c. 1998 Religion New Service

Aid groups responding to a variety of catastrophes around globe

(RNS) While much of America’s attention has been focused on the scandal swirling around President Clinton, America’s religious communities and aid agencies have quietly been responding to a number of natural and man-made catastrophes.

While humanitarian agencies are often working on more than one disaster at a time, recent weeks have brought an unusually large number of immediate problems around the globe. Among the disasters and the responses:

_ International Aid, the Spring Lake, Mich.-based Christian aid agency, announced the first of what it said is expected to be many shipments of emergency relief supplies to South Korea, where torrential rains have flooded streams and triggered landslides, washed away roads, downing telephone poles and cutting off small villages.

The shipment by International Aid includes 16 pallets of first-aid and hygiene kits, medical supplies,, over-the-counter and prescription medications totaling some $60,000.

_ Church World Service, the humanitarian aid arm of the National Council of Churches, is implementing a comprehensive $2.5 million food-for-work program being funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development in response to a crisis created by drought, forest fires as well as the economic and political turmoil engulfing the country.

Under the program, CWS, in cooperation with the Communion of Churches of Indonesia-Sulsera, will provide rice to 27,330 people _ 7,500 families _ for a year, supplying 45 percent of their caloric needs and freeing up resources so people can purchase other food items such as eggs and milk. In exchange, recipients will repair terraces, roads and bridges and build water conservation systems.

_ The United Methodist Committee on Relief has given an initial $10,000 grant to the United Methodist bishop of Central and Southern Europe to organize assistance for refugees in Kosovo, a province of the republic of Serbia where rebels have been battling Yugoslav government troops for independence.

The fighting has displaced more than 10 percent of the population of Kosovo from their homes.

_ World Vision and Save the Children, both active in fighting the famine in Sudan, say more and more people are donating to such efforts through the Internet _ giving more than $500,000 in the last month for relief efforts in Sudan.”The myth that Americans don’t care about what happens abroad is just that _ a myth,”said Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children.”What’s new is that a growing number of donors are using the Internet, through links from news organizations’ Web sites, to pledge financial support.”

Gay Presbyterian elder may serve _ for now

(RNS) The highest court in the Presbyterian Church (USA) has decided that a gay elder may retain his position _ for now.

Tuesday (Aug. 18), the PCUSA’s Permanent Judicial Commission ruled that while the ordination of Ray Whetstone as an elder at Second Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was”irregular,”the court lacked the authority to remove him.

Ronald Wier, a fellow congregant, filed a complaint with the denomination after Whetstone was ordained an elder in January 1996, citing a church law that bars gays from the ministry, the Associated Press reported.

But the Book of Order, the 2.6 million-member denomination’s formal rule book, has no provision for annulling an ordination once it’s been performed or from removing someone from office once they have been installed.

The court ruled Whetstone could keep his position until December, when his term expires. It also warned Second Presbyterian not to ordain any more gays.

Fred Bock, nationally known choral music publisher, dies

(RNS) Fred Bock, a nationally known choral music publisher and composer, died July 31. He was 59.

Bock died of cardiac arrest and complications from emergency kidney surgery, said David Hampstead of the Fred Bock Music Co. in Tarzana, Calif.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Bock worked for Word Inc. publishers in the 1960s and later founded his own companies. Gentry Publications, his first company, had instant success with a choral arrangement of”Scarborough Fair,”a song performed by Simon and Garfunkel in the movie”The Graduate.” The company that bears Bock’s name publishes church music for choir, piano, organ and other instruments.

Bock was an expert on church hymns who edited and published”Hymns for the Family of God.”More than 3 million copies of that volume have been sold since it was first issued in 1976.

Bock also served as a church music director and had been in that capacity at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood for the past 15 years.

UCC teens sing claims of Disney `sweatshop’ work conditions

(RNS) A group of United Church of Christ teens have sent Walt Disney Co. chairman Michael Eisner a videotape of them singing a song protesting what they believe are sweatshop conditions in Haitian clothing factory that make apparel for Disney.

The song,”Dear Mr. Eisner,”was written by the Rev. Brian Sirchio, a UCC minister and songwriter from Madison, Wis. The teens decided to send the taped message to Eisner after hearing Sirchio perform it at a denominational youth event in Beloit, Wis.

