c. 1997 Religion News Service

Yearbook: decreased mainline membership, increased giving

(RNS) Membership in mainline Protestant denominations is down, but Mormon, Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist membership increased by about a quarter of a million between 1994 and 1995, according to the National Council of Churches'”1997 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.” The Yearbook, the most authoritative source of church statistics for the United States and Canada, reported that overall mainline denominations _ liberal denominations with predominantly white memberships _ continued to lose members, as they have for the past three decades.

But the newly reported 2 percent loss is smaller than past losses and suggests membership figures may be stabilizing, the Yearbook reported.”Reducing the rates of decline in several of the denominations is a step toward turning around the decline, but it should not be read as an indication that the mainline denominations are no longer declining,”the Yearbook said.

The Yearbook also reports that, in general, church income increased, even in denominations with decreased membership. The Presbyterian Church (USA), for example, lost 1 percent of its members but reported an increase in giving of nearly 3 percent.

The Southern Baptist Convention gained 49,236 members between 1994 and 1995, and Roman Catholic membership increased by 89,849. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) showed a large increase of 2.39 percent, gaining 98,400 members.

The Yearbook reported that more than half _ 54.56 percent _ of all U.S. church members belong to just three denominations: The Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the United Methodist Church.

In Canada, the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada _ the main Protestant body _ account for more than 75 percent of total membership, the Yearbook said.

The top 10 U.S. religious denominations and their membership are: Roman Catholic Church, 60.3 million; Southern Baptist Convention, 15.7 million; United Methodist Church, 8.5 million; National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., 8.2 million; Church of God in Christ, 5.5 million; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 5.2 million; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), 4.7 million; Presbyterian Church (USA), 3.7 million; National Baptist Convention of America Inc., 3.5 million; African Methodist Episcopal Church, 3.5 million.

Canadian Court rules against Jewish worker in paid holiday case

(RNS) Canada’s Federal Court of Appeals ruled against a Toronto Jewish computer analyst whose union’s government contract does not grant paid leave for Jewish holy days, but does recognize Christmas and Good Friday as paid holidays.

Sheldon Richmond and 15 others claimed the federal government’s policy discriminates against Jewish workers, reported Ecumenical News International (ENI), the Geneva-based religious news agency.

In a 2-1 decision handed down March 26, the federal court conceded that the government’s holiday calendar is discriminatory because the two holiest days in the Jewish calendar _ Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) _ are not included as paid days off.

But the court said the government reasonably accommodates the needs of Jewish workers, and forcing employers to remain open on Christmas and Good Friday for Jewish workers _ in exchange for paid Jewish holy days _ would be”undue hardship”on the government.

The dissenting judge, Justice Joseph Robertson, opposed the decision on grounds of religious discrimination.”Surely the spiritual needs of an employee are as compelling as those of the secular kind,”Robertson said, referring to such”secular”justifications for time off as bad weather and medical appointments.

Richmond said he will continue to fight the issue and has filed a so-called”leave to appeal”to the Supreme Court of Canada.

A ruling on the appeal may not be made until at least the year 2000, according to ENI.

Richmond said he hopes for a solution similar to a 1991 agreement worked out in the Arctic community of Cambridge Bay, where employees are allowed 10 paid holidays of their choosing each year.

House votes to ban federal funds for assisted suicide

(RNS) The House of Representatives, at the strong urging of a number of religious groups, voted overwhelmingly Thursday (April 10) to bar the use of federal funds to pay for doctor-assisted suicides.

Supporters of the measure said it was necessary to pass the bill before any court decision legalizes doctor-assisted suicide. The Supreme Court is currently considering two cases in which lower courts have ruled that there is such a right.

The measure passed 398-16.”Our precious health care money ought to be used to improve life, not end it,”said Rep. Thomas Bliley, R-Va., during debate over the bill.

Among those lobbying most vigorously for the bill’s passage was the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In a letter to members of Congress released just a day before the vote, Richard Doerflinger, the bishops’ top official on the issue, said religious, medical and disability rights leaders all support the bill.”The bill’s central goal is both modest and urgently necessary: ensuring that the federal government will play no part in legitimizing and institutionalizing assisted suicide as a response to health problems,”Doerflinger said.

He pointed out that the bill has a”clear and limited scope”that prevents the use of federal funds for health programs to support and facilitate assisted suicide, but it does not regulate what states may do with their funds.”Federal funds (should) not be used to fuel euthanasia in America. We are called to heal and support, not destroy our fragile and disabled brothers and sisters,”Archbishop Francis George, newly appointed archbishop of Chicago said in a statement.

