c. 2000 Religion News Service
Pat Robertson is Rev. Robertson After Ordination Reaffirmed
(RNS) Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson is a reverend again, following a ceremony Monday (March 27) in which he reaffirmed his ordination vows.
Robertson, originally ordained in 1960 as a Southern Baptist minister, dropped his ordination in 1988 when he ran for the Republican nomination for president.
“I have just completed my 70th birthday, and feel at this critical juncture of my life that I want to dedicate what’s left in a special way to world missions and world evangelization,” Robertson said in a statement released after the ceremony at Regent University’s Robertson Hall in Virginia Beach, Va.
“This is not an ordination to any particular denomination, but merely an affirmation to God and man that the focus of what is left of my life will be to worldwide Christian service.”
Members of an “Ordination Council,” who will serve as a board of spiritual advisers for Robertson’s worldwide ministry, heard and responded to his vows of reaffirmation. Its members include the Rev. Jack Hayford, president of the King’s Seminary in Los Angeles; the Rev. Thomas Trask, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God; Vinson Synan, dean of the School of Divinity of Regent University; and Episcopal Bishop John W. Howe of the Diocese of Central Florida.
“Pat has a renewed sense of urgency to continue spreading the gospel in a worldwide ministry, and he recognizes the need to officially reaffirm his calling,” Synan said in a statement.
Robertson, who turned 70 on March 22, is best known for having founded the Christian Coalition as well as the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach. He also founded Regent University, the American Center for Law and Justice and Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corp.
Lutherans Map Strategy to Resist Accord With Episcopalians
(RNS) Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who oppose a proposed “full communion” agreement with the Episcopal Church gathered in Minnesota on Sunday (March 26) to plan a strategy to derail the accord.
The agreement, which was approved by Lutherans last summer and is expected to be approved by Episcopalians in July, would allow both denominations to share ministries and recognize each other’s clergy and sacraments.
Under the proposal, Lutherans would also accept the historic line of bishops within the Episcopal Church. Members of the WordAlone Network, which was chartered at Sunday’s meeting, oppose the accord because Lutherans would have to ordain their clergy by the laying-on of hands by three ordained bishops, changing Lutheran tradition.
The Rev. Roger Eigenfeld, chair of WordAlone and pastor of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, Minn., said he does not want Lutheran churches to leave the denomination over the issue, but he said it could happen.
“We aren’t going to leave,” Eigenfeld told the Associated Press. “We want to stay. But we might get kicked out.”
Eigenfeld said supporters want to rework the full communion agreement so the historic episcopate is not mandatory, a move that most likely would not be supported by Episcopalians.
WordAlone officials first met in St. Paul, Minn., in November to oppose the agreement. A small group of opponents and supporters met in Milwaukee in February to propose compromises, but the meeting failed to yield significant results.
The growing resistance has caught the attention of Lutheran bishops. While urging support for the agreement, they hope to work out a plan that allows room for opponents to support the accord.
The church’s Conference of Bishops issued a “pastoral letter” on March 6 urging support of the agreement but acknowledging the opposition. The letter called for “exploration” of alternatives to answer the concerns of the opposition but said delaying implementation of the plan, which was one of the suggestions, was not an option.
AME Church Plans National Gathering of African-American Men
(RNS) The African Methodist Episcopal Church is spearheading plans for a July 4 national gathering of African-American men to address issues confronting their families and communities.
The Christian Men’s Freedom Forum 2000 will be held at the 17,000-seat Firstar Center in Cincinnati the day before the denomination’s quadrennial General Conference.
Organizers hope to attract men from a variety of social and economic backgrounds to develop solutions to issues challenging black males across the country. They hope to increase the influence of African-American men in such areas as spiritual renewal, economic development, political responsibility, technological awareness and global consciousness.
“We are confident that this event will not be business as usual, and I believe that Christian Men’s Freedom Forum 2000 will make the difference,” said Bishop Vinton Anderson, who presides over the Second Episcopal District of the 2.5 million-member denomination, in a statement.
At the conclusion of the meeting, men will be asked to make a covenant to strengthen their influence in their families and communities.
Anderson, who formulated the vision for the event, told the AME Christian Recorder he has received commitments from members of the Congressional Black Caucus who plan to take part in the event. He estimated that 10,000 men will attend.
“It is not intended to be exclusive at all,” said Anderson. “It is sponsored by the AME Church but it is open to all people. … This is for black families. We hope the men will bring their sons and daughters.”
