c. 1999 Religion News Service
Promise Keepers announces 15 men’s conferences in 1999
(RNS) Promise Keepers, the evangelical Christian men’s ministry, has announced plans for 15 men’s conferences across the United States from June through October.
The theme of the meetings, which will be held in arenas and stadiums, will be”Choose This Day,”based on a verse from the biblical book of Joshua which says,”Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve … As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.””It’s a pretty clear challenge to see men … lead a godly family in an ungodly world,”said Steve Chavis, national spokesman for the Denver-based ministry on Monday (Feb. 1).
He said the conference will emphasize how men can resist temptations.”We haven’t licked matters of temptation and fidelity and integrity that are still newsworthy so it will be as in-your-face as it’s ever been,”Chavis said.
The conference also will feature break-out sessions for small groups of men to have discussions in addition to the main sessions featuring keynote speakers.
Continuing a tradition started last year, the conferences are free of charge. The decision to drop the admission fee of $60 _ which organizers hoped would draw more Christian and non-Christian men to the rallies _ has caused the ministry to have to cut back its staff and rely even more on volunteers. Each of the 1999 conferences are expected to be run by 1,000 to 2,000 volunteers.
The venues for the meetings are still being negotiated, but the planned dates and locations are as follows:
June 4-5 in Memphis, Tenn.; June 25-26 in Detroit; July 9-10 in Indianapolis; July 16-17 in Denver; July 23-24 in Philadelphia; July 30-31 in Tacoma, Wash.; August 6-7 in San Antonio; August 13-14 in Charlotte, N.C.; August 20-21 in Hartford, Conn.; September 10-11 in Stockton, Calif.; Sept. 24-25 in Kansas City, Mo.; Oct. 1-2 in East Rutherford, N.J.; Oct. 8-9 in St. Petersburg, Fla.; Oct. 15-16 in Des Moines, Iowa; and Oct. 22-23 in Phoenix.
Salem Communications makes Internet, publishing acquisitions
(RNS) Salem Communications Corp. announced Monday (Feb. 1) it has made a series of publishing and Internet acquisitions.
Officials of the Camarillo, Calif.-based Christian broadcasting company said they have acquired CCM Communications in Nashville, Tenn., and OnePlace LLC in Greensboro, N.C. They also have reached an agreement to acquire NavPress Software of Austin, Texas.”These acquisitions support and embody Salem’s vision to strategically position the company as a broad-based fully integrated Christian media company with strong radio, Internet and publishing capabilities,”reads a statement announcing the business decisions.
Salem owns 45 radio stations and a radio network with more than 1,000 affiliates. It focuses on a religious and conservative listening audience.
CCM Communications is a contemporary Christian media company that produces radio programs and magazines, including CCM Magazine, a contemporary Christian music publication.
OnePlace is a pioneer in the application of Internet e-commerce and other advanced information technologies. It sells products through its Christian SuperStore and maintains databases of Christian products, churches, retail stores, Christian counselors and other ministries.
NavPress Software is a supplier and developer of electronic Bible and Christian reference materials.”The Internet represents a new and unique opportunity to expand Salem’s platform throughout the world with new and complementary technologies such as audio and video streaming,”stated Edward G. Atsinger, Salem’s president and CEO.
John W. Styll, president of CCM Communications, told Religion News Service that he thinks the deal has”virtually unlimited”potential.”As Salem continues to develop a fully-integrated media company directed to Christians, it has the potential to create many new customers for Christian products, including music. I’m convinced that the music portion of our Internet site will be second to none, resulting in an unparalleled online experience for fans.” The purchase prices for CCM Communications and OnePlace were not disclosed. The two companies will maintain their headquarters in their current locations.
Norwegian bishop reappoints lesbian cleric who `married’
(RNS) Norway’s only woman bishop has reappointed a lesbian priest to her job as a chaplain in the diocese of Hamar, causing a sharp split in the Lutheran state church.”I have decided to let Siri Sunde return to her job as a curate,”Bishop Rosemarie Koehn told a news conference in Hamar.
Koehn, a bishop since 1993, ordained the 40-year-old Sunde in 1996 and at the time the priest promised she had no plans to enter a same-sex marriage with her lesbian partner.
