Belorussian Orthodox Discuss Sectarian Activities

Representatives of the dioceses of the Belorussian Orthodox Church have met in Minsk to discuss the activities and growth of sects and cults in Belarus, their beliefs, and the Church's response to them. More (in Russian) here.

OCA Youth Department to be Represented at 2011 Cornerstone Festival

The youth and young adult ministry department of the American Orthodox Church (OCA) will be participating this year in the Cornerstone Festival, an Evangelical Protestant music festival that generally features a number of bands, speakers, and other performers each year. The department has been okayed by the Festival's director to have a booth at the event and also celebrate daily Vespers and Matins as well as a Divine Liturgy. More here.

Egyptian Christians Prepare to Meet to Discuss Draft Law

Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church and Coptic Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, and Roman Catholic organizations are considering joint meetings to discuss their common issues with a proposed draft law to regulate the construction of new places of worship and the repair of existing ones. More here.

Protestant Appointed Vice-Chairman of Muslim Brotherhood Party

It turns out that the Egyptian Christian appointed vice-chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party, Rafiq Habib, is not a Copt, but an Evangelical Protestant scholar of politics and Islam. More here.

I had thought the Brotherhood had strong-armed a Copt into its party's leadership to lessen the Copts' fears of living in an Islamist state, but to find that the appointee is not even Orthodox makes me wonder how on earth the Brotherhood thinks it can seriously claim to represent (or want to represent) the interests of all Egyptians when it doesn't even understand the significant differences between Orthodox Copts and the followers of Western religious movements in Egypt.

Regardless, the link above includes an interesting interview with Habib on his reasons for supporting the "moderate" Muslim Brotherhood that's worth a read.

"From Russia, With Love"

An interview by the Evangelical Protestant Christianity Today with Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk of the Russian Orthodox Church can be found here.

Australian Catholic Bishop Placed in Early Retirement

Pope Benedict XVI of Rome has placed a Roman Catholic bishop in Australia in early retirement for his support of the ordination of women to the Roman Catholic priesthood and the recognition of mainstream Protestant clergymen in Australia as clergy. More here. Hat tip to Ad Orientem for posting this first!

Sarah Palin at the Wailing Wall

After a visit to Jerusalem's Wailing Wall last month the controversial US politician Sarah Palin said that she it was "overwhelming to be able to see and touch the cornerstone of our faith." Palin is apparently Jewish as she might otherwise have made her comments after visiting the Holy Sepulchre...

Azerbaijan Refuses to Allow Mosque, Church Reopenings

Efforts continue to reopen Georgian Orthodox and Evangelical Protestant churches and Sunni mosques that the Azerbaijani government has closed or left closed since the Soviet era. More here.

"Fighting Child Marriage in Ethiopia"

An article on the unfortunately rather widespread practice of child marriage in Ethiopia can be found here.

Russian Orthodox Commission Discusses the Reception of Converts

Today a session of the Commission on the Relationship with Non-Orthodox Christians and Other Religions of the Moscow Patriarchate was held under the leadership of Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk. The Commission met to discuss the means by which the Russian Orthodox Church receives converts from the various Christian movements in the West. It was decided at today's session to form a working group to study past norms in receiving converts and the reasoning behind them as well as the various Western Christian organizations' practices and beliefs so that uniform policies regulating the reception of converts from the Adventist, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Old Catholic, Pentecostal, and Reformed Churches and other Western Christian movements can be drafted for consideration at the Commission's next session. More here.

Military Chaplaincy Approved in Ukraine

Representatives of the autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Kyiv Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, the national organization of Ukrainian Muslims, and a Ukrainian Baptist association have signed a memorandum of cooperation regarding their participation in the military chaplaincy program recently approved by the Ukrainian government. More here.

NCC Renews Call for Common Date for Pascha

The US National Council of Churches has renewed its call for a common date for the celebration of Pascha by Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, and Protestants, floating the idea of either a return to the historic calculation of Pascha (followed by the Orthodox) or a fixed day every year for the feast's celebration (not followed by the Orthodox ;-) ). More here.

Muslim Mob Attacks Ethiopian Protestants

Seventeen Ethiopian Protestant students have been attacked by a mob in southeastern Ethiopia after they arrived in a Muslim village and began evangelizing its residents. More here.

"Evangelical Issues with Orthodoxy: Most Holy Mother of God"

A good survey of Evangelical Protestantism's approach to the Mother of God by a recent convert to Orthodox Christianity in Kenya can be found here.

Georgia Agrees to Register Foreign Religious Organizations

Twenty-two years after the collapse of the Soviet Union the Georgian government has agreed to register certain religious organizations representing non-Georgians in the country. The Armenian Orthodox Church in Georgia, the Department of Transcaucasian Muslims, the Jewish community in Georgia, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Evangelical Baptist Church are all to be registered with the government, which will give them standing similar to the Church of Georgia. More here.

"Ecclesia Americana" by K. Myers

Touchstone has a most interesting reflection on ecclesiology in the United States here. It was first published this past summer.