c. 1996 Religion News Service

(Following is a collection of news stories compiled from RNS staff, wire and denominational reports).

Lutheran world body will not ease support for ordaining women

(RNS)-The Lutheran World Federation will not drop its support of women’s ordination despite problems it creates for relations with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches and the refusal of some Lutheran bodies to ordain females, according to the Rev. Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the world body.

At the same time, however, Noko said the issue is not yet a matter of”status confessionis”-a bedrock matter of faith-that would lead the federation to suspend a member church that refuses to ordain women as it did with two South African denominations that supported apartheid.

The federation and its 122 member churches have been embroiled in a debate on the issue since Archbishop Janis Vanags of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia announced in 1993 that he would end the Latvian church’s 18-year-old practice of ordaining women. Approximately 85 Lutheran World Federation member-denominations ordain women.

Noko made his comments in an interview with Lutheran World Information, the official news agency of the federation shortly before leaving for a mid-January visit to Latvia. A transcript of the interview was made available Friday (Jan. 19).”There are, of course, reasons for not ordaining women that have to do with culture and tradition, but it must be remembered that every culture and tradition is subject to the Gospel, which sets us free from all forms of bondage, fear and hesitation,”Noko said.

Catholic bishops see media bias in abortion coverage

(RNS)-A study commissioned by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops shows that supporters of legal abortion get preferential treatment in the media, according Helen Alvare, spokeswoman for the bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities.

Alvare said the media bias showed in the use of labels and in its treatment of abortion-related violence.

For example, she said, Republican supporters of abortion rights were often described in the media as”moderate”while Republican opponents of legal abortion were often labeled as as”far right,””hard right,”or”extreme right.” Reporters never used terms such as”hard left”or”far left”in describing abortion advocates, and the media generally ignored Democrats who oppose abortion, such as former Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey, she said.

The bishops also released a poll of 1,000 registered voters showing that 11 percent of those polled favored a ban on all abortions and 13 percent would keep abortion legal for any reason throughout a pregnancy.

Among those who support legal abortion with restrictions, 15 percent would permit it only to save the life of the mother. Another 26 percent would allow abortion in cases of rape or incest or if the mother’s life were at stake. Twenty-three percent would make abortion legal for any reason but only in the first three months. And 7 percent would make abortion illegal after six months.

The poll, conducted by the Tarrance Group, a Washington polling firm, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Former college president pleads guilty to embezzlement charges

(RNS)-Former Mississippi College President Lewis Nobles pleaded guilty Wednesday (Jan. 17) to embezzling money from the Baptist-affiliated school in Clinton, Miss.

Nobles pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to five felony charges, including money laundering, mail fraud and tax fraud. He had been president of the college for 25 years before resigning in 1993 after being confronted by college officials who accused him of stealing donations made to the school.

Nobles was accused in an indictment of diverting at least $1.7 million, but the exact amount of the school’s loss has yet to be determined.”In pleading guilty, Nobles admitted that continually during a period of more than 16 years, he devised and perpetrated a scheme to defraud Mississippi College of money which private donors had intended to go to the benefit of the college and its students,”said U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott of Jackson, Miss.

Amy Whitten, one of Nobles’ lawyers, said,”I think that Dr. Nobles’ decision to plead guilty to those charges is the result of a long, deliberative process on his part which took into account … his concern over his family.” Nobles signed a”stipulation of facts”in which he admitted he misappropriated money that belonged to the college.”Most of the funds were personally expended and wasted by him as large cash transactions, as large payments to banking and brokerage houses, investment in real estate, and as gifts and other expenditures upon his own personal interests,”the statement said.

As part of a plea agreement, Nobles transferred land and stock accounts to the college that were valued at between $400,000 and $500,000. Whitten, who called the transfer”partial restitution,”said the stock accounts and property had been frozen by the government when Nobles was indicted.

Nobles’ sentencing is scheduled for April 15. The maximum penalty he could receive is 40 years in prison.

Nobles had swallowed cyanide as arresting FBI agents closed in on him early last year but was later ruled competent to stand trial.

Mormon church sued for $750 million in abuse-related suit

(RNS)-A $750 million suit has been filed in a West Virginia state court charging the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with negligence for what the suit said was an effort by local church officials to cover-up a case of child abuse involving a church member.

Church officials in Salt Lake City denied the allegations.

The suit, filed in Raleigh County Circuit Court in Beckley, W. Va., said the church, through the negligence of its local leaders, contributed to the repeated sexual abuse of two children by their church-member father.

According to the suit, the father confessed his abuse to church officials but they failed to report the abuse to the authorities or to discipline the father under church rules.

Bruce Olsen, managing director of public affairs for the denomination, said he was”appalled at the allegations … that the church or any of its leaders is in any way responsible for these shocking acts.”We vigorously deny all such allegations, and are confident that we will be fully vindicated,”Olsen said.

Episcopal Church’s struggle on gay issue roils California parish

(RNS)-The Rev. Michael McClenaghan of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in Rancho Cordova, Calif., has resigned as rector and renounced his Episcopal priesthood because of what he called the denomination’s acceptance of homosexual behavior.

McClenaghan was joined by the seven members of the parish’s vestry, or church council, in resigning from the church.”The diocese (of Northern California) and the national church have followed the wide `politically correct’ road, teaching that not only the person, but the homosexual behavior is to be accepted,”McClenaghan said in his letter of resignation to Bishop Jerry Lamb. “With no teaching to the contrary, it is clear that the church has decided not to teach that homosexuals can be delivered from their sin by Christ,”he said.

Lamb said he was sadded that the priest and church leadership felt it necessary to leave. He said the parish will be reorganized as a mission of the diocese.

McClenaghan said he and the departing vestry members are forming a new church, the Morning Star Community Church. It will be a part of the Willow Creek Association, a non-denominational group of churches affiliated with Willow Creek Church in suburban Chicago, one of the nation’s largest and best-known mega-churches.

Roman Catholic Cardinal Hume warns on British divorce law reform

(RNS)-Roman Catholic Cardinal Basil Hume has warned that proposed changes in Britain’s divorce law could make it too easy to dissolve a marriage.

Hume, writing in The Tablet, a Roman Catholic magazine, said that the proposed 12-month waiting period between filing for divorce and the divorce being granted was too short.”I do myself wonder whether a period as short as a year is sufficient to establish that a marriage has irretrievably broken down,”Hume wrote.

Hume suggested that an 18-month waiting period would be more appropriate.

Under current law, a couple separated for two years could be granted a divorce.

The cardinal also proposed strengthening the so-called”hardship bar”which, in current law, forbids divorce if it would lead to grave financial hardships.”No one should simply be able to walk away from the legal obligations of a wrecked marriage without first agreeing to adequate and fair terms,”he wrote.

New chairman for Salvation Army board

(RNS)-Steven S. Reinemund, president and chief executive officer of Frito-Lay Inc., has been named chairman of the Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board.

Reinemund, of Dallas, has been a member of the board since 1992. He succeeds Arthur J. Decio of Indiana.

The 40 businessmen and women who make up the voluntary board meet three times a year to offer advice to the Salvation Army on a wide range of issues, including disaster-relief, social services, fund-raising, personnel development and risk management.

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