c. 1998 Religion News Service
Focus on the Family’s Dobson recovering from stroke
(RNS) James C. Dobson, conservative political activist and founder of the faith-based Focus on the Family, is recovering in a Colorado hospital after doctors concluded he had a mild stroke.
Dobson entered a hospital in Colorado Springs, Colo., late Tuesday (June 16) after becoming ill at home, according to a ministry statement.”I am doing as well as could be expected,”Dobson said in a statement issued Thursday.”The neurologist and cardiologist are pleased by my progress. I will need to take some time to get back on my feet. Please continue to pray for me.” On Thursday, Focus on the Family said Dobson was resting comfortably while doctors continued to evaluate him. His stroke was caused by a blood clot that was”aggressively treated using a new medicine known as TPA,”according to the statement.
The doctors said Dobson did not suffer any paralysis or loss of consciousness.
The popular host of the”Focus on the Family”radio program said his cardiologist told him,”You must have had an angel looking out for you.” The possibility that he suffered a heart attack has been ruled out, his doctor said. Dobson suffered a mild heart attack in 1990 and has followed a special diet and exercise regimen since then.
Focus on the Family’s board of directors met Thursday and expressed concern for Dobson and support for the ministry’s managers during his recovery period.
Dobson founded Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs, in 1977. The evangelical Christian group aims to strengthen the emotional and spiritual health of families.
Recently, Dobson has become an outspoken critic of the Republican Party and has called on its leaders to pay closer attention to the concerns of social conservatives. He recently was a speaker at the Southern Baptist Convention in Salt Lake City and at his ministry’s”Renewing the Heart”conference in Greensboro, N.C., which was attended by 16,000 women.
Religious, secular aid groups urge U.S. involvement in Kosovo
(RNS) A dozen U.S. humanitarian groups, including several religious organizations, are urging the State Department to take specific steps to help end the suffering in Kosovo, the Yugoslav province where fighting between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serb police and military forces has created tens of thousands of refugees.”We have come to know the peoples and problems of the (Kosovo) area intimately,”the aid groups wrote in letters to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and National Security Advisor Samuel Berger dated Thursday (June 18).”We are alarmed by the reoccurrence of violence now so tragically evident in Kosovo.” The aid groups urged the U.S. government to help”restart political talks”between the Serbian government and Kosovar leaders; to encourage all parties”to refrain from violence”;”to increase the international presence”in Kosovo”to facilitate delivery of humanitarian assistance”; and”to assist refugees with the help of the responsible international organizations and non-governmental organizations.” The letters were signed by Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Catholic Relief Services, Church World Service, Counterpart International, Doctors of the World, International Orthodox Christian Charities, and International Rescue Committee.
Also, MAP International, Mercy Corps International, USA for UNHCR, U.S. Catholic Conference/Office of Migration and Refugee Services, and World Vision Relief and Development.
Nebraska Methodists upset by gay ceremony to start new congregation
(RNS) A group of disgruntled United Methodists who boycotted their Nebraska church after the pastor performed a same-sex union ceremony last fall have decided to form a congregation of their own.
Gays and lesbians will be welcome at the new church, but ordination and union ceremonies for homosexuals will not, said Mel Semrad, spokesman for the 175 parishioners who voted unanimously Wednesday (June 17) to formally end their ties with First United Methodist Church of Omaha by forming a new congregation.
Some 450 parishioners have boycotted the 1,900-member First United Methodist Church since the controversial ceremony was performed last September.
In March, the Rev. Jimmy Creech, the pastor who officiated at the union ceremony of two women, was tried by the denomination but acquitted for his actions. However, Nebraska Bishop Joel Martinez decided not to reappoint Creech to lead First United Methodist, in part because Creech refused to pledge he would not conduct similar ceremonies in the future.
The dissidents said they believe Creech’s successor, the Rev. Donald Bredthauer, holds similar views about homosexuality, the Associated Press reported.
Sexuality issues have split the 8.5 million-member United Methodist Church nationwide.
Last week, conservatives in the California-Nevada Annual (regional) Conference upset over the liberal drift in the church _ especially on issues of homosexuality and same-sex marriage _ threatened to withhold funds for the conference’s programs and activities because their appeal to establish a separate”evangelical”jurisdiction was denied.
