c. 2007 Religion News Service
Nightclub Owners Say Church Patrons Don’t Drink Enough
LONDON (RNS) A Welsh church that meets regularly in one of Cardiff’s nightclubs is facing difficulties _ because those attending don’t drink enough.
The church, called Solace, was devised by Baptist minister James Karran as “a church for non-church-goers.” It meets on Sunday evenings from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., in various venues near the city center.
One of these is a nightclub, Clwb Ifor Bach. Karran told the South Wales Echo, “it costs them about 600 pounds ($1200) to open the place up for us, and we’re only paying them 50 pounds ($100) to hire it.”
“The bar is open,” he explained in an interview, “and people do buy drinks _ but not nearly enough to make up the shortfall.”
The nightclub operates on three floors, and it normally opens from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. Solace rents just one floor, and the cost issue is really only a problem if the other two floors aren’t being used.
The club is the preferred venue for Solace’s once-a-month live performance called “Centre stage.” May’s theme was “The Environment _ What’s All the Fuss?” June’s theme will be “The Supernatural _ Real or Imaginary?”
One Sunday a month features a session called “Drink While You Think,” which typically attracts about 20 or 30 people. “Centre Stage” usually attracts about 60 people, Karran said.
_ Robert Nowell
Methodist Clergy Ask for Ruling on Transgender Pastor
WASHINGTON (RNS) United Methodist clergy in the Baltimore-Washington Conference have asked their bishop and the denomination’s high court to review a recent decision to reappoint a transgender pastor.
Bishop John R. Schol has said he would reappoint the Rev. Drew Phoenix, 48, who has led St. John’s United Methodist Church in Baltimore for the past five years. Phoenix, formerly the Rev. Ann Gordon, changed his sex and name after a medical procedure about a year ago. United Methodist clergy are routinely reappointed at the annual conference.
But the Rev. Kevin M. Baker, of Olney, Md., asked for a “rule of law” from Schol to clarify the decision to reappoint Phoenix. He said the decision was made without adequate discussion of the “theological implications” of having a transgender pastor at the pulpit.
“It’s so complex,” said Baker, senior pastor of Oakdale Emory United Methodist Church. “There’s a lot of questions here that no one is talking about.”
Baker said that clergy gathered at the annual conference May 24-26 were not given advance warning that the issue would arise.
Schol’s written decision will come down within 30 days and, under church rules, will be reviewed by the Judicial Council, the denomination’s top judicial body, in October.
The United Methodist Church bans gay clergy but does not have a policy on transgender pastors.
This is the second time within the past five years that the Baltimore-Washington Conference has dealt with a transgender pastor. A transgender pastor withdrew from the ministry for unrelated reasons in 2002, said Wayne De Hart, the Baltimore-Washington Conference’s director of human resources.
Phoenix said he decided to change his sex “after a lifelong spiritual journey and years of prayer and discernment.”
“Fortunately, today, God’s gift of medical science is enabling me to bring my physical body into alignment with my true gender,” Phoenix said in a statement.
_ Daniel Burke
Conservative Rabbis to Continue Debate Over Iraq War in Cyberspace
NEW YORK (RNS) After failing to reach consensus on a resolution calling for a “timely draw down” of U.S. troops from Iraq at their convention last month, Conservative rabbis have decided to try something new: continuing the heated debate online.
“It’s a big experiment,” said Rabbi Joel Meyers, the executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly. “Not everybody will participate. Some of the old-timers are not on the computer at this point.”
The Rabbinical Assembly’s proposed resolution stated the military effort has failed to stabilize the country and that the troop surge goes against “the recommendations of responsible military analysts and the desires of the majority of the American people.”
Groups representing the Reform and Reconstructionist Jewish movements have each passed resolutions calling for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq; the Rabbinical Council of America, which represents the Orthodox Jewish community, did not consider an Iraq-related resolution at its convention last month.
Although polls by the American Jewish Committee and Gallup indicate more than two-thirds of American Jews support withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, the Rabbinical Assembly’s proposal led to hours of impassioned debate.
The debate hit home particularly for rabbis who are personally connected to soldiers, involved with political movements or concerned with the impact on Israeli security.
A slightly revised resolution will be posted on the group’s internal Web site by mid-June, accepting comments for several weeks from its 1,600 members. Then the group’s leadership must decide how to proceed with amending the resolution and voting on the amendment, Meyers said.
It’s “a rather complicated picture,” Meyers said. The group has discussed issues online before, but voting has always taken place at the annual convention. But the group wants to experiment with new ways of promoting participation on timely resolutions, and there’s nothing in the bylaws against online voting, he added.
Still, if it were up to only him, he said, he would urge the Rabbinical Assembly to table the resolution until next year’s convention.
“I’m not sure, when we have a very divided house, we do ourselves a favor passing anything,” he said. “I would like to see voting face-to-face at next year’s convention.”
_ Nicole Neroulias
Graham Partners Gather One Last Time at Library Dedication
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (RNS) The glory days of Billy Graham returned Thursday (May 31) in his old hometown.
