Brunne, who was a pastor in Stockholm for 16...

J.Lee Grady didn't wait for an economic recession to battle the prosperity gospel. He has been fighting it for years. Grady is the editor of Charisma, the magazine that serves as a gathering tent for Pentecostal and charismatic Christians. Its columns and advertisements feature some of the most prominent names in the movement—and some of the most frequent targets of Grady's criticism.Other evangelicals have long criticized the teaching that God promises his followers wealth and happiness. But few within the movement have made their calls for repentance so public."Martin Luther had to say something, or they were going to keep...

A Louisville church that ordained a registered sex offender has found a new home, and one resident who spoke against the church now says this is a partial victory for the Germantown community. The owner of Pillar Properties said four businesses at their Germantown property were asked to vacate the building, including the City of Refuge Center. The owner says it had nothing to do with the dispute between the church and some members of the community, but at least one resident says he's happy to see the church go. Church service hours were posted for the City of Refuge...

Cardinal Walter Kasper Vatican City, Nov 23, 2009 / 01:22 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, explained last week that the entrance of  Anglicans into the Catholic Church is the fruit of authentic ecumenism inspired by the Second Vatican Council. On the eve of a scheduled meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the leader of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Rowan Williams, Cardinal Kasper commented on the openness of the Catholic Church to Anglicans who asked to be admitted into full communion.Ecumenism is not an “option” that the Church can accept or reject...

Bishop Joseph Grech / Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto Bendigo, Australia, Nov 23, 2009 / 05:06 pm (CNA).- The Vatican has said “no” to the use of a Catholic church in Australia for the ordination of four women and three men as Anglican Deacons. St. Killian's Catholic Church in the Australian Diocese of Sandhurst was proposed as the ordination site after the local Anglican cathedral was closed due to safety concerns.According to The Advertiser, the ordination was set to take place at the Catholic church before the Catholic Bishop Joseph Grech of the Diocese of Sandherst addressed the issue with Archbishop...

Lutherans to Observe World AIDS Day Dec. 1 WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- Every nine and a half minutes a person in the United States becomes infected with HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Globally, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS estimates the number of people infected with the virus is 33 million. On the weekend before or after World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are invited to participate in a worship service, event or advocacy activity, and to remember and demonstrate support for people living with and...

From the deepest recesses of South American Jungles to the coldest corners of Siberia, native people groups everywhere are rejoicing over the latest announcement that the English-speaking world will be spending millions of dollars for yet another English translation of the Bible. The excitement erupted after Zondervan Publishers announced that it would be making a major revision and update to its New International Version, first released in 1978 "Our goal is to put the NIV into modern English so that people born after 1988 can understand the Scriptures," said Ronald Overbeck, head of research at Zondervan. "We're going to spare...

Those disaffected Anglicans in England and Wales who think they can take up Pope Benedict’s offer and switch to Rome with a “pick and choose” attitude should think again, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols has said. Many Anglicans unhappy with women’s ordination and gay clergy cannot just convert to Roman Catholicism as a way out, but must accept Catholic doctrine wholeheartedly, he said. “Nothing is envisaged in this provision that the Pope has put in place is a kind of minimalist approach to picking bits of the Catholic faith that I like and then seeing myself as it...

Disgraced former national evangelical leader Ted Haggard brought his message of forgiveness to the House of Praise church on Route 9 Sunday, peppering an hourlong talk in front of a congregation of 200 people with some ear-raising nuggets — like how God has specifically used people like Oprah Winfrey to assist in his resurrection from personal despair and public shame. Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and leader of a mega-church in Colorado, was forced to abandon both posts in 2006 after a male prostitute publicly said Haggard paid him for sex for three years and...

The vicar of an Anglo-Catholic has received a threatening phone call warning him of violence if his parish goes over to Rome – and his church noticeboard has been defaced with the words “C of E No Pope” daubed across it in white paint. Fr David Waller of St Saviour’s, Walthamstow, discovered the vandalism on Sunday morning as he prepared for Mass. Then he found the a message waiting for him on his answering machine threatening him with physical violence. But, when I spoke to him a few minutes ago, he didn’t sound remotely intimidated. “The message was distorted –...

The Roman Catholic bishops of England and Wales have set up a task force to help the possible exodus of tens of thousands of disaffected Anglicans into their church. The move was announced as Anglican leader Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, protested to the Pope in the Vatican over its plans to receive Anglican converts en masse. Pope Benedict XVI was last month accused of attempting to poach Anglicans unhappy about decisions taken in their church to ordain women and sexually-active homosexuals as priests and bishops. In response to requests from about 30 Anglican bishops around the world...

