World scan

* Mark Neuhaus, pastor of Carlton Hills Lutheran Church, Santee, Calif., was involved in grief counseling following the March 5 school shooting in which two students were killed and 13 wounded. Neuhaus, who lives three blocks from the campus and has two children who attended Santana High School, visited with members who witnessed the shooting. On the evening of the shooting, Carlton Hills opened its doors to teenagers, their parents and others who needed to be together.

* The Lutheran World Federation moved its upcoming international council meeting from Jerusalem to Geneva because of continued Palestinian-Israeli violence in Israel. The meeting in Jerusalem was intended as an expression of solidarity with local Christians and the people of the region in their search for peace, said Ishmael Noko, LWF general secretary. The council may hold its 2002 meeting in the Middle East.

* Some 83 percent of 901 Americans surveyed said they thought the United States should partner with other wealthy nations to cut world hunger by 50 percent within the next 15 years; 75 percent said they would pay $50 a year in taxes to help do so. But the survey by the Program on International Policy Attitudes found that most respondents were unaware that the number of hungry people worldwide dropped from 959 million to 792 million within the last 30 years.

* Representatives of the Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed churches met in Rome to exchange views on the divisive issue of indulgences. The Vatican said this was the first such meeting since the birth of the 16th and 17th centuries. Protestants reject the concept of indulgences, but Catholics continue to believe the remission of temporal punishment for sins can be gained through penitence and contrition.

* The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania is urging the people and government of Tanzania to act responsibly following confrontations between police and supporters of the opposition Civic United Front in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. The European Union condemned Tanzanian authorities for their handling of demonstrators and warned against further reprisals. Amani Mwenegoha, the church's general secretary, said peace would come only "if we uphold the laws of the land and respect the constitution and the government that has been democratically elected."

* Only 17 percent of U.S. pastors strongly support President Bush's proposal to fund faith-based organizations in exchange for providing social services, said a study by Ellison Research. The proposal's strongest support-77 percent-came from pastors affiliated with the conservative National Association of

Evangelicals.

* Some African American staff at the Washington, D.C., office of the Christian Coalition filed a $621 million racial discrimination lawsuit, claiming they were subjected to segregated entrances and eating arrangements. "The Christian Coalition vehemently denies any accusation of discrimination of any kind," said the organization's executive director, Robert Combs.

* The Southern Baptist North American Mission Board and the Georgia Baptist Convention plan to cease funding the Atlanta Baptist Association, which defeated a motion to dismiss two Baptist churches ousted by the state convention in 1999 for their stance affirming homosexuals. The Atlanta association said its vote didn't support homosexual activity but rather local church autonomy.

* Nearly one-third of Germany's 82 million citizens don't belong to any Christian church and only 4.2 percent regularly attend church. The churches hope to change those statistics with a new effort welcoming people back to church. "Often it's the churches' own fault when you treat people with little respect," said Bishop Martin Kruse, former chair of the Evangelical Church in Germany. "People want a personal relationship with the church, one that's not too official."

* Windsor Village, a predominantly African American congregation in Houston with 13,498 members, is now the largest United Methodist church. Kirbyjon Caldwell, the congregation's pastor, attributes the growth to a multipronged mission approach. "Sheep produce sheep; shepherds do not produce sheep," Caldwell said. "Our members go out and evangelize. It's not a committee, but it is a lifestyle."

* Iteffa Gobena was elected president of the 3.3 million-member Ethiopian Evangelical [Lutheran] Church Mekane Yesus, succeeding Yadessa Daba, who served two fouryear terms. Gobena was among the church's leaders who were imprisoned in 1976 for opposing the country's communist regime. He was ordained in 1978-the year he was released from prison.

* Setting the world record for the largest gathering of human beings for a single purpose, an estimated 100 million Hindi pilgrims entered the Ganges and Yamuna rivers to wash away their sins and hasten the attainment of nirvana.

* After $600,000 of damage to their building from February's earthquake, the Lutheran Compass Center, a Seattle homeless ministry, is looking for another site for its programs. Meanwhile, the center is operating its 72-bed men's shelter from St. Paul Lutheran Church, Seattle, and its meals program from space donated by the county.