c. 1997 Religion News Service
Missouri Synod president criticizes fellow Lutherans on unity moves
(RNS) The Rev. A. L. Barry, president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has criticized as”unacceptable”the church unity decisions made by its sister denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.”Needless to say, the ELCA assembly made very troubling decisions,”Barry said in a November column in The Reporter, the church’s official newspaper.
Barry referred to a vote by delegates to the ELCA’s Churchwide Assembly in August to approve a”full communion”agreement with three Reformed denominations _ the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ and the Reformed Church in America _ and voice approval of a proposed joint declaration by the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church on the doctrine of justification, which split Catholicism and Lutheranism in the 16th century.”The ELCA’s recent ecumenical decisions represent a significant movement away from historic Lutheranism,”Barry said.
He said the three Reformed churches hold theological positions that”are clearly contrary to Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. He cited the UCC’s support of legal abortion and its toleration of the ordination of gays as examples.
The mainline 5.2 million-member ELCA and the more conservative 2.6 million-member Missouri Synod have long been at theological odds _ ELCA members are not allowed to receive Holy Communion in Missouri churches, for example _ but cooperate in a number of other areas, including domestic disaster relief, overseas humanitarian aid and work with refugees and immigrants.
But, Barry added,”It is essential that we not give anyone the impression that the differences between our two churches are trivial. There are profound doctrinal differences between our two churches.
The Rev. Daniel Martensen, director of the ELCA’s Department for Ecumenical Affairs, acknowledged the two Lutheran bodies have”basic differences”on ecumenical relations.”We do not see that the recent decisions … change the picture much.”
Company asks to withdraw from suit against National Catholic Reporter
(RNS) The Briggs & Stratton Corp. and two of its top officials have filed a motion with the U.S. District Court in Wisconsin seeking to withdraw from a $30 million defamation suit against the National Catholic Reporter, an independent newspaper.
Company President John Shiely and attorney Thomas P. Krukowski, a labor lawyer with the firm, filed the motion seeking to withdraw themselves and the company from the suit on Dec. 9. However, a third plaintiff, George Thompson III, director of corporate communications and community relations for the company, will continue with the suit.”We are delighted Briggs & Stratton has largely decided to drop the suit,”said NCR publisher Tom Fox in a statement released from its Kansas City, Mo., office.”We have known all along that their libel charges are baseless and the suit is totally unjustified.”At the same time, we are puzzled that one of their staff _ the spokesperson for their company _ is continuing the suit,”Fox said.
The Milwaukee-based Briggs & Stratton, a manufacturer of small engines sued NCR in June 1996 over a 1994 story that chronicled the effects of layoffs at the company’s Milwaukee plant and the firm’s labor disputes.
Last month, U.S. District Court Judge C.N. Clevert decided to dismiss a portion of the case but allowed complaints that the plaintiffs were defamed by the NCR coverage.”We feel we have been vindicated by the ruling of the federal District Court,”Shiely said in a statement.”As the company and I have not been particularly concerned with pecuniary damages, we have withdrawn as plaintiffs.” The trial is scheduled for March.
Bible society helping provide a Web page for each congregation
(RNS) The American Bible Society is committing $5 million to an Internet service setting aside a free Web page for each of North America’s estimated 300,000 churches and congregations.
The site is up and running, based on data provided by the CD-ROM telephone directory service, Pro CD, Inc., and anyone logging on to the new ABS church site (http://www.housesofworship.net) can search for churches by name, city and state, or zip code.
Once a church Web page is accessed, one can find a message from the pastor, a schedule of worship services, a listing of youth group activities and a”needs and offers”place. The project runs under the acronym, HOW, for Houses of Worship.
The sites are offered for free of charge, said Michael Maus, director of ABS Communications. The only requirement by churches is spending time to keep the sites up to date.
Maus said the new service is now available to churches in the United States and Canada and will be extended worldwide by 2000. But he stressed the sites are”not a vehicle for asking for money.””Our basic mission is to get Scriptures in as many ways as we can into the hands of people. We see ourselves as an organization to serve churches,”he said.
Lyons says NBCUSA can’t pay mortgage on its headquarters
(RNS) The Rev. Henry Lyons, embattled president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, says the nation’s largest black Baptist denomination needs to raise $1 million to pay its outstanding bills, including the mortgage on its Nashville headquarters and the college that trains many of its pastors.
Lyons, a St. Petersburg, Fla., pastor, made his comments Wednesday (Dec. 10) at a conference of church educators in Nashville, his first public appearance in the city since allegations of his misuse of church funds and diverting money to rebuild burned black churches were made public.
The Associated Press reported that Lyons received a polite reception at the gathering of church educators.
In addition to meeting the $371,000 mortgage payment on its $12 million headquarters, Lyons said the denomination also needs to replace a crumbling dormitory at American Baptist College in Nashville.
To raise the money, Lyons is running a”Solidarity Day”campaign, asking each of the denomination’s 8.2 million members to give $2.
In his talk, Lyons did not refer to the charges that have been leveled against him or say whether donations to the denomination have declined since he became the center of controversy.
World Vision to get $2.2 million in wheat to aid Uganda, Sudan
(RNS) The U.S. government has pledged to give World Vision $2.2 million in wheat to be sold in Uganda to help fund agricultural products there and in Southern Sudan, the international evangelical relief and development agency said Wednesday (Dec. 10).
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced the effort this week while visiting the agency’s Gula, Uganda, live-in trauma center for children during a seven-nation tour of Africa.
More than 3,000 children have passed through the Gula center, according to World Vision, the largest privately funded Christian relief agency in the world.
Belgian Baptists win official recognition
(RNS) Baptists in Belgium will no longer be classified as a cult by the government after winning unanimous acceptance from the Protestant Synod Dec. 6.
Other European Baptists teamed up with the Baptist World Alliance to urge official recognition of Baptists in Belgium, Baptist World Alliance reported Friday (Dec. 12). Even former President Jimmy Carter made an appeal on behalf of the Belgian Baptists.
There are 19 Baptist churches with a total of 850 members in the small nation.
But there’s still work to be done in gaining official recognition for Baptists in other European nations.”It is good that we did not give up hope,”said Denton Lotz, BWA general secretary.”Now we need to encourage Austrian Baptists because they are in the same situation, at least not recognized by the state.”
Quote of the Day: Rock icon Mick Jagger
(RNS)”There’s a hunger for spirituality (today) and the same rejection of Christian beliefs and search for other ways that happened at the turn of the last century. That makes me feel hopeful, because the beginning of (this) century was actually very productive from an artistic point of view. There were a lot of new ideas burgeoning, and hopefully that may happen again. Of course, what followed all the new ideas was a very terrible war, so you don’t want history to repeat itself.” _ Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, quoted in”Inside the Music”(Shambhala), on the connection between spirituality and creativity.
END RNS
