c. 2000 Religion News Service

Wheaton College Picks Mascot to Replace `Crusaders’

(RNS) After seven months of consideration, Wheaton College has found a new mascot to replace the “Crusaders.”

President Duane Litfin announced Friday (Sept. 29) that “The Wheaton Thunder” will replace the controversial name used for 70 years by the evangelical Christian school in Wheaton, Ill.

When the new name was revealed during the school’s homecoming convocation, students reacted with what Patricia Swindle, the school’s public relations director, called a “wonderful audible” that accompanies the name.

“They started banging their feet on the bleachers,” she said of the event in the school’s King Arena. “The noise was wonderful. That’s going to work really well for us in athletic situations.”

Swindle said the “Thunder” name has a “strong general appeal” and met the criteria of the selection committee, including that it be gender-neutral and could stand the test of time.

“Also thunder has wonderful biblical references,” she said. “There are several references to thunder representing God in passages from Job and in the Psalms and in Revelation.”

The selection committee, which considered more than 550 nominations for a new name, now will determine what graphical representation will accompany the mascot.

Earlier this year, writing to the college community about the decision to no longer use “Crusaders,” Litfin said, “We are hard-pressed to find anything in these disastrous waves of fighting that our Lord might have approved, despite the fact that the conflict was ostensibly carried out in his name.”

British Methodists Vow to Stand With Sex Offenders

(RNS) The United Methodist Church in England has vowed to support and counsel sex offenders as the country calls for tougher treatment of pedophiles and a leading tabloid started to name known sex offenders.

The get-tough approach has resulted in a “frenzy of finger-pointing” and physical attacks on known pedophiles after The News of the World began a campaign this summer to list the names and addresses of sex offenders.

Sex offenders are required under British law to register their whereabouts with local authorities. Because of the hostile atmosphere, experts say many of the offenders go underground and avoid registration.

The newspaper later stopped the public campaign, but several sex offenders were assaulted and harassed as a result. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has vowed to get tough on sex offenders, but has so far resisted calls for a British version of the United States’ Megan’s Law, which allows residents to find out if a known sex offender lives near them.

British Methodists say the current atmosphere does not help either offenders or victims, and have started a program to work with known offenders to reintegrate them into society.

“Our churches need to be informed and not naive in their understanding that the sex offender is vulnerable to re-offending,” said the Rev. Andrew Corday, a Methodist chaplain who works with sex offenders. “We’re not talking about just opening our arms wide and saying, `Come on in.”’

The church has agreed to work with local police, probation officers and social workers to counsel sex offenders. Local churches are being asked to create small teams to accompany offenders to church services and other activities, according to a story produced by United Methodist News Service.

Church rules prohibit sex offenders from working with children or holding official church office, but the church feels it can help reintegrate offenders into the larger society. Still, some victims are unsure the church is doing the right thing.

“There is a profound lack of ability to handle power, manipulation and abuse in healthy ways in the church,” said Sue Jackson, a church deaconess and abuse survivor. “We are very bad at dealing with the reality of what really happens to people.”

Southern African Anglican Bishops Agree to HIV/AIDS Tests

(RNS) Anglican bishops in Southern Africa have agreed to undergo HIV/AIDS tests in hopes it will encourage others to get tested and stem the rising tide of AIDS that is crippling the continent.

The bishops, at a synod meeting in Bloemfontein, South Africa, agreed to encourage clergy and lay leaders in their dioceses to also take the HIV tests. Results will be kept confidential, and the bishops said they will develop guidelines for pre- and post-testing counseling.

“It has set the ball rolling in terms of breaking the steel band of silence which makes so many people feel the need to keep quiet about being positive,” said Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, according to the Anglican Communion News Service.

The bishops hope their testing will help remove some of the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and show the church’s efforts to help stop the spread of the disease.

“It is the little things that make a difference and we hope, by setting an example, to encourage others to be tested,” said economist Clem Sunter.

China Arrests Hundreds More Falun Gong Practitioners

(RNS) Celebrations marking 51 years of Communist rule in China were interrupted Sunday (Oct. 1) by the arrests of hundreds of Falun Gong followers who had gathered in Tiananmen Square to protest Beijing’s treatment of the outlawed spiritual movement.

Chinese authorities detained some 300 protesters, the Associated Press reported, and briefly closed portions of Tiananmen Square where thousands of Chinese tourists had gathered to participate in National Day celebrations.

Officials in provinces surrounding Beijing had attempted to prevent Falun Gong followers from traveling to Beijing by detaining 600 of them during the past two weeks, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported.

Falun Gong _ a combination of traditional Chinese exercises and Buddhist and Taoist principles _ was banned in China in July of last year after Chinese leaders decided the group was a threat to the Communist Party.

Thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested since then, and movement leaders have been sentenced to prison terms as long as 18 years.

Evangelical Filipino Hostages Rescued

(RNS) Twelve Filipino Christians taken hostage three months ago by a Muslim separatist group in the southern Philippines were rescued Monday (Oct. 2).

Their release came after another evangelist taken hostage, Fernando Solon, escaped from the Abu Sayyaf rebels on Sunday (Oct. 1) and led Filipino troops to his captors’ hiding place on Jolo island.

The 13 evangelists with the group Jesus Miracle Crusade were taken hostage in July after traveling to Jolo island to pray with hostages kidnapped in April from a Malaysian diving resort. Their captors are a rebel group fighting for a separate Muslim nation within the predominantly Catholic Philippines.

The rebels fled the area after clashing with government troops, military chief of staff Gen. Angelo Reyes told the Associated Press.

Philippine President Joseph Estrada said the rebels are being pursued by government troops.

“I think eventually we will be able to get them,” said Estrada, who ordered a military assault on Jolo island Sept. 16 in an effort to force the rebels to surrender. The fighting has killed 117 rebels and four government soldiers, according to military reports.

Three Malaysians, a Filipino and one American remain hostage.

Two French journalists escaped from the separatist group Sept. 19.

Quote of the Day: Archbishop George Carey

(RNS) “All of us can be enthused and draw strength from such examples (of strength and perseverance). That includes Christians, even archbishops, as we, too, strive for a great goal _ more precious than silver and more costly than gold.”

_ Archbishop George Carey, leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, writing to the British Olympic team, which won 28 medals at the Sydney games. He was quoted by the Anglican Communion News Service.

DEA END RNS