c. 1997 Religion News Service
Maryland minister sues Capitol Police over”prayer tour” (RNS) A Waldorf, Md., minister has sued the U.S. Capitol Police for declaring the group of Christians he led in a”prayer tour”around the Capitol building was staging an illegal demonstration.
The Rev. Pierre Bynum, associate pastor of Waldorf Christian Assembly, was guiding a group of eight from a Chantilly, Va., church on Nov. 3 when police threatened him with arrest.
Prayer is permitted in the chambers of the House and Senate, but it is prohibited in the Rotunda if it is interpreted as a demonstration. A U.S. District Court hearing in the case has been scheduled for late August or early September.
Bynum was conducting a”Capitol Hill Prayer Tour”that had been organized by the Capitol Hill Prayer Alert, a Christian ministry that takes small groups around open areas of the Capitol building.
In this particular case, Bynum’s group had stopped at two locations on different floors of the Rotunda to pray, reported the Washington Times.”Many of them had simply closed their eyes or bowed their heads or folded their hands in prayer,”said Jim Henderson, a lawyer with the American Center for Law and Justice, who is representing Bynum.”They weren’t rolling or foaming or any such thing.” Capitol Police rules define a demonstration as”parading, picketing, speechmaking, holding vigils, sit-ins or other expressive conduct that conveys a message supporting or opposing a point of view or has the intent, effect or propensity to attract a crowd of onlookers.” Though they had been threatened with arrest if they continued their tour, Henderson said the participants continued with the tour but evaded detection by not folding their hands or bowing their heads while praying.
Kimberly Tarver, an assistant U.S. attorney who is representing the Capitol Police, defended the law enforcement officials.”The government’s position is they were engaged in a demonstration activity and, by statute, that’s not allowed in the Capitol,”she said.”The Capitol Police define what a demonstration is in their regulations, and we qualify group prayer to fall within that definition.” Both attorneys said federal courts have not ruled on whether the Rotunda is a public forum, a designation that would permit all free-speech expressions.
Baptist mission board distances itself from independent ministry
(RNS) Trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board have officially distanced themselves from Gospel to the Unreached Millions, an independent ministry that works to evangelize the people of India.
The Rev. K.A. Paul, founder of the Houston-based organization, was a speaker at a high-profile but unofficial pastors’ conference in June that preceded the annual Southern Baptist Convention.
Trustees of the board, formerly known as the Foreign Mission Board, were concerned that Paul’s prominent appearance might be viewed by some Southern Baptists as an endorsement so they decided to clarify their position with a resolution.
The statement, passed July 31, said they”do not have confidence”in Paul’s ministry”based on the information available at this time,”reported Associated Baptist Press, an independent Baptist news service.
Some Baptist leaders expressed concerns about Paul’s alleged ties with charismatic and Pentecostal groups and others expressed concern that he used his appearance at the pastors’ conference to subtly appeal for ministry funds.
Southern Baptist officials also said Gospel to the Unreached Millions has a different strategy than the International Mission Board and does not have the kinds of checks and balances followed by the 152-year-old agency, which is based in Richmond, Va.
But Steve Marcum, a Southern Baptist who recently became the international director for Gospel to the Unreached Millions, accused Southern Baptist leaders of trying to discredit Paul’s ministry.”It’s disheartening to see the denomination you’ve been a part of all your life lash out and attack an organization that is trying to reach out and do the same thing _ preach the gospel and see people saved,”said Marcum.
Paul is a member of Second Baptist Church in Houston, a Southern Baptist congregation, but his independent ministry gets support from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a moderate group from which Southern Baptist agencies are prohibited from accepting gifts.
Paul did not respond to letters from Southern Baptist leaders with questions about his organization.
Marcum said the International Mission Board trustees should have met with officials of Gospel to the Unreached Millions before voicing public criticism. But board chairman Bill Blanchard said Paul’s address to the pastors’ conference merited a public response.
Nation of Islam plans anti-violence rap events
(RNS) The Nation of Islam, led by Minister Louis Farrakhan, plans to sponsor two October events in Washington, D.C. _ a”peace and atonement”conference and a rap concert _ aimed at ending violence among rap artists.
The conference, scheduled for Oct. 9, will feature Farrakhan as moderator of a panel that organizers hope will include prominent rap celebrities, industry officials and the mother of slain rapper Tupac Shakur.
On Oct. 11, organizers are planning to sponsor a nine-hour rap concert, the first of what they hope will be a national series of concerts, The Washington Post reported.
The District of Columbia was selected for the first event because it was also the location of Farrakhan’s Million Man March in 1995 and because of recent federal decisions that strip economic power from local D.C. officials, said Aquil Muhammad, regional captain of the Nation of Islam.
Farrakhan is scheduled to announce the two events during an Aug. 16 address in Washington. At that time, he also is expected to announce a National Day of Atonement to mark the second anniversary of the Million Man March on Oct. 16, encouraging people to stay at home and refrain from making purchases.
At a summit held at Farrakhan’s Chicago home, prominent representatives of the rap industry _ including Ice Cube, Chuck D and Vibe magazine publisher Keith Clinkscales _ agreed to coordinate the peace tour of rappers and to produce a rap album dedicated to peace.
The summit was one of two sponsored this year by the Nation of Islam in response to the slayings of two of the rap industry’s biggest celebrities _ Shakur in September and Notorious B.I.G. in March.
Baptist leader denied two previous unions at time of third marriage
(RNS) The Rev. Henry J. Lyons, the National Baptist Convention, USA, president who has recently been confronted with questions about his marital fidelity, has now been accused of denying two previous marriages when he applied for his third marriage license.
According to the Associated Press, when Lyons was about to become pastor of Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, Fla., he learned of a requirement he had not met _ being married.”One of the stipulations of being pastor was you had to be married,”said Betty Andrews, a church member.
Lyons returned to Cincinnati and married Deborah Louise Manuel, his current wife, marking on his marriage license that he was marrying for the first time, the AP said.
But Lyons, in fact, had been married twice already.
According to Georgia records, Lyons married Patricia Lucile Demons in 1966 and divorced her in 1969. Later that year, he married Camilla Smith and divorced her in 1972. That same year he married Manuel.
He and Deborah Lyons moved with her two children to Florida when he became pastor of Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Church.
Lyons’ marital fidelity came into question in July, when his wife, Deborah, was charged with setting fire to a house her husband owned with another woman. Sheriff’s deputies said Deborah Lyons told them she suspected her husband was having an affair with the co-owner of the house, but she has since denied that.
Quote of the Day: Professor emeritus Charles Tart
(RNS) Charles Tart, professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, is a leading supporter of a”conscious dying”movement that stresses that dying people should have an opportunity for spiritual growth. Quoted in USA Today, Tart said:”If we have a spiritual perspective, then death is something meaningful instead of just an end. Death can be a time of dropping trivial concerns and discovering routes to healing.” END RNS