Pope John Paul II regularly whipped himself in a sign of "remorse for his sins", a nun has claimed. The Pope, who died five years ago, is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church. As part of the Vatican's investigation thousands of documents have been collected and examined by officials from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Among them is the testimony of Tobiana Sobodka, a Polish nun of the Sacred Heart of Jesus order, who worked for Pope John Paul in his private Vatican apartments and at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo near Rome. Sister Sobodka...

Kansas City, Mo., Nov 21, 2009 / 02:14 pm (CNA).- A community of Benedictine sisters living in the Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph have released a Christmas CD titled “Christmas at Ephesus.” Proceeds from their new CD, comprised of traditional carols as well as the sisters' compositions, will go toward the building of a new monastery. The Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles are still new to the Kansas City Catholic community, invited by Bishop Robert W. Finn in 2006. A traditional monastic community of women who desire to emulate the Blessed Virgin Mary by living in quiet...

OVER 4,000 Anglican priests all over the world, including married ones, are expected to join the Catholic Church, Bishop Matthias Ssekamanya announced on Friday. Ssekamanya, who doubles as the chancellor of Uganda Martyrs University, said this does not mean that the Catholic Church is removing the requirement for priests to remain unmarried. “We are not becoming soft on celibacy for Catholic priests. We shall also not tolerate homosexuals and polygamous marriages in the Catholic Church,” he added. He was officiating at the 15th graduation ceremony of the Nkozi-based university. Vatican officials announced that married Anglican priests would be allowed to...

Cardinal DiNardo gave the keynote at today’s session of the National Catholic Youth Conference in Kansas City, while Kansas City, Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann led Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction at Sprint Center. Kansas City – St. Joseph Bishop Robert W. Finn then led 22,000 High School students through his See City from Sprint Center to the Kansas City Convention Center. At some point, I should probably explain why there is an Archbishop of Kansas City who isn’t the Bishop of Kansas City. Here are some pics – story later – Be sure to see the last pic....

The Roman Catholic bishop of Rhode Island says he asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy to stop receiving Holy Communion in 2007 because of the lawmaker's stand on what he called moral issues. Kennedy told The Providence Journal in a story published Sunday that Bishop Thomas Tobin "instructed" him not to receive Communion because of his abortion rights stance. Kennedy said diocesan priests have been told not to give him Communion, but he did not explain how he knew that. Tobin said in a statement Sunday that he "has never addressed matters relative to public officials receiving Holy Communion with pastors of...

One of the more commonly shared experiences of Protestant converts to the Catholic Church is the discovery of verses “we never saw.” Even after years of studying, preaching, and teaching the Bible, sometimes from cover to cover, all of a sudden a verse “we never saw” appears as if by magic and becomes an “Aha!” mind-opening, life-altering messenger of spiritual “doom”! Sometimes it’s just recognizing an alternate, clearer meaning of a familiar verse, but often, as with some of the verses mentioned below, it literally seems as if some Catholic had snuck in during the night and somehow put that...

When I was in 6th grade I got in trouble for cussing.  In an effort to clean up my language, I asked my teacher what the worst thing was you could call someone.  "Repulsive," he replied. I have always remembered that word, but have used it sparingly.  What I am about to report is, indeed, repulsive.  Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, released a statement yesterday morning -- "Gay Activists Bully DC Priests."  The instrument being used to bully is a Web site, ChurchOuting.org, which encourages people to report any priest, gay or straight, who may be "romantically involved," but...

Friday, November 20, 2009 Pics - 22,000 Youth in Eucharistic Procession through Kansas City at NCYC Cardinal DiNardo gave the keynote at today’s session of the National Catholic Youth Conference in Kansas City, while Kansas City, Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann led Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction at Sprint Center. Kansas City – St. Joseph Bishop Robert W. Finn then led 22,000 High School students through his See City from Sprint Center to the Kansas City Convention Center. At some point, I should probably explain why there is an Archbishop of Kansas City who isn’t the Bishop of...

Thanks to technical problems, I wasn’t able to comment on Rowan Williams (”Archbishop of Canterbury” in the Henrician usurpation tradition, as Gerald Warner calls him) lecturing the Vatican on the virtues of women priests. I’m glad he did, because it is high time that the Church of England stopped apologising for this innovation. Anglicans have women priests; Catholics and Orthodox don’t. End of story, so far as corporate reunion is concerned. “Oh, but the Roman Catholic Church will certainly ordain women one day,” Dr George Carey once told me. No it won’t. Why do Anglicans find this so hard to...

