Bambang Muryanto

The Jakarta Post

Publication Date : 02-06-2014

On the anniversary of the introduction of the state ideology Pancasila on June 1, an act of intolerance occurred in Yogyakarta as residents and members of Ormas (mass organisations) attacked a Pentecostal church in Pangukan, Sleman regency on Sunday.

The group stoned the church, which had been vacated by its congregation after Sunday Service, destroying the buildings glass windows.

Police and military officers were powerless to stop the violent act. The regencys public order officers installed zinc fences after the police inspected the area.

Turmudzi, board member from the Islamic study group, Majelis Talim Al Huda said that local residents, along with members of the Islamic Jihad Front (FJI) and Islamic Peoples Forum (FUI) were responsible for damaging the church.

The reason is not related to worship. We attacked the church because it has no building permit, Turmudzi, who suffered injuries to his hands after stoning the church, claimed.

Separately, Sleman Deputy Regent Yuni Satya Rahayu admitted that the administration had not granted a building permit to the church, saying that the church board faked signatures of local residents to fulfill the requirements of the permit.

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Residents, Muslim groups attack Yogyakarta church

When the old steeple at Trinity Episcopal Church in Hamburg had to come down last year, parishioners knew they wanted the new one to have a belfry.

And it happened that one longtime parishioner, Gretchen Zollendeck, had a 134-year-old bell to place in it.

Friday morning, crews erected the new steeple, with the old bell, atop the church on East Main Street within a couple hours.

The 1,700-pound steeple has a 4-foot cross on its top, making the entire steeple 30 feet tall. It rises 60 feet above the ground, and is made of aircraft-grade aluminium, said the church rector, the Rev. Blane Frederik. It was constructed by Campbellsville Industries of Kentucky and erected by Ingersoll Construction.

The bell has a rope attached to it, and will have an electronic strike installed so it can toll on the hour during the day.

While the steeple has architectural highlights of its predecessor, it is a far cry from the old bell-less steeple that was made with wood and covered in lead. That steeple, which had been erected when the stone church was built in 1955, was removed in January 2013 when water started leaking into the churchs walkway.

Water had been infiltrating for some time, Frederik said. The wood had rotted.

He said it was a sad day when the steeple came down, but that day is all but forgotten with the installation of the new steeple.

The steeple is named for longtime parishioner Vera Kaiser, a lifelong Hamburg resident who was active in the church. She died in 2011, just shy of her 95th birthday. Frederik said she made a bequest to the church that was placed in its endowment fund.

Parishioners raised the $20,000 needed for the steeple, but the bell was free.

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134-year-old train bell at home in steeple in Hamburg church

Some church members of Good Hope United Methodist Church grow produce to sell at the church's weekly God's Garden to raise money for a building fund. About $9,000 was raised in 2013.

The harvest is plentiful, and the laborers are vast.

Appropriately, the project entering its second season is called God's Garden at Good Hope United Methodist Church. Last year it generated $9,000, which was a bountiful yield for produce that was sold under the church's picnic shelter.

Parishioners are hoping for an equally good return this year as the church in the Reedy Creek community begins the project again Saturday at the same locale.

Proceeds go toward building a family life center, which is a vision of the church that has no definitive timetable for the structure. The construction plans include moving the parsonage and relocating it this summer. There are other projects, too, that will benefit the building fund, such as bake sales and the sale of freshly cut flowers, which will gear up in the next two months.

Those who visit the produce stand can rest assured they will be purchasing vegetables fresh from Davidson County soil. All of the produce is donated by farmers who are members of the church.

"Lots of folks in our church are farmers. Some are hobby farmers," explains Debbie Vestal, one of the many volunteer organizers. "They donate all of produce."

Vestal said last year they began to wonder what to do with what they didn't sell.

"We decided to donate it to Greater Things Outreach Center in Welcome. It's a win-win situation. That way, it is also benefitting other folks with what we have."

Vestal noted that the produce is competitively priced. "We go by fair market price. It was very successful last year. We've had people calling to see if we were going to do it again this year."

