c. 1997 Religion News Service

United Church of Canada in uproar over moderator’s remarks

(RNS) The United Church of Canada (UCC), the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, is in an uproar following comments by its top official, who said he did not believe Jesus was God, was bodily resurrected or is the only path to God.

The Rev. Bill Phipps, UCC moderator, revealed his views in an October newspaper interview. But the controversy over his remarks intensified this week when the church’s general council said it unanimously supported Phipps and called his comments”well within the spectrum of the United Church,”Reuters news agency reported Tuesday (Nov. 25).

However, the council’s 70 lay and clergy members also said Phipps’ freedom of expression should be”tempered”in accordance with church policy. Its decision not to silence him is expected to prompt greater divisiveness within the liberal church.

The United Church of Canada claims more than 3 million members and adherents. It was founded in 1925 by the union of Congregational, Methodist and most of the country’s Presbyterian churches.

Phipps was elected in August to a three-year-term as church moderator.

UCC headquarters has received hundreds of letters and phone calls calling for Phipps to resign or praising him for his honesty. But experts within the denomination say the extent of the controversy may be exaggerated.”I thought (his comments were) kind of ho-hum, well within the band of not only United Church beliefs, but the debate over Jesus and God, and Jesus being divine and his being human, that have come echoing down the years,”said Roger Hutchinson, principal at Emmanuel College, the denomination’s largest seminary.”So I was quite surprised that it triggered such enormous interest.” But Hutchinson confirmed that the debate could widen the split between liberal and conservative factions that surfaced a decade ago when the church decided homosexuals could be ordained.

Some Canadians were shocked that someone questioning basic Christian tenets could lead a national church _ let alone consider himself Christian.”What right does a leader of a (supposed) Christian group have, within the realms of his position, to express views that are contrary to the faith?”said Doug Koop, editor of the biweekly national newspaper Christian Week, based in Winnipeg.

But Koop also acknowledged that Phipps’ remarks are typical of Canadians.”In Canadian Christianity, it’s at the liberal fringe, but in Canadian society, it’s pretty mainstream,”he said.”It has great resonance in Canadian society, these beliefs. They are easy beliefs _ `it can be true, maybe it isn’t, doesn’t really matter, let’s get on with the business of feeding the poor.'”

Nigerians deposited $350,000 in account controlled by Lyons

(RNS) The Rev. Henry J. Lyons, the embattled president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, reportedly accepted a total of $350,000 from the Nigerian government during the period he lobbied federal officials to reduce their opposition to the African nation’s military government.

Three checks from Nigeria’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations were deposited in the Baptist Builder Fund at the United Bank in St. Petersburg, Fla., between April 1996 and February 1997, the St. Petersburg Times reported Tuesday (Nov. 25).

The mission has played a key role in financing a major lobbying effort in the United States by the government of Gen. Sani Abacha. Abacha seized power in a 1993 palace coup and has been widely condemned since then as a dictator.

Under federal law, it is a felony to serve as a lobbyist for a foreign government without filing official registration papers with the Justice Department.

Lyons, pastor of a St. Petersburg church, did not register as a lobbyist, the newspaper reported.

U.S. government officials do not recall being informed by Lyons of the $350,000 in deposits into the Baptist Builder Fund, which he controlled.

Lyons had urged members of the Clinton administration and Congress to soften their stance on Nigeria’s military regime. Congressional Black Caucus members, who have opposed the Abacha government, were surprised when Lyons lobbied them in July 1996.”We didn’t know what kind of compensation he was receiving but we knew from what he said that he was working for the government some kind of way,”said Rep. Harold Ford Sr., D-Tenn., now retired.”If he had told us that he was a paid lobbyist for Nigeria, he never would have been allowed to come before the caucus.” Lyons declined to be interviewed by the newspaper but his attorney released a statement that did not address lobbying activities or the bank deposits, but did refer to a trip Lyons and a delegation of ministers and businesspeople took to Nigeria in July.”No member was under any obligation, whatsoever, to endorse the political views of Nigeria’s government or its people,”the statement read.

When Lyons returned from that trip, he learned that his wife, Deborah, had been charged with setting fire to a home he co-owned with a female denominational official. Since that time, Deborah Lyons has pleaded guilty to arson and Lyons has survived an attempt to oust him from the leadership of his denomination, the largest African-American Baptist group in the country.

Lyons remains under investigation by state and federal authorities concerning alleged financial irregularities.

Church of England approves formal talks with Methodists

(RNS) Formal conversations between the Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain were overwhelmingly endorsed by the Church of England’s general synod at its meeting in London Tuesday (Nov. 25).

