c. 1998 Religion News Service
Proposal to ease Presbyterian ordination standards unofficially fails
(RNS) A proposal to ease the sexual standards required of pastors, elders and deacons in the Presbyterian Church (USA) has failed, according to unofficial tallies by interest groups on both sides of the issue.
The proposal, known as Amendment A, was sent to the denomination’s presbyteries for their consideration and vote by last summer’s General Assembly, the church’s highest decision-making body.
Under the proposal, which would amend the church’s Book of Order, ordained clergy, deacons and elders would be required to”demonstrate fidelity and integrity in marriage or singleness, and in all relationships of life.” It would replace the current standard, adopted last year, requiring church officers to live”in fidelity within the covenant of marriage … or chastity in singleness.” The”fidelity and chastity”rule is widely seen as a ban directed specifically at ordaining sexually active homosexuals, an issue that has split the denomination down the middle and that has engulfed much of mainline Protestantism in bitter debate.
For example, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America last month suspended from its clergy roster a gay pastor in Iowa for refusing to pledge to remain sexually abstinent. And later this week, a United Methodist pastor in Omaha, Neb., faces a church trial for performing a same-sex union ceremony in his church.
To be adopted, the amendment must win the approval of a majority of the church’s 172 presbyteries, or local jurisdictions made up of a cluster of churches.
On Saturday (March 7), according to activists on both sides of the issue, four more presbyteries voted against the amendment, making a total of 91 of the 172 presbyteries opposed to its adoption. The tally will not be made official, however, until presbyteries send their results to the denomination’s national headquarters in Louisville, Ky.
Presbyterian supporters of the ordination of gays said the vote to rebuff Amendment A creates a”crisis”for the 3.6 million-member denomination.”We will not close our eyes to this crisis, but following Christ we will continue the crusade against segregation in our church,”a group of New York pastors who support gay ordinations said in a statement.
But opponents said it was time to end the fighting.”The church has spoken,”said Jack Haberer, a Houston pastor and moderator of the Presbyterian Coalition, a group opposing ordination of gays.”We welcome gays and lesbians into the church along with all sinners. We just cannot accept having the church give its endorsement to behavior that God calls sin.”
Black church groups condemn findings of homeownership disparity
(RNS) An official of the Congress of National Black Churches said the conclusion of a recent report showing a”significant homeownership gap between whites and African-Americans”is a sign of continuing discrimination.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors issued a report last month called”America’s Homeownership Gap.”It found that 43.6 percent of African-Americans are homeowners, compared to 71.3 percent of whites. It attributed the difference between race groups largely to discriminatory lending practices and urban redlining.”The significant homeownership gap between whites and African-Americans is yet another sign that discrimination is alive and well,”said the Rev. Wallace S. Hartsfield Sr., chairman of CNBC, in a statement.
Congress has called on the U.S. Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development to investigate the gaps reported by the mayors’ conference. The report concluded that minority households are twice as likely to be denied conventional mortgages as white applicants of the same income level _ despite the strong economy and an increase in homeownership across the country.”We must take action to fight against the ugly forces that continue to perpetuate inequality in this country,”Hartsfield said.”Banks and institutions that evaluate and provide mortgages must be investigated and where violations are found, we want prosecutions.” The CNBC is a Washington-based coalition of eight African-American denominations. They include the African Methodist Episcopal Church; African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; Church of God in Christ; National Baptist Convention of America; National Baptist Convention, USA; National Missionary Baptist Convention; and the Progressive National Baptist Convention.
Archbishop: Christianity experiencing `extraordinary rebirth’ in China
(RNS) Roman Catholic Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Newark, N.J., a member of a high-level delegation of religious leaders who have just returned from China, said Christianity is exploding in the communist nation.
During the trip, Chinese officials admitted to having just 10 million Christians _ some 6 million Protestants and 4 million Catholics in a total population of about 1.2 billion.”But we know that Protestant numbers are much larger. Protestants are undergoing an extraordinary rebirth. There may be as many as 50 million,”said McCarrick, reported Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency.
