By Maria Teresa Aveggio, staff liaison with WACC-Latin America

The annual meeting of the WACC-Latin America Regional Association (CER), held in La Paz, Bolivia,  March 29-April 1, ended with a call from the Regional  President, José Luis Aguirre, to personal and corporate members in Latin America to support WACC’s GlobalGiving appeal to raise funds for Radio Shalom in Sierra Leone. “This is an opportunity to express solidarity and to support Sierra Leone people’s communication rights to build a more peaceful society”, he said.  (Read appeal here...)

By Dave Wanless, WACC-Africa president

		The Executive committee of WACC Africa Region (WACC-AR) hosted a leadership training and information sharing consultation in Lome, Togo just before Easter. The theme of the seminar was WACC’s Vision Statement: “Communication for All” and focussed on media communities under threat in several African states. As part of WACC’s ongoing training for leadership, and in preparation for the seminar, Willie Grieve of the Craighead Institute led the Executive Committee members for a day in examing the nature of leadership, how it differs from management and the effectiveness of governance structures.
Willie Grieve, Craighead Institute

By Ali Symons, WACC -North America Regional Executive Member

An open, unrestricted Internet is worth protecting said speakers at “Net Neutrality: What You Need to Know,” a Dec. 6 webinar co-sponsored by the World Association for Christian Communication North America (WACCNA) and OC Inc., the United Church of Christ’s media justice advocacy arm. Thirty people tuned in to the one-hour, online seminar about net neutrality issues in the United States and Canada. WACCNA and OC Inc. hosted two guest speakers: Cheryl Leanza, Policy Advisor at OC Inc. (USA) and Reilly Yeo, Managing Director of OpenMedia.ca, a Canadian non-profit organization that advocates for an open and affordable Internet. Read more...

Por Lavinia Mohr, Directora de Programas, WACC

José Luís Aguirre, Presidente de la WACC en Latinoamérica y miembro de la Junta Directiva de la WACC, es  Director del  Servicio de Capacitación en Radio y Televisión para el Desarrollo  (SECRAD),  una unidad de la Universidad Católica Boliviana (UCB) en la Paz. Ha estado relacionado con la WACC desde los 90, cuando dirigía Radio San Miguel de Riberalta, una estación de radio de la iglesia  en el área Beni de la Amazona Boliviana. La radio se unió a la WACC y José pasó a ser miembro personalmente. Ha promovido a  la WACC de forma activa en las reuniones  regionales andinas y bolivianas. Algunas de las reuniones sub-regionales  andinas de la WACC han tenido lugar en la UCB.  Durante todo este tiempo el ha considerado muy útiles  las publicaciones de la WACC.

ANUNCIO

Únete a nosotros para un Webinar (seminario en la red) el 6 de Diciembre de 2011 de 1:00pm a 2:00pm hora del Este

La Asociación Mundial para la Comunicación Cristiana – Región de Norte América ( WACC North América por sus siglas en inglés) y la Oficina de Comunicación. Inc (OC,Inc siglas en inglés) te invitan a un seminario en la red sobre la Neutralidad de la Internet.

The International Diaspora Film Festival (IDFF) is taking place in Toronto, Canada, 1-6 November 2011. It provides audiences with an opportunity to experience the cultural mosaic of the present world through the medium of cinema.

The IDFF is organized by director Shahram Tabe and co-director Paul de Silva, who is also a member of WACC's Board of Directors. De Silva served on the Ecumenical Jury at the 2011 Montreal World Film Festival.

Dr. Fore picked the School because he wanted his website in the hands of a world-class institution for the study and practice of religions in life-affirming ways. Bill Fore was President of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) 1982-90 and is an Honorary Life Member. (Photo: George Conklin.)

Many people are not aware that U.S. televangelists broadcasting on satellite TV are often the main source of theological education in less developed countries today. Religion-Online.org gives a much sought-after alternative. On this thoughtfully indexed, public-domain website, students of religion can access theological texts by real scholars, texts that many of them cannot afford to buy and often cannot find in their country’s libraries. Dr. Fore, Religion-Online’s creator and moderator, has received hundreds of emails thanking him for making this resource available.

The site is one of the most heavily used online resources in the area of religion. According to Google statistics, this year it had about 10 million hits by visitors from more than 200 different countries.

Dr. Fore is one of America’s true pioneers in journalism, mass media, and mainstream Christianity. The retired Yale professor has been on the ground floor for the beginnings of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Council of Churches, and organizations that promote communications and broadcasting in less developed countries. One of his proudest accomplishments, however, has been the creation of Religion-Online, which he originally designed in 1997 so that his theology students in India and others like them could have access to books that were impossible for them to afford.