More Bodies Discovered in Uganda Sect Deaths
(RNS) Searchers have discovered nine more bodies near a compound in southwestern Uganda where at least 200 members of a religious group died March 17 in a fire initially viewed as a mass suicide.
The discovery in Rugazi comes four days after police unearthed the bodies of 153 people near the compound of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God in the town of Kanungu. On March 17, about 235 members of the Ten Commandments group _ which supported strict adherence to the Ten Commandments and predicted the world would end in the year 2000 _ burned to death inside their church in Kanungu in what officials first believed was a mass suicide.
Officials remain uncertain about the exact death toll, but estimate as many as 500 people perished in the fire _ including 78 children and a number of people who did not belong to the church.
The discoveries of the mass graves have fueled suspicion church members were murdered.
The bodies found at Rugazi will be examined by a team of investigators appointed by the Ugandan government. Investigators will then head to the village of Buhunga to examine the 153 bodies found there.
Meanwhile, police officials say they cannot rule out the possibility all leaders of the religious group did not die with their followers, though the bodies of two leaders have been positively identified.
Several local witnesses have reported they saw two of the group’s leaders _ Cledonia Mwerinde, 40, and former Roman Catholic priest Joseph Kibweteere, 68 _ leave the compound before the morning of the fire.
Police officials are investigating other areas where branches of the Ten Commandments group are believed to exist, and plan to search at least six other properties in Uganda owned by the group.
“We now fear we may find more bodies,” said Minister of Internal Affairs Edward Rugumayo.
Muslim Jail Guards Win Round to Keep Beards
(RNS) A federal judge in Newark, N.J., on Wednesday (March 22) temporarily blocked the state Department of Corrections from enacting a new policy that prohibits prison guards from wearing beards. The action came after 33 Sunni Muslim officers filed a civil rights suit claiming the policy infringes on their religious freedom.
District Court Judge Faith Hochberg signed a temporary restraining order that barred the dismissal or disciplining of officers who refuse to shave, pending a hearing April 4. Although only 33 senior officers and sergeants filed the action, a lawyer for the men said many more stand to be affected.
The officers are veteran employees, some with more than 20 years of service, and all claim to be devout followers of Islam, which mandates the wearing of beards.
“Among our beliefs and teachings, it is an obligation for men who can grow a beard to do so and not to shave,” said Mohamed A. Nasir, imam, or spiritual leader, of the National Islamic Association in Newark, a mosque of 200 families.
Nasir submitted an affidavit on behalf of the corrections officers, contending, “The Koran commands the wearing of the beard. … The refusal of a Muslim male who can grow a beard to wear one is a sin. It is disobedience to Allah and his prophet.”
The lawsuit drew heavily on a recent case involving the Newark Police Department. Two federal courts ruled the city had no “compelling governmental interest” in banning beards worn for religious reasons, particularly since the department allowed medical exemptions for officers with skin problems.
In October, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts and struck down the policy.
“Despite the fact the U.S. Supreme Court last year let stand two federal court rulings that struck down a similar ban on beards among Newark police, the state has imposed its own policy which threatens my clients with disciplinary action and dismissal if they do not shave,” Robert Cannan, the officers’ lawyer, said after filing the complaint in U.S. District Court.
Update: Court Rules Against Inmate’s Rosary Beads
(RNS) The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Wednesday (March 22) that a state prison inmate failed to prove his religious rights were violated when prison officials confiscated his rosary beads.
In its two-page decision the court noted that Peter Kane _ sentenced to life in prison for the 1980 murder of the two sons of the woman who was his live-in girlfriend at the time _ refused an offer from prison officials to keep a rosary with black beads, and concluded, “The plaintiff offers no reason why he could not use the black rosary beads that were offered to him at each religious service.”
The court also said its decision considered only whether prison officials violated Kane’s federal constitutional rights, not whether they had violated his rights under the state constitution.
Kane filed suit on his own behalf in Middlesex Superior Court after guards at the state prison in Shirley confiscated his black and white beaded rosary in June of 1997. Prison officials, who had placed restrictions on inmates’ clothing and jewelry (including rosaries), contended the rosary could have signified connections to a gang.
The department’s ban on multicolored beads was affirmed by the court, which ruled an inmate’s rights “may be curtailed in order to achieve legitimate correctional goals or to maintain prison security.”
Quote of the Day: Pollster George Barna
(RNS) “Few people are seeking to remove God from their life. They’re just not sure when and how often they will pencil him into their schedule.”
George Barna, president of Barna Research Group of Ventura, Calif., speaking about the intersection of spirituality and busy lives. He made the statement when releasing a recent annual survey tracking religious beliefs and behavior.
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