text:
- 2.1 Biblical creeds
- 2.2 The origin of the early church creeds
- 2.2.1 The Apostles' Creed
- 2.2.2 The Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople
- 2.3 The early church creeds and their significance for the New Apostolic Church
- 2.4 The New Apostolic Creed
- 2.4.1 The First Article of Faith
- 2.4.2 The Second Article of Faith
- 2.4.3 The Third Article of Faith
- 2.4.4 The Fourth Article of Faith
- 2.4.5 The Fifth Article of Faith
- 2.4.6 The Sixth Article of Faith
- 2.4.7 The Seventh Article of Faith
- 2.4.8 The Eighth Article of Faith
- 2.4.9 The Ninth Article of Faith
- 2.4.10 The Tenth Article of Faith
2 The Creed
A creed summarises the essential content of a doctrine of faith. Those who profess a creed fulfil one of the prerequisites for belonging to a respective denomination of faith: one thus believes the same things all other members of this denomination profess. A denomination thus defines itself by its creed, and thereby distinguishes its doctrine from that of others.
2.1 Biblical creeds Back to top
The old covenant already had its own confessional statements. Professing Yahweh as the God of Israel was linked to His historical act of salvation for His people, that is their deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Deuteronomy 26: 5-9). This profession of the One God necessitates the rejection of all other gods (Joshua 24: 23).
The focus of synagogue divine service is the creed "Hear, O Israel" (Shema Yisrael) which states, among other things: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ... And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house" (Deuteronomy 6: 4-7).
The creeds of the New Testament express God's act of salvation in the sending of Jesus Christ. Already early on, there were statements in which Christians expressed their faith at baptism or in divine service.
An example of this is the statement "Jesus is the Lord!" (Romans 10: 9). An important statement expressed in the creeds of the early church is the testimony that the Lord is resurrected: "The Lord is risen indeed" (Luke 24: 34; cf. 1 Corinthians 15: 3-5). Likewise the statement "Maranatha"–which can be translated as "O Lord, come" (1 Corinthians 16: 22) or "Our Lord is coming"–can be understood as a creed. It first came into use in the Aramaic-speaking congregations of the early church.
Further professions of Jesus Christ, His essence, and His work can be found in the early church hymns, for example in 1 Timothy 3: 16: "God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory" (Philippians 2: 6-11, Colossians 1: 15-20).
2.2 The origin of the early church creeds Back to top
As Christianity spread through the Roman Empire, many who became Christians remained, at least in part, mired in their previous religious or philosophical views. The fusion of these views with Christian doctrine resulted in heresies, which caused uncertainty among the believers. In particular, the doctrines of the Trinity and of the essence, or nature, of Jesus Christ ignited serious disputes. To counter this development, efforts were made to formulate creeds which were intended to be binding for the faith of the congregation and thus also for the individual believer. Conformity to the doctrine of Christ and His Apostles served as the standard when it came to deciding whether a statement about God's being and activity should find its way into the creeds. Over the course of time, various creeds were formulated: the Apostles' Creed (Apostolicum), the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople, and the Athanasian Creed.
2.2.1 The Apostles' Creed Back to top
The Apostles' Creed originated in the early post-apostolic period. Some of its essential statements are based upon the sermon preached by Apostle Peter in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10: 37-43). The basic tenets of the Apostolicum were compiled in the second century and lightly supplemented in the fourth century.
It has the following wording:
"I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal [catholic] church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen."
2.2.2 The Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople Back to top
In the year 325 Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea. Approximately 250 to 300 Bishops accepted the emperor's invitation. Constantine regarded the now widespread Christian faith as a force potentially capable of supporting the state. Since the unity of Christendom was threatened by a controversy concerning the essence of Christ ("the Arian controversy"), he was very interested in having the Bishops formulate a unanimous doctrine.
The most important result of this council was the Nicene Creed. It was further refined in later councils right up until the eighth century–among them the significant Council of Constantinople (AD 381)–and is designated as the "Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople". In particular, this creed goes beyond the scope of the Apostolicum to enshrine the profession of the Trinity of God and emphasise the distinguishing features of the church.
Following is the wording of the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople:
"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin Mary, and was made man; He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; from thence He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son [1], who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets. In one holy universal [catholic] and apostolic church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen."
A creed that largely corresponds to the Nicene Creed in its statements is the much more detailed Athanasian Creed, which likely came into being during the sixth century and was made public (ca. AD 670) at the Synod of Autun.
[1] The statement that the Holy Spirit also emanates from the Son (Latin filioque) is not part of the original text of this creed. This formulation was incorporated within the Western Church in the eighth century. This led to a dispute with the Eastern Church, which has refused to accept the addition to this day. This dispute was one of the reasons for the separation between the Eastern and Western Churches in the year AD 1054. The Roman Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Churches, as well as the churches of the Reformation eventually emerged from the Western Church, while the Eastern Church eventually spawned the various national Orthodox Churches.
2.3 The early church creeds and their significance for the New Apostolic Church Back to top
The doctrine of the New Apostolic Church is based on Holy Scripture. The early church creeds express the fundamentals of the Christian faith as attested in the Old and New Testaments. The early church creeds do not extend beyond that which is attested in Holy Scripture, but rather summarise its content in concise and binding terms. As such, they stretch beyond confessional borders and–like Holy Baptism with water–represent a unifying link between all Christians.
The New Apostolic Church professes belief in the triune God, in Jesus Christ as true God and true Man, in His birth by the virgin Mary, in the sending of the Holy Spirit, in the church, in the sacraments, in the expectation of the return of Christ, and in the resurrection of the dead, as formulated in the two early church creeds.
SUMMARY Back to top
A creed summarises the essential contents of a doctrine of faith. A religious denomination thereby defines itself and distinguishes itself from others. (2)
The old covenant already had its confessional formulas in which the profession of the one God was linked with His historical act of salvation, deliverance from Egypt. (2.1)
The professions of the New Testament bring to expression God's act of salvation in Jesus Christ. (2.1)
When disputes flared up over the trinity of God and the doctrine of the nature of Jesus Christ, creeds were formulated. The standard for their formulation was the New Testament, that is the doctrine of Christ and His Apostles. (2.2)
The Apostles' Creed (Apostolicum), the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople, and the Athanasian Creed thus came into being. The basic tenets of the Apostles' Creed were summarised in the second century and lightly expanded in the fourth century. The Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople brings the trinity of God to special expression. (2.2.1; 2.2.2)
The early church creeds summarise the testimony of Holy Scripture in concise and authoritative form. Thereby they transcend confessional borders and represent a binding agent between all Christians. (2.3)
The New Apostolic Church professes the belief formulated in both creeds of the early church. (2.3)
2.4 The New Apostolic Creed Back to top
It is the task of the apostolate to interpret Holy Scripture and the early church creeds in a manner that is authoritative for our faith. An important result of this is the New Apostolic Creed. In it the faith and doctrine of the New Apostolic Church come to binding expression.
The New Apostolic Creed is closely related to the early church creeds. The first three Articles of Faith largely correspond to the Apostolicum. They thereby emphasise the significance of this early church confession. The seven Articles of Faith that follow represent an interpretation and further development of, as well as a complement to, these creeds as they apply to the ministries, the sacraments, the teaching of the last things, as well as the relationship between the individual and society.
