c. 2005 Religion News Service
Massachusetts Amendment Targeting Gay Marriage Overturned
BOSTON (RNS) The Massachusetts Legislature has voted overwhelmingly to reject a measure that sought to overturn the state Supreme Judicial Court’s historic ruling allowing gay marriages.
After a low-key debate, the House and the Senate voted 157-39 Wednesday (Sept. 15) to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment that defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman but established civil unions for gays.
The amendment had once been seen as a compromise, since it would have denied gays the full legal protection of marriage but would at the same time give their relationships some legal protection as civil unions. But after the state’s attorney general certified a new proposed ballot question on marriage for 2008, the compromise’s fragile political alliance fell apart.
At least one conservative Christian group, The Massachusetts Family Institute, hailed the decision, hoping the 2008 ballot question would preclude both gay marriage and civil unions.
But gay activists were even happier, knowing same-sex marriage would likely remain legal for at least three years. They erupted in cheers in the House gallery following the vote during a joint meeting of the branches called a constitutional convention.
Their eyes filled with tears, Lauri Brodeur-Heihsel, 46, and her spouse, Rose Brodeur-Heihsel, 57, of Northampton embraced Myanna Carbin-O’Brien, 37, of Holyoke, while outside the gallery.
“It feels great,” said Carbin-O’Brien, a substitute teacher in Holyoke public schools who married her partner in May 2004 shortly after gay marriages became legal in Massachusetts. “We’ve been affirmed.”
“We are very, very happy,” said Lauri Brodeur-Heihsel, a registered nurse.
Wednesday’s session displayed little of the intensity of constitutional conventions last year when legislators voted 105-92 to approve the amendment. The amendment needed the support of at least 101 legislators to move to the statewide ballot in November 2006. The vote means there will be no referendum on gay marriage next year.
Massachusetts is the first state to allow gays to marry and so far remains the only state to legally permit the practice.
_ Dan Ring
Jewish, Mainline Leaders Attempt to Mend Fences in Holy Land Trip
(RNS) Leaders from Jewish groups and mainline Protestant churches plan to leave Sunday (Sept. 18) for a joint trip to the Middle East in an effort to improve strained relations stemming from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The six-day trip comes as the culmination of discussions between eight mainline churches and six national Jewish organizations. A longstanding alliance between Protestants and Jews has been threatened by Protestant efforts to divest from companies doing business in Israel.
Delegates plan to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials, as well as religious leaders and scholars, in an effort to understand both sides of the conflict. Leadership from each side will have the opportunity to plan two days of the event.
The visit was announced in May to help Christians and Jews see the region “through each other’s eyes.”
“The trip seeks to demonstrate that Christians and Jews can work together and dialogue on peace even when there is disagreement on specific policies and solutions, and to enable the participants to become even more effective advocates of peace,” said a joint statement by Protestants and Jews planning the trip.
Jewish groups were angered when the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted in 2004 to pursue “phased, selective (economic) divestment” from companies operating in Israel. The Presbyterian action was taken to protest Israeli treatment of Palestinians.
The divestment campaign has picked up support from Anglicans and at least two local United Methodist conferences. The United Church of Christ voted this summer to use “economic leverage” in the region, while the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America said they would not pursue divestment.
Jews and Protestants on the Middle East trip “hope to more effectively support those Palestinians and Israelies who are courageously working to establish a secure, viable and independent Palestinian state alongside an equally secure Israel,” the joint statement said.
Other Christian groups on the trip include the Episcopal Church, the National Council of Churches and the Alliance of Baptists. Jewish groups on the trip include the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the American Jewish Congress, the Union for Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
_ Jason Kane
Catholic Priest Feared Dead After Hurricane
(RNS) Like a loyal ship’s captain, “Father Red” rode out hurricanes for decades at his tiny Catholic church in Louisiana. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he is feared dead, a drowning victim of the powerful storm.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans has received unofficial word that the Rev. Arthur “Red” Ginart’s body has been recovered near St. Nicholas of Myra Church, where he served as pastor for 28 years, but “no one wants to speak the final words,” Bishop Roger Morin said Wednesday (Sept. 14) at a temporary New Orleans archdiocesan headquarters in Baton Rouge.
On a recent routine visit to St. Nicholas, Ginart told Morin that he would never leave his beloved church during a storm. The pastor told his superior “I never want to be moved from here. I want to stay here until I either retire or die,” Morin said.
