c. 1998 Religion News Service

United Church of Christ pastoral letter reaffirms support for gays

(RNS) The head of the United Church of Christ, in a pastoral letter to congregations in the 1.4 million-member church, has reaffirmed the denomination’s longstanding support for gay rights in the church _ including the ministry _ and in society.

The Rev. Paul H. Sherry asked that the pastoral letter be read from the pulpits of the more than 6,000 UCC churches. Sherry said he intends the letter to offer”another”opinion on the politically volatile issue of gay rights.”The campaign against homosexuals by many conservative politicians and religious leaders this summer convinced me that another Christian voice needed to be heard,”Sherry said.

Sherry’s stance reaffirms positions taken by the denomination’s General Synod _ its highest decision-making body _ and by many of its boards and agencies that gays, lesbians and bisexuals should enjoy full freedom to participate in the church’s membership and clergy positions.

In part, the letter was prompted by events surrounding the murder of Matthew Shepard, the gay youth lured out of a bar, beaten and tied to a fence post outside of Laramie, Wyo. He died in a hospital five days after the beating.”Be it slavery, women’s rights or human rights, every age demands that Christians look at Scripture with `new eyes,'”said Sherry.”All this has helped us discover that our church’s concern for the rights and dignity of gay, lesbian and bisexual people is not a break from our past, or a departure from Scripture, but is informed by our moments of greatest fidelity to the prophetic voice of the Bible and the gospel’s embrace of those who, with Christ, have been despised.”

Group asks probe of tax status of church after Clinton appearance

(RNS) Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked the Internal Revenue Service to consider revoking the tax-exempt status of a predominantly black church at which President Clinton appeared just days before the Nov. 3 election.

Americans United said the Nov. 1 service at New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore, Md., amounted to a political rally for Democratic candidates.

The service was in a part a get-out-the-vote effort. At the service, Clinton, who was joined by Gov. Parris Glendening, a candidate for re-election, told the congregation,”On Tuesday, you’re in charge of the arithmetic if you vote.””What we have a problem with is candidates of one party appearing at the pulpit for what is essentially a rally,”said Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United.

But Edward Smith Jr., an attorney for the church, said the church had not endorsed any candidate. The Washington Post reported Friday (Nov. 20) that at least one Republican, state Del. Donald E. Murphy, attended the event.”I think I was the only Republican there,”Murphy told the Post.”I was pretty sure this was not supposed to be a Democratic rally or fund-raiser … But did I squirm a bit? You bet.

Under IRS regulations, churches and other nonprofit groups that hold tax-exempt status are not permitted to engage in partisan politics, including endorsing or opposing specific candidates, giving money to political campaigns, or helping candidates win elections.

The line between what is proper and improper activities is blurred and controversial.

After the 1992 election, Americans United complained to the IRS that a small church in Vestal, N.Y., had bought newspaper advertisements two days before the election saying that a vote for Clinton was sinful.

The IRS investigated and revoked the church’s tax status in 1995. But the American Center for Law and Justice, a legal advocacy group founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, sued the IRS, contending it violated the church’s free speech and equal protection rights. That suit is still pending.

Federal judge blocks Internet decency law from taking effect

(RNS) A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order that prevents a new law aimed at curbing access by minors to pornography on the Internet from taking effect.”This is not a final decision, nor should it be construed as a final decision,”said U.S. District Judge Lowell A. Reed in Philadelphia.

The law was due to go into effect Thursday (Nov. 19).

The law, the Child Online Protection Act, passed by Congress earlier this this year, mandates companies to keep”harmful”Internet material away from children by requiring commercial Web sites to collect a credit card number or some other adult access code as proof of age before allowing Internet users to view material considered harmful to minors.

The American Civil Liberties Union contends the law violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and could be used to unfairly prosecute gay men and lesbians, AIDS activists or doctors distributing gynecological information.

But Bruce Taylor, president of the National Law Center for Children and Families, a supporter of the law, said the ACLU failed to show that sites cited by ACLU had a legitimate fear of being prosecuted, the Associated Press reported Friday (Nov. 20).

A hearing on the suit filed by the ACLU is set for Dec. 8.

John Paul takes a tough line with Austrian reform movement

(RNS) Pope John Paul II has rejected any idea of democratizing the Roman Catholic Church as called for by reformers in Europe.

Meeting with Austrian bishops Friday (Nov. 20), John Paul said the truth cannot be arrived at”through opinion polls and in a democratic manner.” Nor, he added, can truth be decided by”someone from below,”and lay people should not consider priests and bishops”an obsolete model,”the Associated Press reported.

The reform movement We Are Church, which is pressing for the democratic election of bishops, ordination of women to the priesthood, an end to priestly celibacy, and increased authority for lay people, is especially strong in Austria, a traditional Catholic bastion rocked by accusations that Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer sexually abused young boys.

Thiemann to quit post as dean of Harvard Divinity School

(RNS) The Rev. Ronald F. Thiemann, dean of the Harvard Divinity School since 1986, has announced his intention to leave the post.”For nearly 13 years I have had the privilege of leading one of the most outstanding schools of theological education in the world,”Thiemann, an ordained Lutheran minister said in his letter of resignation.

In his letter, Thiemann said that following a sabbatical, he will return to the divinity school faculty and resume teaching and research.

Quote of the day: the Leadership Conference of Women Religious

(RNS)”Today’s brave volunteers are forging new bonds shared by all who sacrifice personal security in order to extend concrete expression of love for their neighbors.” The Leadership Conference of Women Religious in a statement praising nuns and other volunteers who are working with victims of Hurricane Mitch in Central America.

DEA END RNS