c. 1997 Religion News Service
No firm dates yet for Promise Keepers 1998 stadium events
(RNS) Promise Keepers has no firm dates at stadiums across the country for its events aimed at lay Christian men because the realignment of Major League Baseball has delayed finalization of game schedules.
The evangelical Christian men’s movement usually has more than 20″stadium events”each year, running from the spring through the fall. But most of those events are held in stadiums used for baseball and football, or both sports, said Steve Ruppe, public affairs director of the Denver-based group.
The realignment, which will include inter-league play, will result in more regional matchups among the teams.
Promise Keepers officials thought they would be able to determine their sites by November,”but we have no commitments so far,”Ruppe said Friday (Nov. 28).
The group, founded by former University of Colorado football coach Bill McCartney, already has determined the dates and cities for nine pastors conferences that will be held from Jan. through March 1998. The organization had its first pastors’ conference in 1996, a three-day event in Atlanta, but the ones planned for 1998 will last one day each.
Several weeks ago, Promise Keepers spokesman Steve Chavis said the group is negotiating for about 20 stadium locations for 1998, but called those discussions”very close to the chest.”Some of the events will be”arena events,”in basketball and hockey arenas, and some will be in smaller cities than those where the group has previously held stadium events.
A recent news release from the organization cited plans for 46 conferences in 1998, including the pastors’ conferences.
Men attending the stadium events have usually paid $60. But this summer organization officials decided to make all of the events in 1998 free. In the past, registration fees have accounted for almost 70 percent of Promise Keepers’ budget. Chavis said the ministry plans to develop more”creative”fund-raising and wanted to waive the fee”because we want to fill the stadiums and this will make it more hassle-free.”
Shelters’ survey shows increased homeless due to benefit losses
(RNS) The International Union of Gospel Missions, in a survey of homeless people checking into its shelters across the country, has found that 20 percent of those clients have become homeless because of the loss of government benefits in the last 12 months.
The survey of more than 15,000 homeless men, women and children was released Monday (Dec. 1).”Those who lost benefits tend to be alcohol and drug addicted men and women in their 40s and 50s who previously received Social Security Disability and SSI (Supplemental Security Income) benefits,”said the Rev. Stephen E. Burger, executive director of IUGM, an association of 260 U.S. rescue missions.”Even though we have not yet seen the total impact of welfare reform, people are already falling through the cracks.” The survey also showed increases in the number of clients who have been homeless less than one year _ from 58 percent in 1996 to 60 percent this year _ and in the number of those who have been unemployed more than six months _ from 50 to 55 percent.
In some areas, the survey’s findings remained constant from 1996. For example, the ratio of men and women was 4:1, a figure that has not changed for several years.
The survey found a racial breakdown of homeless rescue mission clients to be as follows: Caucasian, 46 percent; African-American, 36 percent; Hispanics; 12 percent; combined percentage of Asian and Native American, 18 percent.
Burger expects more dramatic shifts in the survey’s findings as more time passes from the 1996 enactment of the welfare reform law.”We anticipate dramatic changes next year when work requirements become effective and women and families feel the full impact of the loss of AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) and other benefits,”he said.
The”1997 Snap Shot Survey of the Homeless”was conducted this fall by more than 135 rescue missions. The IUGM member missions provide shelter and emergency food, rehabilitation programs for addicted persons and assistance to poor elderly and at-risk youth.
Polish Catholics set Jan 17 as”Day of Judaism” (RNS) The Polish Catholic Church has set Jan 17 as an annual day for teaching Polish Catholics about Jews and Judaism.
The Polish initiative mirrors the efforts of Italy’s Catholic Church, which several years ago set aside the same date for educating Italian Catholics on the subject.
Stanislaw Krajewski, Warsaw representative of the American Jewish Committee, called the Polish church’s action an important step.”I believe that this is a remarkable project,”Krajewski told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service. The day has the”potential to affect masses.” Poland is home today to about 8,000 Jews, according to the World Jewish Congress (WJC). But prior to the Holocaust, Poland, with about 3.3-million Jews, had the second largest Jewish population in the world and was a leading center of Yiddish-speaking Jewish life.
