Hurricane help

Help is on the way from The Salvation Army, the Southern Baptists, Operation Blessing and the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. Crosswalk.com reports that Christian organizations and churches are in full swing response mode behind the path of destruction swept by Hurricane Katrina in Florida and the Gulf Coast this week.

Other groups, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America stood ready to respond to the disaster. And the United Methodist Church used congregations in Louisiana to reach out to those in need, including evacuating a New Orleans center for mentally challenged people and using city churches as American Red Cross shelters.

According to the Associated Press, the best way to help is to donate money—to The American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, etc. Other churches such as Catholic Charities and the Church World Service—which represents 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations—are also helping with the disaster.

Godcasting

The latest electronic technology craze is sweeping through religious broadcasting and may soon fast forward the sermon tape and CD market, even the Internet download. It is podcasting, referred to as Godcasting for preachers. The New York Times featured the idea on its latest technology page, suggesting the new portable download as an option for congregants who missed services.

The technology is also appealing on the upload side because it allows every church to have its own show with simple and relatively inexpensive equipment. More and more are taking advantage of that.

According to the Times, "Just as Christian organizations embraced radio and television, podcasting has quickly caught on with religious groups. Since the beginning of July, the number of people or groups offering spiritual and religious podcasts listed on Podcast Alley (podcastalley.com) has grown to 474 from 177."

Gender-neutral and TV-friendly

According to the Christian Century, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has proposed revisions to the denomination's hymnal that make it more gender-neutral. Father terminology and male pronouns used in reference to God would be eliminated.

According to Agape Press, the move by the ELCA is part of a desire to be more culturally relevant and to attract more people to the dwindling 4.9 million-member denomination.

And the United Methodist Church launched a television advertising campaign Aug. 29 aimed at capturing the attention of spiritual seekers and encouraging them to find answers with others at the UMC. The denomination's research has shown that advertising works in bringing in visitors to churches. The $2 million national television advertising campaign airs August 29 through September 18. You can view the ad here: http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=6&mid=9548.