c. 2008 Religion News Service

Study finds more Orthodox converts than expected

(RNS) A new study of Orthodox Christians in America has found a larger-than-expected number of converts, mostly from Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestant backgrounds.

The report, released by the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkeley, Calif., surveyed 1,000 members of Greek Orthodox or Orthodox Church in America congregations, which represent about 60 percent of America’s estimated 1.2 million Orthodox Christians.

Although Orthodox churches were historically immigrant communities, the study found that nine out of 10 parishioners are now American-born. Thousands of members had converted to the faith as adults: 29 percent of Greek Orthodox are converts, as are 51 percent of the OCA.

“I would not have expected this many,” said Alexei Krindatch, the Orthodox Institute’s research director. “My sense was that in Greek Orthodox, it would be around 15 percent, and OCA maybe one-third.”

The study also found unexpectedly high numbers of converts among clergy _ 56 percent in the OCA, 14 percent in the Greek Orthodox church. In both cases, the higher OCA numbers reflect that group’s use of English in its worship services, he added.

These findings could mean that Orthodox churches are growing in America, assuming there aren’t equal or greater numbers of Orthodox Christians leaving for other faiths; researchers won’t know until they conduct a 2010 membership census. The findings, however, indicate that other Christians are increasingly seeking a more traditional worship experience, Krindatch said.

“In the case of Roman Catholics, those are mainly people who are not quite happy with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council; they are looking for the Catholic Church as it used to be in the past,” he said. “In the case of evangelical Christians, those are people who have very strong personal beliefs, they know the Bible very well, they are frequent churchgoers, and eventually they want to join an established church with deep, historical roots.”

Compared to a 2005 study of American Catholics, the survey found more Orthodox Christians responding that they could not imagine belonging to another faith group, and fewer agreeing that how a person lives is more important than his or her religious affiliation.

“In all possible measures, belonging to a church is more important to Orthodox than Catholics,” Krindatch said.

The study’s other findings showed a majority of Orthodox Christians would support allowing married bishops, but not female priests. They also want their clergy to work with their Catholic and Protestant counterparts to coordinate a common date for Easter, which typically falls several weeks later for the Orthodox due to their use of an older liturgical calendar.

_ Nicole Neroulias

Church-state group asks IRS to investigate Catholic bishop

WASHINGTON (RNS) A church-state watchdog group has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether the Roman Catholic bishop of Paterson, N.J., violated tax laws by denouncing Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama.

In a letter sent to the IRS on Wednesday (Oct. 22), Americans United for Separation of Church and State accused Paterson Bishop Arthur Serratelli of illegal partisanship for lambasting Obama’s support of abortion rights.

In a column posted on the Diocese of Paterson’s Web site and published in its weekly newspaper, Serratelli also compared Obama to King Herod, the biblical monarch who ordered the death of John the Baptist.

The bishop did not refer to Obama by name but only as “the present democratic (sic) candidate.”

Under federal tax law, nonprofit groups _ including religious organizations _ are prohibited from intervening in campaigns for public office by endorsing or opposing candidates.

Serratelli wrote that Obama has pledged, if elected president, to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, abortion-rights legislation the Catholic Church vehemently opposes.

“If this politician fulfills his promise, not only will many of our freedoms as Americans be taken from us, but the innocent and vulnerable will spill their blood,” Serratelli wrote.

The Rev. Barry Lynn, president of Americans United, said it is “impossible to interpret this passage as anything but a command to vote against `the present Democratic candidate’ because of his promise to sign a certain piece of legislation disfavored by the Catholic Church’s hierarchy.”

The Paterson diocese said Serratelli’s column was focused on proposed abortion legislation, not the upcoming presidential election.

“It’s absolutely, positively misleading to say that the bishop urged Catholics not to vote for Sen. Obama,” the diocese said in a statement.

Rob Boston, a spokesman for the Washington-based Americans United, said that of the estimated 90 claims it has filed with the IRS since 1996, only four others have accused Catholic bishops or dioceses of electioneering.

Earlier this year, Americans United asked the IRS to investigate Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, R.I., for criticizing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was running for the Republican presidential nomination at the time.

_ Daniel Burke

Southern Baptists urge background checks for short-term missions

(RNS) The Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board has requested that participants in its short-term mission trips pass background checks before leaving for the field.

The new child protection policy, which is not mandatory and would not apply to missions trips taken independently of the IMB, was approved at a September meeting of trustees. It becomes effective Jan. 1, 2009, the board announced.

“Children are a precious resource entrusted to us and their care and protection is a top priority,” reads an executive summary of the policy. “Because almost everyone serving on the mission field interacts with children, we are asking that all short-term mission trip participants ages 18 and older have child protection training and go through a background screening process.”

The process will include references, a criminal background check and an interview by local churches.

“Though it is regrettable that we should even need to consider such a policy for mission team members, we are acutely aware of incidents within our own local churches _ even among staff members,” said Ken Winter, IMB vice president of church and partner services, in announcing the new policy Tuesday (Oct. 21).

“We know that many Southern Baptist churches are already providing background checks and training for members who are serving in local church ministry, but it may not extend to those headed overseas as a part of a mission team.”

In a “Frequently Asked Questions” portion of the policy posted online, the board says individuals who refuse to submit to a background check will not be permitted to participate in a mission team working with the IMB. The board also will not permit anyone with a history of sexual abuse to serve on a board-related mission trip.

The Southern Baptist Convention has come under scrutiny by abuse victims’ advocates who have said their efforts to prevent sexual abuse have been insufficient. Last year, the Baptists passed a resolution expressing their “moral outrage” about child sexual abuse.

Earlier this year, the SBC Executive Committee chose not to pursue a proposed database that would track clergy who have been convicted or accused of sexual abuse. The decision was based in part on the autonomy of local churches.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Quote of the Day: Planned poster by the British Humanist Association

(RNS) “There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

_ Posters that the British Humanist Association plans to use to advertise on London buses starting in January, quoted by The Washington Post.

KRE/PH END RNS