c. 1998 Religion News Service
Ministers say they’re trying to heal Clinton’s soul
(RNS) Two ministers who are offering spiritual counsel to President Clinton say they are working on healing the president’s soul as he deals with his admitted sins regarding an inappropriate relationship with a former White House intern.”I am concerned about a man whose soul is in mortal danger,”said the Rev. Tony Campolo, a sociology professor at Eastern College in St. Davids, Pa., on ABC News Wednesday (Sept. 23).
The president sought spiritual help from Campolo and the Rev. Gordon MacDonald, senior minister of Grace Chapel in Lexington, Mass., earlier this month.”You have about 30 seconds to discern the genuineness of this,”MacDonald said, the Associated Press reported.”God help you if you hang up on a person in genuine need.” The ministers said they have regular meetings with Clinton.”We’re not just going to walk in and do a 15-minute `How do you do, and here’s a verse of Scripture; a verse a day will keep the devil away,'”Campolo said.”We will not let him off that easily.” Both of them spoke of confronting Clinton.”We have gone to the bottom of this matter,”MacDonald told ABC.
Campolo said their discussions had prompted the president to yell at them.”We can tell you about a time when we’ve come on so strong that he ended up yelling at us,”Campolo said.”That’s not an easy thing, you know, to have the president of the United States yelling at you … That’s when conversations become real, isn’t it? That’s when they become real.” In a separate but related matter, the general secretary of the Reformed Church in America has called for Clinton to resign.”Our society needs repentance from widespread attitudes that assume that personal morality is no one else’s business and has no public consequences,”said the Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson in a statement issued Monday (Sept. 21).”Religious faith teaches us that our lives, inwardly and outwardly, are one whole, dependent on God’s sustaining love and grace,”he continued.”Our society could be helped in learning this lesson by President Clinton’s resignation.” Granberg-Michaelson, a former staff member of the World Council of Churches, said it is important to”offer God’s forgiveness”but society needs”morally seamless”leadership.”… The church expects that faith builds integration between one’s personal commitments and public behavior,”he stated.”For Bill Clinton, such healing can best occur if he removes himself from the office of the presidency.”
Christian Reformed Church opposes Michigan assisted suicide measure
(RNS) The Christian Reformed Church, the Michigan-based, Dutch-rooted denomination usually doesn’t take a stand on political issues, according to church officials.
But in this election cycle, the church is breaking with tradition to join a coalition of groups working to oppose a ballot initiative that they believe will make Michigan the second state in the United States to legalize assisted suicide.”In my office, if I signed onto everything that came across my desk I would be going wild, but at some point you have to take a stand for something that is so obviously a moral and biblical issue,”said the Rev. David Engelhard, CRC general secretary.
Engelhard said he had consulted with denominational trustees and heard no objections to his proposal that the church join Citizens for Compassionate Care, a Michigan group opposed to the assisted suicide measure known as Proposal B. His comments were reported by United Reformed News Service, an independent news agency that reports on Reformed and Presbyterian churches.
The denomination is currently studying euthanasia and does not have a formal position on the issue although it has been opposed to abortion since 1973. Abortion and euthanasia are closely linked in many people’s minds and similar arguments are advanced in opposition to or support for both practices.
Other church groups in Michigan lining up against Proposal B include the Assemblies of God, the Catholic Medical Association, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Wesleyan Church.
Stressed-out Denver priests forming support group
(RNS) The shortage of parish clergy has left Denver-area Roman Catholic priests so”overworked”and”isolated”that the stressed-out pastors are forming a support group to discuss their problems and needs.
Nearly 60 of the Denver archdiocese’s 232 priests attended the first meeting of the group.
Organizers said the group is a”grassroots”organization with no ties to the archdiocese but added that it did not mean to be antagonistic to church authorities. Mostly, they said, it is a”care and support”group for priests struggling with personal or career problems.
Others, however, said the group will also be a sounding board for priests”who don’t feel their views are adequately represented at the chancery,”the archdiocesan headquarters.”Most priests don’t believe they are taken seriously.” Organizers also said Archbishop Charles Chaput, head of the Denver archdiocese, is welcome at the meetings.
A spokesman for Chaput said the archbishop”encourages any gathering of priests where they can share their concerns in ministry.”We don’t view this group as adversarial,”the spokesman said.
Morale among priests has become an increasing problem in recent years as the shortage of parish priests has created new work burdens for priests.
Organizers of the Denver group, the Fraternity of Denver Priests, said similar priest-run organizations exist in at least eight other dioceses.
Institute receives grant to help congregational worship
(RNS) A one-year-old institute at Calvin College has received a $1.3 million grant for a project that aims to revitalize Christian congregational worship.
The grant, from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment, will be used for scholarly seminars, conferences on worship and the arts and grants for churches, pastors and artists.
John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship in Grand Rapids, Mich., wrote in his grant proposal that churches need help adjusting to changes in liturgy and worship that are occurring across denominations.”This work is needed because of the crises generated in many congregations and denominations caused by changing patterns of Christian worship,”he said.”Out of the first 30 telephone calls seeking advice from the staff of the Calvin Institute for Worship, 20 were from congregations with severe disputes over worship-related questions.” Word Publishing names new publisher
(RNS) Word Publishing has named a new publisher to the Nashville-based company known for its Christian and inspirational books.
Lee Gessner, formerly senior vice president and deputy publisher at Word, succeeds Charles”Kip”Jordon, who died last October.”Lee brings experience, innovation and vision to this new role,”said Sam Moore, president and CEO of Thomas Nelson.”After a very deliberate interviewing process, we agreed that the best candidate was already on our team.” Word, which was established in 1950, is a division of Thomas Nelson, which also is based in Nashville.
Gessner has worked for Word since 1989 and previously was employed by Zondervan Publishing, a Christian book publisher based in Grand Rapids, Mich., for six years.
ADL cites hate group as”most dangerous” (RNS) A new Anti-Defamation League report calls the neo-Nazi National Alliance”the single most dangerous hate group in America today.” The ADL said the National Alliance, led by William Pierce, has 16 active cells and”a growing membership”in at least 26 states,”most notably Ohio, Florida, Michigan, New York, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and New Mexico.” At a Washington news conference Thursday (Sept. 24), ADL national director Abraham Foxman said”the National Alliance is an alliance of bigots and bombers thriving on hate. What makes William Pierce and his group so dangerous is their organization, discipline and fanatic belief that they have the right to carry out acts of violence in order to realize their vision of a world free of Jews, blacks and democracy.” The ADL said alliance members have”engaged in plotting violent crimes and its propaganda appears to have inspired others to carry out murder, bombings and robberies.”The ADL said Pierce’s novel,”The Turner Diaries,”which depicts an”Aryan”takeover of the world,”may have inspired”Timothy McVeigh to carry out the Oklahoma City federal building bombing.
Howard Berkowitz, ADL national chairman, said the National Alliance makes”sophisticated”use of the Internet to spread its message.
Quote of the day: pornographic magazine publisher Larry Flynt
(RNS)”After a reading of the Starr report I am impressed by the salacious and voyeuristic nature of your work. The quality and quantity of materials you have assembled … contains more pornographic references than those provided by Hustler Online services this month. I congratulate you for having opened the doors of libraries and schools to pornogrpahic literature.” _ Larry Flynt, publisher of the magazine Hustler, in a letter to independent counsel Kenneth Starr, as quoted by Reuters on Thursday (Sept. 23). Flynt tongue-in-cheek offered Starr a job at the magazine as adviser on pornography.
DEA END RNS
