LITTLE ROCK — Delegates approve church merger
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council have agreed to be merged into the World Communion of Reformed Churches.
The Grand Rapids Press reported that the union approved June 18 by about 400 delegates gathered at Calvin College in Grand Rapids represents about 80 million Christians from 108 countries in nearly 230 denominations.
World Alliance of Reformed Churches President Clifton Kirkpatrick says the agreement is an accomplishment in a “world that is fragmented and filled with conflict.”
The Uniting General Council 2010 convention has attracted about 1,000 people. It runs through Monday.
- The Associated Press‘Interreligious’ university forms
BOSTON - Two theological schools, including the nation’s oldest Christian graduate seminary, are joining to form a university to educate people of all religions.
Andover Newton Theological School, founded outside Boston in 1807, and the Unitarian Universalist Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago announced Tuesday they will unite to form an “interreligious theological university” by next year.
The schools will keep their identities under the corporate umbrella of the new school.
Andover Newton President Nick Carter said students can still receive a degree from his school, but they’ll be interacting with students earning degrees in other religions from other schools on the same campus.
Carter said that experience is crucial when working in a multifaith world.
Meadville Lombard is selling its four-building campus in Chicago and the new school will be based at the Andover Newton campus.
- The Associated PressMother Teresa’s
relics go on display
BOSTON - Relics belonging to Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa are on display at the Boston church named in her honor.
The Albanian nun’s crucifix, rosary beads, sandals and other items are on display for the public at Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood.
Mother Teresa, known for her work with the poor in Calcutta, India, visited the Roman Catholic parish 15 years ago when it was known as St. Margaret’s.
The Rev. Jack Ahern, the church pastor, says Mother Teresa continues to inspire millions of Catholics around the world several years after her death. She died Sept. 5, 1997.
- The Associated Press
Historian to study desert etchings
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Newly found inscriptions depicting Christian crosses and letters etched in stone have been discovered north of the Sandia Mountains - possibly the work of a Spanish expedition that visited New Mexico in the 1580s.
Albuquerque historian and author Mike Smith said he found the etchings this month while exploring a rocky desert area east of the Rio Grande.
New Mexico’s state historian, Rick Hendricks, plans to examine the inscriptions to verify their origins.
Smith said the style of the inscriptions, as well as the weathering they show, suggest the carvings were made by Spaniards who visited New Mexico four decades after Francisco Vasquez de Coronado explored the region in the 1540s.
Religion, Pages 14 on 06/26/2010