The refrain goes as follows:”If Disney won’t pay a real living wage

You won’t get a dollar of mine

I won’t go to your movies, your theme parks or stores

I’ll tell folks that Mickey Mouse rips off the poor.” In addition to the videotape, the teens sent Eisner a petition seeking reforms such as global standards to outlaw”starvation wage labor,”a statement from the denomination said.

Ken Green, a Disney spokesman, declined to comment on the specific charges, saying,”We never comment on correspondence in this company.” But he did provide the company’s”Code of Conduct for Manufacturers,”which states:”We expect manufacturers to recognize that wages are essential to meeting employees’ basic needs. Manufacturers will, at a minimum, comply with all applicable wage and hour laws and regulations …”

Liberal priest removed from parish at Vatican behest

(RNS) A liberal Roman Catholic priest who has, his supporters say, turned a dying downtown Rochester, N.Y., parish into a vibrant congregation serving the poor, has been removed from his church for engaging in practices at odds with church teaching.

The priest, the Rev. James Callan, has conducted gay weddings, encouraged active, priest-like roles for women in worship and served Holy Communion to non-Catholics _ all barred under church rules.

Callan and his supporters believe his removal from Corpus Christi Church was ordered by the Vatican and carried out _ reluctantly _ by Bishop Matthew Clark, himself a liberal prelate who has come under fire for celebrating a Mass for homosexuals last year.

But Clark said it was his decision to reassign Callan and that the congregation needed to change some of its ways in order to line up with what he called”definitive”church teaching.

Catholics Speak Out, the Brentwood, Md.-based national church reform organization, said that even if it was Clark’s decision to remove Callan from the parish,”it is clear that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger … sent pressuring letters to Bishop Clark which were highly critical of Callan’s practices in the parish.””The Vatican’s pressure demonstrates how not to run a church,”said Sister Maureen Fiedler, national coordinator of Catholics Speak Out. “Rather than condemning the forward-looking practices of Corpus Christi, Cardinal Ratzinger should be studying this parish and the collaborative leadership style of Rev. Callan to discover how it might be a model for others.” The downtown parish has attracted a diverse membership from across the metropolitan area and is known for its services to the poor, including a homeless shelter, a food pantry, a center providing medical, dental and legal services, transition housing for prisoners coming out of jail and a hospice ministry for the dying. Callan has served the parish for 22 years.”Deep down, I knew this day would come, that I would be removed,”Callan told the Associated Press Wednesday (Aug. 19).”I was hoping since it went on so long, that everybody would look the other way and just let reform happen in the church. But I guess it’s not going to happen that easily.”

Anti-abortion activist gets 15 years for clinic arson

(RNS) An anti-abortionist activist has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for setting fires on the roof of a building housing a health clinic and doctor’s office in Bozeman, Mont.

In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy dismissed John Yankowski’s comparison of his tactics _ he set several fires on the roof last year of the Bozeman Medical Arts Building _ to those used by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Instead, Molloy called Yankowski a terrorist.

The Medical Building housed the Bridger Mountain Family Planning Clinic and the offices of Dr. Susan Wicklund, the only doctor in Bozeman who performs abortions. No abortions were performed at the Bridger Clinic, but Yankowski had objected to information available at workshops taught by clinic workers, the Associated Press reported.

Assemblies of God museum to open in January

(RNS) The heritage of the Assemblies of God and the larger realm of Pentecostalism will be the focus of a museum and center scheduled to open in January at the denomination’s headquarters in Springfield, Mo.

The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center will feature a 3,000-square-foot museum and an archive area for historical researchers. Named for the family of J. Roswell Flower, an early leader in the Assemblies of God, the center will include displays, touch-screen presentations, artifacts and multi-media sites, reported the Assemblies of God News & Information Service.

The creation of the center, which involves reconstruction of a portion of the denominational headquarters, is projected to cost $1 million. Juleen Turnage, spokeswoman for the Assemblies of God, said the project will be paid for through pledges received from districts and churches of the denomination.

Quote of the Day: The Rev. Jesse Jackson

(RNS)”Why do you lie? Because you’re afraid. That’s part of the human condition. What is the solution? Atonement, repentance, forgiveness, redemption.” _ The Rev. Jesse Jackson as quoted by USA Today on Thursday (Aug. 20) in a story in which he discussed President Clinton’s recent admission to an inappropriate relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

DEA END RNS