In Norway, gay marriages are legal and couples have all the rights of heterosexual marriages except the right to church weddings and the right to adopt.
Under a 1997 ruling _ which Koehn voted for _ the Norwegian church allows only heterosexual marriages for its priests and gays and lesbian clergy such as Sunde who openly live with their lovers are relegated to bureaucratic jobs that do not involve performing such rites as baptisms, marriages and funerals.
After Sunde entered a legal”partnership,”or same-sex marriage, in 1997, Koehn suspended her and gave her a job as a consultant in Hamar. That job expired on Feb. 1, prompting the bishop’s decision to reappoint her as a chaplain.
Oslo Bishop Odd Bondevik, head of the church’s college of bishops, warned that Koehn’s decision could split the church to which 90 percent of Norway’s population belongs.”I have sympathy with Bishop Koehn for the difficult decision she has made,”Bondevik said.”This is a difficult decision for us all. I disagree with the decision (she) has reached,”the Associated Press reported.
The centrist government of Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, who is also a priest in the church, said it regretted the decision, Reuters reported.
But Sunde called the bishop’s decision”a victory for Christ.”It doesn’t mean that the doors will be thrown wide open,”she said.”It’s not easy to be a lesbian or homosexual in the Norwegian church.”
Ultra-Orthodox, American Reform Jews clash again in Jerusalem
(RNS) Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators clashed with a group of American Reform rabbis at Judaism’s holiest site Monday (Feb. 1) in the latest eruption in the ongoing religious war between Jews.
The clash took place at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, with the 100 ultra-Orthodox shouting at the 33 male and female Reform rabbis to”go back to Germany”and be exterminated by Nazis, the New York Times reported.
The ultra-Orthodox regard the Wall, a remnant of biblical Judaism’s Temple, as their exclusive domain and have resisted attempts by non-Orthodox religious Jews to hold worship services there following Reform or Conservative Jewish norms.
The ultra-Orthodox are particularly upset by the non-Orthodox practice of allowing women equal participation. Orthodox Judaism strictly separates the genders.”If a group of rabbis can’t go to the wall, then who can go?”said Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, executive director of the New York-based Association of Reform Zionists of America.”You think you are Jewish because you put on a kippah (Hebrew for skullcap),”countered Meir Kraus, one of the ultra-Orthodox protesters, who were mostly religious school students.
Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews have repreatedly clashed at the Western Wall. Their religious fight also has been played out in Israel’s courts and Knesset, or parliament. The non-Orthodox have sought government recognition of their movements and increasingly have met legal success.
Methodist evangelicals urge support for efforts to `transform’ gays
(RNS) In an open letter to the bishops of the United Methodist Church, leaders of Good News, the conservative, evangelical caucus within the nation’s second largest Protestant denomination, have urged the bishops to encourage and support ministries that seek to”transform”gays and lesbians.
In the letter, adopted by the board of Good News, the conservative caucus said that in the wake of the defiance of church rules by clergy who support same-sex marriages, the denomination faces”the unprecedented situation where a significant number of clergy have repudiated their covenant of obedience to the doctrine and Discipline of the United Methodist Church.” It specifically cited the Jan. 16 union ceremony of a lesbian couple in California as well as the actions of the Rev. Jimmy Creech in Nebraska and the Rev. Gregory Dell in Illinois in challenging church rules forbidding Methodist clergy from officiating at same-sex ceremonies.”We are one of many voices speaking for a broad majority of the United Methodist Church in saying that the church’s acceptance or approval of homosexual behavior is absolutely intolerable,”the letter said.
It said any move by the denomination toward accepting homosexuality would cost the church both in terms of members and financial support and urged the bishops to make a”faithful response to this schismatic challenge.” The caucus specifically urged the bishops to”help provide effective ministry to those struggling with homosexuality. We urge you to take the lead in advocating and empowering transforming ministry …. in all our churches, districts and annual conferences.”
Quote of the day: Carole Shields, president of the People for the American Way Foundation.
(RNS)”His (Gary Bauer) presidential run may be less about becoming president of the United States and more about cementing his leadership of the religious right.” _ Carole Shields, president of the People for the American Way Foundation commenting Monday (Feb. 1) on news reports that conservative activist Gary Bauer, former head of the Family Research Council, has decided to seek the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
DEA END RNS