Ginart “used to pride himself on never having evacuated, and he used to tell people he never would,” Morin said.
Like most of the waterfront camps along the peninsula known as the Lake Catherine community, between the Chef Menteur Bridge and the Rigolets, the church and rectory were smashed apart by Katrina’s storm surge. Also gone is the historic Rigolets lighthouse and the Tally Ho Club, perhaps the oldest established hunting club in the country.
Of 180 active priests in the New Orleans archdiocese, 130 are accounted for, a spokeswoman said. But Ginart is the only priest feared dead, she said.
_ Lynne Jensen and Bruce Nolan
Survey: More than Half of Protestant Churches Have Own Web Site
(RNS) Protestants churches are increasingly using technology in their sanctuaries and their offices, a new poll shows.
The Barna Group reports “serious double-digit growth” in the use of Web sites, large-screen projection systems and e-mail blasts by the nation’s Protestant churches.
The Ventura, Calif.-based researchers found that nearly six out of 10 Protestant churches have a Web site. That’s a sharp rise from 2000, when just one-third of Protestant churches had Web sites.
The survey showed 62 percent of churches are using large-screen projection systems to communicate. Five years ago, 39 percent of congregations used that technology.
The percentage of Protestant churches that use video content in their worship services has also increased. Now, 61 percent use video segments as part of worship, compared to 30 percent in 2000.
Two other forms of technology _ electronic funds transfer and satellite dishes _ are not used as frequently by most congregations. The transfer of funds electronically occurs in 12 percent of churches in 2005, compared to 7 percent five years ago. And 8 percent of churches receive communications via satellite broadcast now, just a slight increase over the 7 percent that did in 2000.
Researchers also found that the introduction of big screens to sanctuaries may be prompting the exit of physical biblical texts. The number of churches that provide so-called “pew Bibles” has decreased from 86 percent in 2000 to 80 percent today as big screens are used to show Bible verses during worship services.
George Barna, the leader of the Barna Group _ which includes a division that offers a large selection of video clips to churches _ said he anticipates more technological changes in the future.
“During the next half of the decade, we expect increased broadbrand access, podcasting, and ubiquitous adoption of handheld mobile computing devices by consumers to further alter the way churches conduct ministry,” he predicted.
_ Adelle M. Banks
American Academy of Religion Honors Journalists for Thorough Reporting
(RNS) A free-lance journalist, a reporter for a Missouri daily newspaper and a commentator for an inter-religious Web site received top accolades from the American Academy of Religion in the organization’s annual in-depth reporting awards.
Kimberly Winston, a free-lance journalist from Pinole, Calif., won in the category for journalists at news outlets with a circulation of more than 100,000. Winston’s five pieces included topics published on Beliefnet, ranging from the impact of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” to the mainstreaming of Wicca.
Second-place honors went to Bill Tammeus of the Kansas City Star, who won in the opinion-writing category three years ago and came in third last year. Taking third place this year was David Van Biema of Time magazine.
Linda Leicht of The News-Leader in Springfield, Mo., captured the first-place prize for reporters at news outlets with less than 100,000. Her stories highlighted topics from the divisiveness caused by the issue of gay marriage to the significance of language in expressions of faith.
Second place went to Burton Bollag of the Chronicle of Higher Education, and coming in third was John Dart of the Christian Century, who came in first in that category last year.
Steven Waldman, editor of Beliefnet, received the top honor in the opinion writing category. His pieces, involving in-depth commentary concerning the election and “The Passion of the Christ,” were described by judges as “often contrarian and always provocative.” Waldman advanced to the No. 1 spot after receiving second place in the same category last year.
Coming in second was Tracy O’Shaughnessy of The Sunday Republican in Waterbury, Conn. Third prize went to Douglas Todd of the Vancouver Sun, who received the top prize in the same category last year.
The AAR, which is the world’s largest association of scholars in religion, awards articles that demonstrate “well researched newswriting that enhances the public understanding of religion.”
A three-panel team of judges selected the journalists awarded top honors from a pool of 85 applicants. Each first-place winner receives $1,000.
_ Jason Kane
Quote of the Day: President Bush
(RNS) “When we find anti-Semitism at home, we will confront it. When we find anti-Semitism abroad, we will condemn it. And we condemn the desecration of the synagogues in Gaza that followed Israel’s withdrawal.”
_ President Bush, speaking Wednesday (Sept. 14) to a dinner audience marking the 350th anniversary of American Judaism.
MO/JL END RNS
