c. 2006 Religion News Service
Disciples Task Force Urges Closer Supervision of Social Services Agency
(RNS) A Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) task force has recommended the denomination more closely supervise its social service division, two years after the division filed for bankruptcy.
Two reports on the National Benevolent Association were presented at the 750,000-member denomination’s annual meeting in July, as the church tries to determine what went wrong, said Wanda Bryant Wills, the Disciples’ director of communications.
Before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004, NBA had approximately 18 programs, most of which served children, the elderly and the developmentally disabled, according to a Disciples newsletter. It also managed 76 Housing and Urban Development apartments for low-income adults and provided services for about 200,000 people, the newsletter said.
A year later, after emerging from bankruptcy, NBA had sold 11 senior living facilities and three facilities for children, removed itself from management of the HUD apartments and paid back its creditors, according to the church.
Now “but a shell of its former self,” it helps fewer than 700 clients per year, the newsletter said.
“The report also noted today’s NBA is trying to heal the breach of trust between the organization and the church,” according to the newsletter.
Though separate legal entities, the Disciples and NBA are tied together by a “covenant” of common principles and theology, Bryant Wills said.
A church task force recommended tightening that association by requiring some high-level NBA employees to be active members of Disciples congregations, naming an ombudsman to review audits and “whistleblower input,” and creating “a general church grievance procedure.”
The church’s General Board accepted the recommendations, but it is not clear if board members will act on them, according to Bryant Wills.
_ Daniel Burke
Eds.: Marthe in the 5th graph is cq.
Bible Student Takes Leap of Faith on Web to Try to Pay College Bills
(RNS) For struggling Moody Bible Institute sophomore Bill Van Kirk, starting his fundraising Web site was an act of faith _ a last-ditch effort to find cash as he faced mounting college bills.
“Faith is about taking that step and actually creating something,” said Van Kirk, 21. “My prayer is that God will honor that step of faith.”
And it seems that his prayers have been answered, to the tune of $820.
Van Kirk set up his site, http://www.Godsdollar.org, in mid-July after calculating that his jobs during the summer and school year wouldn’t cover the $20,000 needed for room and board for the remainder of college. The site asks donors to contribute $1 _ or more.
The Moody Bible Institute, an evangelical school in Chicago, is tuition-free, but the estimate for room, board and books is $4,800 per semester, said Marthe Campa, an application coordinator for Moody’s undergraduate admissions department.
The school does not accept federal financial aid, but students can apply for privately funded scholarships.
Van Kirk, who is studying to become a youth pastor, has corrected people who complimented him on his entrepreneurial site, crediting God instead with its success.
“I believe that God is sovereign over everything, so he owns everything,” he said. “So the good gifts that we get are from God.”
Van Kirk hopes that donations through the site will eventually generate the $20,000 necessary to stay in school.
“We’ll see where God takes it,” he said.
Though Van Kirk has drawn criticism, including e-mails accusing him of being a scam artist and a Web forum calling him a “crazy, bigoted, neo-con Christian,” he remains upbeat.
“It kind of changes the thought of people helping each other out and how God provides,” he said.
While most of Van Kirk’s initial donors were friends and family, he is increasingly receiving cash from strangers. People send notes and tell him that he’s in their prayers.
Van Kirk’s brother Bob Van Kirk, 23, a personal banker in Wisconsin, is in charge of depositing the checks.
“People have sent $1 checks,” Bill Van Kirk said. “And that’s kind of funny, because he (Bob Van Kirk) is like, `I have to deposit $1?”’
_ Kat Glass
Jersey Archbishop Rumored to Be in Line for Detroit Vacancy
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) Once Pope Benedict XVI returns to Vatican City from a mid-September trip to his native Germany, he faces important decisions that will affect millions of Catholics: how to fill archbishop vacancies in Detroit and Baltimore, where archbishops traditionally become cardinals.
Newark, N.J., Archbishop John J. Myers is rumored to be the favorite for Detroit’s opening.
The Vatican tries to keep its appointments under wraps, though vacancies always fuel speculation among priests and within the Catholic community.
Nobody who knows whether Myers is among the three finalists _ or whether the selection process has even reached that point _ will speak publicly about it. Myers, 65, declined to be interviewed about it.
However, the rumors about Myers moving to Detroit are being discussed among priests, mentioned on the Internet and heard even among some lay people.
One member of the clergy in New Jersey who asked not to be identified said that in late spring, he was present when Myers told a group of clergymen that rumors of his being selected for Detroit were strong.
And in August, a blog that is well-read by Vatican watchers in America, whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com, cited Myers as the leading candidate for the Detroit job. The blog is written by Rocco Palmo, a 23-year-old correspondent for the Tablet, a Catholic magazine based in Britain. Palmo did not cite specific sources.
James Goodness, a spokesman for Myers, acknowledged the archbishop has discussed the rumors with people.
“The only thing the archbishop has talked about is that there have been some rumors,” Goodness said. “That (Detroit) is where the rumors are, but they’re just rumors.”
Another important vacancy will open next spring when Cardinal Edward Egan of New York turns 75 on April 2, giving Benedict a chance to further change the face of the American leadership of the Catholic Church.
The likelihood is that “by the end of 2008, Benedict will have reconfigured the Catholic leadership of the United States for the next 15 years,” said George Weigel, biographer of Pope John Paul II and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington.
_ Jeff Diamant
Quote of the Day: Egypt’s Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa
(RNS) “With the clear faith we see between the lines of Mahfouz’s books, he managed to reach all hearts in the world, not only Arabs or Muslims.”
_ Egypt’s Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, speaking at the funeral for Nobel Prize-winning author Naguib Mahfouz on Thursday (Aug. 31) in Cairo, Egypt. He was quoted by the Associated Press.
AMB/PH END RNS
