c. 2008 Religion News Service
Survey suggests `unchurched’ are a fluid group
(RNS) A new survey shows that “unchurched” Americans may be worshipping more, and “churched” Americans worshipping less, than many people might think.
Numerous surveys track trends among “unchurched” Americans, but what does “unchurched” really mean? Does it mean never attending religious services, not attending regularly, or to simply be unaffiliated with a particular congregation?
Phoenix, Ariz.-based Ellison Research said the most common definitions “often don’t tell a complete story about how Americans attend religious worship services.”
The Ellison survey, released Monday (July 14), showed that 40 percent of the “unchurched” do not entirely stay away from worship services, and 37 percent of “churched” Americans do not make it to religious services every week, even though they consider themselves regular attenders.
“There’s often an assumption that people either do attend worship services or they don’t,” said Ellison President Ron Sellers. “But what we find in this study is that one out of every five Americans is attending worship services at least occasionally during the year, even though they are not regularly involved.”
Definitions of “unchurched” used by leading researchers are typically based on yes/no questions of membership at a house of worship, service attendance in the last month, or attendance in the last six months apart from holidays, weddings and funerals.
The Ellison study, however, prides itself in more nuanced questions about frequency of worship attendance for churches, mosques, and synagogues.
In a survey of more than 1,000 adults, 29 percent of Americans do not attend religious services at all; 10 percent attend only on religious holidays; 9 percent attend occasionally; 19 percent attend between one and three times a month; and 33 percent attend once a week or more.
“It is not our intent to say that anything in the research world is wrong, but the `unchurched’ is a huge mass of people,” Sellers said. “Some people out there may not regularly attend services, but they do regularly attend every Easter and every Christmas.”
The study also analyzed family history of attendance and parental religious involvement. The study estimates that 43 million adults typically categorized as “unchurched” will visit a church or place of worship at some point during the year, and suggested that this should be the focus of outreach for congregations.
-Ashly McGlone
Pastor launches `Gossip Free’ campaign
(RNS) A Michigan pastor is urging people to go “Gossip Free” for at least eight days starting on 8-8-08, but said it’s never too early to stop listening to or sharing idle chatter at home, work or especially church.
Pastor Kevin Hester of Sanctuary Baptist Church in Coloma, Mich., said “even though gossip is commonly accepted by people and churches, God takes it seriously. It’s right next to murder in the Bible.”
Hester argues in his pocket-size book, “Gossip Free? The High Cost of Low Talk” that “gossip has caused more wars, broken up more homes, ruined more businesses, split more churches and destroyed more lives than anything else throughout human history.”
Hester has distributed between 1,000 and 2,000 white “gossipfree.org” bracelets with his book, and is asking people to abstain from gossip for eight days, starting next month.
“Eight is the number in the Bible for `new beginnings.’ Most familiar is the story of the flood and God starting over with eight people,” Hester said.
The campaign is similar to one launched in 2006 by Will Bowen, a pastor in Kansas City, Mo., who launched a “Complaint Free” campaign and eventually got more than 5 million people to join him.
Rebekah Trosper, a Wal-Mart department manager in Benton Harbor, Mich., and a member of Hester’s congregation, publicized the campaign at work. More than 75 employees in her store are now wearing gossip-free bracelets.
“Wal-Mart is a big company and is always under a lot if gossip. I’ve seen a change in the associates. It makes you stop and think,” Trosper said. “Gossip affects everyone in the world but you can make a difference if you try.”
-Ashly McGlone
Hudson rebuffs calls to resign from McCain campaign
WASHINGTON (RNS) Four years after he was forced to step down from President Bush’s re-election campaign, Catholic scholar Deal Hudson is facing calls to resign as an adviser to Sen. John McCain’s campaign.
Catholics United, and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said Hudson should resign from the Catholics for McCain National Steering Committee because of a 1994 sexual harassment claim filed by a college student.
“Unlike the Bush campaign in 2004, Sen. John McCain seems to believe that Hudson’s political value outweighs any of his past indiscretions,” said Chris Korzen, executive director of the progressive Catholics United.
