Representatives of Christian faiths from around the world and members of the local community participated in an ecumenical prayer service at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Tuesday night to celebrate the University’s commitment to unity among Christians. The service was co-presided by representatives from the Presbyterian, Evangelical Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Episcopal and United Methodist Churches: Rev. Neil Arder, Rev. Maxwell Johnson, Fr. Gerry Olinger, Rev. Hugh Page and Rev. Anna Adams Petrin.The service was attended by guests from the global religious community, including Rev. Chris Ferguson, general secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, Rev. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, Rev. Martin Junge, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Rev. J.C. Park, president of the World Methodist Council.The prayer service uniting believers of all Christian religions in the community was held Tuesday in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.In his sermon, Page, who serves as vice president and associate provost for Undergraduate Affairs, highlighted the stories of Richard Allen and Absalom Jones — both African Americans born into slavery who purchased their freedom — as models of ecumenical action for social change. Faced with racial discrimination at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, they formed the Free African Society and two separate churches — the African Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Page said.“They engaged in prophet action and ecclesial re-envisioning by disaffiliating from St. George’s [Methodist Episcopal Church] in protest and resolving to invest their energy into nurturing a Free African Society and an independent church — institutions that could help ensure the sanctity of black life, challenge racialized notions of personhood [and] citizenship,” Page said. “Theirs was an ecumenical collaboration.”According to Page, Jones and Allen “alter[ed] the American religious landscapes” and “redefined what it meant to be church” by working locally to create change and social uplift across denominational divides. Page additionally spoke of the commonalities between people of Christian faiths, specifically their common mission.“We are, when all is said and done, a community seeking to understand the breadth and the depth of [its] faith and its implications for our respective branches of the Christian family,” he said. “We are all attempting to get our hearts and our minds around what it means to be people of God.”Page voiced a call to all Christians to echo the prophetic actions of Jones and Absalom by cultivating relationships to maintain unity and diversity simultaneously. These relationships will blossom to from a willingness to embrace a common relationship with God, he said.“Our ability to enact the love that embodies the new commandment of this incarnate word is indeed our girt and our good news,” Page said. Following the sermon, the co-presiders led a renewal of baptismal vows, a sprinkling rite to symbolize common baptism. Prayers of the faithful were presented by members of the Notre Dame community in different languages. Music for the service was provided by the Notre Dame Liturgical Choir. A follow-up panel titled “From Conflict to Communion: The Future of Christians Together in the World” at will take place Thursday at 5 p.m. in the McKenna Hall Auditorium. Several senior leaders from different Christian denominations will speak and Notre Dame assistant professor of theology Neil Arner will moderate. The event is free and open to the public. Tags: churches, ecumenical, Faith, prayer
New Country Related Shows View Comments New Country, written by and starring Mark Roberts, has extended through June 27; it had originally been set to shutter on June 20. The off-Broadway production is playing at the Cherry Lane Theatre, where it officially opened on May 20. David Harwell directs.In New Country, country music star Justin Spears has the world on their knees. He’s a good ole bad boy that’s tying the knot tomorrow; but tonight, he’s tying one on. He’s going to party hardy with his entourage of ruthless, calculating managers, faux fans and friends, his favorite pig-farming uncle and a plastic model.Joining Roberts as Uncle Jim in the cast is Jared Culverhouse as Chuck, Sarah Lemp as Sharon, David Lind as Justin, Malcolm Madera as Paul and Stephen Sheffer as Ollie. Show Closed This production ended its run on June 27, 2015
continue reading » 5SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr On first blush, banking may not seem to have much in common with Uber, but the speed with which the scrappy “ride-sharing” startup stole market share from taxis provides insight into the fallout financial institutions can expect from fintech’s intrusion into a similar legacy industry — banking.In ten years, Uber has grown from a one-office shop in San Francisco to operations in 570 cities worldwide. Despite a loss of $3 billion last year, it boasts a valuation of $70 billion and 2016 revenues of nearly $6 billion.Uber is a disruptor in the truest sense of the term — a firm that upset the taxi industry by completely reimagining the personal transportation business model. They completely shook up the status quo with creative ways to lower costs, add convenience and speed up service.Uber achieved market dominance by marrying technology with the basic need for short trips in passenger vehicles. And millions of consumers love it. Paired with a mobile phone, they found it easy to call for a ride, monitor its arrival and pay the fare. Uber even provided a feedback loop for building confidence in their drivers. They researched consumer sentiment toward cabs, tapped into a milieu of discontent, and made ride-hailing as simple as a few taps on a phone.