Survey: most evangelical women satisfied with sex lives
(RNS) A national poll of evangelical Christian women finds that 75 percent of those surveyed say they are”sexually satisfied”and 84 percent say they are happy with their marriages.
The survey results were reported in a just-released book titled”Secrets of Eve: Understanding the Mystery of Female Sexuality”(Word).
Based on surveys of 2,000 women, researchers found that 70 percent said they are sexually satisfied to some degree. Of those, 25 percent said they were satisfied; 30 percent said they were very satisfied; and 15 percent said they were extremely satisfied.
Of the married women surveyed, 84 percent said they were happy to some extent with their marriages. Of those, 28 percent said they were extremely happy; 34 percent said they were very happy; and 21 percent said they were happy.
The book is jointly authored by Archibald Hart, psychology professor at the Graduate School of Psychology of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif.; Catherine Hart Weber, a marriage and family therapist in Pasadena; and Debra Taylor, a sex therapist in Ventura, Calif.”We believe our research demonstrates a strong relationship between marital happiness and sexual satisfaction,”said Weber.”We are not saying that sexual satisfaction creates a happy marriage, but that a good sexual relationship is a positive byproduct of a healthy marriage.” Of the 70 percent of women who said they were sexually satisfied, 63 percent said they had a high degree of marital happiness.
Fifty-three percent said they were satisfied with how frequently they had sexual intercourse, while only 28 percent believed their husbands felt the same way. Seventy percent of the women said they had sex one to three times a week.
Other findings from the research include:
_ Forty-two percent said they had a moderate amount of sex drive, compared to 28 percent who said their sex drives were either very strong or strong.
_ One in three women reported having difficulty with low sexual desire.
_ Fifty-five percent of women with children in the house said they had difficulty finding the energy for sex. In comparison, just 33 percent of women without children said they had a similar problem.
Presbyterians approve `full communion’ agreement
(RNS) Delegates to the 210th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have approved a”full communion”agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and two other denominations.
The pact, which was approved overwhelmingly last year by the denominations 173 presbyteries, comes after some 32 years of talks between Presbyterians and Lutherans. The United Church in Christ and the Reformed Church in America are also included in the agreement.
The pact, which is not a merger, allows the denominations to work together in local and international ministry. It also permits its members to take Communion at each other churches and allows for exchange of clergy. For example, a Lutheran church can now hire a Presbyterian pastor.”This will make it much easier for us to work together,”Eugene Turner, a Presbyterian ecumenical officer, told the Associated Press.
The 2.6 million-member PCUSA is meeting in Charlotte, N.C., through Saturday (June 20). The 5.2 million-member ELCA, as well as the 1.4 million-member UCC and 182,000 RCA, approved the agreement last year.
Amnesty International: Human rights declaration `world’s best kept secret’
(RNS) The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights continues to be an ineffectual document for a many of the suffering people in the world, Amnesty International reported Wednesday (June 17).
In its annual report, the human rights group documented a long list of rights abuses including the use of summary executions in 55 nations, the use of torture in 117 countries and the jailing of”prisoners of conscience”in 87 nations.
The numbers show the U.N.’s declaration to be”little more than a paper promise,”Pierre Sane, secretary-general of Amnesty International, told a news conference in London, where the report was released.
In addition to recording abuses of human rights during 1997, the report also criticized the United States for failing to endorse international treaties protecting the rights of children and the end of discrimination against women.”Even when it has ratified international human rights conventions, it has often entered extensive reservations, refusing to be bound by many of the provisions within them,”the report said.
Sane said the Universal Declaration is”the world’s best kept secret, despite governments agreeing in 1948 to actively promote it wherever possible.”
Quote of the Day: Ed Robinson, a Baptist pastor in Jasper, Texas
(RNS)”There is a lot of reflection, people asking, `Have I done anything to foster an atmosphere where this could happen? Have I done anything to prevent an atmosphere from developing where this kind of thing could happen?” _ Ed Robinson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Jasper, Texas, speaking about the introspection going on in his town, where three white men have been charged with the grisly murder of James Byrd Jr., a disabled African-American, as quoted Wednesday (June 17) in Baptist Press, the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.
END RNS