Since its inception, the New Apostolic Creed has been revised on several occasions. This was done in order to reflect the proper and timely development of the New Apostolic doctrine of faith. Interpretation is an action that can take place on an ongoing basis. This is part of a dynamic tradition that occurred in the writings of the New Testament itself, and in the interpretation work of later generations which was based upon it. Dynamic tradition is not rigid, but is instead characterised by both preservation and change. Both of these are of decisive importance for tradition and therefore also interpretation: preservation is indispensable for church doctrine if it does not want to forget its history or dissociate itself from its origins. Change is indispensable for church doctrine if it does not want to become irrelevant to present generations and become rigid in one or the other insights of a particular period.
Through the course of time the Creed came to propagate belief in the triune God, in Jesus Christ as the incarnate God, in His sacrificial death, in His resurrection, in His return, in the church as the authority that imparts salvation, in the sending of the Apostles, and in the sacraments as expressions of God's saving love and care.
New Apostolic Christians are to profess the Articles of Faith. The creed is to define their attitude of faith. It also serves to familiarise others with the essential content of the New Apostolic faith in concise form.
The New Apostolic Creed is formulated in the awareness that God's love, grace, and omnipotence cannot be exhaustively expressed in doctrinal and confessional statements, and that these divine characteristics will always be greater than anything human beings can ever say about them. Thus the creed does not draw any boundaries that would deny other Christians access to salvation.
2.4.1 The First Article of Faith Back to top
I believe in God, the Father, the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth. Back to top
The First Article of Faith refers to God, the Father, as the Creator (see 3.3). That God is the Creator is attested in both the Old and New Testaments. The creation incorporates both heaven and earth, namely–as the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople states–"all things visible and invisible". Both the material and the spiritual exist on the basis of God's act of creation: God is the author of all reality, and it testifies of Him.
God is not only almighty as regards His work of creation, but is omnipotent in all respects. The omnipotence of God is also demonstrated by the fact that He has authored the creation in the absence of any preconditions: the act of God's free will created all that exists from nothing (creatio ex nihilo, Hebrews 11: 3).
Although the First Article of Faith speaks of God, the Father, as the Creator, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit, are also involved in the act of creation. After all, it is the triune God as a whole who is the Creator, as is suggested in Genesis 1: 26: "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." In John 1: 1 and Colossians 1: 16 the creatorship of the Son is expressly referenced.
2.4.2 The Second Article of Faith Back to top
I believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, entered the realm of the dead, rose again from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from where He will return. Back to top
The Second Article of Faith refers to Jesus Christ, the foundation and content of Christian faith. Each statement of this article has a direct relationship to the New Testament. The designation "Jesus Christ" is in itself already a statement of profession, namely that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah (from Hebrew: "Anointed One", Greek: "Christ") who had been awaited by Israel.
Yet Jesus is not only the Messiah, but also "the only begotten Son" of God (John 1: 14, 18). This formulation brings to expression the oneness of substance between God, the Father, and God, the Son. The Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople clarifies the meaning of the formulation "only begotten Son": the Son is "begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father". This "only begotten Son" is "our Lord". In the Old Testament, "Lord" is the designation for God. In the New Testament this term is applied to Jesus Christ in order to emphasise His divine nature. Here the term "Lord" also signifies that Jesus Christ holds dominion over heaven and earth (Philippians 2: 9-11).
The ensuing statements deal with the divine origin of the Man Jesus and His miraculous birth. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1: 35, Matthew 1: 18), and thus did not come into being through natural conception by a man, since Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus (Luke 1: 27). The virgin birth is not to be regarded as a matter of secondary importance or as an ancient mythological notion, but is rather among the fundamental convictions of Christian faith. The mention of Mary in the gospels demonstrates that Jesus was true Man and that He had a mother.
The historicity of Jesus also becomes clear through the mention of "Pontius Pilate". This man was the Roman governor in Palestine in the years from AD 26-36, which means that Jesus' sufferings took place during his time of rule (John 18: 28 et seq.).
The article then goes on to mention three significant events that relate to Jesus, namely that He "was crucified, died, and was buried". This once again clearly highlights the true humanity of Jesus: He had to endure a shameful death, namely the death of the cross. He died and was buried, and thus shared in the general fate of mankind. The special thing about all of this is only brought to expression by the words: "rose again from the dead on the third day". Here we are confronted with an event that far transcends the human sphere of experience, and which can only be expressed and understood from the perspective of faith. Behind this formulation there is another confessional statement which is already mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4: "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." The dual reference "according to the Scriptures" demonstrates that these were not merely random events, but requirements of salvation history. Jesus Christ "rose again from the dead". His resurrection is the prerequisite for, and the promise of, the resurrection of the dead in general.
However, the Apostolicum also inserts the words "He descended into hell [the realm of the dead]" in between the phrases "buried" and "On the third day He rose again". The New Testament evidence for this statement can be found in 1 Peter 3: 19, which states that Jesus "preached to the spirits in prison" after His death on the cross.
After the profession that He "rose again from the dead", it states that Jesus Christ "ascended into heaven" (Acts 1: 9-11). The earthly life of Jesus–as well as His direct presence on earth as the Risen One–thereby came to its conclusion. The receiving of the Risen One into heaven signifies His return to the Father and His exaltation. The exalted state of Jesus Christ comes to verbal expression in the formulation: "He is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty" (Colossians 3: 1).
The end of the Second Article of Faith states that the exalted Lord will return in order to take His own unto Himself (John 14: 3).
2.4.3 The Third Article of Faith Back to top
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the one, holy, universal, and apostolic church, the community of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the dead, and life everlasting. Back to top
The Third Article of Faith begins with a profession of belief in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. The Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople again brings to expression the divine essence of the Holy Spirit and His oneness with the Father and the Son: "[We believe] in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets." Believers thereby acknowledge the Holy Spirit and His divinity.
One of the works of the Holy Spirit is the church. The church is not something that emanates from human beings or that was created by them. Rather it is a divine institution. It is the assembly of those who are baptised, who follow Christ in their conduct of life, and who profess Jesus Christ as their Lord. The purpose of the church of Christ consists, on the one hand, of making salvation and eternal fellowship with the triune God accessible to mankind, and on the other hand, of bringing praise and worship to God.
The church of Jesus Christ has a concealed side and a revealed side. In this respect it corresponds to the dual nature of Jesus Christ, who is both true Man and true God. The concealed side of the church (see also 6.3) cannot be fathomed by human reason, but can be accessed through faith and experienced, for example in the sacraments and in the spoken word of God, that is in all the signs of divine salvation and divine nearness. The revealed side of the church is a reference to the true humanity of Jesus Christ. Like the Man Jesus, the church is part of the history of mankind, although the Man Jesus was without sin–which is not the case with the revealed side of the church. It shares in the sinfulness of humanity on account of the human beings at work within it. Thus the mistakes and deficiencies of human history are also present in the church.
The Apostolicum only makes reference to the "holy universal church". The formulation "one holy universal and apostolic church" is taken from the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople. This formulation makes the essential criteria of the church of Christ clear: it is "one", it is "holy", it is "universal", and it is "apostolic".