Top Stories for Thursday, November 26th, 2009: The Basilica of St. Thomas the Apostle, Chennai, India. According to tradition, St. Thomas the Apos­tle traveled to India in 52 A.D., and was martyred and buried here in 72 A.D. Since then his tomb has been venerated by the faithful, and a succession of magnificent churches have been built over it since at least the sixth century. The present basilica was constructed from 1893-1896 under the direction of Captain J.A. Power, a retired officer of the Royal Engineers and a parishioner. Says Bishops Must Unify Catholics By PAUL LIKOUDISBALTIMORE — In...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI lamented the serious lack of public programs and measures to address the needs of deaf people and a lack of even basic health care, which often can prevent hearing impairment. He spoke Nov. 20 to some 400 people attending a Vatican conference addressing the role of the deaf in the church. A handful of interpreters signed the pope's words to deaf participants during the audience in the Clementine Hall of the papal palace. The Nov. 19-21conference was organized by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry and was dedicated to "The Deaf Person...

Minneapolis, Minn., Nov 20, 2009 / 03:54 am (CNA).- Following the decision of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to allow sexually active homosexual clergy, an objecting Lutheran group has begun to form a new church body for those Lutherans who want to “remain faithful to the Orthodox Christianity of the last 2,000 years.”Lutheran CORE leaders on Wednesday said their working group would immediately begin drafting a constitution and taking other steps to form the new denomination. They hope to launch the denomination by next August.Rev. Paull Spring, a retired Pennsylvania ELCA bishop and chairman of Lutheran CORE said...

The Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday made his most outspoken challenge to the Roman Catholic Church since the Pope invited disaffected Anglicans to switch to Rome. Speaking before he meets Benedict XVI tomorrow, Dr Rowan Williams told a conference in Rome that the Catholic Church’s refusal to ordain women was a bar to Christian unity. “For many Anglicans, not ordaining women has a possible unwelcome implication about the difference between baptised men and baptised women,” he said. The Anglican provinces that ordain women had retained rather than lost their Catholic holiness and sacramentalism, he said. Addressing an ecumenical conference at the...

Lutherans Concerned / North America (LC/NA) responded with sadness to yesterday's announcement proposing a new church body to be formed by and for former ELCA members and congregations opposing the full inclusion of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the church. In August 2009, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, by a 2/3 majority, passed a social statement on sexuality. The statement, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" described as faithful four positions on beliefs within the denomination on the inclusion of people in same-gender relationships. The four positions ranged from the view that same-gender...

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand. -- Romans 5:1-2a November 19, 2009 Sisters and brothers in Christ of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, I greet you with the words of the apostle Paul to the Romans: "Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand" (Romans 5:1-2a). Where does the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...

Printer Friendly Format Nation Monks’ thriving coffee business helps attract young men to monastery By Sheila Archambault Posted: 11/16/2009 WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A small Carmelite monastery in Clark, Wyo., has seen its coffee sales take off in the last couple of years, and the growing awareness of its coffee business has brought an added benefit to the community -- more members. "In the past two years, the monks themselves have grown from six to 15 monks and all the new monks are under 25, some right out of high school," said Susie George, a neighbor of the monks who...

ELCA Council Approves Charter, Hears Secretary's Report, Elects Leaders 09-263-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved a charter for a comprehensive study of the ELCA and its future mission. A task force will conduct the study with the goal of bringing a report with recommendations to the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Orlando. The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. It met here Nov. 13-15. The project, "Living into the Future Together: Renewing the Ecology of the Evangelical...

Setting the Record Straight on Rapture By Holly Deyo The purpose of the following material is not to debate the existence of Rapture or when that event would occur, as it is to establish that this is a doctrine of long-standing. A well-circulated notion says that John Darby was the first to begin teaching Rapture in 1828. This may be an effort to discredit Rapture, to remove people's hope and dispirit them, or it may be perpetuated through ignorance. Whatever is the case, it is simply incorrect. Consider that while the word "rapture" was not used until Jerome in 400...

