Jimmy Carter has distanced himself from the Southern Baptists because of the church’s increasingly “rigid” views on women in ministry. In June, the Southern Baptists, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., voted that women should no longer serve as pastors. The former president told Atlanta Journal-Constitution he will continue to serve as deacon at a local Baptist church and to associate with Baptist groups “who share such beliefs as separation of church and state…a free religious press, and equality of women.” Carter, 76, devotes himself to humanitarian causes, including a high profile role in Habitat for Humanity.—Associated Press
Mental illness is a “trillion-dollar problem” according to the Global and Business Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, a group of scientists and medical and business professionals established in 1998 that hopes to “remove the grip” depression has on the workforces of the U.K., U.S., and Canada. Co-chair Michael Wilson, whose son committed suicide, is confident tying depression to conditions with identifiable effects on productivity (through absenteeism and health-care costs) will lessen its stigma.—Postmedia News
“Painter of Light” Thomas Kinkade, age 54, died Apr. 6 of natural causes at his California home. Family said he battled alchoholism over the past several years. The artist’s commercial empire fetched some $100-million a year in sales.—Associated Press
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The Mennonite World Conference (MWC) national advisory council (Mar. 22–23) appointed Howard Good of Lancaster, Pa., as national coordinator for 2015 MWC Assembly July 21–26, 2015, in Harrisburg, Pa.—MWC release
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“Mar. 10, I met the deputy Minister of Agriculture who made a passionate plea that the church must do something to source food for Matabeleland South province (Zimbabwe); otherwise people might starve,” wrote Danisa Ndlovu, president of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and resident of Bulawayo, just north of the affected province. He added, “We are also calling for prayers for rain.” A Mar. 1 report in The Zimbabwe Mail noted that, while an early warning system had predicted a period of drought, government was too slow to act.—MWC release
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The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is concerned about the Mar. 26 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling calling the government to reform the Criminal Code provision against prostitutes operating out of brothels, massage parlours, and other bawdy houses in that “it does nothing to protect the rank and file exploited women, men, and children working on the street.” The court redrafted the “living on the avails of prostitution” section to apply only to those doing so in an exploitive way, which accommodates the rare few with the capacity to structure a business with a support staff. “We must be unambiguous in defining prostitution as a form of violence, abuse, and control,” comments EFC policy analyst Julia Beazley.—activatecfpl.theefc.ca
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Mennonite World Conference (MWC) calls for global prayer for peace for the Wounaan community following a Mar. 30 confrontation with loggers cutting down endangered hardwood cocobolo trees near Platanares, Panama, that resulted in two deaths. MB missionary work in Panama began among the Wounaan in the 1940s. At present, the MB conference in that country largely consists of indigenous Wounaan and Emberra people.—MWC release, GAMEO
Find out more about the situation at advocacy website injusticeinpanama.wordpress.com
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Ten Thousand Villages’ board of directors appointed Doug Dirks as CEO of its network of more than 75 retail stores in the U.S., effective Apr. 2. Dirks has served the mission for nearly 2 decades in roles such as marketing director, producer relations director and, most recently, public relations director.—Ten Thousand Villages release
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After nearly 30 years of service with Communitas Supportive Care Society, Abbotsford, B.C., CEO Stephen Thiessen will retire this year. In anticipation, the board has begun a search for a new CEO.—Communitas release
