c. 2008 Religion News Service

Kenyan church leaders plead for peace

(RNS) Religious leaders are condemning post-election violence in Kenya that some observers say evokes memories of ethnic violence in Rwanda almost 14 years ago.

An Assemblies of God church in western Kenya was targeted on Tuesday (Jan. 1) and at least 30 people were killed after it was set aflame by an angry mob following disputed Dec. 27 elections.

“Now is the time to put the interests of the nation and the surrounding region above other concerns,” the Rev. Samuel Kobia, the general secretary of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC), said in a statement that also called upon Kenyan churches “to do their part in pursuing the common good of their communities and country.”

Kobia said churches need to play such a role “amid ominous signs of ethnically targeted hatred and violence. Homes, businesses, public buildings and places of worship must remain safe.”

The violence has resulted in as many as 300 deaths and has caused the displacement of as many as 100,000, the Kenya Red Cross reported. Abbas Gullet, the secretary general of the Kenya Red Cross and quoted by the London-based Guardian newspaper, characterized the situation as a “national disaster,” and predicted that several hundred thousand will require humanitarian assistance “for some time.”

The violence stems from election results that opposition leader Raila Odinga claims were fraudulent. In turn, the incumbent government of Mwai Kibaki has claimed that Odinga’s supporters have been guilty of “ethnic cleansing,” the BBC reported. Odinga, meanwhile, has said that Kibaki supporters are “guilty, directly, of genocide.”

Kibaki is a member of the Kikuyu tribe, an ethnic minority group that has long dominated Kenyan politics. Those who perished in the church were reportedly Kikuyus seeking refuge from violence.

Kobia, a Kenyan Methodist, called upon both leaders to “turn urgently from partisan postures and negotiate in good faith to reach a non-violent, political solution to Kenya’s electoral dispute.”

The Rev. Setri Nyomi, the general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, in a letter to Presbyterian leaders in Kenya, said the church “is called upon again to rise above any attempts to be drawn into the polarization by standing firmly for peace and justice and the protection of life and property in this period of determining the political future of the country,” according to Ecumenical News International.

_ Chris Herlinger

Episcopal head says U.S. church is held to “double standard”

(RNS) Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says other members of the Anglican Communion hold a “double standard” against the U.S. church for having an openly gay bishop and blessing same-sex unions.

Other provinces in the 77 million-member communion have gay bishops and blessing ceremonies, Jefferts Schori told BBC Radio in an interview broadcast Tuesday (Jan. 1), but are not as open about it.

“There is certainly a double standard,” she said.

The election of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 prompted deep divisions among the family of Anglican churches over sexuality and the Bible. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the communion.

But Jefferts Schori said Robinson “is certainly not alone in being a gay bishop; he’s certainly not alone in being a gay partnered bishop. He is alone in being the only gay partnered bishop who’s open about that status.”

Jefferts Schori also said other Anglican provinces hold same-sex blessing ceremonies.

“Those services are happening in various places, including the Church of England, where my understanding is that there are far more of them happening than there are in the Episcopal Church,” Jefferts Schori said.

_ Daniel Burke

Quote of the Day: a poster in Jerusalem

(RNS) “Bush, Read Your Bible: God Gave Israel to the Jews.”

_ A poster sponsored by Israel’s Am K’Lavee Organization that will be on billboards across Jerusalem prior to President Bush’s upcoming visit to the Middle East. The poster features a large Bible over the walls of the old city, according to IsraelNationalNews.com.

KRE/RB END RNS