The aim of the conversations will be to draft a common statement about the areas of difference and agreement between the two churches.

Anglicans and Methodists differ over the role of bishops. Methodists also allow authorized lay people to preside over the Eucharist when a member of the clergy is not available.

The statement could eventually lead to a plan for Anglican-Methodist union in Great Britain.

Representatives of the British Roman Catholic, Moravian, United Reformed and Baptist churches will be invited to take part in the talks as observers.

The cautious approach taken reflects the trauma still felt from the failure of previous plans for Anglican-Methodist union worked out in the 1960s, but which did not garner sufficient support from the Church of England.

Another attempt to work toward unity, this time also involving the Moravian, United Reformed Churches and the Churches of Christ, also failed to gain the necessary support from the Anglican synod in 1982.

Putting the proposal for new talks with the Methodists before the synod, the Bishop of Grimsby, the Rev. David Tustin, described it as”a measured but positive response, tackling only what is manageable and likely to be attained.” Supporting it, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey stressed how much Anglicans had in common with Methodists _ whose spiritual forefathers split from the Church of England in the 18th century. While Anglicans valued the historic line of bishops in their church, he said this should not blind them to the riches in non-Episcopal traditions they needed to receive.”I must declare that I accept the Methodist Church as blessed and as loved by God as our own,”he went on.”I believe that that church lives in apostolic continuity, and its ministry is gifted as our own.” Swiss aid group hopes new court will address child killings

(RNS) A Switzerland-based aid group has called for the proposed new United Nations International Criminal Court to be required to address organized killing of children as crimes against humanity.

Terre des Hommes made its appeal Wednesday (Nov. 26) in advance of a meeting in Rome to discuss the creation of the court. The group hopes the nations gathered for the meeting will allow independent humanitarian organizations to bring cases to the court as civil plaintiffs.

Among the offenses Terre des Hommes hopes will be addressed are organized child prostitution in Asia and the murder of street children in Latin America. They also hope cases of enrolling children to fight in wars _ which happens often in Africa, for example _ will be considered.

In addition, Terre des Hommes, which works to help persecuted and deprived young people around the world, would like the court to address such offenses as negligence and abuse of children in state institutions, which the group said is prevalent in developed countries.

At a news conference in Geneva, officials of the humanitarian group said nations that approve the establishment of the court should realize that children should”no longer be considered a minority deserving of simple humanitarian compassion”but should also enjoy greater protection against crime.

Alabama Baptists oppose federal judge’s ruling on school prayer

(RNS) Southern Baptists in Alabama have added their voice to the emotional turmoil that has followed a federal judge’s ruling concerning school prayer by opposing his decision.

U.S. District Court Judge Ira DeMent issued an order Oct. 29 limiting religious activity in public schools.

During their Nov. 18-19 annual meeting in Huntsville, Alabama Baptists, by a two-thirds majority, passed a resolution opposing the judge’s decision, reported Baptist Press, the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The delegates, numbering less than 1,000, debated the matter for half an hour. A committee had spent 11 hours drafting the resolution, which says the ruling”has inhibited our public institutions from reinforcing the values upon which our country was established.” The resolution also asked delegates to the meeting to support state leaders in”challenging the overbroad and objectionable portions of the order,”and assist the Alabama Baptist State Convention in training students on their First Amendment rights.

Wayne Flint, a member of First Baptist Church, Auburn, opposed the delegates’ support of state leadership, including Gov. Fob James, who has said he would defy DeMent’s barring of prayer in public school classes if he is invited to speak at a school.

Flint said James’ 34-page defense of school prayer, submitted last spring to DeMent, includes a claim that separation of church and state began in Russia in 1917.”I think we would be embarrassed as Baptists to say we support him,”Flint said.

Supporting the resolution, Wayne Milam, co-pastor of East Gadsden Baptist Church, said he was particularly worried that students might be intimidated by monitors ordered by the judge to make sure illegal religious activity does not occur.”We are talking about freedom from intimidation,”Milam said.

Chriss Doss, a Birmingham attorney, disagreed with Milam and said students have not lost their constitutional right to religious expression.”Students today can pray a voluntary prayer or express themselves religiously as much as they ever could,”Doss said.

Quote of the Day: South African Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris

(RNS)”Distancing oneself from the anguished cry of the majority and myopically pursuing one’s own interest can never be morally justified.” _ South African Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris, apologizing for the support South African Jews gave to the nation’s former apartheid system during his recent testimony before the nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His comments were reported Tuesday (Nov. 25) by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service.

MJP END RNS