The church is "one": the fact that the church of Jesus Christ is one is based upon the profession of the one God. God, the Father, is the Creator. Jesus Christ is the sole head of the church. He is the one Lord. The one Holy Spirit is at work in this church and fills the believers with the knowledge of the truth.
The church is "holy": this holiness has been conferred upon the church by God. Holy things are revealed in it–for example in the sacraments–and the Holy Spirit is at work within it.
The church is "universal" (Greek: catholic): the universality, or catholicity, of the church implies that it is all-encompassing, in other words, that it far transcends anything which can be experienced by human beings. God's universal will to save finds direct expression in the church, and thus it encompasses both that which is of this world and that which is of the world to come, both past and present. It even reaches into the future and finds its completion in the new creation.
The church is "apostolic": the apostolicity of the church has a content-related aspect and a person-related aspect. First of all, the church is apostolic because the gospel of the death, resurrection, and return of Christ–as preached by the early Apostles–is proclaimed within it. On the other hand, the church is apostolic because the apostolic ministry is historically manifest in the Apostles who work within the church in the present.
In its historical manifestation the church will never do complete justice to the requirements of oneness, holiness, universality, and apostolicity. Among other things, this is also due to the sinfulness of the human beings who are active in it. Despite these inadequacies, the church of Christ does not remain concealed or inaccessible. It can be most clearly experienced where the Apostle ministry, the dispensation of the three sacraments to the living and the dead, as well as the proper proclamation of the word are present. It is there that the Lord's work of redemption [2] to prepare the bride of Christ for the marriage in heaven is established.
Though all believers share in the holiness of the church, the narrower meaning of the "community of the saints" nevertheless has an eschatological dimension. It consists of those who will belong to the bride of Christ, and will thus only be revealed at the return of Christ. In the broader sense, however, the "community of the saints" also has a current dimension: it comprises all those who are part of the church of Christ. Ultimately, the "community of the saints" will be revealed in its full perfection in the new creation.
The opportunity for "forgiveness of sins", which has been created by the sacrifice of Christ, is also an object of profession. The fundamental liberation from the rule of sin occurs through Holy Baptism with water, in which original sin is washed away.
The Third Article of Faith ends with two eschatological hopes, namely the "resurrection of the dead, and life everlasting". The belief in the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead–which is predicated upon it–are among the essential certainties of Christian faith. The "resurrection of the dead" refers to the fact that those who have died in Christ will receive their own glorified body, whereby they can share in God's glory (1 Corinthians 15: 42-44).
The Third Article of Faith concludes with a view to "life everlasting", that is unceasing fellowship with God in the new creation.
[2] The term "Lord's work of redemption" is generally understood to mean Jesus' act of salvation, which is already concluded. When this term is used here, it refers to that part of the church in which the Apostles are active to impart those gifts of salvation which serve for the preparation of the firstlings, the bride of Christ.
2.4.4 The Fourth Article of Faith Back to top
I believe that the Lord Jesus rules His church and thereto sent His Apostles, and until His return still sends them, with the commission to teach, to forgive sins in His name, and to baptise with water and Holy Spirit. Back to top
The Fourth Article of Faith further specifies the belief in the church already mentioned in the Third Article of Faith. This article starts off by mentioning the rule of Jesus Christ: it is He who rules His church because "He is the head of the body" (Colossians 1: 18). Among other things, this rule comes to expression in the sending of the Apostles. The great commission (Matthew 28: 19-20) shows that the proclamation of the gospel and the dispensation of the sacraments were originally bound to the apostolate. Here the apostolicity of the church, as already generally referenced in the Third Article of Faith, is taken up again and set in the concrete framework of the church in its historical manifestation.
The Apostle ministry is not historically confined to the era of the early church. It is rather to fulfil its task "until His [Jesus'] return". That which Jesus Christ effects through His Apostles–which can be experienced by every believer–is expressed in the following: "to teach, to forgive sins in His name, and to baptise with water and Holy Spirit".
The commission "to teach" also applies to the proper proclamation of the gospel of the death, resurrection, and return of the Lord.
A further task incumbent on the apostolate is to "forgive sins in His [Jesus'] name" (John 20: 23), that is to bindingly proclaim forgiveness to human beings on the basis of the sacrifice and merit of Jesus Christ.
The Fourth Article of Faith concludes with a reference to the sacraments of Holy Baptism with water and the Holy Sealing. The apostolate has the commission to baptise with water and the Holy Spirit, that is to dispense those sacraments through which a new creation in God can come into being.
2.4.5 The Fifth Article of Faith Back to top
I believe that those designated by God for a ministry are ordained only by Apostles, and that authority, blessing, and sanctification for their ministration come forth out of the Apostle ministry. Back to top
Like the Fourth Article of Faith, the Fifth Article of Faith also refers to the significance of the Apostle ministry. While the Fourth Article of Faith emphasises the link between the Apostle ministry and the proper proclamation of doctrine, forgiveness of sins, and dispensation of sacraments, this article deals with the spiritual ministry. God is the one who designates an individual for a ministry. Thus the ministry is not a human work, nor is it ultimately that of the congregation. Rather it is God's gift to His church. The human being, as expressed in the Fifth Article of Faith, bears his ministry on the basis of divine will and not human decision. This is executed or implemented by the Apostle ministry. The ministry and the apostolate are inseparably linked to one another. Consequently, where the Apostle ministry is active there is also a spiritual ministry (see 7). In the church of Christ there are also various other functions which aid in proclaiming the gospel and serve to the benefit of the believers, which can also be performed without ordination.
Through the Apostle ministry, ministers receive "authority, blessing, and sanctification for their ministration". The ministry is not an end unto itself, that is it is not geared toward itself, but rather has its place in the church, most often in a specific congregation. The term "ministration" is understood as service to Jesus Christ and the congregation.
The ordination to a spiritual ministry incorporates three aspects: "authority, blessing, and sanctification". Especially for priestly ministries, the element of "authority" is of decisive importance, because they are authorised to proclaim the forgiveness of sins by commission of the Apostle and to consecrate Holy Communion. The priestly ministries share in the proper dispensation of the sacraments through the Apostles. The proper proclamation of God's universal will to save also occurs through the "authority" bestowed through the apostolate. Through the "blessing", both the priestly ministries and the Deacons are assured of the divine support and help of the Holy Spirit in the exercise of their ministries. "Sanctification" points to the fact that it is God Himself, in His holiness and inviolability, who seeks to act through the ministry. "Sanctification" is also necessary because the church is "holy".
Although the minister is chosen by God, it may nevertheless happen that he does not do justice to his ministry or even fails in it. Nevertheless, this does not call into question the original call of God.
Since "authority, blessing, and sanctification for their [the ministers'] ministration" come forth out of the Apostle ministry, every minister stands in an indissoluble relationship to the Apostle ministry.