Religion-Online offers scans of more than 6,000 book chapters, articles, and speeches, including an extensive collection of Christian Process Theology; an especially rare collection of Indian Dalit (“untouchables”) writings on theology, sociology, and ethics; as well as collections of Hindu and Buddhist Theology. However, says Fore, the site still has gaps in Judaism, Islam, and other religions that he hopes Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Lincoln University will eventually be able to fill.

“This is a wonderful gift,” said Rev. Dr. Jerry D. Campbell, president of Claremont. “It is an honor that Bill Fore has entrusted us with the future of Religion-Online, and we are extremely grateful. We will take our new responsibility very seriously.”

“Around the world, Religion-Online has been the premier way of making recent religious thought available to masses of people,” said eminent Process Theologian Dr. John B. Cobb, Jr. “This has included process thought quite broadly. Hundreds of thousands of people interested in thoughtful religion, but who know little about North American theological institutions, will become aware of how the Claremont School of Theology is helping them.”

Established in 1885, Claremont School of Theology is an ecumenical institution of The United Methodist Church, situated in Southern California among the prestigious Claremont Colleges.  The School recently co-founded the Claremont Lincoln University, a multi-religious university affiliated with the School of Theology to educate religious professionals, scholars, and leaders from all faith backgrounds for service to society and the world.  

Source: Claremont School of Theology. Contact Claudia Pearce: cpearce (at) cst.edu

La Asociación Mundial para la Comunicación Cristiana (WACC por sus siglas en inglés) ha expresado su solidaridad con los miembros de la región WACC-Pacífico, al llamar al cese del acoso gubernamental contra la Iglesia Metodista en Fiji y Rotuma.

“Exhortamos al gobierno de Fiji a respetar la libertad de credo y a participar en el diálogo pacífico con los líderes de la iglesia para resolver las dificultades y tensiones”, expresó la Secretaria General de la WACC, Rev. Karin Achtelstetter.

Suva, Fiji Islands, September 4, 2011

		Pacific Members of the World Association for Christian Communications (WACC) based in Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu, committed to the development, production and distribution of communications tools grounded in the commitment to social and gender justice and communication rights, call for the restoration of inclusive dialogue processes with the leadership of the Methodist Church in Fiji. "The state needs to demonstrate a commitment to an inclusive process to the return to parliamentary democracy," says the President of WACC’s Pacific Regional Association, Rev. Akuila Yabaki:
President of the WACC Pacific Region, Rev. Akuila Yabaki

Los comunicadores latinoamericanos reafirman su compromiso con los derechos a la comunicación en el continente.

Por María Teresa Aveggio, Administradora de Programa y Coordinadora Regional  de Personal

Los miembros de la Asociación Regional Latinoamericana de la WACC se reunieron en San Antonio de Escazú, en Costa Rica,  del 15 al 21 Agosto de 2011 para  elegir un nuevo Comité Ejecutivo Regional, y para hacer su contribución al nuevo Plan Estratégico de la WACC. El conocido comunicador y defensor de los derechos a la comunicación, José Luis Aguirre, fue elegido como el nuevo presidente regional, mientras que Vilma Peña, de Costa Rica, fue elegida como Vicepresidenta, y Marcela Gabioud de Argentina fue elegida como Secretaria. Eloy Teckemeier, director de la Editora Sinodal en Brasil, fue elegido como Tesorero regional, y Carlos León Ramos, de El Salvador, es miembro general del Comité.

 Los comunicadores religiosos de la región del Pacífico exigen la justicia ecológica.

Por Teresia Mutuku, Oficial de Comunicaciones y Administradora del sitio web WACCC

Los miembros de la WACC de la región del Pacifico han llamado a los líderes de las iglesias a promover la comunicación sobre el cambio climático y la justicia ecológica entre las comunidades de las Islas del Pacífico.

En una declaración emitida al final de su asamblea general celebrada en Nuku’alofa, Tonga, durante los días 25 – 30 Julio del 2011, los miembros también solicitaron que los temas relacionados con la justicia climática fueran incorporados al currículo de la educación general y a la formación teológica.

Los miembros de la WACC-Pacific en asamblea general celebrada en Nuku’alofa, Tonga, durante los días 25 – 30 Julio del 2011

Seminario Internacional

El próximo 18 de agosto dará inicio en San José, Costa Rica el Seminario Internacional: Nueva comunicación para garantizar los derechos comunicacionales de nuestros pueblos. Este encuentro concentrará a comunicadores y comunicadoras  de toda América Latina, miembros de WACC, asi como invitados e invitadas locales.