With its annual collection coming up this Sunday, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development is fighting back against the organized effort encouraging Catholics to ignore the collection.   CCHD's woes began last year, when its grants to ACORN were terminated following the allegations of voter fraud and embezzlement brought against them during the 2008 election. Since then, a growing number of other CCHD grantees have been found to advocate either abortion or same-sex marriage -- or both. Rob Gaspar of Bellarmine Veritas Ministry, Stephanie Block of the Catholic Media Coalition, American Life League, and Human Life International have published...

Last Sunday, as part of my commentator duties at the close of Mass, I read an announcement reminding parishioners of this SundayÂ’s collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Moments later, I left church with a copy of Our Sunday Visitor in hand. This Catholic weekly newspaper carried an article warning that a number of CCHD grants funded organizations that act against Catholic teaching. The CCHD have given millions of dollars to groups that participate in such things as abortions, promotion of homosexual marriages and some recipients were involved in cases of alleged embezzlement and voter registration fraud.What...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq – The acting bishop of Basra held Catholic Mass here Nov. 7 in honor of the service members and civilians working toward a safer, more secure Iraq. Bishop Imad Al Banna, a Chaldean priest, spoke Aramaic, an ancient language spoken in Palestine 2,000 years ago and still spoken in parts of Iraq to this day. Al Banna began his sermon with a message of peaceful coexistence. “Peace can be achieved only by respecting other people’s opinions,” said Al Banna. “All nations who respect themselves take care of all of their citizens. National must also learn...

At Medfield’s Montrose School, in BC grad’s book, women cite positive role served by Catholic group"Opus Dei" means work of God in Latin. At the Montrose School in Medfield, it means educating girls to be leaders with “faith, character, and vision,’’ said the independent Catholic institution’s head, Karen E. Bohlin. For Mary Brennan, a Franklin mother of six, it is a search for divinity in everyday life as she cares for her children and works part time. “It’s faith in practice,’’ said Brennan, who prays several times a day, using a rosary, Latin readings, and the New Testament. “As Catholics,...

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Despite the concern voiced by some bishops about the document's pastoral tone and content, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a pastoral letter on marriage Nov. 17. Nearly 100 changes in two rounds of amendments preceded the 180-45 vote in favor of "Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan" during the bishops' fall general assembly in Baltimore. Two-thirds of the USCCB membership, or 175 votes, was required for passage. There were three abstentions. An effort by retired Archbishop Francis T. Hurley of Anchorage, Alaska, to remand the document to the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family...

Baltimore, Md., Nov 18, 2009 / 06:15 pm (CNA).- By a simple majority vote at their fall assembly in Baltimore, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has elected the new chairmen-elect of five committees.By a 118-114 vote, Archbishop of St. Louis Robert J. Carlson was chosen over Bishop of Raleigh, N. Carolina Michael F. Burbidge to become chairman-elect of the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.Archbishop of New Orleans Gregory M. Aymond was elected as future leader of the Committee on Divine Worship by a 126-110 vote over Archbishop of Detroit Allen H. Vigneron.Bishop Stephen E. Blaire...

This in depth Bible study will fortify and lock in the unchangeable teachings of the absolute security of the one who has put their trust in Jesus Christ, Almighty God's Savior to all men. Bring your Bible and dig in!

Baltimore, Md., Nov 18, 2009 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- On the final day of their annual meeting, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published a  pastoral letter on marriage titled “Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan,” which restates and clarifies the Church's teachings to empower those seeking to defend marriage against the cultural currents of cohabitation, contraception, divorce and same sex unions. “Thank goodness this is out there, clearly stated, with ample documentation and very reasonably put forward,” Baltimore's Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien told the Baltimore Sun. “I think it's going to be a very positive...

font size="2" color="black">Geneva (ENI). Church of Sweden Archbishop Anders Wejryd triggered outrage from a Lutheran church in Africa when he ordained an openly lesbian woman as bishop of Stockholm on 8 November. The archbishop asserts, however, that neither his church nor his country supports promiscuity, but that Sweden is a "surprisingly moral society". He said the Swedish church encourages faithful and stable relationships between people whatever their sexual orientation may be.The Church of Sweden issued a press statement when 55-year-old Eva Brunne was consecrated as the bishop of Stockholm in a ceremony at Uppsala cathedral, the mother church of the...

AN EXPLOSIVE internal report has exposed widespread racism in the Catholic Church in South Africa. The Sunday Times has obtained a copy of the 31-page report called Racism and the Catholic Church, produced by the church's Justice and Peace Department after a two-year investigation into race relations among the church's leadership and its three-million-strong congregation. The hard-hitting report found that the dominance of bishops who "come from the European cultural perspective" in the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference ensured that "white European perspectives and interests always set the agenda of the church". The report says that Catholics "come into the...

