Tag Archives: forum

Fargo-Moorhead Muslims want new mosque and community center

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Imam Sharip-Hashim Hassan leads prayer Monday in Fargo’s Islamic Center.

From a story in today’s Forum:

As passionate voices continue to wrangle over the planned mosque near the site where the World Trade Center towers fell, Muslims in Fargo-Moorhead are contemplating an expansion of their own in a more serene setting.

Friday gatherings at the Fargo mosque are already crowded, said Ahmer Qarni, who has twice served as president of the mosque. But the larger mosque and community center facilities they’d like to have will have to wait.

Read the full story: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/291894/

Christian doctors take Obama administration to task over embryonic stem cell research

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The “Christian Post” reports:

“The Christian Medical Association blasted the Obama administration Tuesday for trying to lift an injunction blocking the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

“CMA CEO Dr. David Stevens criticized the administration for its ‘irrational insistence’ on channeling hundreds of millions of federal dollars toward ‘speculative’ embryonic stem cell research rather than proven sources of cures that do not involve the destruction of embryos.”

Park Christian School intensifies focus on faith

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From www.inforum.com

When Moorhead’s Park Christian School resumes classes today, it will be more, well, Christian.

The school is making a bevy of changes this year to strengthen its focus on spirituality: more chapel, more opportunities to get involved in leading school worship, a new class prepping students to cling to their faith amid the pressures and temptations of college campuses.

Check out the full story by Forum reporter Mila Koumpilova: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/289355/

Talk about it: http://topics.areavoices.com/2010/08/29/park-christian-intensifies-focus-on-faith-2/

Erskine church leaves the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

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From the Grace Lutheran Church website

Members of Grace Lutheran Church in Erskine, Minn., have voted to leave the Northwestern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America following the ELCA’s controversial decisions on sexuality just over a year ago.

Read more: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/289410/

Traditionalist LCMC denomination hits 500-congregation milestone

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Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) accepted its 500th congregation this month.

Members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Morris, Minn., voted on Aug. 22 to join the traditionalist denomination.

LCMC has has grown by well over 100 percent since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) controversial Churchwide Assembly last year. At that Aug. 2009 gathering, the ELCA opted to allow individuals in same-gender relationships to serve in the clergy and passed a controversial social statement on human sexuality. Some congregations displeased with those decisions and what they see as a drift away from scripture, have sought affiliation in the more conservative LCMC.

Of course, to keep things in perspective, the ELCA is the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States with more than 10,000 congregations.

The decisions by the ELCA also sparked the creation of the North American Lutheran Church, a denomination that was officially born Friday at the annual convocation of Lutheran CORE.

Interview with MercyMe guitarist; the band will be in Fargo Friday

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MercyMe will offer up material from its new disc as well as some of their more seasoned tunes Friday in Fargo when they play at the kick-off for the this year’s Homeless & Hungry event. H&H is a youth-centered effort that raises funds and donations for area shelters.

MercyMe guitarist Mike Scheuchzer spoke with The Forum earlier this week from “somewhere in Texas” as the band made its way back from a show in Kentucky the day before.

Scheuchzer mused about worship, creativity and crossing over into the secular music world.

Read the full article: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/289146/

ELCA bishop Mark Hanson’s next town hall forum set for Sept. 19

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According to an ELCA press release:

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will answer questions on a variety of topics from members of the denomination beginning at 4 p.m. Sept. 19.  The forum will be the second with the Hanson this year, and the third since December 2009.

 The forum will be webcast live from Chicago, where Hanson will be joined by an audience of ELCA members. The audience will be able to ask questions of the presiding bishop.  

Online viewers will be invited to submit questions at http://www.ELCA.org/townhall on the ELCA website. Participants can also post comments about the forum using Facebook Connect and Twitter.

Questions will not be accepted in advance by phone or e-mail. 

Source: ELCA Communications

Website names Broncos rookie quarterback Tim Tebow “Single Christian of the Year”

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Christian Partner For Life, a Christian dating site, has named Denver Broncos rookie quarterback its “Single Christian of the Year.”

The site, which is at, christianpartner4life.com, says:

“Tim Tebow, former star quarterback of the University of Florida Gators and now rookie quarterback of the Denver Broncos, has been in the press a lot lately.  In fact, it has been hard not to notice him.  While others may notice him for his football talents, we want to recognize Tim Tebow for his faith and dedication to Christianity off the field.  Tim Tebow is our most eligible Christian of the year—he represents a model for the type of person of faith that we think is perfect for single, committed Christians.”

Read more: http://christianpartner4life.com/tim-tebow-our-single-christian-of-the-year

Read the DenverPost.com story: http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15884666?source=rsssimplepiebroncos

1,700-member congregation in Iowa narrowly votes to remain in the ELCA

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According to a press release from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:

Zion United Lutheran Church, Clear Lake, Iowa, will remain in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) after an Aug. 22 congregational vote to leave the denomination fell short of the required two-thirds.

The congregation’s second vote to leave was 317-167 in favor, but two votes shy of the 319 votes needed to end the congregation’s affiliation with the ELCA, according to a report in the Mason City (Iowa) Globe-Gazette.  The newspaper reported that six members counted the votes, three who favored leaving and three who favored staying in the ELCA.  Zion United has nearly 1,700 baptized members.

This week’s vote apparently ends the congregation’s months-long attempt to leave the denomination.  At one point in the process, the congregation’s leaders and the Rev. Steven L. Ullestad, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Iowa Synod, disagreed about whether the congregation’s first vote to leave, held on Dec. 13, 2009, was valid.  Ullestad ruled it was not because the congregation had not followed constitutional procedures in counting votes.

At the time the disagreement regarding the vote was believed to be the first of its kind in the ELCA since some congregations began the process to leave the denomination as a response to the sexuality decisions of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

Read the full release at: http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Communication-Services/News/Releases.aspx?a=4613