c. 2008 Religion News Service De Santis named head of Episcopal Life Media (RNS) The Episcopal Church has chosen a veteran newswoman with experience in the secular and religious press to be the new editor of Episcopal Life Media. Solange De Santis, a native New Yorker who has reported for Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and the Anglican Journal of Canada, will begin her new position July 1, the church announced. Since 2000, De Santis had been a staff writer at the Anglican Journal, the the national newspaper of the Anglican Church of Canada. As editor, De Santis will supervise content for ELM’s online and print editions and help guide Episcopal Life, a monthly newspaper with a circulation of 225,000, the church said. She will also work to synergize the church’s multi-media communications, including Episcopal News Service, parish bulletin inserts, e-mail releases, and videos, according to an ENS release. “The Episcopal Church’s communications platforms continue to break new ground in reaching out to all the church’s constituents,” De Santis said. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to this work.” De Santis succeeds Jerry Hames, who retired in 2007 after 17 years with Episcopal Life Media. _ Daniel Burke Birmingham program tries to keep young Jews in the city BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) For more than 125 years, the Jewish community here has been at the core of the city’s social and business scene. Keeping it that way as the younger generation typically moves away after college requires an organized effort. That’s where Caren Seligman steps in. “My goal is to have one child from every family to settle here,” said Seligman, coordinator of the Birmingham Jewish Federation’s “You Belong in Birmingham” project. Seligman plays the role of youth recruiter, job finder, social director and even matchmaker. She wants Jewish children who grow up in Birmingham to return after college, get married, settle down and raise their children here. She also works to attract to Birmingham young Jewish professionals who grew up elsewhere. “I feel like all these people are my children,” she said. Seligman quit a 17-year career in promotional advertising to take the job promoting Birmingham as an attractive outpost for Jewish young people. Her own daughter and mother have recently moved to Birmingham. She helps young Jewish people look for jobs and meet others their age. “When they move away, I take it personally,” Seligman said. “When they don’t get the jobs, I get upset.” Sometimes, for young singles, it boils down to whether someone can find a potential husband or wife in the city’s small Jewish dating pool. “I wanted my spouse to be someone who is Jewish,” said Jessica Smith, 23, who grew up in Birmingham but moved to Atlanta for a while. Evan Rhodes, 27, moved to Birmingham from Cleveland for a sales job. Seligman helped introduce him to Smith. They are now engaged and planning to settle here. “Birmingham was just going to be a step in my career; it wasn’t going to be a permanent stop,” Rhodes said. Now he roots for Seligman’s efforts. “We want to have a strong Jewish community for our children,” Rhodes said. _ Greg Garrison Study: 1 percent of congregations close doors each year (RNS) An average of 1 percent of religious congregations shut their doors each year, a lower closure rate than other organizations, according to a new study. The finding, published in the June issue of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, means that about 10 of every 1,000 U.S. congregations end their operations each year. Researchers from Duke University and the University of Arizona found that disbanded congregations tended to have fewer adult participants than active congregations, with a median size of 50 compared to 269 in active ones. They also learned that congregations where conflict prompted some people to leave in the previous two years were much more likely to disband than active congregations. Religious congregations have a lower annual mortality rate than other organizations studied over the last two decades, such as volunteer social service groups (2.3 percent), California wineries (5 percent) and peace movement organizations (9 percent). “The main difference between congregations doomed to disband and congregations destined for revival is a willingness to adapt, to alter their congregational identity in response to change in the communities in which they are located,” the authors of the study concluded. “And whether a congregation is willing to adapt depends largely on the outcome of conflict between advocates of the status quo and advocates of change.” Mark Chaves, a sociologist at Duke University and co-author of the study, said a low mortality rate should not automatically be considered good news for houses of worship. “Normally, one would think such a low mortality rate means that congregations overall are unusually healthy organizations,” he said. “But we believe that’s probably not the case. Instead, we think it means that congregations are a type of organization that has ways to stay alive even when they are very weak.” The study was based on an analysis that determined the 2005 status of 1,234 congregations