Doerflinger said the bill would not affect other issues such as abortion, withdrawal of medical treatment, or the use of drugs to alleviate pain for the dying.

Opponents of the bill criticized it as a do-nothing measure that addresses a problem that does not exist because assisted suicide is not legal.

Dutch church withdraws from WCC meeting

(RNS) An ongoing anti-homosexual campaign by Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe and a condemnation of homosexuality by Zimbabwe’s Council of Churches have prompted a Dutch church to withdraw from the forthcoming assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to be held next September in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands cited Zimbabwean human rights violations in the anti-gay campaign as the main reason for its decision not to attend the 1998 meeting. An 11-member church commission said it wants to”send a clear signal of protest against the situation in Zimbabwe.” Mugabe _ a Roman Catholic _ has said publicly on several occasions that homosexuals are not welcome in Zimbabwe and has described them as sodomites and perverts, saying it was”extremely outrageous and repugnant”that they had any supporters, according to a report from Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency.

Rene van den Berg, former Evangelical Lutheran Church secretary in the Netherlands, compared holding the WCC meeting in Zimbabwe to holding a meeting in South Africa under apartheid.

The WCC assembly is held every seven years and is attended by thousands of Christians from around the world.

Questions about holding the assembly in Harare have been raised by a number of WCC-member churches, especially as to whether gay delegates from churches would be allowed into the country and whether they would be harassed while there.

The WCC has negotiated a”Memorandum of Understanding”with the Zimbabwe government to guarantee the government will not interfere with the meeting.”The holding of any WCC event in any location should not be seen as making a comment on any of the policies of the government of the country in which they happen to be meeting,” a WCC spokesman said.

The issue of homosexuality is one that has been debated in many of the WCC’s 322 Protestant and Orthodox member churches. Some Protestant churches openly welcome practicing homosexuals into their congregations; however, many WCC member churches consider homosexual activity sinful.

NOI drops Philadelphia march, accepts mayor’s proposal

(RNS) The Nation of Islam has dropped plans to take part in an April 14 march through the racially torn Philadelphia neighborhood of Grays Ferry, instead agreeing to participate in an interfaith, interracial rally at the behest of Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell.

The Nation of Islam, a racially centered Muslim sect considered heretical by mainstream Muslims, had agreed to bring in 5,000 African-American marchers to protest the neighborhood’s racial divisiveness, which has escalated into violence in recent months.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday (April 8) that Philadelphia’s Nation of Islam Minister Rodney Muhammad told a news conference the Nation of Islam would withdraw from the march, and that the group’s leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, will instead participate in the rally to be held at a yet undetermined location outside the neighborhood.

Rendell wrote a two-page letter to Farrakhan, expressing fear the march, while well-intentioned, could lead to a riot with”disastrous consequences.”Rendell has agreed to speak at the rally, which he says will”decry the racism of all kinds that exists in our city and other American cities as well.” Jewish leaders are outraged at the mayor’s role in bringing Farrakhan _ who has been accused of anti-Semitism _ to the rally.”He (Rendell) is granting respectability and legitimizing a known bigot and racist,”Murray Friedman, Middle Atlantic states director of the American Jewish Committee told the Inquirer.

Rendell, who is Jewish, defended his decision, saying,”This was a decision that I made in the best interest of all Philadelphians.” In February, racial tensions mounted when Annette Williams, a black woman, her teen-age son and her nephew were assaulted, allegedly by neighborhood whites. Just weeks later, a white teen was robbed and murdered in Grays Ferry.

Despite the agreement to hold the rally, other African-American groups still plan to hold the march, led by Grays Ferry West Community Action Group. The community groups say they expect the same number of participants as they did before the Nation of Islam’s withdrawal. However, city officials expect a significantly smaller turnout.

Quote of the day: Larry Ingram of the Southern Baptist Convention Foreign Mission Board.

(RNS) Larry Ingram, the Southern Baptist Convention Foreign Mission Board administrator in Hong Kong says he is optimistic about the future of the church there even after the British colony is turned over to the Chinese government. He says that when a missionary’s best tool for witnessing is”lifestyle evangelism,”good business means a more receptive audience:”Hong Kong is far from being paralyzed from uncertainty. Many people are confident the `one country, two-systems’ policy will be implemented.”

MJP END RNS