Graham, 88 and barely able to see, hear or walk, came down the mountain from Montreat, N.C., to dedicate the Billy Graham Library, a rare public appearance for the legendary evangelist. In the audience were 1,500 dignitaries as well as donors whose money helped build the library filled with Graham memorabilia and memories.
On stage with the guest of honor was his son, Franklin, who leads his father’s ministry, and three former presidents _ George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton _ who took turns praising Billy Graham.
But it was Billy Graham’s long-time partners in faith who, all together again on a warm afternoon, stirred memories of a distant time when their fiery brand of evangelism electrified America.
There was Cliff Barrows, 84, the amiable song leader and emcee of all those crusades, welcoming the crowd at the start and leading them in the familiar “To God Be the Glory” at the end. Age crept in _ he forgot the name of a performer he was trying to praise on stage _ but Barrows’ spirit was as sunny as it’s been since the start.
There was also George Beverly Shea, at 98 having to grip the podium to get through two verses of the crusade anthem, “How Great Thou Art.” But he completed the hymn he introduced to the Christian world at Billy Graham’s 1957 crusade in New York, leaving time for a poignant exchange with old friend Barrows.
“It’s been a long journey, and wonderful,” Shea said.
“What a privilege it has been for me,” Barrows answered.
Then came the leader of modern Christianity’s longest-running trio, addressing an audience for perhaps the last time in his life. The spotlight turned again his way, he reminisced about all the years he, Barrows and Shea spent together praying, traveling and preaching.
Age and illness have softened Graham’s voice. He uses a walker on wheels to get where he’s going. But once he got to that pulpit, Graham summoned the power to raise up the past and, for one moment at least, express what this all has meant to the three partners in faith, together again.
“My whole life,” he said, “has been to please the Lord and honor Jesus.”
_ Ken Garfield
Christianity Today Chooses Top Books for 2007
(RNS) Christianity Today magazine has chosen its top books for 2007, awarding honors in 10 categories for work of interest to evangelical Christians.
“The evangelical book industry is often criticized for producing too much fluff. That’s true, but it also produces a great deal of good stuff,” said Mark Galli, managing editor of Christianity Today, in a May 23 announcement.
“This contest is our attempt to reward good, thoughtful writing that addresses issues that concern evangelicals.”
Ten winners of the Christianity Today Book Award 2007 were chosen in the following categories:
_ Apologetics/Evangelism: “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief” by Francis S. Collins (Free Press)
_ Biblical Studies: “Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony” by Richard Bauckham (Eerdmans)
_ Christianity and Culture: “The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World” by Miroslav Volf (Eerdmans)
_ Christian Living: “Prayer: Does it Make Any Difference?” by Philip Yancey (Zondervan)
_ The Church/Pastoral Leadership: “Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples” by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger (B&H Publishing)
_ Fiction: “Dwelling Places” by Vinita Hampton Wright (HarperSanFrancisco)
_ History/Biography: “Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War” by Harry S. Stout (Viking)
_ Missions/Global Affairs: “The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative” by Christopher J.H. Wright (IVP Academic)
_ Spirituality: “The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life” by Robert E. Webber (Baker Books)
_ Theology/Ethics: “The Shadow of the Antichrist: Nietzsche’s Critique of Christianity” by Stephen N. Williams (Baker Academic)
_ Adelle M. Banks
Support Strong for Assisted Suicide as Kevorkian Leaves Prison
WASHINGTON (RNS) As Dr. Jack Kevorkian was released Friday (June 1) from a Michigan prison after serving eight years for second-degree murder in the assisted death of a man with Lou Gehrig’s disease, new polls suggest his cause retains strong support.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll released this week showed that 53 percent of Americans believe Kevorkian never should have gone to jail for the assisted suicide campaign he championed in the 1990s; 40 percent supported Kevorkian’s imprisonment.
Just 30 percent of the 1,000 adults questioned agreed that doctors and nurses should do everything possible to save the life of a patient. More than two-thirds said there are circumstances where a patient should be allowed to die with help.
The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, and was conducted from interviews done between May 22 and May 24.
Religion had much to do with people’s answers, according to the AP. Only about one-third of those who attend religious services at least once a week said it should be legal for doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives. In contrast, 70 percent of those who never attend religious services say doctor-assisted suicide should be legal.
A plurality, 48 percent, said the law should not bar doctors from helping terminally ill patients end their own lives by giving them a prescription for lethal drugs; 44 percent said it should be illegal.
When asked if they would consider ending their own lives if ill with a terminal disease, 55 percent said no.
A Gallup Poll taken earlier this month yielded similar answers on the question of assisted suicide. A majority, 56 percent, of 1,003 adults nationally, said doctors should be allowed to legally assist a suffering, terminally ill patient in his or her death if the patient requests it; 49 percent of those surveyed said doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable.
Ned McGrath, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said the church fought Kevorkian’s campaign and would continue to do so.
