Published Bi-weekly by TPC Publications, Inc.
Publishers of The Progressive Christian Magazine
NeXus EDITOR Cynthia B. Astle
NeXus PUBLISHER Kathleen Palmer
Volume 1, Number 24

IN THIS ISSUE:
Commentary:
Mixed Messages at the Manger
By Mary Ann Swenson
Context:
Should the Environmental Movement and Religions Join Hands?
By Peter Kenny
Ecumenical News International
Quotables
E-pistles

TPC NeXus PUBLICATION ENDING: The parent company that publishes TPC NeXus, TPC Publications, Inc., is suspending publication of TPC NeXus effective with this issue. “We deeply regret that we can no longer afford to offer NeXus to our many readers at no cost,” said Stephen Swecker, editor and publisher of TPCP. Mr. Swecker said that the decision to end publication could be reversed if donations totaling $5,000 or more were received by Dec. 31. (Click here to make a charitable donation to TPC Publications, publisher of UM NeXus, TPC NeXus and The Progressive Christian magazine.) “Under the leadership of editor Cynthia Astle and publisher Kathleen Palmer, NeXus has become an award-winning ezine in an extraordinarily brief period of time. We will look for every opportunity to resume publication in the future, but it will need to be on a break-even basis or better,” Mr. Swecker added. Strong donor support could make that happen, he said.

TOP TEN: Time magazine is ending the year in a big way with its “The Top Ten of Everything 2008″ issue. For church folk, the “go-to” list is David Van Biema’s “Top 10 Religion Stories,” led by his Number One: “The Economy Trumps Religion.”

ECONOMIC PRAYERS: Nearly 75 percent of Dec. 8 respondents to a Beliefnet survey, “Are you praying for the economy?” said they’re praying for the world financial situation, but without requesting specific results. The survey was posted by moderator Paul Raushenbush on Beliefnet’s Progressive Revival blog. Meanwhile, Detroit’s largest, most influential black congregation, Greater Grace Temple, displayed three SUVs borrowed from area car dealers for a Dec. 7 worship service that focused on specific prayers for Congress to bail out the U.S. auto industry, according to Reuters.com. Their prayers appeared to be answered Dec. 9 when Congressional Democrats and the White House agreed to provide $15 billion in emergency loans to Detroit automakers, with some hefty conditions attached. Passage of the legislation was expected this week.

Are you and/or your congregation praying for the economy? What specifically are you praying for? Please post your comments below.

TORTURE DECISION: It may be harder than anti-torture groups think for President-elect Barack Obama to eliminate torture with the pen stroke of an executive order, says author Michael Otterman on the blog for his book, American Torture. Otterman cites recent news reports from the Associated Press, New York Times and Wall Street Journal saying that, assuming Obama fulfills his campaign pledge to close down the detainee center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, intelligence insiders are pressing for some new form of detention legislation or “terror courts.” Several faith-based groups, including the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and Evangelicals for Human Rights, held a summit on torture in September. Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor reports that the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled Dec. 10 to take up a case examining whether cabinet-level officials in the Bush White House can be held legally accountable for the administration’s controversial tactics in the war on terror.

AGE-OLD IMMIGRATION: What would Jesus say about U.S. immigration policies? Plenty, speculates Houston Chronicle columnist Bill King, because from its earliest writings scripture has held that a country’s laws and practices should apply equally to both native-born and “alien” residents. Rather than the hard-edged U.S. policies of enforcement currently being used, King writes, the Bible and church tradition outline faithful believers’ duty to treat “aliens” with charity and tolerance. He cites Exodus 12:49, Deuteronomy 10:17-19 and the story of John Newton, author of the lyrics to “Amazing Grace,” as evidence that the moral situation around immigration policy is far more complex and compelling than some American Christians would have it.