About 85 percent of Poland’s Jews died in the Holocaust. Nazi Germany also shipped Jews from other nations to Poland to be killed there in a string of death camps set up by the Germans. Following the war,”anti-Semitic outrages”committed against returning Polish Jewish refugees continued, according to the WJC publication”Jewish Communities of the World.”One such incident was the killing of 40 Jews by Poles in the city of Kielce.”Day of Judaism,”as the annual Jan. 17 effort will be called in Poland, is expected to involve every diocese of the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation. A church brochure to be sent to every Polish Catholic parish will carry the slogan”Whoever meets Jesus Christ meets Judaism”_ a reference to Jesus’ Jewish birth and a quote taken from Polish-born Pope John Paul II.
Bishop Stanislaw Gadecki, head of the Polish church’s Catholic-Jewish dialogue commission, said”Day of Judaism””presents no attempt to proselytize among Jews, and no attempt to Judaize Christianity.”Rather, he said, the day is meant to promote mutual respect, interfaith cooperation and”joint testimony for justice and human dignity.”
Archbishop Carey: Britain is not a multi-faith society
(RNS) Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey says even though Britain may be a demographically diverse society, it is not a multi-faith society and he has rejected the idea of state-sponsored interfaith worship.
Carey, asked in an interview with the evangelical monthly Third Way whether he would be happy if Prince Charles, when and if he accedes to the throne, were to ask for an interfaith coronation, said the question was so hypothetical he had to say,”No comment.” But, he added,”I hope that people know that I am a person who doesn’t compromise on central beliefs, and I do not agree with interfaith worship. And other faiths don’t like it either. You won’t find a Muslim who would want it. Assuming that establishment (of the Anglican church as the state religion) lasts _ and I believe it will _ it (Charles’ coronation) will inevitably be a Christian service.” When asked if he would not say Britain is a pluralist society, Carey responded,”No, no, we are not. We mustn’t concede the game to being a multi-faith society.”We are not. Other faiths comprise less than 10 percent of the population,”he added.”So 90 percent still are rooted in a Christian position.” Carey also was pessimistic about ecumenism, saying he wished he could report that Christian unity was around the corner.”It’s not,”he said.”In the meantime we have to trudge on as pilgrims.” The archbishop, who comes from the evangelical wing of Anglican Church, acknowledged evangelicals were not very good at unity.”We will often divide over finer points of doctrine, until, you know, we think we have salved our own conscience, but in fact we are weakening and weakening the mission of the Church.” At the same time, Carey defended the role played by the Church of England. on social issues _ a role frequently criticized by evangelicals outside the denomination.”I think we have a good record. People sometimes say, `Doesn’t establishment get in the way of being a prophetic Church?’ And I say, `OK, if that is the case, look at the record of the Free (non-established) Churches in this country. I challenge you to name any prophetic Free Church leaders who have got a hearing.'”
`Last Temptation’ film criticized by Russian Orthodox Church
(RNS) – The”Last Temptation of Christ,”the film by director Martin Scorsese, is continuing cause controversy in Russia.
On Monday (Dec. 1), the Russian Orthodox church sharply criticized NTV, the country’s largest independent television station, for broadcasting the 1988 film based on the 1955 novel by Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis.
The book and film suggest that Jesus'”last temptation”was to marry and raise a family and to reject his role as messiah.
Earlier, the church had, to no avail, campaigned to block its November broadcast.
Patriarch Alexii II, head of the church, accused the television station of insulting believers and violating a Russian law that prohibits”deliberate insults”in the mass media of people’s religious beliefs.”Any person who commits the sin of blasphemy and does not repent shall suffer punishment not only in future life, but also in earthly life,”Alexii told the Associated Press.
He also asked the government”not to remain indifferent to the insulting of the people’s religious feelings.” An NTV spokeswoman said the station had”no comment about the patriarch’s statement”but insisted it”did not violate any laws”in broadcasting the film.
Quote of the day: Thomas Borer, head of the Swiss delegation to the Tripartite Gold Commission conference in London.
(RNS)”Politicians and journalists are talking about the lessons to be drawn from the Holocaust. No one is talking about how a few people 55 years ago could convince so many to help them and how many others looked away and minded their own business.” Thomas Borer, head of the Swiss delegation to the London conference sponsored by the Tripartite Gold Commission in which participants will try to uncover the fate of gold looted by the Nazis during World War II and the Holocaust.
DEA END RNS
