c. 2006 Religion News Service

Danforth Says Episcopalians at Risk of Being `Irrelevant’

COLUMBUS, Ohio (RNS) In a world rife with violence inspired by religion, the Episcopal Church has a “calling to be a ministry of reconciliation,” former U.S. Sen. John Danforth said Thursday (June 15).

An ordained Episcopal priest who served 18 years in the Senate as a Republican from Missouri and later as ambassador to the United Nations, Danforth, 69, was to keynote a forum on reconciliation at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in Columbus Thursday night.

The 2.3 million-member denomination has been sharply divided over issues of human sexuality in recent years, squabbling over the ordination of an openly gay bishop and the blessing of same-sex unions.

“If the Episcopal church decides that what it is really into is latching on to the most divisive single issue for America today, focusing on that issue as hard … as we can, then we’ll splinter and we’ll be even smaller in number than we are now. Then we are going to be viewed by the rest of the country as irrelevant,” Danforth said.

“Then we’ll be one more tiny splinter, one more tiny wedge in a world full of wedges,” the former senator continued.

Instead of being consumed by internal debates, the Episcopal Church should turn its focus outward, ministering to the world at large, Danforth said.

Specifically, the former senator said the church should take up a suggestion he made to world leaders when he was U.N. ambassador. Using its experience with holding divergent views together, the church should create a mediation service to resolve religious disputes, Danforth said.

Many violent conflicts _ such as those raging in Kashmir, Israel and Sudan _ are rooted in religious struggles, Danforth said.

The Episcopal Church, whose own roots reach to the Protestant Reformation, could offer a unique perspective on helping warring factions find common ground, Danforth said.

“Our liturgy is common, our Communion table is open,” the former senator said. “I think the call is clear.”

_ Daniel Burke

Catholic Bishops Say Immigration a Moral Issue

(RNS) A panel of Roman Catholic bishops, calling the current immigration system “morally unacceptable,” have urged Congress to pass comprehensive reforms that will address the root causes of immigration and provide a path to citizenship for undocumented workers.

“While the immigration debate to date has focused on the economic, legal, and social/cultural aspects of the issue, it is ultimately a humanitarian, and moral issue,” said Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles.

Mahony made his comments Wednesday (June 14) at a news conference during a national meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Los Angeles.

Mahony said current immigration law is “morally unacceptable because it accepts the labor and taxes of millions of workers without offering them the protection of the law.

“At the same time, we scapegoat these newcomers for our social ills and use them as rhetorical targets for political purposes,” he added.

Mahony said it is “incumbent on our elected officials, including Catholics, to carefully scrutinize” immigration law so that they “serve basic human dignity and protect human life.

“Laws and policies which infringe upon dignity and harm human life are wrong and, as a moral matter, should be rebuffed and repealed.”

The House and Senate have passed widely differing versions of immigration legislation. The House proposal focuses almost exclusively on border security issues, while the Senate measure address both security and citizenship issues.

Bishop Gerald Barnes of the diocese of San Bernardino, Calif., chairman of bishops’ Committee on Migration, said the nation stands at “a critical moment” in the immigration debate.

Barnes said while the Senate bill has some harmful provisions, “we believe it contains the essential elements necessary to bring justice to immigrants, including a path to citizenship for the undocumented and changes to our employment and family-based immigration systems.”

He said any bill hammered out by the House and Senate should have citizenship provisions, a temporary worker program, family-reunification reforms that reduce backlogs as well as restoring due process protection for immigrants “and refrain from criminalizing immigrants and those who assist them with their basic needs.”

_ David E. Anderson

Lesbian Priest Drops Quest to Become Church Bishop

COLUMBUS, Ohio (RNS) As the conflict over homosexuality in the Episcopal Church boiled to the surface during its national convention here, the lesbian dean of Cleveland’s Trinity Cathedral said she has withdrawn her name from consideration to become a bishop.

A search committee in the diocese of Newark, N.J., notified the Rev. Tracey Lind earlier that she and others would be scrutinized and interviewed for the job, but she said that “after struggling long and hard with myself and with what God wants of me, I told them to withdraw me from consideration.”

While the dispute over gays’ and lesbians’ roles in the church seems to dominate this convention, Lind said that her decision “doesn’t have to do with my sexuality; it’s a matter of my calling. I believe God wants me to remain at Trinity and serve my congregation there.”

Currently, only one Episcopal bishop _ V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire _ is openly gay, but there is wide speculation that the liberal Newark diocese could elect the church’s second openly gay bishop later this year.

Meanwhile, a denominational committee at the convention proposed that the church name no more bishops from among its gay and lesbian clergy for the time being, in deference to the wishes of conservative Episcopalians and the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a part.

At the convention, once the committee’s call for a hold on new gay or lesbian bishops surfaced, Robinson spoke with reporters, calling the dispute “a fight for the soul of this church.” He joined two national gay rights advocates in urging the convention to reject any moratorium aimed at mollifying the Anglican Communion.

“What we’re called to do is to, as faithfully as we can, discern God’s will and act on it,” he said.

_ Frank Bentayou

Christian Reformed Church Names New Leader

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) Twenty years to the week after he decided to become a minister in the Christian Reformed Church, the Rev. Gerard Dykstra was named its top administrator.

Delegates to the CRC Synod unanimously elected Dykstra executive director on Tuesday (June 13), filling an unexpected church vacancy and beginning a new chapter in Dykstra’s unlikely ministry.

The former dairy equipment and construction company owner was visibly moved as delegates gave him a standing ovation, then laid hands on him in prayer.

Dykstra gratefully accepted a post he did not seek, but to which he believes he was divinely called. “If it’s where God wants me, it’s where I will serve,” Dykstra told delegates.

He steps into a position held by the retiring Rev. Peter Borgdorff for the past year. The Rev. Calvin Bremer was forced to resign three weeks before he was to assume the post over allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a female colleague.

Dykstra’s servant heart, team-building skills and encompassing vision will help the CRC move on from a painful episode, said the Rev. Wayne Leys, Synod president.

“This allows us to say our feet are on solid ground and, now we have one who is willing to move ahead with us for many years,” Leys said.

A native of Holland, Mich., and son of a minister, Dykstra served as pastor of two Christian Reformed congregations before being named director of denominational ministries last year.

“God just put the pieces in place,” said Dykstra, 56. “That’s been the story of my entire ministry.”

In an hour-long interview by the Synod, Dykstra stressed the need for vibrant congregations in the 272,000-member denomination. He pointed to a painting created for the CRC’s 150th anniversary showing people of all colors and ages before a Communion table.

“This is my vision for the Christian Reformed Church _ a diverse family of healthy congregations (and) God’s people fulfilling God’s purpose in this world.”

He said women’s ordination and homosexuality are struggles the denomination must continue to face. “I fear that in our desire for truth and righteousness, we cease to touch the lives of those who are touched by homosexuality,” Dykstra said.

_ Charles Honey

Quote of the Day: Farmer Bryce Wiehl of Smith Center, Kan.

(RNS) “Some people call them a cult, and some little old ladies are locking their doors. You’re in the Bible Belt, and this is a Hindu-based religion. People don’t like that idea.”

_ Bryce Wiehl, 50, a farmer in Smith Center, Kan., talking about reaction in his town to plans by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to build a “World Capital of Peace” just outside the town. He was quoted by USA Today.

KRE/RB END RNS