c. 1998 Religion News Service
Marriage Savers mentoring program launched nationwide
(RNS) Marriage Savers, an interdenominational Christian mentoring program in which long-married couples offer advice to engaged couples, has announced plans to expand nationwide.”In every church … there are couples with strong marriages that have never been asked to come alongside a younger couple”for mentoring, Michael J. McManus, executive director of Marriage Savers,”said Thursday (March 12).
So far, churches in 80 cities have instituted the Marriage Savers program. Eleven of those cities have seen their divorce rates fall well below the national average, McManus said. In the other cities, the program has been in place too short a period to measure its impact.
Couples who wish to become mentors must first complete 26 hours of training. Engaged couple are tested to determine their compatibility and then meet a minimum of six times with their mentors to work through the results of the testing.
Marriage Savers state chairs include pollster George Gallup Jr. of New Jersey, Episcopal Bishop Terrence Kelshaw of New Mexico and Methodist Bishop S. Clifton Ives of West Virginia. Its national board includes the Rev. Don Argue, president of the National Association of Evangelicals; the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches; and Roman Catholic Archbishop William Keeler of Baltimore.
Last April, at the White House Summit on Volunteerism in Philadelphia, Marriage Savers was designated”one of the 50 outstanding”examples of voluntary action. In addition to heading Marriage Savers, McManus writes an”Ethics and Religion”column syndicated by The New York Times.
British TV airs cartoon about Muhammad despite objections
(RNS) Despite strong objections from some Muslims, a 15-minute cartoon program for children on the life of the Prophet Muhammad was aired on British television, albeit in a modified form. A Muslim scholar who acted as a consultant to the show firmly dismissed the objections.
The program was one in a series about the world’s major religions and depicted Muhammad’s”companions”to tell the prophet’s life story and his founding of Islam.
But the United Kingdom Action Committee on Islamic Affairs said that most Islamic authorities agree it is forbidden to make images not only of Muhammad and his family, but also of Islam’s early followers.
However, Mashuq Ally, former director of the Center for Islamic Studies, said the cartoon’s producers were simply following a precedent already set by”The Message,”a live-action film widely available throughout the Muslim world in both Arabic and English.”In `The Message,’ numerous companions of the prophet, including members of his family, are depicted,”said Ally, adding that the film had been endorsed by Islamic religious authorities.
In a concession to protesters, all references to the names of Muhammad’s family and successors were deleted from the cartoon that eventually aired.
But the cartoon’s detractors said the modifications were not enough.”We believe that all educational material dealing with religious matters in particular should be scrupulously accurate,”said the Islamic affairs committee.”To this end, care has to be taken in choosing consultants and referees with the required knowledge and skills. This, unfortunately, was not the case in the making of this film.” White teen gets 15 years for burning black church in Alabama
(RNS) A white teen-ager was sentenced Thursday (March 12) to 15 years in prison for burning a rural black church in Alabama during a night of drunken revelry.
U.S. Judge Richard Vollmer sentenced Alan Odom, 18, after he received the first conviction under new federal sentencing guidelines aimed at protecting houses of worship.
Vollmer gave both co-defendants Kenneth Cumbie, 21, and Brandy Boone, 19, 41 months in prison for their roles in the conspiracy to burn St. Joe Baptist Church in Little River, in north Baldwin County, the Associated Press reported. The fire occurred July 3, 1997.”I’m sorry,”said Odom of Uriah.”I never meant to hurt anyone in the community.” Odom was the sole member of a group of five defendants who was convicted on the charge of”damage or destruction of religious property because of the religious character of the property.” Odom’s sentence includes the new law’s mandatory 10 years plus five years for arson and conspiracy. The law was strengthened after a spate of church fires occurred in recent years across the Southeast, some of which were racially motivated.
The Rev. Joe Dees, pastor of the church said the sentencing was emotional for him.”The U.S. justice system has carried out the law,”he said, as he left the crowded sentencing hearing.
The three defendants and two other sentenced previously were ordered to pay $96,836 to rebuild the church or to instead make monthly minimum payments of $100, if necessary.
The two others involved in the case, Michael Woods, 18, of Uriah, and Jeremy Boone, 19, of Little River, the cousin of the convicted woman, were sentenced March 6 and Tuesday, respectively. Jeremy Boone was given 41 months for trying to burn a black church next door to St. Joe Baptist Church and Woods was sentenced to five years for the St. Joe arson.”We certainly hope that the community can heal all the wounds that have been opened by this tragic series of events and that they can live together in harmony with respect for each other’s rights,”said U.S. Attorney Don Foster.
Alliance of Baptists to hold 2000 convention at gay-affirming church
(RNS) The Baptist church in Austin, Texas, recently rejected by the state association of Southern Baptists for its acceptance of homosexuals will be the meeting place of the progressive Alliance of Baptists in the year 2000.