in the 1998 National Congregations Study, of which Chaves is the principal investigator. Researchers searched the Internet and denominational yearbooks or contacted congregations directly to determine their status. _ Adelle M. Banks Pastor who was confronted by female congregants is sentenced to jail PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) A pastor who sexually assaulted five women in his church didn’t want to stand up in court and say he was sorry. But the terms of his plea agreement made it a requirement. “Do I have to?” Sergio Alvarizares asked Judge Eric Bergstrom on Wednesday (June 4), in a last-ditch effort to get out of it. “Yes,” replied the judge. And so Alvarizares rattled off the few sentences of his apology letter: “I am sincerely sorry for all the sexual contact,” Alvarizares read, his voice lacking any emotion. Alvarizares’ crimes against women became public during a dramatic confrontation at a Sept. 30 Sunday service at Casa del Padre, a nondenominational Spanish-speaking church. A woman interrupted the service to accuse Alvarizares of luring her into his office with compliments, locking the door and making unwanted sexual advances to her. Other women stood up to confront Alvarizares about abuse, too. As the crowd grew unruly and five people reportedly tried to get onto the pulpit, several people dialed 9-1-1. The pastor yelled, “That’s a lie! That’s a lie!” before ducking into his office. One caller declared, “This is an emergency!” Another reported, “Someone wants to fight the pastor.” Police came to calm the crowd. Within weeks, nine women had come forward with stories of abuse. Alvarizares was indicted for crimes against five of the women. Alvarizares and his wife, who have three sons, had been co-pastors for several years of the church, known in English as “Father’s House.” The church, with a congregation of about 800 adults, started in the couple’s home. Bergstrom sentenced the 39-year-old man to 31/2 years in prison. Alvarizares had originally been charged with raping one woman, attempting to rape two others and sexually abusing two others. Last month, he pleaded guilty to attempted rape and third-degree sexual abuse for unlawfully kissing four women and trying to force another woman to have sex. _ Aimee Green Muslim leaders affirm Saudi king’s interfaith effort RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (RNS) Hundreds of Muslim leaders from around the world have endorsed Saudi King Abdullah’s recent call for intensified interfaith dialogue in order to dampen global conflict and demonstrate Islam’s commitment to solving world problems. The declaration came on Friday (June 6) at the close of a three-day conference in Islam’s holy city of Mecca to discuss Abdullah’s surprise announcement in March that he wants to launch a new dialogue among Muslims, Christians and Jews. The lengthy declaration affirmed dialogue as an Islamic value, and cited the need to refute those who promote “clash of civilization” theories and “claims that Islam is an enemy of contemporary civilization. ”Needless to say … the world is facing numerous challenges that pose (a) threat mankind’s future,” including “moral and social as well as environmental catastrophes,” the document said. “A profound dialogue aimed at exploring the human commonalities (among people of different faiths), is essential.” Conference participant Nihad Awad, executive director of the Washington-based Council on American Islamic Relations, said there was a “realization … that people have to reach out and understand others in order to be understood … “We can easily say these things in the West, but to have them being said in the Middle East is important.” Abdullah’s proposal drew headlines because Saudi Arabia’s exclusivist version of Islam tends to view non-Muslims as “infidels” unworthy of engaging in dialogue. Non-Muslims cannot openly practice their faith in the kingdom. His initiative, and this week’s relatively quick follow-up, are widely seen as an effort to discredit extremist views and reverse Islam’s image as a violent faith. Friday’s declaration did not specifically mention Christians and Jews, referring instead to “followers of the previous divine messages.” (Muslims regard Judaism and Christianity as precursor religions to Islam.) It also urged dialogue with adherents of “man-made philosophies,” an apparent reference to Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs. The estimated 500 conference participants from 50 countries said “a specialized team” should be formed to create an “international Dialogue commission.” Topics for discussion should include “the phenomena and causes of terrorism,” “aggression against the environment” and “collapse of the established family system.” _ Caryle Murphy South Carolina gets `I Believe’ license plates (RNS) Without the approval of the governor, the state of South Carolina will now permit drivers to put “I Believe” license plates on their vehicles. The legislation, which passed unanimously by the General Assembly on May 22, calls for the plate to contain the words “I Believe” as well as a cross superimposed on a stained glass window. Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican, said in a Thursday (June 5) letter that he allowed the bill to become law without his signature, which is permitted under the state constitution. “While I do, in fact, `believe’ _ it is my personal view that the largest proclamation of one’s faith ought to be in how one lives one’s life,” the governor wrote in a letter to Glenn McConnell, president pro tem of the South Carolina Senate. He also said he thought the state’s General Assembly should not be in the “license plate creation business.” Marc Stern, general counsel for the American Jewish Congress, wrote Sanford on May 20, arguing that the bill is unconstitutional: “The Establishment Clause’s most basic precept is that the states may not favor one faith over another.” State Sen. Lawrence K. Grooms, who co-sponsored the bill, said he didn’t think the bill caused constitutional problems, The New York Times reported. The Times reported that the American Jewish Congress and the American Civil Liberties Union are considering suing South Carolina over the issue. _ Adelle M. Banks Jesuits promise `creative fidelity’ to pope VATICAN CITY (RNS) Responding to explicit requests from Pope Benedict XVI, leaders of the Jesuits declared their fidelity to the papacy and church doctrine, while stressing their need for “freedom” and “creativity” in carrying out their work. The statements appear in a set of decrees approved by the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (popularly known as the Jesuits), which is the largest religious order in the Catholic Church. The meeting of Jesuit representatives from around the world took place in Rome from Jan. 7 to March 6, though the final versions of its decrees were not published until Friday (June 6). The pope had earlier has asked participants to reaffirm their “total adherence to Catholic doctrine, especially to its key points, under severe attack today by the secular culture, such as, for example, the relationship between Christ and religions, certain aspects of liberation theology,” marriage and homosexuality. In response, one decree asks each Jesuit priest to “examine his own way of living and working” for harmony with church teaching in most of the areas mentioned by the pope, and to “acknowledge humbly (any) mistakes and faults.” Jesuits take a unique vow of obedience to the pontiff, which over the centuries has earned them the nickname of the “pope’s light cavalry.” But in recent years, the Vatican has censured several Jesuit theologians for deviations from orthodoxy. Two weeks before the Jesuits adjourned, Benedict personally enjoined them to “rediscover the fullest sense” of their vow of obedience. That vow, the pope said, “does not imply only the readiness to be sent on mission to distant lands, but also … to `love and serve’ the Vicar of Christ of Earth.” Yet one decree insists, with a quotation from the order’s constitutions, that the “entire purport” of the vow in question “was and is with regard to missions … for having the members dispersed throughout the various parts of the world.” The decree’s authors add, however, that love for the pontiff as Christ’s representative inspires Jesuits to go beyond their obligations to “offer the service asked of us by the pope.” The same decree stipulates that the distinctive Jesuit form of obedience is marked by “discernment, freedom and creativity in seeking the will of God,” and that “obedience in the Society has rightly been described as an exercise in creative fidelity.” _ Francis X. Rocca American Bible Society ends contract with its president (RNS) The president of the American Bible Society has been removed from his job just weeks after news reports that an Internet contractor that had received millions from the society had past ties to the pornography industry. The chairman of the trustee board for the New York-based society announced Friday (June 6) that the annual contract of ABS President Paul Irwin would not be renewed. ABS spokeswoman Erin Mitchell said that decision was “completely unrelated” to The New York Times’ reporting about the society’s former Internet contractor. “It was not a reflection of any wrongdoing,” Mitchell said. “It was simply a matter of looking after the best interests of the Bible society and the donors and moving forward.” The society’s board has given its executive vice presidents, R. Lamar Vest and the Rev. Simon Barnes, interim responsibility for the day-to-day operations. Richard Stewart, the society’s chief financial officer, remains on leave at the trustees’ request, Mitchell said. He was placed on leave in May at the same time as Irwin. The society has “ended absolutely” its relationship with the contractor, Mitchell said. When the board announced the leaves for Irwin and Stewart, it committed to a financial review of the organization. “It is an independent, detailed audit,” Mitchell said. Irwin is a United Methodist minister who worked as an executive of the Humane Society of the United States before taking the presidential post at the Bible society in 2006. _ Adelle M. Banks Gay Episcopal bishop enters into N.H. civil union (RNS) Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson and his longtime male partner have joined themselves in a civil union in New Hampshire. Robinson and Mark