Among the many pieces of value credit unions bring to their local communities is the assurance that everyone can access mainstream financial services. Because credit unions’ purpose is to provide fair, dignified financial products and not to thicken the wallets of shareholders, the cooperatives are uniquely positioned to make a meaningful difference in the pursuit of serving the underserved. Yet, doing so is not always easy. Member outreach and growth strategies can actually be quite complex. This is especially true when those strategies are considered through a filter of regulatory compliance challenges. One of the ways to push through the complexities is to establish a cross-functional group that ensures compliance and experts that understand the market work hand-in-hand from the very start of any initiative. A great example of this is the collaboration between Filene, Inclusiv, Coopera and PolicyWorks. Each brought a unique viewpoint and skillset to a series of workshops to help credit unions accelerate their financial inclusion efforts. Blending the knowledge base and perspectives of multiple functions enables several great things to happen:Generates buy-in across the credit union: Taking the time to adequately socialize financial inclusion initiatives is one of the most worthwhile endeavors a credit union can undertake. When that socialization is pursued by a collective of diverse leaders, the group has a much better chance of speaking the language of various decision makers throughout the cooperative. Builds external trust that much faster: There is no one size fits all strategy to engaging with vulnerable and underserved populations. Colleagues with different responsibilities and aptitudes (not to mention their own human experiences) will bring a variety of ideas to the group, increasing the likelihood, effectiveness, and speed of building trust with new member segments. Ensures regulatory compliance from the outset: As with any new strategy or initiative, reaching underserved markets is accompanied by a variety of surmountable regulatory and compliance components. Understanding best practices for working with regulators is much easier when the compliance function is made an integral part of the group at inception. Smooths operational wrinkles: Cross-functional teams have a clearer line of sight into the potential pitfalls and hurdles of implementing programs like ITIN lending and small business lending programs. Contemplating the process, policy, and procedure changes is a much easier undertaking when every function is represented on the team.Accelerating financial inclusion – within the rules set by regulators – is complex, but 100-percent achievable for every credit union, regardless of size. Cross-collaboration between marketing, operations, compliance, lending, and other departments allows credit unions to be successful, right from the beginning. With a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach, credit unions across the country will have measurable impact on the lives of the people who need them most. 2SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr,Erin O’Hern As Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Erin O’Hern supports PolicyWorks’ market expansion through management of strategic relationships, development of market and product integration strategies and thought leadership in the governance, … Web: www.policyworksllc.com Details
The new federal tax cut plan has been released and our governor is not a big fan. The governor actually said the new federal tax plan hurts states with high taxes. Shouldn’t the question be why is New York state a high-tax state?We listened to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State speech and all we heard was expanding numerous social programs, (free tuition, universal pre-K, etc.). Our governor also said he wants to make New York the most generous state for the Extended Family Leave Act. Being taxpayers, we would like to know how all this is being paid for. Not once during his speech did he mention making necessary cuts to some programs or how we can cut wasteful spending.Our state is facing a $4 billion deficit. We think the goal of our governor should be trying to lower taxes so we don’t fall into the category of a high-taxed state. Then maybe we will have fewer people leaving the state.Mary FarstadWilliam FarstadBallston SpaMore from The Daily Gazette:EDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homesGuilderland girls’ soccer team hands BH-BL first league lossEDITORIAL: Urgent: Today is the last day to complete the censusEDITORIAL: Thruway tax unfair to working motoristsFoss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen? Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion
Categories: Letters to the Editor, OpinionGOP has become the party of inactionThe Daily Gazette Sept. 2 opinion piece “Taxing the Rich Won’t pay for Democratic Promises” by David Wilson (who worked for Newt Gingrich) focuses on what we can’t do.Like many Republicans, he argues against Democratic efforts to find solutions, offering no alternate plans. He cringes over the 10-year $30 trillion to 40 trillion projected cost of “Medicare For All.” That sounds staggering until you consider that under the current health system, 10-year costs will exceed $50 trillion, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (see cms.gov).Wilson goes on to say how impossible it will be to afford plans to combat climate change, like Elizabeth Warren’s proposed $2 trillion “Green Apollo Program” that would focus on green research, manufacturing and exporting green technology.He totally neglects the cost of doing nothing. Most analysts predict climate change costs will be enormous as cities flood, fresh water becomes scarce and storms increase in intensity. We need more than a moonshot to deal with climate change; we need an effort equivalent to the buildup for World War II. But let’s not wait for a climate Pearl Harbor to act.The Republicans are the party of “no” and “can’t.” They want us to retreat into a shell. In the last 100 years, most of this country’s big domestic improvements, such as the WPA, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Affordable Care Act, have come from Democrats. Under Republican Dwight Eisenhower, rich people were taxed as much as 90 percent, which funded the Interstate Highway System.Peter WatrousDuanesburgThanks to bank for electronics recyclingIn this day when it seems everyone wants to complain about everything, I would like to say thanks. Thank you to the Ballston Spa National Bank for the electronic recycling day it had on Sept. 7 at its headquarters in Ballston Spa. This a great service to the community and gave us a place to get rid of the old electronic products we had in our homes. The bank staff was well organized and prompt, and everyone had a smile on their face! Great job BSNB. We thank you.Frank BlairBallston SpaClarify position on health care plansThe Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act of 1993 was introduced and co-sponsored by Republicans. It’s considered similar to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).Massachusetts health care reform (also called Romneycare) is also considered similar to the ACA. Based on my experience, Republicans who dislike the ACA and Democrats who promote the ACA don’t acknowledge Romneycare very much. Regardless, the programs are considered similar.Regarding the many Republican attempts to get rid of the ACA (which has been compared to their own), are they merely attempting to appease their base and nothing more, or are they authentic attempting to get rid of the ACA? I don’t think voters on either side want to know the answer to that.Colin YunickCharltonMore from The Daily Gazette:EDITORIAL: Urgent: Today is the last day to complete the censusEDITORIAL: Find a way to get family members into nursing homesEDITORIAL: Beware of voter intimidationFoss: Should main downtown branch of the Schenectady County Public Library reopen?Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s press conference for Sunday, Oct. 18
Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound — the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia — reopened on Sunday after being closed for more than two months because of the coronavirus pandemic.Dozens of worshippers in protective masks were let into the compound before the first prayers of the day, held in a cool and windy night.Chanting “God is greatest, we will protect Al-Aqsa with our soul and blood”, the group gathered in front of the large wooden doors were welcomed by mosque director Omar al-Kiswani, who thanked them for their patience. It is also the holiest site to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount and believe it to be the location of two biblical temples — the second of which was destroyed in 70 AD.On the first day of the Eid holiday, scuffles had broken out between Israeli police and Palestinians as worshippers tried to break through barriers to enter the compound.Known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, the site is under the custodianship of neighbouring Jordan, which controlled the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, up until occupation by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967.With the number of COVID-19 cases declining, in recent days both Israel and the Palestinian territories have eased restrictions.Israel has reported more than 17,000 cases, including 284 deaths.Fewer than 500 infections and just three deaths have been confirmed in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, which have a combined population of around five million.Following the deadly shooting on Saturday, the Palestinian leadership demanded that whoever killed the man be brought before the International Criminal Court.The incident happened in the alleys of the walled Old City near Lions’ Gate, an access point mainly used by Palestinians.There have been fears that Israeli plans to take advantage of a controversial green light from US President Donald Trump to annex swathes of the West Bank could stoke further violence.Topics : It followed a fraught day in annexed east Jerusalem, where the compound is located.Israeli police on Saturday shot dead a disabled