PATRIARCH DIES: Thousands of Russians stood in line for hours outside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour to pay final respects to Patriarch Alexei II. The patriarch who led the Russian Orthodox Church to revival in the post-Soviet era, died on Dec. 5, reported Ecumenical News International. Alexei’s funeral was to take place Dec. 9 led by Patriarch Bartholomeos I of Contstantinople, said the Rev. Nikolai Balashov, the Moscow Patriarchate’s secretary for inter-Orthodox relations to the Itar-Tass news agency. Relations between the Moscow and Constantinople patriarchates have been marked by conflict over influence in former Soviet territories, but Alexei and Bartholomeos said Orthodox unity was of foremost importance and they pledged to pursue dialogue at a July meeting in Kiev.

MORMON BACKLASH: Speaking of moral complexity, a Dec. 5 ad in the New York Times has elicited some brouhaha around the role of religion in politics. A conservative religious liberty organization, The Becket Fund, ran the full-page ad touting a new organization called “No Mob Veto” and inviting supporters to sign a petition, writes Michael Paulson of the Boston Globe. Says the ad: “The violence and intimidation being directed at the LDS or ‘Mormon’ church, and other religious organizations – even against individual believers – simply because they supported Proposition 8 is an outrage and must stop.” The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, a gay rights organization, immediately denounced the ad as “untruthful,” and issued a series of statements from religious leaders who support gay marriage. Meanwhile, Rick Jacobs, founder and chairman of the Courage Campaign, a progressive online organizing network, defended the protests against LDS political activism in an op-ed column for the Los Angeles Times.

BOOK BLATHER: Thinking about starting a book club in the New Year to discuss faith, religion, spirituality and the like? Before you start listing some tomes for discussion, take a gander at the New York Times’ Dec. 9 feature “Fought Over Any Good Books Lately?” on the joys and perils of book clubs. There’s more to book club social dynamics than might first meet the eye – but it could be a good exercise of one’s spiritual peacemaking skills.

NEW POST: Lutheran journalist Ann Hafften has been named U.S. coordinator for the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel. Author of the blog, “A Texas Lutheran’s Voice for Middle East Peace,” Hafften will recruit and support volunteers who commit to spend three months walking with Palestinians and Israelis in their non-violent actions. Accompaniers (known as EAs) also undertake advocacy efforts to end the occupation, monitor and report human rights violations, offer protection through non-violent presence, and support acts of non-violent resistance alongside local Christian and Muslim Palestinians and Israeli peace activists. Previously a national ELCA staffer, Hafften is considered an expert on faith-based Middle East peace efforts.

BLUE CHRISTMAS: There’ll be no Elvis imitators lip-syncing “I’ll have a blue Christmas” Dec. 14 at First UMC of Crowley, TX. Instead, for the fifth year in a row, the church will host a Blue Christmas service for the lonely and dispirited, reports the Burleson-Crowley Connection. “The sermon is a message of positive hope, but it also recognizes that grief and sadness, sorrow and stress are all human conditions and we’re not exempt from them in December,” said Marlene Richardson, a lay minister. “One thing that is really nice is when you come together as a community, you realize you’re not the only one who is hurting… You leave feeling better.”

NEW YEAR’S PEACE: A Christian women’s group in Japan has produced New Year postcards, in English and Japanese, to promote a war-renouncing clause of the country’s constitution of 1946, which some politicians have in recent times tried to amend, reported the Christian Telegraph. All cards contain the clause that causes much debate, Article 9.V, something that Japanese peace supporters see as crucial to the nation. Millions of New Year cards are delivered throughout Japan on Jan. 1.

BIG CHRISTMAS: Tiny Hopewell UMC in western Pennsylvania has received a whopping big Christmas gift. The 80-member congregation has inherited more than $2 million from John Ferguson, a farmer who lived in a mobile home, reported the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 71-year-old farmer attended the church before dying in January 2007. The gift has been in probate since then. Hopewell pastor Jason McQueen said a panel of congregation members would choose future projects to be funded annually from the income generated by Ferguson’s estate.

Please comment on these news briefs below.