The rest is here:
Good Hope UMC farmers donate to God's Garden

An order preventing deconstruction of Christ Church Cathedral has been lifted by the High Court, Newstalk ZB reported today.

The Anglican Church and the Great Christchurch Building Trust (GCBT) led by Jim Anderton have been engaged in prolonged litigious battle over its future since the 2011 February earthquake severely damaged it.

The church wants it demolished to build a contemporary option, while the GCBT has fought to rebuild it as it was.

After taking it to the High Court, Justice Graham Chisholm ordered a stay of deconstruction until the church committed to rebuilding a new cathedral.

In a decision released this afternoon, Justice Chisholm lifted that stay.

He said the Church Property Trustees have now committed to the construction of a new cathedral, they gave fair consideration to issues, and there was no evidence that improper motives affected the decision.

- By Newstalk ZB

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Christ Church Cathedral to be deconstructed

LAUGHLIN An anonymous donor has stepped up to help fund the construction of the Glady Laughlin Learning Center addition to Laughlin Community Church.

Senior Pastor Gene Lee announced that the challenger will contribute a match of $10,000 to a donation of $10,000 and will put the entire $20,000 gift in a second donors name, thus allowing a $20,000 federal income tax deduction for that individual.

A June 15 deadline has been set for the donors to take advantage of the match. The donations may be mailed to the church at P.O. Box 31527, Laughlin, NV 89028.

Last year an anonymous donor issued a $100,000 challenge. Contributions from residents and visitors exceeded the goal, and $205,000 was raised, enough to begin construction.

With the exterior done, work on the interior of the building has had to be halted until another $200,000 can be raised to meet the contract. In all, the project will cost about $650,000, including furnishings that are not part of the construction contract.

The addition has five classrooms, a conference room, restrooms, a large kitchen and pantry, plus a 2,900 square-foot fellowship hall. When completed, it will be the largest such church-based facility in Laughlin.

The annex is named in honor of church member Glady Laughlin, a retired Bennett Elementary School principal who championed the cause of caring for children and the poor.

Laughlin Community Church is at 2910 S. Needles Highway.

For more information, go to http://www.laughlinchurch.com.

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Anonymous donor steps up to help Laughlin church

Brian Tamaki

Australian Idol 2009 winner Stan Walker will sing in a free concert in a giant marquee put up yesterday in front of the converted pillow factory in Druces Rd, Wiri, which the church bought in 2010.

The price has not been disclosed but the 3.1ha site has a 2011 rating valuation of $7.65 million.

Guided tours will be offered of the sprawling complex, featuring what is said to be New Zealand's biggest permanent LED wall, a 24-metre-wide screen which arrived from China last week to form the backdrop for the main 864-seat auditorium.

Giant photographs of founders Bishop Brian Tamaki and his wife Hannah hang in several public spaces in between a school with 170 students, an early childhood centre for 70, a gym, a recording studio and function rooms.

From outside, the building still looks like a factory. The most conspicuous sign is a giant billboard for the SuperCity gym operated by the Tamakis' son-in-law Kaine Warren, which provides boxing training for local youths on a donation basis and boasts adult fees as low as $12 a week.

Inside, piles of insulation and other building materials were still waiting to be installed yesterday afternoon. Spokeswoman Anne Williamson said volunteers would be working through the night to complete construction in time for a banquet tonight marking the Tamakis' 30 years in the ministry.

"Electricians, welders and builders, my husband included, will turn up after work tonight and will work through until probably 12 o'clock."

The church has funded the new complex by selling its previous base in Mt Wellington, valued at $4.9 million, and by asking each family in the church to donate $1000.

Membership has been reported to be dwindling. Accounts filed with the Charities Office show that donations to the Auckland church declined from $2.1 million in 2008 to $1.7 million in 2012.

Link:
Destiny Church to open 'City of God'

(PRWEB) May 28, 2014

The Church of Scientology Mission of Modena and the Association for Human Rights and Tolerance held a United for Africa benefit concert May 9 at Teatro Michelangelo to raise funds to build schools for African children who would otherwise be denied the right to education.