“For 10 years, Jack Kevorkian’s actions resembled those of a pathological serial killer,” he said. “It will be truly regrettable if he’s now treated as a celebrity parolee instead of the convicted murderer he is.”
_ Philip Turner
R.I. Bishop Blasts Giuliani on Abortion
WASHINGTON (RNS) The Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence, R.I., publicly lambasted Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani’s abortion stance, adding his voice to a chorus of critics rebuking the former New York mayor on the issue.
“Rudy’s public proclamations on abortion are pathetic and confusing. Even worse, they’re hypocritical,” Bishop Thomas J. Tobin wrote in a May 31 editorial in his diocese’s newspaper, Rhode Island Catholic.
Tobin’s criticism comes as the Catholic Church _ from Pope Benedict XVI on down _ confronts a debate over how the church’s hierarchy should treat Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.
Tobin said he would “probably have written this article anyhow” but he was particularly “distressed” when he received an invitation to attend a fundraiser for Giuliani.
“I try to avoid partisan politics,” Tobin wrote. “Heck, I’m not even a Republican. But most of all, I would never support a candidate who supports legalized abortion.”
Giuliani’s campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.
The former New York mayor’s pro-abortion rights stance has been heavily criticized by conservatives _ including Focus on the Family founder James Dobson _ but Tobin is thought to be the first Catholic bishop to speak out against Giuliani.
In a speech at Houston Baptist College in May, Giuliani said: “I believe abortion is wrong. I think it is morally wrong.” But he also said that “where people of good faith … when they come to different conclusions about this, about something so very, very personal, I believe you have to respect their viewpoint. You have to give them a level of choice here.”
Tobin said that “Rudy’s preposterous position is compounded by the fact that he professes to be a Catholic. As Catholics, we are called, indeed required, to be pro-lifeâÂ?¦”
_ Daniel Burke
Jonathan Falwell Assumes Father’s Va. Pulpit
(RNS) The Rev. Jonathan Falwell, the younger son of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, was unanimously chosen Sunday (June 3) to take his father’s place in the pulpit of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va.
Jonathan Falwell, 40, was chosen as senior pastor by a unanimous vote of the membership of the congregation, the church announced on its Web site.
Since 1994, he has been executive pastor of the church, which became affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention in 1996.
His father, who died May 15 at 73, founded the congregation in 1956 with 35 persons. Under his leadership, it grew to a membership of 24,000 with a large campus that houses a day school and is involved in global missionary work. Last year, the congregation moved into a 6,000-seat sanctuary as it marked its 50th anniversary.
Jonathan Falwell has also succeeded his father by writing Falwell Confidential, a weekly e-newsletter of the Moral Majority Coalition, which his father began shortly after the 2004 election to encourage evangelicals to “vote values” at the polls.
Falwell’s older son, Jerry Falwell, Jr., 44, is now chancellor and president of Liberty University, the school his father founded in Lynchburg in 1971.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Interfaith Gathering to Focus on Hunger
WASHINGTON (RNS) Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and Christians from almost every denominational stripe will gather next week (June 11) at the Washington National Cathedral for an interfaith convocation dedicated to ending hunger and poverty.
The convocation is sponsored by the Christian anti-hunger group Bread for the World as part of its three-day conference that will gather hundreds of religious leaders from across the country, including featured preacher William J. Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention, USA.
“I don’t know of any event in U.S. religious history that involves such a range of national religious leaders,” said the Rev. David Beckmann, Bread for the World’s president. “Anybody who tries to talk to God knows that you can’t have a relationship with the sacred if you walk by a hungry person.”
Beckmann said Bread for the World’s first interfaith conference in 2005 brought together Christians from diverse backgrounds for the first time and helped solidify support for the new ecumenical group Christian Churches Together in the USA.
As evangelicals and conservative Christians expand their advocacy to include a broad range of issues _ from global warming to HIV/AIDS _ Beckmann said they’re finding common ground with mainline Protestant, Catholic and historically African-American churches.
Beckmann said he’s hoping a similar partnership centered on ending hunger emerges between Muslims and Jews attending this year’s meeting.
“It is a uniting issue,” he said. “Muslims, Christians and Jews together understand that God wants more of our nation than what we’re doing.”
After the interfaith convocation, the 700-odd participants in Bread for the World’s “Gathering 2007” will head to Capitol Hill to lobby Congress on the 2007 Farm Bill, which Beckmann said is “just not just.”
“There’s large amounts of money going to well-off people that’s bypassing poor people,” he said. “This system is doing damage. It’s eating up money from the people who really need it.”
_ Daniel Burke
Quote of the Week: Florida Evangelist Bill Keller
(RNS) “Let them come after me for making a spiritual statement about Mitt Romney. I would love that. Bring it on.”
_ Evangelist Bill Keller of St. Petersburg, Fla., after Americans United for Separation of Church and State asked the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status of Bill Keller Ministries. Keller, who was quoted by The Washington Post, has warned supporters that “if you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan.”
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