In response, Hudson said that he has “no formal relationship” with the campaign and is an unpaid volunteer adviser.
“I think my past sin-as admittedly shameful as it was-should not prevent me from voicing my political opinions,” said Hudson in a statement Thursday (July 17).
Hudson was forced to resign as an adviser to Bush’s 2004 campaign after a 1994 sexual harassment claim filed by an 18-year-old female student at Fordham University resurfaced. Hudson, who left his post at Fordham a year after the incident, settled with the student for $30,000.
Hudson called the incident “a source of shame.”
“Over the past four years, I’ve tried to make amends with family, friends and supporters,” he said in the statement. “People close to me say I’m a different person now, and I’d like to think that’s true.”
The group also criticized Hudson, who currently serves as the director of the Morley Institute for Church & Culture and editor of InsideCatholic.com, for his association with Karl Rove, and for his opposition to the Vatican on global warming.
“It’s time to end the politics of division embodied by the likes of Deal Hudson, and to protect the Catholic faith from being manipulated to serve a narrow partisan agenda,” Korzen said.
Hudson, one of more than 100 members on the Catholics for McCain Steering Committee, has been a critic of Sen. Barack Obama’s views on abortion during the campaign. On his blog, Hudson recently called the November election “the ultimate, civilizational, challenge for our country.”
Echoing Catholics United’s charge, SNAP held a protest outside the Republican National Committee’s Washington headquarters.
-Tim Murphy
Saudi king’s conference rejects terrorism, urges dialogue
(RNS) A global conference of about 300 interfaith leaders concluded Friday (July 18) in Spain with a declaration that rejects terrorism and calls for a special United Nations session on dialogue.
Calling terrorism “one of the most serious obstacles confronting dialogue and coexistence,” the four-page “Madrid Declaration” was issued after a two-day summit convened by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah.
The declaration was released by the Saudi embassy in Washington, and the conference was organized by the Mecca-based Muslim World League. Prominent leaders of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism and Shintoism attended.
The statement affirmed human unity, peace, the family and environmental preservation. It emphasized the need for cooperation among people from different backgrounds.
“Diversity of cultures and civilizations among people is a sign of God and a cause for human advancement and prosperity,” the declaration reads.
It rejected “theories that call for the clash of civilizations” and urged the building of a “culture of tolerance” through conferences and media programs.
Last March, Abdullah said he wanted to launch a new dialogue among Christians, Jews and Muslims, but the proposal drew headlines because Saudi Arabia’s exclusivist version of Islam does not allow non-Muslims to openly practice their faith in the kingdom.
In addition to a special U.N. session to enhance dialogue among people of different religions and cultures, the Madrid statement called for the development of a “working team” to study problems that inhibit dialogue.
It urged governmental and nongovernmental organizations to make a statement “that stipulates respect for religions and their symbols, the prohibition of their denigration and the repudiation of those who commit such acts.”
-Adelle M. Banks
Methodists back plan for Bush library at SMU
(RNS) Despite continued opposition from progressive members of the United Methodist Church, the proposed George W. Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University overcame its last significant hurdle on Thursday (July 17).
Delegates to the Methodists’ South Central Jurisdictional Conference rejected a petition that would have blocked construction of the controversial complex on SMU’s Dallas campus. SMU agreed last February to lease 36 acres that would house Bush’s library, museum and an independent policy institute.
“The South Central Jurisdiction expects the institute to function in a manner that protects the integrity of both Southern Methodist University and the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church,” delegates said in an approved resolution.
The South Central Jurisdiction covers United Methodists in eight states, from New Mexico to Louisiana and north to Nebraska. Delegates to the Methodists’ national convention voted 844-20 to refer the issue to the regional body for a final decision.
Thursday’s vote brought to an end a saga that began last year when regional church leaders first approved the lease proposal. Last February, school officials approved a 99-year lease for the privately funded complex, which is expected to cost an estimated $500 million.
The plans have drawn criticism from liberal members of the church, who say the complex would compromise SMU’s independence and promote ideas that conflict with Methodist teachings.