2.4.6 The Sixth Article of Faith Back to top
I believe that the Holy Baptism with water is the first step to a renewal of a human being in the Holy Spirit, and that the person baptised is adopted into the fellowship of those who believe in Jesus Christ and profess Him as their Lord. Back to top
The Sixth Article of Faith deals with Holy Baptism with water. It brings to expression the essential elements of Holy Baptism with water. Through baptism the fundamental separation between mankind and God is suspended. This does not occur through the merit of the human being, that is to say through his voluntary decision to turn to God, but rather because God inclines Himself to the human being and liberates him from the dominion of sin. Through this act of God's love and care, human beings share in the sacrifice of Christ and in His power that overcomes sin. This becomes immediately clear in the fact that original sin is washed away through Holy Baptism with water and that the baptised is now incorporated into the church of Christ. He thereby becomes a Christian.
Holy Baptism with water does not yet contain everything that is necessary for a human being to become a new creation before God. It is the "first step to a renewal of a human being in the Holy Spirit". This process of renewal in the Holy Spirit, which has begun in Holy Baptism, finds its continuation in the imparting of the gift of the Holy Spirit in Holy Sealing. Only then is the person reborn out of water and Spirit.
Holy Baptism with water not only constitutes fellowship with God, but also the fellowship of Christians among one another, since "the person baptised is adopted into the fellowship of those who believe in Jesus Christ and profess Him as their Lord". Belief in Jesus as the Christ and as the Lord–namely as the power that defines one's life–is something that binds all believing Christians together.
2.4.7 The Seventh Article of Faith Back to top
I believe that Holy Communion was instituted by the Lord Himself in memory of the once brought, fully valid sacrifice, and bitter suffering and death of Christ. The worthy partaking of Holy Communion establishes our fellowship with Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is celebrated with unleavened bread and wine; both must be consecrated and dispensed by a minister authorised by an Apostle. Back to top
As the Sixth Article of Faith refers to Holy Baptism, so the Seventh Article of Faith deals with Holy Communion. The first sentence alludes to its institution by Jesus Christ. The second sentence speaks of the effect of the worthy partaking of Holy Communion, and the final sentence makes it clear that the authorised ministry is necessary for the consecration and dispensation of the Lord's Supper.
To begin with, the article makes it known that Holy Communion is a meal of commemoration. This aspect is already emphasised in the oldest text handed down to us about Holy Communion. It is Jesus Himself who calls upon the believers to remember Him (1 Corinthians 11: 24-25). Holy Communion calls to mind "the once brought, fully valid sacrifice, and bitter suffering and death of Christ". To begin with, the sacrament commemorates the sacrifice of Jesus and its timeless significance. This is linked to Jesus' "suffering and death" as attested in the gospels. Holy Communion thus calls to mind the concrete events immediately preceding the crucifixion, as well as the enduring significance of Christ's death on the cross.
Partaking in Holy Communion has a great effect. The prerequisite is the "worthy partaking" (1 Corinthians 11: 27), which is made possible, among other things, by faith, the acceptance of forgiveness of sins, and a repentant heart. The "fellowship with Jesus Christ, our Lord" is thus "established" by the worthy partaking in Holy Communion (John 6: 56). In this respect, Holy Communion strengthens faith in Jesus Christ as well as the desire and the ability to follow Him. In Holy Communion, believers have sacramental fellowship with Jesus Christ as their Lord, and are strengthened in order to structure their lives accordingly.
The article then goes on to talk about the composition of the elements of the sacrament: "It is celebrated with unleavened bread and wine". In order for Holy Communion to be celebrated, "unleavened bread" and "wine"–both of which are parallels to the Passover meal–must be present. Like the water in Holy Baptism, the "unleavened bread and wine" constitute the visual requirements for the sacrament.
After this reference to the outward elements of the sacrament, the Seventh Article of Faith concludes by mentioning the prerequisites through which the sacramental reality–namely the presence of the body and blood of Christ–comes into being. Bread and wine must be "consecrated and dispensed by a minister authorised by an Apostle". Through the Apostle ministry and the minister authorised by it, the presence of Christ's body and blood is manifested in the bread and wine (see 8.2.22).
The authorised ministry necessary to establish this comprehensive sacramental reality accomplishes two things: it consecrates and dispenses Holy Communion. First of all, "consecration" or "consecrating" means setting apart bread and wine from their normal use ("In the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I consecrate bread and wine for Holy Communion."). It also expresses that the concealed presence of the body and blood of Christ has been manifested in the visible elements of bread and wine through the pronouncement of the words of institution. In this context, "dispensing" refers to the act of making the body and blood of Christ accessible to the congregation, as is brought to expression in the invitation to receive Holy Communion and in the distribution of the consecrated wafer.
2.4.8 The Eighth Article of Faith Back to top
I believe that those baptised with water must, through an Apostle, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to attain the childhood in God and thereby the prerequisite for becoming a firstling. Back to top
The Eighth Article of Faith deals with Holy Sealing or the Baptism of the Spirit, namely the imparting of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the believers.
Holy Sealing is the one sacrament that is assigned solely to the Apostle ministry. The prerequisite for receiving this sacrament is Holy Baptism with water. Only those who have been baptised are to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Holy Sealing has both a present and a future effect: the present effect of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is the "childhood in God" (Romans 8: 14-17). Those Christians who are reborn out of water and the Spirit possess "childhood in God". It constitutes, as it were, an anticipation of the believer's future status of firstling and a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2: 9). Consequently, "childhood in God" is that condition of a human being before God which is characterised by receiving all the sacraments and aligning one's life by the return of Christ, in accordance with the proper proclamation of the gospel. The future effect of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is to attain the status of firstling. However, the sealed believer has not yet acquired the status of firstling, but through the baptism of the Spirit, he has received the prerequisite for attaining it. If the believer strives for the day of Christ, he can belong to the bridal congregation, or the "community of the saints". Sealed believers have been assigned the task of following Christ continually and allowing themselves to be prepared for the return of Jesus Christ through word and sacrament.
2.4.9 The Ninth Article of Faith Back to top
I believe that the Lord Jesus will return as surely as He ascended into heaven and that He will take to Himself the firstfruits of the dead and living who have hoped for and were prepared for His coming; that after the marriage in heaven He will return to earth with them to establish His kingdom of peace, and that they will reign with Him as a royal priesthood. After the conclusion of the kingdom of peace, He will hold the Last Judgement. Then God will create a new heaven and a new earth and dwell with His people. Back to top
The Ninth Article of Faith represents an eschatological clarification of the corresponding statements in the Second and Third Articles of Faith (the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, life everlasting). The detail of this article demonstrates the great priority these future events are assigned in the New Apostolic faith.
The beginning of the article refers to Acts 1: 11: "This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." Beyond that, the article builds on the eschatological statements made in the Second Article of Faith.
Associated with the return of Jesus Christ is the fact that the Lord will "take to Himself the firstfruits of the dead and living who have hoped for and were prepared for His coming" (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17). The "firstfruits of the dead and living" are provided with a spiritual body and caught up to the returning Christ. The "firstfruits" are those who have become God's property, have maintained a lively expectation of the returning Lord, and have allowed themselves to be prepared for the return of Christ.
The return of Christ is the central event upon which further eschatological events depend. The objective of the rapture of the "dead and living" is fellowship with Jesus Christ, which is symbolised by the "marriage in heaven". The "marriage in heaven" marks the start of direct fellowship of the Lord and the bridal congregation.
