c. 1998 Religion News Service
Update: Creech pleads innocent to violating church rules
(RNS) The Rev. Jimmy Creech, the Nebraska pastor facing a church trial for officiating at a”covenanting”ceremony for two women, pleaded innocent Thursday (March 12) to charges of”disobedience to the Order and Discipline of the United Methodist Church.” The charges against Creech, 53, stem from his officiating at the same-sex ceremony last September at his 1,900-member First United Methodist Church in Omaha. He did so against the expressed wishes of Nebraska Bishop Joel T. Martinez and in violation of the denomination’s Social Principles.
At the trial, the Rev. Loren Ekdahl of Lincoln, Neb., said the ceremony Creech performed was an”unauthorized ritual conducted as if it were an official rite of the church,”the Associated Press reported.”We’re not talking about a simple prayer or blessing here.” A key issue in the trial is the legal status within the denomination of the church’s Social Principles, a set of moral and ethical guidelines for church members.
In 1996, delegates to the church’s General Conference, it’s top decision-making body, voted to insert a statement into the Social Principles declaring”ceremonies that celebrate … homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.” If convicted, Creech could have his ministerial credentials removed. A verdict is expected Friday or Saturday.
Anti-Semitic incidents on the decline, ADL finds
(RNS) Anti-Jewish activity continues to decline, for the third year in a row, the Anti-Defamation League reported Wednesday (March 11).
A total of 1,571 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in 43 states and the District of Columbia, a nearly 9 percent decrease from the previous year, according to the ADL’s”1997 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents.” The report found that 673 acts of vandalism were reported in 1997, a 14 percent drop from 781 similar incidents in 1996. Acts of harassment, assaults and threats declined to 898 from 941, for a 4.6 percent decrease.”After years of alerting the American people to the dangers of bias-related incidents, we are now reaping the benefits of making the eradication of hate crimes a national priority,”said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director.”(President Clinton’s) use of his bully pulpit to promote enhanced law enforcement action and growing public awareness has shed light on this dark part of our society.” Despite the decline in the number of incidents, Foxman said”all people should be aware of the ignorance and hatred that lurk behind every anti-Semitic assault, harassment and act of vandalism.” States with the largest Jewish populations continue to have the most anti-Semitic incidents: New York, 380, up from 328; New Jersey, 197, down from 238; California, 180, down from 186; Florida, 114, down from 123; and Massachusetts 99, down from 106.
American Atheists reorganize, focus on Capitol Hill
(RNS) Leaders of American Atheists have reorganized the group and appointed two staffers to work for the organization in Washington, D.C.
The appointments are part of a plan to focus on national and state legislative issues dealing with the civil liberties of”nonbelievers”and the separation of church and state, the group said in a statement Wednesday (March 11).”This is a major expansion of our operation,”said Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists.”We will now be mobilizing our members and supporters to directly address items like the Religious Freedom Amendment and other political issues that affect atheists.” The Religious Freedom Amendment, proposed by Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., was approved by the House Judiciary Committee March 4. The proposal calls for amending the Constitution to protect”the people’s right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, or traditions on public property.” Chris Prokop, an activist with the group, has been named Washington director of American Atheists and attorney Robert Zauner will be the legislative director. They will represent the organization on Capitol Hill, follow legislation and network with political groups.”This is a major, historic shift for American Atheists,”said Johnson.”It marks the first time that atheists have established an organized advocacy presence in our nation’s capital.” Lawsuit between Baptist college profs, conservatives settled
(RNS) A legal battle between four professors of Southern Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College and a state group that reflected the denomination’s”conservative resurgency”movement has been settled.
The out-of-court settlement was reached at the end of February, 20 months after the suit was filed.
Four professors at the school in Pineville, La., charged that letters distributed by Leon Hyatt of Pineville and the Louisiana Baptists: Speaking the Truth in Love group were derogatory and defamatory and aimed to harm their reputations. The letters were part of an effort by the group to bring the college and the Louisiana Baptist state convention”back to its biblical and moral roots,”reported Baptist Press, the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The settlement terms included a letter of apology from Hyatt to each of the professors. Hyatt’s concluding statement in the letter acknowledges that his letter-writing campaign through the conservative group harmed the professors.”I sincerely apologize for the personal and professional hurt that you experienced,”he wrote.
The four professors who sued are Connie Douglas, Fred Downing, James Heath and Carlton Winbery.
The settlement also includes approval of a contract by Louisiana College trustees that affirms the professors and assures them of no”adverse action”related to the lawsuit. In the contract, the professors pledge that their teaching will affirm the authority of Scripture.
In 1979, conservatives began their takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. Among their concerns was that leaders of the denomination’s boards, seminaries and other entities support the doctrine of inerrancy, which holds that the Bible is without error.
Vatican to send senior envoy to Bosnia talks
(RNS) The Vatican said Thursday (March 12) it would send a senior ranking envoy to reconciliation talks in Bosnia-Herzegovina this weekend in a further effort to patch up relations with Serbian Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
The Saturday and Sunday meeting in Banja Luka, in which the Roman Catholic Church will seek protection for its minority population, comes as another minority people, ethnic Albanian Muslims, are under siege in Yugoslavia.
The session was organized by the European Justice and Peace Commission. The Vatican is sending Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and Cardinal Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Sarajevo.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the meeting was intended to”attract attention to the difficult situation of minorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and to give witness to solidarity with the population.”He said in a statement that it was also aimed at showing Catholic support in Bosnia for the Dayton peace accords.
While religious tensions have eased since the war, animosity between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church has been the rule, not the exception. The Orthodox churches broke with Rome during the Great Schism of 1054.
During World War II, the Serbs vilified the Catholic Church for its support of Croatia’s fascist regime that was allied with the Nazis and began in 1941 a policy of genocide and forced religious conversion among Orthodox Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia.
Pope asks U.S. Catholics to stop politicizing church
(RNS) Pope John Paul II Thursday (March 12) called on U.S. Catholics to stop what he regards as politicizing the church, saying the tendency to do so has undermined the church’s”unique nature and mission.” In a meeting with nine visiting U.S. bishops from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York state, the pontiff also derided Catholic theologians who promote progressive views and do not respect the church hierarchy.
Referring to modern church reforms enacted 33 years ago at the Second Vatican Council, the pope said,”It was surely not the council’s intention to politicize the church so that every issue became susceptible to a political label. On the contrary, it was precisely to broaden and deepen our faith in and experience of the church as a communion.” The pope added,”It is necessary to remind everyone that, precisely because the church is a mystery, her reality can never be fully captured by sociological or political categories or analyses.” U.S. Catholics are among the most vocal in the world against the church’s edicts on moral and ethical issues, from the ban on artificial birth control to the prohibition of women priests.
In remarks last month to American clergy, the pope criticized efforts to marginalize the church and said many modern trends intended to satisfy spiritual needs would fall short.
The pope’s comments Thursday appeared designed to counter frequent complaints among U.S. Catholics that the church has turned back reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
He said that theologians who question the teaching authority of the pope are mistaken, calling such notions”inadequate ecclesiologies, radically different from what the council … presented.” Quote of the Day: Mayor Dewey Crockett of Tangier Island, Va.
(RNS)”Our town council is made up of Christian people. We just couldn’t accept it.” _ Mayor Dewey Crockett of Tangier Island, Va., explaining why town leaders rejected a $5,000-offer from Warner Bros., which wanted to film scenes for a new Kevin Costner-Paul Newman movie in the picturesque Chesapeake Bay community. Council members _ who preside over a town that does not allow the sale of alcohol, decided the script for”Message in the Bottle”contained objectionable language, drinking and sex scenes.
END RNS