Palestinian they mistakenly thought was armed, prompting furious condemnation from the Palestinians.The religious site, which houses Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, had closed its doors in March as part of measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven there, and the site has often been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Advertisement Ian Wright and Alan Smith celebrate the success back in London (Picture: Getty Images)What are Arsenal’s best Europa and Champions League performances?Arsenal have finished as runners-up in the UEFA Cup and Champions League without ever getting their hands on either trophy.Arsene Wenger’s side lost on penalties in the final of the 2000 UEFA Cup to Galatasaray and were beaten 2-1 by Barcelona in the 2006 Champions League final.The Gunners were also runners-up in the 1980 Cup Winners’ Cup final, 1994 UEFA Super Cup and 1995 Cup Winners’ Cup.MORE: Maurizio Sarri says Chelsea star Eden Hazard is a ‘problem’ in trainingMORE: Eidur Gudjohnsen slams Chelsea players for ‘rubbish’ training session ahead of Europa League final What European trophies have Arsenal won and what is their best Europa League finish? Advertisement Comment Steve Bould and Paul Merson lift the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1994 (Picture: Getty Images)Arsenal are looking to add the Europa League to their trophy cabinet on Wednesday night when they take on Chelsea in Baku, a triumph which would take them to three European titles.The Gunners may have never claimed the Champions or Europa League titles in the past, but they do have two European honours to their names – the 1970 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the 1994 European Cup Winners’ Cup.Neither competition exists anymore but both were prestigious in their day and have been won by some of the biggest teams in Europe.What was the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup?Many consider this as the pre-cursor to the UEFA Cup, which was in-turn the pre-cursor to the Europa League, although UEFA would not agree as it was not a UEFA-sanctioned competition.AdvertisementAdvertisementADVERTISEMENTRunning from 1955-71, it had originally been based on friendly matches between clubs from cities which hosted trade fairs, but it developed into a tournament for runners-up across European leagues and then more spots were given to coutnries, much like the modern-day competitions.Arsenal finished fourth in Division One in 1969 and qualified for the 1969-70 tournament along with Liverpool, Southampton and Newcastle after the sides finished second, seventh and ninth respectively.These sides got spots in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as no more than one club from a certain city could compete, so Everton (3rd), Chelsea (5th), Tottenham (6th) and West Ham (8th) missed out.The Gunners beat Glentoran, Sporting Lisbon, Rouen, Dinamo Bacau, Ajax and then Anderlecht in the final to lift the trophy under manager Bertie Mee.Two years later, in 1972, the competition became the UEFA Cup.More: FootballRio Ferdinand urges Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to drop Manchester United starChelsea defender Fikayo Tomori reveals why he made U-turn over transfer deadline day moveMikel Arteta rates Thomas Partey’s chances of making his Arsenal debut vs Man CityWhat was the European Cup Winners’ Cup?Easier to explain, this was for winners of European cup competitions, so Arsenal qualified for the 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup by winning the 1993 FA Cup.The tournament ran from 1960-1999 with English sides lifting the trophy more times than any other country (8).The Gunners beat Odense, Standard Liege (10-0 on aggregate!), Torino, Paris Saint-Germain and Parma in the final to record a famous triumph under George Graham in 1994. Phil HaighWednesday 29 May 2019 12:08 pmShare this article via facebookShare this article via twitterShare this article via messengerShare this with Share this article via emailShare this article via flipboardCopy link
Comment Luiz is already convinced by Arteta’s credentials (Picture: Getty)‘For me he [Arteta] will be one of the best coaches in the world,’ said Luiz.AdvertisementAdvertisement‘He is intelligent, he is clever and I think he will be one of the best. It is part of our job to help him achieve that.‘People have doubts, but I trust in his philosophy and the way he sees football.’More: Arsenal FCArsenal flop Denis Suarez delivers verdict on Thomas Partey and Lucas Torreira movesThomas Partey debut? Ian Wright picks his Arsenal starting XI vs Manchester CityArsene Wenger explains why Mikel Arteta is ‘lucky’ to be managing ArsenalArteta will be looking for his first win when Arsenal host Manchester United on New Year’s Day.Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka could both return after the pair missed the defeat against Chelsea.MORE: Anthony Joshua has the need for speed on jet ski as he cruises around Barbados on the holiday of dreams Mikel Arteta is yet to pick up a win as Arsenal boss (Picture: Getty)Arsenal star David Luiz has tipped Mikel Arteta to become ‘one of the best coaches in the world’ after working with the Spaniard for a week.The Gunners’ 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday means Arteta’s picked up just one point from his first two matches as Arsenal boss but there have been discernible signs of improvement.Arteta retired as a player when he was at Arsenal in 2016 in order to work under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and the Spaniard won two Premier League titles under the former Barcelona boss at the Etihad.Arteta’s appointment at Arsenal is his first move into management but Luiz says he’s already seen enough to be convinced.ADVERTISEMENT Metro Sport ReporterMonday 30 Dec 2019 10:50 amShare this article via facebookShare this article via twitterShare this article via messengerShare this with Share this article via emailShare this article via flipboardCopy link2.5kShares Mikel Arteta will be ‘one of the best coaches in the world’, predicts David Luiz Advertisement Advertisement
Comment Advertisement Advertisement Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reveals the moment he suspected he had contracted coronavirus Evangelos Marinakis has recovered after testing positive for COVID-19 (Picture: Getty)On just how quickly the situation accelerated, Arteta continued: ‘Absolutely. All the news we had was from China, from Italy and then Spain. ‘Myself, I had it at home. Then you realise, “Wow, everybody can be exposed here, this is very serious” and you start to think of all the people you’ve been in contact with and the other people that can be related to us. That’s when the fear comes. ‘In terms of symptoms, it was a normal virus for me.I had three of four difficult days with a bit of a temperature, a dry cough and some discomfort in my chest. That was it.AdvertisementAdvertisement‘The difficulty is that I was worried about the three kids I have at home. My missus has been through it and our nanny has been through it. Thank God, the kids never got it and we’re all completely fine now.’More: Arsenal FCArsenal flop Denis Suarez delivers verdict on Thomas Partey and Lucas Torreira movesThomas Partey debut? Ian Wright picks his Arsenal starting XI vs Manchester CityArsene Wenger explains why Mikel Arteta is ‘lucky’ to be managing ArsenalFollow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For more stories like this, check our sport page.MORE: Mikel Arteta sanctions Arsenal transfer move for Valencia midfielder Carlos SolerMORE: Ian Wright slams Arsenal over ‘ridiculous’ Luis Suarez bid
Arteta feared the worst when he heard the news about Marinakis (Picture: Arsenal FC) Visit our live blog for the latest updates Coronavirus news liveThere were fears for Arteta and the rest of Arsenal’s squad after it was announced that Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis had tested positive for coronavirus on March 11. Marinakis reportedly shook hands with a first-team member of Arsenal’s squad when Olympiacos faced the Gunners at the Emirates and Arteta feared the worst when he heard learned about the Greek’s diagnosis.‘I’m feeling completely recovered. It’s true I started having symptoms,’ Arteta said in an interview with Arsenal’s official website.‘We got the phone call from the club to let us know that we might have been exposed to the virus because of the owner of Olympiacos and in that moment I felt something within me that I had it. ‘We had a game the following day against Manchester City so I made the decision to call the doctor straight away and I asked him to drive home.‘I spoke with Raul [Sanllehi], Edu, Vinai [Venkatesham], Huss [Fahmy] and we set up a meeting together and I said, “Listen, we have a couple of players that have been exposed. There is a massive risk there and as well I am the first one feeling the symptoms, very clear symptoms, so if that’s the case then all the players and all the people related the club that are in contact with me on a daily basis are exposed. So we cannot make that decision. We have to speak to the Premier League, to Manchester City and we have to make the decision pretty quickly”. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month (Picture: Getty)Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has lifted the lid on the moment he suspected he had contracted coronavirus but reassured fans that he has since made a full recovery and he and his family are all ‘completely fine now’.The Gunners were forced to shut down their London Colney and Hale End training bases after Arteta tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month and players were told to self-isolate to help curb the spread of the virus. Less than a week later, all English football was suspended until April 30 at the earliest and there remains uncertainty over how the remainder of the 2019/20 season will be played out.AdvertisementAdvertisementRead the latest updates: Coronavirus news liveADVERTISEMENT Metro Sport ReporterThursday 26 Mar 2020 7:47 pmShare this article via facebookShare this article via twitterShare this article via messengerShare this with Share this article via emailShare this article via flipboardCopy link355Shares