The "marriage in heaven" is of limited duration. After its conclusion, Jesus Christ–together with His own–will direct attention to all human beings who did not partake in this event. Then Jesus Christ will visibly appear on earth and establish "His kingdom of peace" (Revelation 20: 4, 6). As a "royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2: 9; Revelation 20: 6), the bridal congregation–whose figurative number is "one hundred and forty-four thousand" (Revelation 14: 1)–will share in the rule of Christ. The gospel will then be proclaimed to all human beings, both living and dead.
Only "after the conclusion of the kingdom of peace" will He "hold the Last Judgement". Then it will be made known to all of creation that Jesus Christ is the righteous judge from whom nothing is concealed (John 5: 22, 26-27).
The concluding sentence of the Ninth Article of Faith provides an outlook into God's future creation: "Then God will create a new heaven and a new earth and dwell with His people." Among other things, Revelation 21 and 22 refer to the new creation. This is the domain of the perfect presence of God. When it says that God will dwell with His people, this refers to a completely new existence with God, namely the "life everlasting" that is mentioned at the end of the Third Article of Faith.
2.4.10 The Tenth Article of Faith Back to top
I believe that I am obliged to obey the worldly authorities provided no godly laws are thereby transgressed. Back to top
The Tenth Article of Faith is fundamentally distinct from the preceding nine: whereas they focus on God's creatorship, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the church, its ministries and sacraments, as well as the hope for the future, the Tenth Article of faith deals with the Christian's relationship to the state.
The Tenth Article of Faith makes it clear that Christian life does not transpire outside the framework of civic and societal reality. It demonstrates that the Christian faith has a generally positive relationship to the state, that is the "worldly authorities". This positive relationship is summarised by the term "obedience".
The relationship between the Christian church and the political authorities was already contemplated in New Testament times (1 Peter 2: 11-17). The statements made in Romans 13: 1-7, which describe the state as "God's minister", are quite well known. This passage has created many misunderstandings, since it appears to convey that believers are to show unconditional obedience, even to an unjust state. However, this interpretation fails to take into account that the state is to serve God, in other words that the divine will–as clearly expressed in the Ten Commandments, for example–is also to be the standard for the laws of the state.
Romans 13: 1-7 is also the background of the Tenth Article of Faith. It not only requires "obedience"–that is loyalty to the state–but also refers to the standard by which such obedience is justified: "provided no godly laws are thereby transgressed". Not even the state is completely free, as it too is subject to the stipulation of divine order. At the very least, its laws should not contradict the divine order, but better yet, be in harmony with it. If the divine will and the laws of the state do not oppose one another, but rather even complement one another to a certain degree, Christians are obliged to accept the law as something positive and binding. However, if they stand in opposition to one another, the following applies for the individual: "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5: 29).
SUMMARY Back to top
It is the task of the apostolate to interpret Holy Scripture and the early church confessions in a manner authoritative for faith. An important result of this is the New Apostolic Creed. (2.4)
The First Article of Faith deals with the creatorship of God, the Father. (2.4.1)
The Second Article of Faith speaks of Jesus Christ, the foundation and content of Christian faith. (2.4.2)
The Third Article of Faith professes belief in the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, belief in the church, and other elements of salvation. (2.4.3)
The Fourth Article of Faith states that Jesus Christ rules His church and that the expression of this rule is the sending of the Apostles. (2.4.4)
The Fifth Article of Faith expresses that it is God who designates an individual to receive a spiritual ministry, and that ministers receive authority, blessing, and sanctification through the Apostle ministry. (2.4.5)
The Sixth Article of Faith applies to Holy Baptism with water. (2.4.6)
The Seventh Article of Faith deals with Holy Communion. (2.4.7)
The Eighth Article of Faith has to do with Holy Sealing. (2.4.8)
The Ninth Article of Faith speaks of the return of Christ and the events that will follow. (2.4.9)
The Tenth Article of Faith deals with the relationship of the Christian to the state. (2.4.10)


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Store bought oreos are delicious.. homemade oreos are insanely delicious. They make the ones from the box look like a sad sack of stale cardboard.
The cookies are chocolately, a tiny bit salty, and not too sweet which offsets the sweet vanilla filling. My only regret is that I waited so long to make them.
I had been waiting to make them until I could find some Dutch process cocoa powder that the recipe calls for. Dutch process reacts differently in baking and ensures that the cookies don't puff up during baking. I found some online but it wasn't worth paying the shipping just for one specific recipe.
I decided to go ahead with just regular unsweetened cocoa but I didn't want puffy cookies that looked like whoopie pies so I added an extra tsp of baking soda as per the suggestion of this website.
To make the cookies around the same size as the store bought oreos I heaped a teaspoon with the cookie dough...
Squished it all in to make sure that it was level...
Placed the marble sized pieced on a cookie sheet....
Then flattened them with the bottom of a glass.
The recipe says to bake them for 9 minutes for a tablespoon of batter. I was only using a tsp of batter each so I tried a number of different baking times.
- six minutes = burnt cookies
- five minutes = very crispy cookies
- four minutes = soft cookies with a chewy edge
- four minutes + 30 seconds = crispy cookie with a soft center
4.5 minutes made the best texture of cookie. These come out of the oven slightly puffed and very soft but they firm up and deflate while cooling.
The filling tastes exactly like the oreo icing. With half butter and half vegetable shortening it stays solid at room temperature which makes it perfect for dunking in milk. Don't skip dunking them in milk!!! So so good.
The cookies were quick to assemble. I just piped the icing on...
Then squished it between two cookies.
When you make your own oreos you get complete power over them. Soft cookie, crispy cookie, double stuffed, double decker... its up to you. King! King of your cookies.
In fact, there is nothing stopping you from spreading a bit of peanut butter on them before you add the icing. Mmmmm
This recipe makes a lot of cookies which is a good thing because you'll want to share them but you'll also want a lot left for yourself.
Makes 40 assembled
cookies (if using a tsp of dough for each cookie)
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa (if using regular cocoa add an extra tsp of baking soda)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg
Preheat oven to 375
1. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking power and soda, salt, and sugar.
2. Mix in butter until combined. Add egg and mix until a dough forms (mine was grainy looking but held together when pinched)
3. Use a teaspoon measure (tsp) and pack it with cookie dough. Place on cookie sheet and flatten with damped fingers or the bottom of a glass
4. Bake for 4.5 minutes for cookies with a slightly chewy center or 5 minutes for a crispy cookie. Let cool slightly before transferring (or just be really really careful when transfering warm) because the cookies are soft and delicate before they cool.
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Mix together butter, vegetable shortening and vanilla until combined
2. Gradually mix in confectioners sugar. Once all added whip on high until fluffy
3. Using a piping bag (or a freezer bag with the corner cut off) pipe a tsp's worth of icing onto the cookies and press another cookie on top.
4. Dunk in milk!

subset: commoncrawl


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National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (U.S.)
Extent: 15 items
The Oral History Project was begun by the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) at its 2004 Annual Meeting. The purpose of the project was to record interviews in which past presidents of the NCBJ reminisced about the organization and the role they played in it. The project later expanded to encompass oral histories of prominent bankruptcy judges. The collection chiefly includes oral histories recorded with past presidents of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. Accruals to this project include prominent members of the NCBJ who may or may not be former presidents.


