c. 1998 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Here is a sampling of responses by Christian groups to the Y2K bug:

_ InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a college student ministry based in Madison, Wis., has postponed its usually triennial conference in Illinois from Dec. 27-31, 1999 to the same dates a year later. Ministry officials cited several reasons, including”many unknown variables”concerning the Y2K computer glitch and the decision by the person coordinating travel to the event to pull out of her contract because she couldn’t assure quality service. The conference attracts about 20,000 people.

_ Joseph Project 2000, a new ministry based in Woodstock, Ga., is encouraging church leaders across the country to help prepare their communities for whatever small or large impact could be felt from Y2K. Volunteers associated with the project are doing everything from checking to see if local utilities are Y2K compliant to considering storing water and grain to help people in the community should a massive need arise.

_ The Assemblies of God has issued a statement condemning”alarmist tactics”related to Y2K. The statement reads, in part:”We encourage our people to not engage in hoarding food, withdrawing money from banks, believing doomsday scenarios, or expecting the economic, political, and social collapse of Western civilization when the clock strikes January 1, 2000.” _ The Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, which distributes 28,000 retirement checks a month and handles assets of close to $7 billion, does not anticipate having any problem getting benefit payments delivered on time, officials say. Board staff completed an assessment of computer systems in the second quarter of 1998 and modifications and testing of software are supposed to be completed this fall. Monitoring will continue after the testing is completed.

_ At the Los Angeles headquarters of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, efforts are underway to convert database information from two-digit to four-digit years. The operation is small enough _ writing 400 to 500 checks a week _ that staffers could resort to manual methods if necessary, a systems manager said.

_ Religious broadcaster Morris Cerullo, who links the Y2K computer issue to end-times prophecy, has written that business and government leaders are scared they will not fix the millennium bug by the year 2000.”The world may very well be headed into the worst tribulation it has ever known,”he writes in”January 1, 2000âÂ?¦The Day the World Shuts Down?” _ Bishop Eddie L. Long, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., passed out a brochure called”Preparing For the Third Millennium”to about 12,000 worshippers attending Oct. 25 church services. It includes precautionary information about such topics as food, shelter, clothing, transportation and record keeping.

_ Curt Swindoll, chief operating officer at Insight for Living in Anaheim, Calif., a radio ministry of Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll, has sent a memo to his managers requiring them to ensure that all technology purchases (from calculators to computers) are determined to be”Y2K ready.”Those who fail to do this will not be reimbursed for their purchases.

_ When Catholic Charities USA in Alexandria, Va., compiles a survey of its vendor-provided services _ from banks to governments to security systems _ it will publish the survey results to assist its 152 member agencies, many of which have begun their own Y2K initiatives.

_ Ministries such as Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network and Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Broadcasting Network, have produced videotapes of programs informing their audiences about Y2K. CBN, which also has aired a two-part special on Y2K, offered six free fact sheets and newsletters on Y2K and has received orders from more than 120,000 people. More than 1,250 copies of Falwell’s three-part sermon on the topic have sold at $28 each.

_ Some Christian ministries _ including International Health Services Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Greater Love Disaster Relief in Bend, Ore. _ that have focused on preparing Christians for floods, earthquakes and other disasters have added Y2K to their preparedness seminars.

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