World Pie Eating Contest Abandoned
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Clowns in the Church – A Growing Problem!
The link that follows this post is to a story in the Edmonton Journal about a ‘church’ service held at the McClure United Church. The article relates how the service was run by clowns (it could be argued – in more ways than one), including the minister as a clown, the Lord’s Supper being mimed and a so-called ‘liturgical dance,’ whatever that means. In short, this is an example of another ‘church’ that has lost its way.
The article seems to suggest that there was another great event in the church as well – at another service children bounced balloons around the building as the minister read about the place of balloons in worship from a very ‘authorative’ book on Christian worship by Ann Weems, called ‘Balloons Belong in Church.’ It would seem that the true blueprint for Christian worship has been put aside at McClure United Church. Then there was the Wednesday Worship Hour that was spiced up by the Hawaii Night theme, complete with dress up and limbo contest – all very sad and tragic.
INDONESIA: CHURCH, BIBLE STUDENTS FIGHT DISCRIMINATION
Village congregation goes to court over loss of permit; SETIA students demonstrate for new campus.
JAKARTA, July 7 (Compass Direct News) – Christians have stood up for their rights in two key cases the last few weeks in heavily Muslim Indonesia.
Members of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan Church (HKBP) in Cinere village, Depok, West Java appeared in court on June 29 to contest the mayor’s revocation of their building permit in March, while students of the shuttered Arastamar School of Theology (SETIA) demonstrated in Jakarta on June 15, asking officials to honor promises to provide them with a new campus.
HKBP church leaders filed suit against the decision in the state court in Bandung, West Java. Two court sessions have been held so far, on June 2 and June 29, with Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail represented by Syafrizal, the head of the Depok legal department and who goes by the single name, and political associate Jhon Sinton Nainggolan.
Mahmudi issued a decree on March 27 cancelling a building permit that was initially granted to the HKBP church in Cinere on June 13, 1998, allowing it to establish a place of worship.
The mayor said he had acted in response to complaints from residents. Contrary to Indonesian law, however, Mahmudi did not consult the church before revoking the permit.
Nainggolan, arguing for Mahmudi, claimed the revocation was legal because it was based on a request from local citizens and would encourage religious harmony in Cinere. But Betty Sitompul, manager of the building project, strongly disputed this claim.
“Our immediate neighbors have no objection,” she told Compass. “A small minority who don’t think this way have influenced people from outside the immediate neighborhood to make this complaint.”
Sitompul added that the church had been meeting in a naval facility located about five kilometers (nearly three miles) from the church building since the permit was revoked, causing great inconvenience for church members, many of whom did not have their own transportation.
According to Kasno, who heads the People’s Coalition for National Unity in Depok and is known only by a single name, the mayor had clearly violated procedures set forth in a Joint Ministerial Decree, issued in 1969 and revised in 2006, regulating places of worship.
Legal advocate Junimart Girsang, representing the church, confirmed that under the revised decree, conflicts must not be solved unilaterally but through consultation and consensus with the parties involved. He also said it was against normal practice to revoke a building permit.
Construction of the church building began in 1998, shortly after the permit was issued, but halted soon afterward due to a lack of funds. When the project recommenced in 2007, members of a Muslim group from Cinere and neighboring villages damaged the boundary hedge and posted protest banners on the walls of the building. Most of the protestors were not local residents, Sitompul said.
By that stage the building was almost completed and church members were using it for worship services. (See “Mayor Revokes Church Permit,” May 5.)
SETIA Protest
In Jakarta, hundreds of SETIA students demonstrated in front of the presidential palace on June 15, calling on officials to honor promises made in March to provide them with a new campus. (See “New Building Site Found for Bible College,” May 11.)
At least 1,400 staff and students remain in three separate locations in sub-standard facilities, causing great disruption to their studies, according to the students. The original campus in Kampung Pulo, East Jakarta, closed after neighbors attacked students with machetes in July 2008 and remains cordoned off by police.
In negotiations with SETIA director Matheus Mangentang in May, Jakarta officials again promised to assist the school in finding a new site, and promised to work with neighbors to secure approval for a building permit.
Joko Prabowo, the school’s general secretary, said he believes officials have now reneged on these promises. When school officials recently requested relocation to Cipayung, East Jakarta, the governor’s office rejected their proposal, citing community resistance.
Deputy Gov. Prijanto, who has only a single name, had initially suggested Cikarang in West Java as a new location, but SETIA staff rejected this offer, saying the site was outside Jakarta provincial limits and a move would be prohibitively expensive.
Report from Compass Direct News
CRICKET: AUSTRALIA V SOUTH AFRICA – FIRST TEST
The First Test between Australia and South Africa is a fascinating contest as both teams strive for dominance. Before lunch on the fourth day it is clear that Australia has now clearly gained the upper hand and a tremendous lead over South Africa that is fast approaching 400.
The stars for Australia in this match have been Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin, though it has been a team effort. The only exception has been Matthew Hayden who is still struggling for form and has perhaps reached that point in his career when retirement has perhaps become the clear choice for his immediate future.
BELOW: Report on Mitchell Johnson at the end of the second day (Same footage in both videos)
ACADEMIC: ‘FAITH-BASED’ PARTIES HAVE LITTLE CHANCE IN NEW ZEALAND
After New Zealand’s prime minister, Helen Clark announced a general election for 8 November, several “faith-based” political parties have said they will contest the poll, reports Ecumenical News International.
Still, one political observer has suggested the increased number of Christian parties will splinter the faith-based vote, and limit any chance of parliamentary success for them.
Raymond Miller, political studies professor at Auckland University, told a New Zealand church magazine earlier this year that the ambition of a host of Christian-based political parties “did not match reality”.
Miller said the formation of three Christian parties – the United Future Party, the Family Party and the Kiwi Party – would split the conservative Christian vote.
Report from the Christian Telegraph
Random Thoughts 