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Charter Schools' Discipline Policies Face Scrutiny
Some major urban districts move to create uniform standards for expulsions
As the number of charter schools continues to grow, one facet of their autonomy—the ability to set and enforce independent disciplinary standards—has raised difficult questions about whether those schools are pushing out students who pose behavior or academic challenges and how their policies affect regular public schools.
Research on the issue is sparse, and data on expulsions and disciplinary incidents at charter schools paint a nuanced picture nationwide.
A new Education Week analysis of 2009-10 federal data collected by the U.S. Department of Education's office for civil rights, for example, shows that the expulsion rate for charter schools was no higher than for regular public schools, and that the regular schools had a somewhat higher suspension rate.
But in a few urban districts where high discipline rates at charter schools have drawn scrutiny, school officials have recently taken steps aimed at ensuring that students in both charter and other public schools are treated fairly. School officials in Newark, N.J., New Orleans, and San Diego have made such policy changes, and officials in other cities, such as the District of Columbia, are considering similar shifts.
"We didn't really feel that there was an equitable, fair, and uniform process across schools," said Laura Hawkins, the chief of staff for the office of portfolio schools in the Recovery School District, a state-run system that oversees many charters in New Orleans. The RSD created a centralized admissions, transfer, and expulsion process for charters and other public schools last year. "Kids were subject to very different consequences and outcomes for different behaviors," Ms. Hawkins said.
The promise and appeal of charter schools hinges partly on the idea that their freedom from many of the state and district policies that govern regular public schools allows for more effective schools.
Some experts on charters, though, say increased accountability on disciplinary issues in the sector is overdue.
"At the beginning of the charter school movement, there were all these promises that it'd do everything better than public schools with the same kids," said Amy Stuart Wells, a professor of sociology at Teachers College, Columbia University. But the regulatory leeway afforded to charters comes at a cost, she argued: "I don't think they're using their autonomy for what they said they'd be doing with it."
Complicated Picture
Charter supporters counter that forcing the schools to give up their freedom to set individualized, and tough, disciplinary standards is a mistake. They say that many parents, particularly those in communities beset by violence and socioeconomic upheaval, choose charters because they offer safe havens that nearby regular public schools may not.
"If a school can provide a safe and supportive, nurturing environment, students are more likely to stay, and they'll develop the skills they need," said Greg Richmond, the president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, a Chicago-based group that set standards for the organizations that oversee charters. "You want schools to build character and discipline," he said. "You can't do that if it's a free-for-all in your school."
A number of major school systems have taken or are considering steps to standardize, or at least change, the policies that govern discipline or expulsions at charter schools. In some cases, that is occurring after hearing complaints about disparities between charters and traditional public schools.
District of Columbia
The District of Columbia's charter school board in 2012 publicly released individual charters' disciplinary statistics, including expulsions and suspensions, in an effort to foster transparency. The charter school board is also expected to consider adopting new, model disciplinary policies for charters seeking approval or reauthorization this year.
• Policy Shift: Policies up for consideration include having charters use "zero tolerance" discipline in very narrow circumstances, and having them clarify students' due process rights—such as their right to a hearing before an independent third party—in much clearer detail.
• Charter Presence: 57 charter schools, with a total enrollment of 35,000; traditional public schools serve 45,000 students.
Concerns about disparities between discipline rates at traditional public and charter schools led the district to adopt a policy that requires charters seeking to lease Newark school district facilities to use the district's expulsion and suspension policies.
• Policy Shift: Sixteen charter schools in the district recently signed a compact in which they agree to monitor and minimize attrition and post suspension and expulsion rates. Schools also agreed to eliminate steps in admissions processes that may have been barriers to entry.
• Charter Presence: Charters serve about 10,000 students at 22 schools; traditional public school serve roughly 40,000 students.
New Orleans
Persistent concern about students in the city's schools being subject to different discipline policies led the state-run Recovery School District to create a centralized admissions, transfer, and expulsion process.
• Policy Shift: Expulsion hearings at all public schools but one within the district are now hosted by the RSD. Schools share a common list of expellable offenses. Suspensions are still handled on a school-by-school basis.
• Charter Presence: State-run Recovery School District operates 58 charters, serving 22,000 students, along with 12 traditional public schools, in New Orleans. Orleans Parish school system oversees 12 charter schools serving 7,000 students, in addition to six traditional public schools.
San Diego
Responding to allegations that some charter schools were pushing students out, and to data showing high discipline rates in charters, a working group of charter and district leaders in 2010-11 began efforts to craft discipline policy guidelines.
• Policy Shift: District policy now requires charter schools to clearly spell out their expulsion procedures. The district reviews charters' expulsion decisions and evaluates discipline data when charters are up for reauthorization.
• Charter Presence: 44 district-authorized charter schools serve 17,000 students in a school system with 132,000 students.
Charter represent about 6 percent of the nation's 96,000 public schools, though in some cities they serve a far larger proportion of students. Their numbers have more than doubled over the past decade, and today there are an estimated 6,000 charters serving more than 2 million students. They serve larger proportions of black and Hispanic students, students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, according to data collected by the National Alliance for Public Charters Schools from state departments of education. Additionally, some charters focus specifically on students with disciplinary problems.
Charters' records serving some specific populations, however, including students with special needs, have come under scrutiny recently. A federal report released last year, for instance, found that charters around the country serve a smaller portion of special education students than regular public schools do.
And critics have accused charter schools for years of screening out students who present disciplinary or academic challenges on the front end, or pushing or counseling them out later, a process that they say inflates charters' academic standing.
There is wide variation in not just charters', but regular public schools' disciplinary practices, and a rising debate over whether "zero tolerance" policies in general have excluded too many students from schools. (Quality Counts 2013, Jan. 10, 2013.)
The Education Week analysis of federal data found that charter schools across the country did not expel students at a rate higher than that of regular public schools. Both charter and noncharter schools expelled far fewer than 1 percent of their students. The data also showed that the regular public schools suspended students—a practice that research shows can put students on the path to dropping out of school—at a higher rate, 6 percent, than charters, at 4 percent.
The picture differs in some individual urban districts, according to that data set and numbers collected separately by Education Week. Charters in some systems—such as Baltimore, Miami, and Milwaukee—did not have higher expulsion or suspension rates than their regular public school counterparts in 2009-10, according to the federal data.
But in San Diego, the 37 charter schools in the federal data set reported a suspension rate of 8 percent—twice the 4 percent rate of suspension in San Diego's regular schools that year. In Newark, the suspension rate was nearly 10 percent in charters, versus a noncharter rate of 3 percent. Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia charter schools had higher expulsion rates than regular public schools, according to district and state data provided to Education Week.
In Washington, just three students in the District of Columbia's 45,000-student regular school system, or roughly one in 15,000, were expelled during the 2011-12 academic year. But in the city's 35,000-student charter system, 227 students, or one in every 139, were expelled. The national average for all public schools is roughly one expulsion for every 500 students, according to federal data.
A closer look at 2011-12 expulsion rates in four cities with large numbers of charter schools.
Noncharter Expulsion Rate
Charter Expulsion Rate
San Diego
District of Columbia
Many expelled charter students in the District of Columbia end up returning to the regular public schools, said Adele Fabrikant, the deputy chief in that school system's office of youth engagement. Principals in the regular system are often forced to investigate why those students were expelled from charters in order to ensure they are placed in appropriate new schools, she said.