“I think it’s an unprecedented move by a conference of the United Methodist Church to subsidize a specific politically ideologically oriented point of view,” said the Rev. Tex Sample, a retired pastor from Goodyear, Ariz. “I think we will rue the day that we did this.”
In a letter to delegates, Sample cited Bush’s embrace of domestic surveillance, his advocacy of the death penalty, and his support for the Iraq war as policies that directly contradict church values.
President Bush and his wife, Laura, are both United Methodists, and the first lady graduated from SMU in 1968.
-Tim Murphy
Churches claim victory with N.J. housing law
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (RNS) In the steamy atmosphere of a tent revival meeting, Gov. Jon Corzine on Thursday (July 17) signed what proponents described as landmark legislation to help develop affordable housing.
Surrounded by legislators, clergy and housing activists, Corzine signed the legislation in an open-sided tent at an affordable housing development. Mount Laurel is where a lawsuit began in 1971 that led to a precedent-setting state Supreme Court decision requiring towns to help provide affordable housing.
“Through this measure, we are ending decades of unfair, unbalanced and insufficient provision of affordable housing in New Jersey,” Corzine said. “The fact is this legislation holds much promise for the thousands of New Jerseyans who want to stay in their hometown-to work there and raise their families there-but simply can’t afford to live there.”
Caught up in the shouts of “Amen!” from the audience of 530 people, clergy and state officials alike said they saw God playing a role in the shaping of the legislation.
“Generally, I am for the separation of church and state,” Corzine said, “but I must tell you the spirit of God is moving through this audience.”
The legislation ends a two-decade-old system that allowed upper-income suburban towns to meet at least part of their affordable housing obligations by paying poorer cities to build the housing there.
Those regional contribution agreements, or RCAs, contributed to a form of segregation that kept the poor trapped in the struggling cities and children in poor schools, supporters of the new law said.
Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, a Democrat who spearheaded the bill, said it is the climax of a three-decade crusade.
“I was told it would be a cold day in hell when they eliminated RCAs in New Jersey,” he told the crowd. “RCAs have been insidious public policy for this state. To advance as a state, we have to move forward together. We can’t pay people to stay behind.”
-Tom Hester
Pope ends World Youth Day with victims’ meeting
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI met victims of clergy sexual abuse at the end of his visit to Australia on Monday (July 21), celebrating an early morning Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney with two male and two female victims.
“He listened to their stories and offered them consolation. Assuring them of his spiritual closeness, he promised to continue to pray for them, their families and all victims,” said a Vatican statement.
“Through this paternal gesture, the Holy Father wished to demonstrate again his deep concern for all those who have suffered sexual abuse.”
The unscheduled meeting followed an apology issued earlier during his nine-day visit, similar to statements made during the pope’s visit to the United States last April.
However the main victims group in Australia, Broken Rites, criticized the encounter as “stage managed,” saying the victims were handpicked and the more outspoken ones ignored.
Some victims have accused the Catholic Church in Australia of covering up abuse cases and stalling on compensation payments. Cardinal George Pell of Sydney said the four victims, all in their 30s, had asked to remain anonymous.
During his public appearances, the 81-year-old pontiff urged youngsters to care for the environment, warning that natural resources were being squandered because of consumer greed, and railed against what he called a spreading “spiritual desert.”
Just before boarding his plane for the return trip to Rome, Benedict thanked organizers of the World Youth Day festival, which was attended by some 110,000 pilgrims from 170 nations. The festival’s closing Mass on Sunday at a Sydney racetrack drew 400,000 people, less than the half-million target.
At the airport, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd thanked the pope for his words to abuse victims and to indigenous Australians, adding that people had been touched by his “simple humanity.”
The Vatican announced that the next World Youth Day, in 2011, will be held in Madrid, Spain.
-Frances Kennedy
AME Zion Church elects first woman bishop
(RNS) The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church elected a Los Angeles pastor as its first female bishop during the denomination’s 48th quadrennial General Conference in Atlanta on Saturday (July 19).
The Rev. Mildred “Bonnie” Hines, pastor of First AME Zion Church of Los Angeles, was the third bishop elected from a pool of 25 candidates, three of whom were women.
It was standing room only for the crowd of more than 3,000 people who waited late into the night for election results, and “suspense was high,” according to a church news release.
