c. 2000 Religion News Service
Percentage of Born-again Asian-Americans on the Rise
(RNS) The percentage of Asian-Americans who can be considered born-again Christians has increased significantly in the last decade, a new Barna poll reveals.
In 1991, 5 percent of Asian-Americans had made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and believed they would have eternal life because they accepted him as their savior, reports the Ventura, Calif.-based Barna Research Group.
The figure increased to 27 percent in a recent poll, higher than the 23 percent figure for Hispanic-Americans.
The nationwide random poll, taken of 1,002 adults in February, also found a significant shift in the growth of born-again Christians among those with higher incomes.
In 1991, 13 percent of born-again adults lived in households earning $60,000 or more.
Now, 25 percent of born-again adults are from upscale households. The marketing research company attributes that change to the increased likelihood that people of upper-income levels will accept Jesus as their savior and the increase in the number of affluent households.
George Barna, president of Barna Research Group, commented on the growth in well-off born-again Christians, noting that accepting Jesus does not always lead to selflessness or sacrifice.
“For many of these individuals, faith in Jesus is simply a good deal,” he said in a statement. “Faith in Christ represents an eternal insurance policy for them rather than a significant change of heart about the ultimate meaning of life, or how to honor Christ through their decisions, behavior and resources.”
Pollsters found that the percentage of born-again adults who are 50 or older has risen from 31 percent in 1991 to 41 percent this year. In comparison, the share represented by the 18-29 age group dropped from 20 percent in 1991 to 14 percent.
The research firm also defines 26 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 as born-again, a drop from 28 percent in 1991.
“Baby busters have proven to be the most gospel-resistant generation the church has seen in many years,” said Barna, referring to the generation that followed the baby boomers. “While more than one-third of baby boomers were likely to be born-again by the time they reached their early adult years, only one-quarter of the busters are following suit.”
The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Jesse Jackson Awarded Divinity Degree
(RNS) Thirty-four years after leaving Chicago Theological Seminary three credits shy of a degree, the Rev. Jesse Jackson will receive a master of divinity degree from the school Saturday (June 3).
Jackson left the seminary in 1966 to work with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Among the three courses he did not complete was a class in preaching.
“He hadn’t quite turned in all his sermons,” said seminary President Susan Thistlethwaite, who made the offer to Jackson. “I laughed and said, `This is a no-brainer,”’ the Associated Press reported.
After examining Jackson’s writings, the seminary awarded him credits in pastoral care, international relations and preaching. Jackson also underwent an hourlong oral examination _ a prospect he greeted with some trepidation.
“I think one of the reasons I delayed coming back was that I feared I wouldn’t pass the test,” said Jackson, who was ordained a Baptist minister in 1968. “I understand test phobia.”
But he wasn’t the only anxious one.
“It was a little daunting interrogating Rev. Jackson,” said JoAnne Terrell, the ethics professor who administered the examination.
Priest Says He Will Abide by Vatican Gag Order
(RNS) A Maryland Catholic priest said he will abide by a Vatican gag order and not talk about the church’s decision to end his ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics, even though the nun he worked with has refused to do so.
The Rev. Robert Nugent, who has led New Ways Ministry since 1977 with Sister Jeannine Gramick, told the Associated Press he will follow the Vatican’s order and not talk about the decision, or the process that led to it.
“I am now prohibited from speaking or writing in the public forum about the Notification itself, about the ecclesiastical process that led to it or about the issue of homosexuality,” Nugent said in a statement.
When reached by telephone, he referred to his statement.
Last year, the Vatican told both Nugent and Gramick they could not continue in their ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics. Gramick has publicly called the decision “fundamentally unfair,” and both Gramick and Nugent had talked openly about the decision.
That changed last week when the two were summoned to Rome and informed they could not talk about the decision, called a Notification, or the process. While Nugent has agreed to abide by the order, Gramick has not.
“After finding my voice to tell my story, I choose not to collaborate in my own oppression by restricting a basic human right,” Gramick said in a statement. “To me this is a matter of conscience.”
Gramick’s religious order, the School Sisters of Notre Dame, had encouraged her to abide by the Vatican decree. According to Gramick’s order, she is now within a step of being dismissed from the group.
Farrakhan Applauds End of Sanctions Against Libya
(RNS) Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan visited Libya on Tuesday (May 30) to meet with several African leaders, and praised the suspension of United Nations sanctions against the North African country.
The Middle East News Agency reported Farrakhan traveled to Tripoli, the Libyan capital, to meet with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi as well as government officials from Chad, Mali and Liberia, according to the Associated Press. Exactly what the leaders will discuss is unclear.
Farrakhan called for the permanent suspension of U.N. sanctions, lifted in April of last year after Libya surrendered to a Scottish court in the Netherlands two Libyans suspected of killing 270 people in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The sanctions were first imposed in 1992, when Libya refused to hand over the two men.
Farrakhan _ whose trip to Libya is his sixth in five years _ has often sparked controversy because of his friendly relationship with Libya, with which the United States broke off diplomatic relations nine years ago.
Successor to Vineyard Association Founder Steps Down
(RNS) The successor to the founder of the Association of Vineyard Churches has announced plans to step down to return to pastoring.
Todd Hunter, 44, became national director and board president of the charismatic association based in Anaheim, Calif., in 1998. He succeeded John Wimber, who died in 1997.
Hunter said he never intended to have a long-term leadership role with the association, which has about 500 U.S. member congregations.
“My dream is to be a church-planting missionary to postmodern generations,” he said, reported Charisma News Service, a service offered by Charisma magazine.
The association’s board accepted Hunter’s resignation “regretfully” and appointed Berten Waggoner as acting national director.
Quote of the Day: Attempted Assassin Mehmet Ali Agca
(RNS) “We simply have cameo roles in the mysterious project of God.”
_ Mehmet Ali Agca, who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, in an interview with Reuters on May 29 on the Vatican’s disclosure that the attack was foretold in a vision of the Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
DEA END RNS