Scott Pearson, the executive director of the District's Public Charter School Board, argued that charters should have the flexibility to set different disciplinary policies, as long as they are clear and fair to students. While he believes the District's regular public schools' miniscule expulsion numbers indicate their disciplinary policies are too lax, he said the fact that the city charters' expulsion rates are higher than the national average is a "cause for concern." Charters "have an obligation to serve all students," he said.
Accountability Measures
Concerns about charter school discipline have led a number of major school districts to bring new standards and accountability to those schools' policies. In San Diego, district officials created a working group of charter school leaders and school system officials, which met last spring to draw up guidelines for charter school expulsions. Charter schools are now required to be clear about their expulsion policies in their charters and about the reasons why each student is expelled, and those policies are considered by the district when their charter agreements come up for renewal.
Communication between charter school leaders and the school system is critical to ensuring that students are properly placed, and to identifying cases in which students may have been encouraged to leave a school improperly, said Moises Aguirre, the charter school manager for the 132,000-student San Diego Unified district.
David Sciarretta, the principal of Albert Einstein Academy Charter Middle School in San Diego, said that while some charter leaders were concerned about maintaining their independence, most agreed with the need for transparency and communication. "If [district and charter schools] are going to coexist and do it well," he said, "we had to have an agreement in terms of what happens when kids move back and forth."
In Newark, the district recently required any charter school using a public school building to agree to abide by the system's discipline policy through language in the lease.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles school board has begun requiring more data from charter schools it authorizes based on board members' concerns about students returning to regular public schools from charters, according to Jose Cole-Guttierez, the charter school manager in the 640,000-student district."We don't want to deal with perception; we want to deal with fact," he said.
In Washington, the District of Columbia charter board, which authorizes charters, will soon consider policies to establish model discipline policies for charter operators seeking approval or renewal of their contracts, said Mr. Pearson, the charter board's executive director. He argued that the board's decision last year to release information on individual charters' expulsion and suspension rates is already compelling those schools to refine policies and keep students in school.
"Schools don't like looking like outliers," he said.
Meanwhile, officials in the Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York City school systems told Education Week that while they routinely investigate individual schools with unusually high numbers of expulsions and suspensions, there are no plans to overhaul charter discipline policies across the board.
Keeping Track
Making sense of disciplinary and enrollment patterns is difficult, partly because many charters are located in urban communities where student and family mobility is high across all schools. About 55 percent of charters are in urban areas, according to the alliance.
A study released last week, for instance, showed 17,286 students entering and 15,081 exiting the District of Columbia's combined charter and regular public school sectors during the 2011-12 year. While many more students migrated from charters to regular public schools mid-year than vice-versa, the majority of regular students entering public schools originated in other places, possibly outside the city, District charter school officials noted.
Nina S. Rees, the president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a Washington-based advocacy group, said it's likely that many students who leave or get expelled from charters move to other charters.
It is clear that not all students who leave charter schools return to regular public schools, but many do. In Chicago, 1,999 students had left charter schools this school year as of January, and 1,400 of them had returned to the 404,000-student regular public schools, said Marielle Sainvilus, a spokeswoman for the district.
In Detroit, the total number of students who have left a charter school was not available, but more than 1,500 students have returned to the 49,000-student regular school system from charter schools so far this schoolyear, according to district spokeswoman Michelle Zdrodowski.
Yet such numbers do not show why students left charter schools, and that information is hard to collect, said Margaret Raymond, the director of Stanford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes. Researchers would have to try to determine, through interviews with students or families, whether individual students had left charters by choice, with prodding from school officials, or some combination of both.
Much of the focus on whether charters are expelling or counseling out students has been directed at those that have received praise for their academic performance, such as the Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP. A 2012 working paper by Mathematica, a Princeton, N.J.-based research organization, found that students were not leaving KIPP schools at a statistically higher rate than students were leaving regular public schools.
But another study, led by Gary Miron, a professor of education at Western Michigan University, concluded that those departing students were not replaced, a fact that might benefit the KIPP network's academic performance by creating a positive peer effect.
Steve Mancini, a KIPP spokesman, said the network had been focusing on reducing attrition and has been sharing attrition data among its schools. Overall attrition has fallen over the past four years.
"That's the power of tracking something and measuring it," Mr. Mancini said.
Due Process
The laws that govern discipline at charters like KIPP and at regular public schools vary by state and district, though some standards are universal, legal experts say.
Most state laws exempt charter schools from district disciplinary policies, typically allowing them to devise their own standards, with authorizer approval, said Paul O'Neill, a lawyer in New York City who has co-written a book on charter school law. But he noted that both districts and charter schools must also adhere federal disabilities law, and case law, which says schools must provide students with due process in disciplinary.
The fact that many charter schools set their own expulsion procedures means that it can be hard to get a neutral hearing, and many parents do not know their children's rights, said Sarah Jane Forman, a law professor who runs a legal aid clinic at the University of Detroit Mercy that works with students who have been expelled.
Kevin Welner, the director of the National Education Policy Center, a Boulder, Colo.-based think tank, said that while he understands charters' desire to cultivate disciplined environments, there are fundamental reasons that freedom should have limits.
Supporters of charters "like to remind us they're public schools," said Mr. Welner, whose center has published numerous reports on charters, some critical of the sector. Tough disciplinary policies, he said, can allow charters to "have the kinds of schools they want, but it's not an acceptable argument for a public school."
In Newark, where language requiring charters to use the district's disciplinary policy has been written into building leases, a study of expulsion and suspension rates last spring found that "we had a few guilty parties—but some of them were our own district schools," according to Renee Harper, a spokeswoman for the 40,000-student district.
"The highest-performing district schools also had higher rates of expulsion," she said.
Ms. Harper said the district was working to improve discipline policies in both charter and regular schools. "We're trying to move beyond us versus them," she said.
Still, "charters are being pushed on this issue," especially as the sector grows, said Mashea Ashton, the chief executive officer of the Newark Charter School Fund.
"We're learning from places like New Orleans and D.C., where charters have a huge market share," she said. "You have to own that challenge and really make sure that students are going to a new place that could be a better fit, and not just say, 'We've done what we can.' "
Vol. 32, Issue 21, Pages 1, 16-17, 19-20Published in Print: February 20, 2013, as Charter Schools' Discipline Policies Face Scrutiny
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Under a caretaker government that can take no action toward fulfilling Greece's obligations under the terms of its newest bailout, the country waited as people withdrew savings from banks in fear that a departure from the euro could destroy their savings.
So many people have done so since Monday that on Wednesday the European Central Bank (ECB) cut off funding to four Greek banks that it did not consider solvent, and that action roiled markets—as did ECB President Mario Draghi's assertion that the central bank would not compromise its principles to keep Athens a part of the joint currency.
Reuters reported Thursday that, although senior judge Panagiotis Pikrammenos was sworn in as interim prime minister on Wednesday, there is not much he can do beyond overseeing the country as it moves toward new elections on June 17. No negotiations are taking place with Greece's creditors, since none have been authorized for the outgoing cabinet ministers.
