c. 1999 Religion News Service

Supreme Court agrees to decide football games prayer case

(RNS) Supporters and opponents of prayer at public school events welcomed Monday’s (Nov. 15) agreement by the Supreme Court to decide whether a school district can give students the right to hold prayers over the public address system at high school football games.

Both sides said the court ruling would clarify the murky church-state line over the issue of religious expression even as they hoped the justices would uphold their point of view.”People who attend school football games are a captive audience for what is presented on the public address system,”said Elliot Mincberg, legal director of People for the American Way, a group that opposes such prayers.”A person’s choice about whether to participate in a prayer, or the type of prayer he may wish to participate in, is taken away when an invocation is broadcast to the entire audience.” The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the case is the biggest school prayer case in decades.”Unless the Supreme Court thinks football is a sacrament, it should find these school-sponsored prayers unconstitutional,”he said.

But Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, said his group is exploring ways to assist the Texas school district that is at the center of the case.”The decision today to hear the case clearly puts the issue of student-led and student-initiated prayer squarely before the Supreme Court,”he said.”This is a critical free speech case that has national implications in every school district in America.” Setting the stage for what could be a critical definition of church-state lines for the new millennium, the court agreed to review a lower court decision striking down a Galveston County (Texas) school board’s policy allowing students to deliver any”message”or”invocation”over its public address at home football games and to lead prayers at graduation ceremonies. The policy was challenged in 1995 by four students and their parents.

In the same ruling, however, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said public school graduation ceremonies may include prayer to”solemnize”them. The justices said they would deal only with the football game issue.

Hearings on the case are expected in March or April with a decision by the end of June.

Virginia Baptists also reject Southern Baptist submission statement

(RNS) In a move similar to that of Texas Southern Baptists, Southern Baptists in Virginia have approved a resolution affirming the 1963″Baptist Faith and Message”rather than supporting a 1998 revision calling for wives to”submit … graciously”to their husbands.

The resolution passed Nov. 11 at the annual meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia affirms the 1963 faith statement as”a sturdy and comprehensive statement of the shared values, convictions and distinctives of Virginia Baptists as we enter the new millennium.” Baptist news services reported an attempt by a delegate to include the revised version in the resolution’s affirmation was defeated overwhelmingly.

The day before the Virginia resolution passed, the Baptist General Convention of Texas rejected the revised statement of faith and affirmed the 1963 statement.

The 1998 version of the statement of faith includes a new article on marriage and the family that says, in part:”A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.” At the June meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, delegates authorized the appointment of a task force to review the Baptist Faith and Message, viewed by most Southern Baptists as a general statement of Baptist beliefs.

Pope tells German bishops to speak for church in a godless society

(RNS) Pope John Paul II called on Germany’s Roman Catholic bishops Monday (Nov. 15) to speak out for the church and its values in an increasingly godless society.”The evangelical solution is not to withdraw from society. You must, instead, speak out on every occasion, opportune or not opportune,”the pope said.”A lay society in which there is ever more silence about God needs your voice.” Addressing a group of German bishops making the”ad limina”visit to the Vatican required of all Catholic prelates every five years, John Paul congratulated them on”all the good that the church in Germany is doing through its presence and its generous financing wherever there is need of it.” He noted it is now 10 years since the collapse of communism in Europe.”The Berlin Wall has fallen. Barbed wire has been replaced by the open door. The Brandenburg Gate, for decades symbol of separation, is once again what it was before: the symbol of a unified Germany,”he said.

But, he said, communism has given way to consumerism, another form of godlessness.”Material goods are highlighted with such insistence as often to suffocate any desire for religious and moral values,”the pope said.”But with the passing of time, if the soul remains without nutriment and only the hands are filled, man experiences the void.” The pope made only a brief reference to a controversy over abortion counseling that has strained relations between the bishops and the Vatican. The Vatican is concerned that pregnant women may use church counseling to qualify for a legal abortion, but the pope praised the church’s help to women in crisis.”As one example among others, I would like to recall the important service that church consultants carry out in numerous fields, in particular helping pregnant women live through a situation of conflict,”he said.

Orthodox patriarch invites pope to visit Syria

(RNS) Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Zakka II of Antioch has issued a warm invitation to Pope John Paul II to visit Damascus on his Holy Year pilgrimage to biblical sites in the Middle East.

Praising the Roman Catholic pontiff for his commitment to the search for Christian unity, the patriarch said,”We hope that His Holiness can visit Damascus, the city of the Apostle Paul, and Syria, cradle of Christianity.” The pope announced in June he wanted to mark Holy Year 2000 and the start of the third millennium of Christianity by making a pilgrimage through”the history of salvation,”visiting Old and New Testament sites, including Damascus and Athens where he would meditate on the history of the early church in the person of St. Paul.

Ignatius Zakka spoke Friday (Nov. 12) at a meeting on ecumenism organized by Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Genoa, Italy, and the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Rome-based group of Catholic social activists.”John Paul II is the first among the illustrious fathers who have searched in this our century for unity between Christian churches,”the patriarch said.”It is for this, his noble will, that he has made numerous pastoral visits to many parts of the world just like the Apostle Paul, carrying the torch of the gospel, and his first and last preoccupation is the unity of Christians and fraternity of peoples.” The cordiality of the patriarch’s invitation contrasted sharply with warnings from Greek Orthodox leaders in Athens that John Paul would not be welcome in Greece.