The board of directors of the Alliance of Baptists accepted the invitation of University Baptist Church on Thursday (March 12) during its meeting in Washington, D.C.”We have a conviction that the church of Jesus Christ is a church that keeps the doors open to all people,”said Nancy Hastings Sehested, president of the alliance.”University Baptist is a church that has taken the courageous stand to say, `We are a church of the open door,’ so it is our privilege to walk with them on this part of the journey.” On Feb. 24, the executive board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas voted to disassociate itself from University Baptist, in part because the church ordained a gay deacon.”It is a grief and sadness to us that the larger church would take actions against University on their bearing witness to an inclusive and loving faith,”Sehested said.
University Baptist pastor Larry Bethune called the action by the alliance”more than symbolic”and said the theme of the 2000 convention will be”the open door”to highlight inclusiveness. He believes the alliance has contributed to helping churches accept and affirm gays and lesbians in their congregations.”The alliance has led the way in creating dialogue,”he said.
Bethune said University Baptist was disfellowshipped by the Austin Baptist Association in 1993 and the church has withdrawn from the Southern Baptist Convention”in recognition that they had excluded us.” In 1993, the Southern Baptist Convention made a change in its constitution declaring that churches approving of homosexual behavior were”not in friendly cooperation”with the denomination and could not send delegates to its annual meeting.
The Austin church remains affiliated with the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., a denomination that is theologically more liberal than the SBC. It also is involved with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a moderate Baptist group, and the Alliance of Baptists.”This is an issue that American Baptists are struggling with,”Bethune said. But he said unlike Southern Baptists, the American Baptists have continued to support the autonomy of the local congregation.”The denomination has no place among Baptists being an authority over churches,”he said.
Canadian loses medical license in physician-assisted suicide case
(RNS) Canada’s first doctor to be convicted of helping terminally ill patients commit suicide has been stripped of his medical license.
Maurice Genereux’s license was revoked Thursday (March 12) at a disciplinary hearing in Toronto held by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, a provincial regulatory body. He pleaded guilty to professional misconduct at the hearing.
Genereux had been charged with the improper prescription of drugs and engaging in an act that disgraced or dishonored the practice of medicine, the Associated Press reported.
Genereux, 50, also has pleaded guilty to criminal charges and is due to be sentenced in April. The criminal charges stemmed from his prescibing a powerful drug to help two HIV-positive patients commit suicide in 1996. One died, but the other survived after a friend intervened. The survivor then testified against Genereux.
Southwestern Seminary appoints its first full-time black instructor
(RNS) Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has hired its first full-time black instructor.
Raymond Spencer will teach courses on preaching at the school in Fort Worth, Texas.”We selected Mr. Spencer because he was the best qualified for the job,”said Southwestern President Ken Hemphill in a statement.”He appeals to students of all races. He’s a great preacher and is going to be a great professor. We’re honored that he would choose us.” Spencer is a pastoral assistant at New Rising Star Baptist Church in Fort Worth.”This is a great honor. I feel blessed to be a part of it,”said Spencer, a doctoral student at the predominantly white seminary. He will be promoted to assistant professor after he receives his doctorate.
The seminary also has moved forward with its efforts to offer the only Islamic studies program at a Southern Baptist seminary.
Samuel Shahid, called by Hemphill”one of the foremost scholars on Islam,”has been appointed a professor of missions.”Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in America and we need to understand who the Muslims are so that we can better witness to them about Jesus Christ,”Hemphill said, according to the Associated Press.
Shahid is president and executive director of Good News for the Crescent World, a Christian group that evangelizes Muslims.
Florida paper wins award for investigation of Brownsville revival
(RNS) A Florida newspaper has been awarded a journalistic prize for its investigation of an ongoing revival at the Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola.
The Pensacola News Journal won the George Polk Award for local reporting.”I’m proud of the News Journal staff for bringing home one of the most prestigious awards in journalism,”said executive editor Teresa Wasson.”It’s a tribute to the quality of their work for a newspaper our size to be honored next to the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post.” The newspaper’s five-day series reported on fraud and corruption surrounding the revival at the church, which has attracted hundreds of thousands from around the nation and world. Revival leaders rebutted much of the series.
The revival is continuing, but the church has made some changes in its procedures.
Added Wasson:”It’s unusual for stories about religion to be honored in sort of mainstream contests but we think religion is an important topic and deserves to be covered fully as other hard news topics are.” The Polk awards were started in 1949 in honor of George Polk, a CBS reporter killed while covering the Greek civil war.
Quote of the Day: Rabbi Michael Lerner
(RNS)”God is the voice of the future calling to the present, critiquing the present, and speaking to us in ways that elicit within us the capacity to see beyond the contemporary reality.” _ Rabbi Michael Lerner, writing in the March/April 1998 edition of Tikkun magazine, where he is the editor.
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