Andrew, who have been partners for 20 years, were united in a civil ceremony Saturday (June 7) in the narthex of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Concord, said Mike Barwell, a spokesman for Robinson. A religious “thanksgiving” service at the church followed five years to the day after Robinon was elected inside St. Paul’s as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church or the wider Anglican Communion. Civil unions have been legal in New Hampshire since Jan. 1. Robinson was not invited to the Lambeth Conference, a decennial meeting of Anglican bishops from around the world in Kent, England, but will attend anyway to advocate for the inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church. The bishop said he wanted to have the wedding before Lambeth because he has received death threats. “I am simply not willing to travel to the Lambeth Conference this summer and put my life in danger without putting into place protections for my beloved partner and my daughters and granddaughters that a civil union affords us,” he said in an interview May 21. Robinson has two daughters by a previous marriage that ended in divorce. Barwell said two off-duty police officers provided security for the ceremony, and no incidents occurred. About 120 friends and family attended the service, he said, which was followed by a reception in nearby Canterbury Shaker Village. _ Daniel Burke Survey finds evangelicals, `unaffiliated’ at play in fall elections WASHINGTON (RNS) Nearly one in five evangelicals and Catholics are undecided about which presidential candidate to support, according to a survey released Monday (June 9). In addition, fewer Protestants and Catholics identify themselves as Republicans than did four years ago, according to Calvin College’s Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics in Grand Rapids, Mich., which commissioned the survey. Protestants, as well as Latino Catholics and religiously unaffiliated Americans, could be the crucial “swing vote in the electorate,” said Kevin den Dulk, a political scientist at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich. One of the new influential groups are voters who classify themselves as “unaffiliated” _ those who identify as secular, agnostic or do not assign themselves to any religious category. They comprise more than 16 percent of all Americans, and are traditionally young and male. “This group is large and growing” and “much less likely to be Republican,” said Douglas Koopman, political scientist at Calvin College. Evangelical Protestants make up more than one-quarter of all Americans and still remain overwhelming Republican. The report also showed a fragmentation among U.S. evangelicals, with younger members possibly peeling away from traditional Republican values in favor of other issues, including environmental protection. With the unstable economy and ever-rising gas prices, the economy and the war in Iraq will trump social causes as major campaign issues for 2008, the survey found. At the same time, increasing immigration continues to contribute to “a growing religious pluralism,” especially among Latinos, according to the survey. The survey of more than 3,000 Americans was conducted in April and May and asked respondents about their religious and political attitudes. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. _ Jonathan D. Rubin Nepal’s `living goddess’ tradition in limbo CHENNAI, India (RNS) The appointment of a new “living goddess” in Nepal has been held up by the recent abolition of the Hindu monarchy in the Himalayan nation, according to Nepalese officials. Traditionally, the palace priest appoints the girl, who is chosen in her infancy and is treated as a Kumari, or goddess, until puberty. But the priest no longer has any authority in the newly proclaimed secular republic, the head of the trust overseeing the tradition says. A six-year-old girl was recently selected by a religious panel as the “living goddess” in the temple town of Bhaktapur, near the capital of Kathmandu. The head of the trust overseeing the Kumari tradition told the BBC that because the royal priest no longer has any role in the matter, the chairman of the trust’s board will have to decide who would approve the new living goddess. The previous Kumari, 11-year-old Sajani Shakya, was one of the three most revered Kumaris in Nepal until she was abruptly retired in March. Last summer she was nearly sacked from her position after traveling to the United States to promote a new documentary about the Kumaris of Nepal. After threatening to strip the girl of her title, Nepalese authorities later later agreed to a “cleansing” ceremony. _ Achal Narayanan Quote of the Week: The Rev. James Lisante of Long Island, N.Y. (RNS) “One final thing, Lord, I promise. This November could you keep an eye on all of us and see that the change that we embrace comes from Arizona and not Illinois?” _ The Rev. James Lisante, a Catholic priest from Long Island, N.Y. delivering the invocation at a Republican fundraiser in Manhattan on May 29. Lisante later said he should have separated the prayer from his commentary, though he still supports Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. KRE/RB END RNS