Ignatius Zakka said a visit by the pope to Syria would”complete the joy that originated from his visit to Lebanon”May 10-11, 1997. That visit, he said,”was a blessing for the Lebanese people, Muslims and Christians alike.”The fruit of that visit is a benefit that still lasts today for Lebanon and its neighbors because it united the various groups, spreading love and fraternity.”

Lutheran publishing house cuts staff, reorganizes

(RNS) Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has fired 34 staffers as part of a reorganization plan.

The employee reduction is part of a $3 million cut in expenses, said the Rev. Marvin L. Roloff, Augsburg Fortress president and chief executive officer.”Augsburg Fortress revenues have been in decline over the past 10 years and the company has not responded as well as it should to the needs of our markets,”Roloff said in a memorandum to employees.”We have worked hard during the past 18 months soliciting feedback from our customers, significantly updating our technology capabilities, revising products and developing a strategic plan.” The Minneapolis-based publishing house expects to have operating losses in 1999 and 2000, the ELCA News Service reported.

Before the staff reductions, Augsburg Fortress had a staff of 240 people at its corporate offices in Minneapolis and 114 people at 16 other sites in North America.”While these staff reductions are painful, we are excited about this new strategic direction and the opportunity to rejuvenate our mission in proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ within the church and beyond,”Roloff said.

Augsburg Fortress is the third-largest Protestant church-owned publishing house in the country.

Church leaders from Indonesia, East Timor commit to reconciliation

(RNS) Church leaders from Indonesia and East Timor pledged at a Hong Kong meeting to work on reconciliation and reconstruction efforts following recent violence sparked by a pro-independence vote in East Timor.

Among those attending the Nov. 12-14 meeting, convened by the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference of Asia, was the Rev. Francisco de Vasconcelos, who earlier had been reported killed in the violence.

De Vasconcelos, general secretary of the Christian Church of East Timor, said only four pastors remained in his church, while others were forced to flee.

He said his church group is preparing to become independent from the Indonesia Communion of Churches.”In mutual respect, we seek to develop and strengthen the local churches in East Timor with our `twin brothers,’ the churches in Indonesia, Australia and the WCC,”de Vasconcelos said.

Others in attendance included Protestant church leaders from the Indonesia Communion of Churches, the troubled areas of Irian Jaya, West Timor, Moluccas and East Timor as well as representatives from other continents.

The Rev. David Gill, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia, called the meeting”a small miracle”and commented on”the way the Christian community has held together.” Clement John, WCC executive secretary for international affairs, remarked on the atmosphere at the meeting, which was different from previously fractious relations within the Indonesian Protestant church.”This is the first time people from East Timor and Irian Jaya have been able to openly express their views regarding self-determination,”he said.

French Scientologists sentenced in fraud case

(RNS) A former French Scientology official has been sentenced to two years in prison for fraud, along with four other Scientologists who received suspended sentences of six months to two years.

Xavier Delamare, who formerly headed the controversial church’s branch in the southern French city of Marseille, was sentenced Monday (Nov. 15) in connection with a 10-year-old case in which they were found guilty of operating sham”purification”courses between 1987 and 1990.

As with the others, Delamare will not go to prison since 18 months of his sentence was suspended and he was credited with six months for time served in connection with the case in 1990. He was also fined $1,700, the Associated Press reported.

The French government and Scientology have long been at odds. The government includes the Los Angeles-based church on a list of religious groups it tracks as potentially dangerous cults. Scientology accuses the government of religious discrimination and dismissed the court decision as”politically motivated.” Delamare and the other Scientologists were accused of organizing purification courses costing between $2,000 and $25,000 that involved sauna sessions, physical exercise and taking large doses of vitamins. Earlier charges involving the alleged illegal practice of medicine and premeditated violence were dropped.

Russian Jews organize nationwide federation

(RNS) Nearly 100 secular and religious Jewish groups from across Russia have formed a new national organization, the Federation of Jewish Communities.

Spokesman Boruch Gorin said in Moscow Monday (Nov. 15) that the group would seek to counter the growing tolerance of anti-Semitism in Russia and strengthen local Jewish institutions, such as schools, synagogues, community centers and youth groups.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin sent a letter to the group, saying the federation should”enable mutual enrichment”of the Russian and Jewish cultures.

Despite massive emigration of Russian Jews to the United States, Israel and elsewhere in recent years, more than 1 million Jews are believed to still live in Russia, making it one of the largest Jewish communities in the world.

Christian singer Jaci Velasquez’s song tops Billboard’s”Hot Latin Tracks” (RNS) A Latin single by Christian music artist Jaci Velasquez has topped Billboard’s”Hot Latin Tracks,”marking the first time a Christian artist has topped that list.”Llegar A Ti”reached the No. 1 position during the first week in November. It is the title song on Velasquez’s third album, also titled”Llegar A Ti.”An English version of the song, titled”Love Will Find You,”is featured in the motion picture soundtrack for”Music of the Heart,”a new movie featuring Meryl Streep, Angela Bassett and Gloria Estefan.

Velasquez’s debut album,”Heavenly Place,”earned her a Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association for New Artist of the Year in 1997. She won a Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year in 1998.

Quote of the day: William Levi of Sudan

(RNS)”Persecution is the fertilizer that has grown the Christian church in the Sudan.” _ William Levi, a speaker from Sudan, who participated in the National Service of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on Sunday (Nov. 14) at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington. The service marked the annual observance of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

DEA END RNS