Many actions designed to meet bailout guidelines have been suspended, some before the May 6 election that left the country in turmoil, as politicians sought not to further alienate voters, and others since the election because of lack of authority to act.
Yet without those measures proceeding, Greece has no way to satisfy the troika of E.U., ECB and International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials who will decide when—and whether—to release further funding.
And Greece is running out of money. Weak tax collection measures coupled with a bank capitalization plan that is in suspension mean little money is flowing into the country's coffers—and Greece's people have been pulling their money out of its banks at such a pace that the ECB rated the four banks it will no longer deal with as negatively capitalized.
The troika has announced that it will not return to Greece until a new government is in place and its ministers have reviewed the country's finances and taken action on policies.
On Wednesday, Draghi said in a speech that the ECB's "strong preference" is for Greece to remain in the euro zone, but that it will act to maintain "the integrity of our balance sheet." The ECB issued a statement that said it would push some Greek banks to seek financing from the Greek central bank rather than the coffers of the ECB. The statement said in part, "Once the recapitalization process is finalized, and we expect this to be finalized soon, the banks will regain access to standard Eurosystem refinancing operations."
Worries over the fate of Greece and the euro are not helped by Spain's current difficulties. Reuters reported Thursday that the country has officially slipped into recession, as figures showed its economy contracted in Q1 by 0.3% from Q4 of 2011. Year on year it is down 0.4%, according to its National Statistics Institute, and that is its sharpest fall since Q1 of 2010. Spain's manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest pace in almost three years in April; its service industry saw its 10th straight month of decline, according to purchasing managers' indices (PMI) from Markit. Amid the gloom, yields on the country's 10-year bonds hit a five-month high of 6.5% on Wednesday.
Bloomberg reported that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was set to implement new powers to cut debt in several of Spain's most troubled regions at a budget meeting on Thursday, even as the region of Valencia struggles to avoid default without outside intervention.
Regional debt beyond the control of the central government has gotten Spain into trouble, and according to a law passed last month, if budgets presented at Thursday's meeting fail within nine months to meet national policies, the government will have the ability to require cuts and tax increases.
In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron was set to rile European officials as he was scheduled to present a speech in which he would push officials in the euro zone to "sort out its problems." Cameron also planned to say that he would do whatever he had to in order to protect the economy and banks of Britain from a euro zone breakup.
In exerpts from the speech that were released in advance, Cameron was to say, "Either Europe has a committed, stable, successful euro zone with an effective firewall, well-capitalized and regulated banks, a system of fiscal burden sharing, and supportive monetary policy—or we are in uncharted territory which carries huge risks for everybody."
Euro zone leaders would likely be irked by his statement, "As I have consistently said, it is in Britain's interest for the euro zone to sort out its problems. But be in no doubt: whichever path is chosen, I am prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect this country and secure our economy and financial system." On Wednesday the Bank of England said it had been planning for some time for a potential breakup of the euro zone, with an eye toward how banks could protect themselves.
Despite the swelling wave of anti-austerity sentiment throughout Europe, Cameron was also planning to hold firm on his own austerity plans for Britain, and says in the exerpt, "We must resist dangerous voices calling on us to retreat."


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From Green Right Now Reports
More than 2,000 developers will be powering up on the world's problems during a hackathon this weekend in 21 cities around the world.
The #hack4good event, organized by Geeklist out of San Francisco, encourages participants to come up with program apps and other technological solutions to world issues like climate change, hunger, disaster relief, nature conservation and education.
Cities with participating designers and programmers include New York, London, Kathmandu, New Delhi, Minsk, Toronto, Tel Aviv and San Francisco, according to Geeklist.
Why hack for good?
"Every aspect of our lives is touched somehow by software engineering – whether it's the media we read or the fruit we eat – and there's huge potential to work globally to better manage the problems we face," says Reuben Katz, founder and CEO of Geeklist.
"Solutions have to solve actual problems, be they logistical, communicative or data-oriented. But we plan to unite NGOs, charities and organizations that deal with humanitarian issues, disaster and environmental relief and think there is real scope to affect change."
The developers will get pizza and soft drinks as they huddle, finding ways to help non-profits work more easily and affordably or directly assist those with needs. Participants donate their time, but are treated to awards, distributed to all and provided by tech firms such as Google, Rackspace, Deezer, Actuate/Birt, Pivotal Labs, Mandrill, Bountysource, 50onRed, Gandi.net and others.
Developers are being encouraged to create tools that can help:
- Find people in a disaster,
- Non-profits use data to become more effective
- Connect supporters to causes
- Provide affordable tech tools for smaller non-profits
- Create local and global networks to impel civic action
Tools developed in past hack4good events have included apps like:
- Good Neighbor by Jonathan Wu, Jason Liu, Luca Zuccarini, Howard Guan, which helps communities post needs, services and giveaways and also can be used on a large scale by emergency relief organizations.
- Just Sayin' – Colorsby Nea Bisek, Dogan Berktas, Irmak Berktas, Shinyoung Park, an educational game app that helps early language learners and kids with autism to learn to speak. Objects animate after the user says their color.
"Technology is our greatest problem-solving tool, capable of connecting us globally, putting information at the hands of everyone equally, and empowering individuals and communities to become self-resilient," said Dan Cunningham, a user experience designer and entrepreneur who is organizing the London event.
"Only about 30% of the global population are using the internet right now. We're very excited about what can be done as the next 4.5 billion people come online."


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text: Stranger Things (Netflix, 2016) is an American science fiction-horror web television series created by The Duffer Brothers. When a young boy (Noah Schnapp) disappears, his mother (Winona Ryder), a police chief (David Harbour), and his friends, must confront terrifying forces in order to get him back. ... more on Wikipedia


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Pet owners nervous about West Chester fox sightings
Young foxes learning to hunt, wildlife officers say
New families are moving into West Chester neighborhoods and many residents, especially ones with pets, are concerned.
"Are you smelling fox, huh, are you smelling them?" Marilyn Blake says to her dog, Runner, as she walks him down a street near their home.
He may have a nose of a beagle and a name that fits him, but Blake isn't sure he'd be able to take down a fox.
"You know, little foxes haven't exactly read the etiquette manner book, and you don't know what they're going to do," Blake said. "They're going to protect themselves, (and) they're going to protect their young."
This is of more concern for neighbors living in the Beckett Ridge area after numerous fox sightings. Monday night one was at Blake's door.
"He walked right across my front step, and that was a little too close for comfort," she said.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said more red foxes are setting up their dens in Tri-state suburbs.
Coyotes have chased them out of their normal habitat.
"I would just suggest enjoy that you're a lucky person if you get to see a fox," said Penny Borgman, a naturalist with Great Parks of Hamilton County. "It's not going to hurt you; it's not going to hurt your family."
This time of year, she said the mothers are teaching the babies how to hunt.
"And they're not experienced yet, so they do need a lot of time and practice," Borgman said.
So you are likely to see them more often. Wildlife officers say they prefer rodents.
"They don't know the difference between a wild little critter on the ground and a small pet," Blake said.
To be on the safe side, wildlife officers say you may not want to leave small cats or dogs unattended. They say the increase in fox sightings is also a reminder to make sure pet vaccinations are up to date.