In addition, McCarrick said the 4 million Catholics in the state-sanctioned Patriotic Association of Catholics probably represents just one-third the number of Chinese Catholics. The uncounted Catholics, he said, are members of the”underground, unofficial church,”adding that the biggest obstacle to church growth in China is Beijing’s requirement that all churches register with the government and subject themselves to some degree of state control.
McCarrick, along with the Rev. Don Argue of the National Association of Evangelicals and Rabbi Arthur Schneier of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, toured China for three weeks last month meeting with Chinese religious leaders. The trip came after Chinese President Jiang Zemin invited President Clinton to send such a delegation when questions about religious freedom in China surfaced during Zemin’s visit to Washington last fall.
The delegation is expected to make its formal report at a New York news conference March 18.
Commenting on the high degree of atheism in China _ where it is believed that 90 percent or more of the population is atheist _ McCarrick said the Chinese are far from spiritually impoverished.”That doesn’t mean there are no spiritual values in China,”he said.”The Chinese are looking for answers. Many want to have contact with someone, something that transcends their normal life.”
High Court: city may continue to display Nativity scene
(RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court decision Monday (March 9) permitting the city of Syracuse, N.Y., to continue its sponsorship of its annual Nativity scene in a public park.
Without comment, the High Court turned away the argument of a self-described atheist that the display amounts to public endorsement of religion.
In 1995, Carol A. Elewski asked a federal judge to rule the Nativity display, which includes a banner proclaiming”Gloria in Excelsis Deo,”unconstitutional. But the judge ruled against Elewski, saying the scene did not intend to convey a religious message, the Associated Press reported.
In addition to the Nativity scene, the city also permits a privately owned Hannukah menorah to be displayed in another public park and sponsors other holiday displays, including lights, reindeer and a snowman.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the lower district court, saying that because the Nativity is part of a larger holiday display, it does not endorse Christianity.
In the appeal before the Supreme Court, Elewski’s lawyers argued that the courts should focus on the immediate surroundings of the Nativity and”not displays spread over an entire urban area.”
Former Episcopal presiding bishop John M. Allin dies
(RNS) John M. Allin, who served as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church during some of its most tumultuous years _ including the 1976 decision to ordain women to the priesthood _ has died at the age of 76.
He died Friday (March 6) in Jackson, Miss., after suffering a stroke.
Allin was the church’s top leader from 1973-1985, a time that saw the revision of the Book of Common Prayer. That revision and the ordination of women deeply divided the church.
Bishop Edmond Browning, the former presiding bishop who succeeded Allin, remembered his predecessor as someone who gained respect from differing groups.”He commanded respect from quarters that differ greatly because he reached out to listen and respond with as much integrity as he possibly could to each situation,”said Browning.”He was a leader in a time of a lot of growing diversity.” Allin served as bishop of Mississippi from 1966 to 1973 before succeeding Bishop John E. Hines as presiding bishop.
Allin was considered by some to be a theological conservative, but a social progressive, especially in fighting racism.
A year after the Episcopal Church General Convention voted to permit the ordination of women, Allin said he was a”presiding bishop who is unable to accept women in the role of priest.”He offered to resign his post, but was affirmed by bishops who adopted a”statement of conscience”that provided an option for a bishop to oppose women’s ordination. That option was overturned last summer at the church’s most recent General Convention.
Quote of the Day: Southern Baptist pastor Jerry Sutton
(RNS)”I can tell you not as a salesman but as a satisfied customer, whatever God says is true. There is a reality in the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Word of God in times of crisis, and God Almighty will never leave you hanging.” _ Jerry Sutton, pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, speaking to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary chapel audience March 3, a week after he struck and killed a pedestrian in a traffic accident, as quoted by Baptist Press, the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.
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