c. 2003 Religion News Service
ELCA Sticks With Original Time Line for Considering Sex-Sex Unions
(RNS) The Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America decided Saturday (Aug. 16) to stick with its time line for considering sexuality matters, meaning the denomination will consider whether to bless same-sex unions at its meeting in 2005.
By a vote of 687-278, the assembly, meeting in Milwaukee, commended the current ELCA Studies on Sexuality effort. The gathering rejected a request to delay decisions concerning same-sex unions and whether or not people in such relationships should be pastors in the denomination, the ELCA’s news service reported.
In 2001, the denomination’s biennial gathering called for study on the issues in preparation for recommendations by 2005.
Supporters of altering the time line said the request was not meant to rescind the 2001 actions but instead permit a social statement on human sexuality, scheduled to be considered in 2007, to influence decisions about same-sex unions and ordination of those in committed same-sex relationships. Opponents saw the possible postponement as a breaking of a promise to consider the issues for two more years.
The denomination does not have an official policy on the blessing of same-sex relationships, but its Conference of Bishops, an advisory body, does not approve of such ceremonies. Current church policy calls for ministers to refrain from sexual relations outside marriage.
In a separate vote, the assembly defeated a resolution to suspend the denomination’s full communion relationship with the Episcopal Church until after the decisions concerning sexuality had been made. The Episcopal Church recently approved its first openly gay bishop and recognized that some of its bishops permit same-sex blessings.
In a sermon at a gathering of Lutherans Concerned/North America, a gay and lesbian rights advocacy organization, former ELCA Presiding Bishop Herbert W. Chilstrom said he believes it is time to permit ordained pastors who are in committed homosexual relationships to serve in the denomination.
In other business, the assembly voted 918-48 to join Christian Churches Together in the USA, a new ecumenical organization.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Thousands Show Support for Ten Commandments Monument
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (RNS) Thousands came from as far away as California and Virginia to voice support Saturday (Aug. 16) for Chief Justice Roy Moore in his battle with the federal courts to keep a monument to the Ten Commandments in the state judicial building rotunda.
“Why are we here? We’re here because we believe our God has been insulted,” said the Rev. Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America, which sponsored the rally.
Scarborough and several other speakers blasted U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, who ruled the monument unconstitutional and threatened hefty fines against the state if it isn’t removed from public display by Wednesday.
“This is not the end of this movement. It’s the birth of this movement,” said Scarborough, whose organization enlists pastors and churches to become politically active.
Scarborough, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, former U.N. Ambassador Alan Keyes and other speakers compared the battle for public display of the Ten Commandments to the civil rights movement that began here nearly five decades ago. They compared Moore’s role to that of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Falwell, of Lynchburg, Va., said a reporter asked him why he was coming to Alabama to stand with Moore, who was breaking the law, and he asked the reporter if he would ask King the same question.
“Civil disobedience is the right of every one of us, to break man’s law to obey God’s law,” Falwell said.
If those who believe in Moore stand behind him like those did who supported King, “one day we too shall overcome,” Falwell said. “America shall return to one nation under God.”
Moore, who had not been expected to attend the rally, made a surprise appearance and spoke briefly.
“It’s not about me,” said Moore. “I will pass away as every politician and every pastor, but the laws of God will remain forever.”
Moore said Thompson identified the central issue during trial of the case last year in federal court. “The issue is, can the state acknowledge God? He said no,” Moore said, and the crowd booed.
Other rally speakers criticized Attorney General Bill Pryor and Justice Gorman Houston, the senior associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, who have said they will do whatever is necessary to see that Thompson’s order is obeyed and that the state isn’t fined. Moore’s lawyers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to set aside Thompson’s order pending a review of the case.
About 3,000 people gathered in the streets and hundreds more sat or stood in the shade under the huge trees on both sides of the Capitol steps. A dozen members of American Atheists gathered across the street from the judicial building, about two blocks from the capitol, holding banners calling for separation of church and state.
_ Stan Bailey
Pope Renews Appeal to Europe to Recognize Its Christian Roots
(RNS) Calling Christianity Europe’s “unifying force,” Pope John Paul II has renewed his appeal to the European Union to recognize the continent’s Christian roots.
The 82-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff made the appeal Sunday (Aug. 17) in a brief address to pilgrims gathered for the midday Angelus prayer in the courtyard of his summer residence in the hill town of Castelgandolfo south of Rome.
“The Christian faith gave (Europe) form, and some of its fundamental values later inspired the democratic ideal and human rights of modern Europe,” the pope said.
“More than a geographical location, Europe is predominantly a cultural and historical concept, characterizing itself as a continent thanks also to the unifying force of Christianity that has integrated different peoples and cultures,” he said.
John Paul has repeatedly urged the EU to give explicit recognition to Christianity in its new constitution. Although Italy, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, and other Catholic countries support the pope, the draft constitution published in June did not include a specific reference to Christianity.
Making no mention of the constitution, John Paul said it is undeniable that Europe at present faces “a crisis of values, and it is important that it recover its true identity.”
“The process of enlargement of the European Union with other countries cannot regard only geographical and economic aspects,” he said, “but it must translate into a renewed harmony of values to be expressed in law and in life.”
Ten countries, most of them from the former Soviet bloc, will join the EU in May 2004.
_ Peggy Polk
Disciples Moderator Apologizes for Uncredited Use of Others’ Sermons
(RNS) The moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) apologized to his Washington congregation Sunday (Aug. 17) after a newspaper ran a story about his admission that he had used other ministers’ sermons without giving them credit.
“I am so very sorry for bringing embarrassment on this wonderful congregation,” said the Rev. Alvin O’Neal Jackson, pastor of National City Christian Church, the flagship congregation of the 800,000-member denomination, The Washington Post reported.
On Saturday, the Post ran a front-page story detailing how National City members had discovered a series of “borrowed” sermons through an Internet search.
Jackson told the newspaper in an interview that he used 16 sermons of the Rev. Thomas K. Tewell, pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York, and one by the Rev. John Buchanan, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, without crediting them.
“I take full responsibility for what I’ve done,” Jackson told the Post. “It was poor judgment on my part.”
In the first report, Jackson cited an 18-month period of “major personal crisis” that included back surgery and added that he thought some members had a “vendetta” against him.
But in the report following the Sunday service, Jackson said, “I apologize for casting aspersions against anyone in this congregation.”
He met with the congregation’s board of elders after the service and is likely to meet with the congregation as well.
The Rev. William Chris Hobgood, who will take over and finish out the term of retiring denomination President Richard Hamm starting in October, said the congregation or the denomination could determine that Jackson’s actions amounted to ministerial misconduct. If so, he could lose his credentials for ministry or be fired.
“I think the most important thing is for everyone to get the complete story of what happened … and then we’ll go from there,” said church board member Chrys Lemon.
Quote of the Day: Bass Player Kalel of Christian Rock Group Pillar
(RNS) “I found a flier about the festival lying on the ground. It said, `Come feel the touch of the Master’s hand.’ I doubt they had any idea how true that statement would be.”
_ Kalel, a one-name bass player with the Christian rock group Pillar, reacting to his band’s narrow escape from a stage that was caught up in a windstorm during the Godstock Music Festival in Comstock, Neb., on Aug. 9.
DEA END RNS
