c. 1996 Religion News Service
Christian music sales grow at faster rate than other genres
(RNS)-Gospel music sales are growing faster than sales of other major forms of popular music, according to a study released Thursday (March 21) by the Gospel Music Association.
Between 1991 and 1995, gospel music has averaged 22 percent growth per year. Citing its study and data from the Recording Institute Association of America, the Gospel Music Association said other genres of music, such as rock, pop, urban, country and rap, have had annual growth rates of 5 percent or below.
Bruce Koblish, president of the Gospel Music Association, attributes the growth in sales of Christian music to increased marketing techniques and the inspirational lyrics of the music.”The diversity of our styles of music has made it more accessible to more people,”Koblish said in an interview with Religion News Service.
Sales of gospel music, which comprises about 3.3 percent of the entire music market, totaled $390 million in 1994.
For the first time, the Gospel Music Association is hosting an artist showcase at the convention of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers, which includes stores such as Tower Records and MusicLand. Kirk Franklin and The Family, dc Talk, and Hezekiah Walker and The Love Fellowship Crusade Choir will perform at a gospel brunch on Sunday (March 24) in Washington.
Jim Donio, spokesman for the recording merchandisers group, said the gospel showcase is a”natural evolution”for Christian music.”I think the genre itself has continued to grow and to evolve and to be more exciting and to be of more interest to our members,”he said.
German church group considers ordination of active homosexuals
(RNS)-A new report by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) says that active, non-celibate homosexuals could be ordained to the ministry under certain circumstances.
But the 55-page report,”Living with Tensions,”says such ordinations should be handled on a case-by-case basis and only where the proposed minister is living in an”ethically responsible”relationship.”If such a step (ordination of gays) is necessary for the sake of truth and love, then we must dare to take it,”the report said.
The EKD is made up of 24 church bodies representing the overwhelming majority of Protestants in Germany. The report, two years in the making, is not binding on any of the churches.
Ecumenical News International, the World Council of Churches-based news agency, said the governing council of the EKD accepted the report as a”contribution to the present debate.” In a foreword to the report, Klaus Engelhardt, the EKD’s presiding bishop, wrote:”As homosexual people have increasingly acknowledged in public their orientation and lifestyle, it has become unavoidable for society in general, and for the church in particular, to take a position on the issue of homosexuality.” In a press release issued with the report, however, the EKD said that while the issue of the ordination of homosexuals raises”fundamental questions”about Christian faith and the beliefs of the church,”we must guard against the danger that the agenda of the church becomes dominated by issues of this kind.”
U.S. abortion rate down for third straight year
(RNS)-The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday (March 21) that there were 1.3 million abortions in the United States in 1993, down 2.1 percent from 1992. It was the third straight year the number of abortions had declined.
Figures for 1993 are the most recent available.
The CDC report also said there were 4 million live births in 1993, down 1.6 percent from 1992.
According to the agency, the decline in both births and abortions continues a trend that began in 1991 and is attributable in part to the aging of female baby boomers-those born between 1946 and 1964.
Since the CDC began tracking births and abortions in 1972, the high mark for both was 1990, with 4.2 million live births and 1.4 million abortions.
The CDC report also said that the profile of women who had abortions in 1993 was the same as in previous years. Most were under 25, white and single. It said slightly over half the abortions were performed in the first eight weeks of pregnancy and 89 percent in the first 12 weeks.
Church World Service issues appeal for aid to Palestinians
(RNS)-Church World Service, the relief and development arm of the National Council of Churches, issued a $30,000 appeal Friday (March 22) for medicines and other humanitarian aid for Palestinians harmed by Israel’s closure of the Gaza District.”Israel’s closure of the Gaza District with electrified barbed wire fencing and control of the sea has created a major socio-economic crisis for the 934,000 people within the … strip,”the aid agency said in a statement announcing the fund appeal.
The appeal is part of a larger $80,000 appeal issued by Action by Churches Together, the international emergency aid organization coordinated by the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation.
Both Gaza and the West Bank, now under the control of the Palestinians, have been closed off from Israel since Feb. 25 for security reasons.
The closures stemmed from the wave of terrorist suicide bombing attacks on Israeli civilians. The attacks have claimed more than 60 lives. The closure has been constant except for one day, March 3, the day before the most recent bombing in Jerusalem.
The Palestinian economy is heavily dependent on Israel, especially for employment.
On Tuesday (March 19), Hannu Halinen, a United Nations human rights official said that Israel’s counter-terrorism measures violated the basic rights of Palestinians.”This policy amounts to collective punishment,”Halinen said in a report to the U.N.’s Human Rights Commission, which is meeting in Geneva.”Israel should reconsider its policy of full-scale closure and other indiscriminate measures amounting to collective punishment imposed on the occupied territories,”he said.
Church World Service said the closure is costing the fragile Gaza economy $6 million a day. It estimated that 15,000 people from Gaza are barred from going to work. It said farmers and small manufacturers cannot export their goods, fishermen have been barred from the sea, and vital foods and medicines are not being allowed into the Palestinian area.
CWS officials said the funds would be used for medicines, family income assistance and student aid.
European Baptist Convention has new general secretary
(RNS)-A preaching professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has been elected general secretary of the European Baptist Convention.
James Heflin, a professor at the seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, since 1985, succeeds John Merritt, a Southern Baptist missionary who is retiring after 24 years in the position. Heflin will be the first non-missionary to serve in the post.
The convention is an association of about 60 English-speaking churches in major European cities, according to Associated Baptist Press, an independent Baptist news service.
Methodist bishop elected in Cuba
(RNS)-The Rev. Francisco Gustavo Cruz Diaz has been elected bishop of the Methodist Church of Cuba.
Cruz Diaz, 43, was elected with 36 of 45 votes in the third round of balloting during the denomination’s General Conference, which ended March 9.
The new bishop is pastor of the Methodist Church of Marianao in Havana. The Methodist Church of Cuba has 90 full-time pastors, 110 churches and more than 100 house churches.
Quote of the day: Gilbert Gallegos, Fraternal Order of Police
(RNS)-The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday (March 22) voted 239-173 to repeal a 1994 law banning the manufacture, sale and possession of 19 semiautomatic weapons. Before the final vote, Gilbert Gallegos, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, a law enforcement labor union, urged defeat of the measure:”The Fraternal Order of Police is not made up of politicians; it’s made up of cops-and a policeman’s world is made a lot more dangerous by assault weapons. Members of Congress, on the other hand, work in a building where the civilian possession of a firearm-any firearm-is a crime. I have a modest proposal for them-let’s legalize the possession of firearms here on the Capitol grounds-including assault weapons. Then, the place where they work will be as dangerous as the places where we work. Maybe then they’d have a different perspective on the Second Amendment.”
MJP END RNS