Leaving aside the popes, the person who has served as the public face of the Church in the United States for the past two decades is a little, crippled, chronically ill, old Italian-American lady who chats with Jesus daily, used to speak in tongues, and leaps before she looks. As I write this, she is quite ill, and we can't predict how long she will be with us. But the global media empire planted by this contemplative Poor Clare has put down mighty roots, with millions of viewers who love its dogged loyalty to the teachings of the Church....

Speaking at the recent meeting of the Pontifical Council of Social Communication, Benedict XVI commended the work of Catholics on the Internet: A genuine revolution is taking place in the realm of social communications of which the Church is ever more responsibly conscious. . . . . These technologies make speech and penetrating communications possible, with a capacity to share ideas and opinions; to facilitate acquiring information and news in a personal way that is accessible to all. During his short remarks to the Council, Benedict XVI stressed promoting a "culture of respect for the dignity and value of the...

London, England, Nov 18, 2009 / 03:44 am (CNA).- Invoking the example of St. Monica, a British bishop and a woman leading a mother’s prayer group program have invited all Catholics and especially Catholic mothers to pray for those who are removed from parish life.Bishop Kieran Conry, who is responsible for evangelization in England and Wales, made his remarks to coincide with the launch of the annual “Come Home for Christmas” campaign.He described St. Monica as the patron saint of inactive Catholics. “She was a faithful wife and mother who prayed for years for her son to embrace the Christian...

Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman enunciated each word he spoke about the blood of Christ. "It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven," the bishop said, his voice carrying to the back of Gate of Heaven Cemetery's chapel, where he was celebrating a Mass on Nov. 2. By the time the annual service for All Souls' Day comes around in 2010, Trautman will likely be saying some different words. "For all" is due to be replaced with "for many" in a New English translation of the Roman Missal. U.S. Catholic bishops will...

The Southern Province of the North American Old Catholic Church calls on bishops of the Roman sect to abandon their devisive and hate-filled attitude toward lesbian and gay people. The Roman bishops began a meeting on Monday (11/16/2009) in Baltimore, MD, and are expected to issue a major "pastoral letter" against equal rights for gay people. "It is like they are telling their brothers and sisters: Thou Shalt Not Love," says Archbishop Wynn Wagner, the Regionary Bishop of the Southern Province USA of the North American Old Catholic Church (NAOCC). "They have forgotten the message of love, in their rush...

  You may want to sit down for this, but flamboyantly apostate Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong actually thrilled me with a prescient bit of insight into Scripture! How is this possible?   Well, there is a basic principle at work in the universe called the Gomer Pyle Axiom of High and Low Expectations. It works this way: When you expect great things from somebody, then merely above-average performances are often denounced as disappointing failures. So when PIXAR --whose worst movies still tower over the junk Hollywood emits -- makes Cars, people groan at what a weak effort it...

A Vatican/SSPX Discussion Can Vatican II's Teaching on Religious Liberty Be Reconciled with Tradition? John Salza, J.D. REMNANT GUEST COLUMNIST   Pope Benedict, Cardinal Hoyos, Bishop Fellay (Aug. 2005)(POSTED 11/17/09 www.RemnantNewspaper.com) As the long-awaited dialogue between the Vatican and the Society of Saint Pius X gets underway, one of the more contentious issues that will be on the table is the Second Vatican Council's teaching on religious liberty found in Dignatius Humane (DH).  Following is a brief critique of DH in light of the traditional teachings of the Church. The fact that volumes have been written evaluating whether DH is compatible with tradition demonstrates that...

Reinstatement Process Revision Adopted by ELCA Church Council 09-261-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted a revision to the reinstatement process for former clergy and other professional leaders who were removed from the church's official rosters for disciplinary reasons or resigned in lieu of discipline -- solely because they were in a lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationship. The change, adopted Nov. 15, applies to former ELCA associates in ministry, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and ordained ministers. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the...

ELCA Churchwide Budget Reduced, Staff Positions Eliminated 09-258-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) acted Nov. 15 to reduce the 2010 churchwide current fund spending authorization by nearly $7.7 million, 10 percent less than the budget authorized by the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. The council's action eliminated 40.75 full-time equivalent positions, of which six were vacant. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. It met here Nov. 13-15. The action reduced the current fund spending authorization for 2010 to...