Her Excellency Mrs. Evelyn Anita Stokes-Hayford, Ghana's Ambassador to Italy, thanked the Association for Human Rights and Tolerance and the Church of Scientology for their efforts to safeguard fundamental human rights through the construction of schools, delivery of educational materials and many other activities and their exemplary help, that has brought joy to many villages in the Northern, Eastern, and Central Regions, thereby bringing improvement into the lives of the less privileged.

The concert was directed and conducted by Laura De Vitis and featured music by American singer/composer Cheryl Porter and performances by the Dynamo music group, tenor Patrick Salati, comedian Duilio Pizzocchi and ventriloquist Samuel Barletti.

The concert motto was taken from the writings of author, humanitarian and Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard: Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream.

Link:
United for Africa Concert Benefits Children of Ghana

Montrose Baptist Church is looking to move out of its current Rockville property where it holds services and runs the Montrose Christian School, to rezone it to allow for the construction of townhouses.

Some of the churchs neighbors, however, are concerned the townhouses would lead to increased traffic around their homes.

In a letter sent to community members, Ken Fentress the churchs senior pastor and the schools chancellor said the church decided to change locations to move closer to where its congregation members and students live.

The church filed an application with the county to make a zoning change after consulting with experts about potential property uses, Fentress said in the letter.

We have been mindful of the neighborhood character, and with [the experts] assistance have concluded that the property would be best redeveloped with attached single family residential homes, he said in the letter.

The church planned to hold a meeting in May or June to provide more information to community members about the proposed townhomes, according to the letter.

The Montgomery County Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings is scheduled to hold a hearing about the churchs application on Sept. 22, according to the county website.

Calls to reach Fentress at the church were not returned.

The church held its first service at its current location in 1958, according to its website.

According to state tax records, the church owns more than 5 acres on Randolph Road.

See the article here:
Montrose Baptist Church seeks rezoning of Rockville property -- Gazette.Net

BETHLEHEM , West Bank, May 27 (UPI) --A fire damaged the Church of the nativity in Bethlehem, Palestinian Territories, Tuesday, a church visited by Pope Francis over the weekend.

The fire, believed to be accidental, damaged fabric wall hangings in the Grotto of the Nativity.

The church, whose construction was begun in 565 A.D. after the destruction of another church on the site, is regarded as standing above the birthplace of Jesus. The fire broke out in a grotto, or cave, under the basilica.

"An oil lamp fell over. The fire started on its own, then burned itself out," said Bethlehem governor Adbel-Fatah Hamayel.

Brightly-colored wall hangings were found damaged and blackened by soot, and two icons, depicting a baby Jesus held by his mother Mary, sustained smoke damage.

Bethlehem police said in a statement a wooden bowl caught fire at the entrance to the grotto, causing "candles to fall down and set fire to curtains." They added wall tiles were also damaged by the heat.

Pope Francis visited the church Sunday.

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Fire strikes Bethlehem's Nativity Church

YADKIN COUNTY Construction has begun on a park in Yadkin County that's the first of its kind for the area.

The 5D Park is located at the intersection of US-421 and I-77 in the heart of Yadkin County.

It's a unique place where people will be able to find a variety of activities to do outdoors, and it is a project that's been decades in the making.

"It's been in the making for about 40-50 years, said county manager Aaron Church. The dam part is completed, and this is the first phase of the recreation part."

Workers finished the dam in 2010, and now the $1.3 million park is about six months away from opening.

"There are about 140 acres of water, and about 750 acres of land surrounding it that's county-owned, said county commissioner David Moxley. There is also about 350-400 acres we can develop into this park."

Once complete, the park will feature camping areas, a playground, walking and nature trails, and two boat ramps.

"It's going to be one of the only dams that doesn't have motor boats, so it will be quiet, Church said. They will all be trolling, paddle and kayak, so it will be more of a natural/nature-type thing."

Three years ago, the North Carolina Wildlife Commission stocked the park's lake with about 90,000 brim, catfish and basswhich park leaders say is sure to make for good fishing when it opens.

"There will also be duck hunting about one month out of the year, Church said. There will be duck blinds all around the lake."

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Construction Underway on Unique 5D Park in Yadkin County