After votes for the third bishop failed to meet a required two-thirds majority, a second ballot was cast, declaring Hines the winner and “with a loud clamor, it was history in the making.”
Hines serves as a board member for the Los Angeles Council of Churches, and also on the Traditionally Black Methodist Church Council. She received her Doctor of Divinity degree from Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.
The Rev. Darryl B. Starnes, who heads the church’s Board of Evangelism in Charlotte, N.C., and the Rev. Dennis V. Proctor of Baltimore were elected bishops alongside Hines.
The AME Zion Church was formed in 1796 in New York City when black members faced discrimination from white Methodists. The AME Zion Church today boasts 1.2 million parishioners in the United States, and overseas missions on every continent except Australia.
-Ashly McGlone
Iowa GOP: Grassley probe didn’t impact delegate spot
WASHINGTON (RNS) The Christian activist who will lead the Iowa delegation to the Republican convention said Sen. Charles Grassley’s probe into televangelists’ finances was not the reason he was denied a delegate’s seat.
Steve Scheffler, president of the politically powerful Iowa Christian Alliance, dismissed reports that linked Grassley’s investigation and his lack of a delegate seat as “rumor-mongering and falsehoods.”
“His not being a delegate has nothing to do with his investigation of these ministries,” Scheffler said.
Iowa Republicans elected their slate of delegates at a July 12 convention, when Scheffler was elected as the state’s national committeeman, unseating a 20-year GOP veteran. Delegates also elected Kim Lehman, president of Iowa Right to Life, as GOP committeewoman.
Grassley has been investigating alleged lavish spending and tax exemptions of six high-profile evangelical ministries, including several well-known televangelists.
A few Washington insiders and columnists painted Grassley’s failure to gain a delegate’s seat as payback for his probe, which has been unpopular in some evangelical circles.
But Scheffler said Iowans “revere and honor” the 28-year senate veteran, who is still expected attend and influence the GOP nomination convention in St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 1-4.
Having a voting delegate besides Grassley gives Iowa more sway over the party platform, Scheffler said.
Scheffler would not comment on Grassley’s investigation, saying it has nothing to do with the state’s GOP delegates. Grassley’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
-Daniel Burke
Fourth-century Bible to go online
LONDON (RNS) The Codex Sinaiticus, thought to be one of the world’s oldest Bibles, is going online this week in a project led by the British Library to reconnect all its 1,600-year-old parts that are spread across Europe and Egypt’s Sinai desert.
A preview of the manuscript, which dates from the 4th century and includes what’s believed to be the oldest surviving copy of the New Testament, will be available free Thursday (July 24) at http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net, the library said.
The Codex is a “unique treasure” that “only a few people have ever had the opportunity to see more than a couple of pages,” says Scot McKendrick, the British Library’s head of Western manuscripts.
Until now, anyone lucky enough to get a first-hand peek at the ancient book would have to approach the British Library “on bended knee,” Oxford University scholar Christopher Tuckett told journalists. Even then, they would be limited to only two pages at a time.
“To have it available just at the click of a button is fantastic,” Tuckett added.
The project is aimed at bringing together in digital form all the pages of the Codex Sinaiticus that are presently kept in Leipzig, Germany; St. Petersburg, Russia; St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt’s Sinai; and the 347 vellum pages that the British Library bought from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1933.
Leipzig library curator Ulrich Johannes Schneider told France’s AFP news agency that Thursday’s preview would include more than 100 pages, 67 of them from the British collection and including the Codex’s complete Book of Psalms and parts of the Gospel of Mark.
Another part of the manuscript is scheduled to go online in November. By next July, all 800-odd existing pages in handwritten Greek, and more than 40 fragments, are expected to be online, complete with transcriptions, translations and search functions.
-Al Webb
Quote of the Week: Anheuser-Busch employee Dave Liszewski
(RNS) “The good Lord was sold out for 30 pieces of silver. We were sold out for $70 a share.”
-Dave Liszewski, who has worked at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis for 30 years, expressing his anger over the company’s sale to a Belgian company. He was quoted by The New York Times.
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