c. 2000 Religion News Service
Lutherans, Episcopalians Issue Decisions On Gays in the Church
(RNS) As Protestant churches continue to grapple with the issue of homosexuality, Lutheran bishops have agreed that exemptions should not be made to allow gay clergy in the pulpit, and an Episcopal parish in Atlanta has been told by diocesan officials it cannot bless same-sex unions.
In the Lutheran case, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Conference of Bishops agreed with a recommendation that exemptions not be allowed to the church’s ban on openly gay clergy.
The case involves St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minn., where a lesbian lay minister, Anita Hill, has been serving as pastor for several years and asked to be ordained after completing seminary. The ELCA does not allow openly gay clergy to serve as church pastors.
The St. Paul Area Synod had requested an exemption, but the church’s Division for Ministry advised against it. The bishops agreed in a meeting in Chicago Oct. 5-10, and a final ruling will be issued by the Division for Ministry.
In agreeing with the recommendation, the bishops said they have no authority to change the requirements for ordination, and such a change would have to come from amending the church’s governing documents.
In Atlanta, the Atlanta Episcopal Diocese has told St. Bartholomew’s Church that the congregation cannot bless same-sex unions because the church’s General Convention meeting this summer in Denver did not grant such authority.
At the Denver meeting, delegates and bishops approved a controversial seven-point resolution that affirmed the church’s support for “life-long committed” relationships other than marriage. The church stopped short, however, of calling for rites to bless such relationships.
The 2.5 million-member Episcopal Church allows dioceses the option of whether to bless same-sex unions, as well as appoint openly gay clergy. Progressive factions in the church had wanted a churchwide policy supporting gay marriage and ordination, but conservatives blocked such a move.
The diocese’s Standing Committee told the Rev. Marion Kanour, priest-in-charge at the 1,100-member church, that blessing same-sex unions would “seriously damage or even destroy the possibility of such development in the future.”
Kanour, a lesbian who had planned the same-sex blessing for late October, said she hopes that when the diocese gets a new bishop, he or she will move to change the committee’s decision.
“We feel called to this pastoral action,” Kanour told Episcopal News Service. “I pray that (the) next bishop of Atlanta will authorize what the Standing Committee cannot bring itself to allow.”
Theological Schools See Increase in `M.Div.’ Students
(RNS) The Association of Theological Schools is reporting an increase in the number of students seeking a master of divinity degree, but churches still desire more leaders from among the most talented young people who opt for other professions.
In its annual report, the Pittsburgh-based association reports that the number of students seeking the basic degree for Protestant or Catholic ordination has grown by about 2,000 in the past five years, The Washington Times reported.
But that growth is not occurring in the group of students who are drawn to high-paying professions such as medicine, law and business.
“There is a new awareness of the need for bright and gifted young people to go into ministry,” said James L. Waits, director of the Fund for Theological Education in Atlanta. “We need to attract people fresh out of college, or those up to age 25 who possess the gifts to be our future clergy.”
About 70,000 students are enrolled in the 237 American theological schools accredited by the ATS, but only 30,000 seek the “M.Div.” degree often achieved by preaching ministers.
Almost half of the students studying for a master of divinity are 35 or older, prompting a rise in the average age of students at seminaries.
More than half of all students at theology schools pursue degrees in education, counseling, or music or attend part time for adult education.
Arafat Appeals to Pope for Aid in Resolving Middle East Crisis
(RNS) A senior Palestinian official in Italy has reported that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat made a personal appeal to Pope John Paul II asking him to help resolve weeks of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.
“Politicians need the intervention of such a prestigious person who is above politics,” Nemer Hammad told Italian media on Monday (Oct. 23), according to the Reuters news agency. “Whoever has the power to do so, should speak out today.”
Hammad, who declined to reveal the specific contents of Arafat’s appeal, said help from the international community was necessary to resolve four weeks of violence that began after Ariel Sharon, leader of the Likud party, visited a Jerusalem holy site claimed by both Muslims and Jews. About 128 people, mostly Palestinians, have died in the clashes.
News of Arafat’s appeal followed a similar appeal made the same day by the Palestinian Authority’s general-secretary, who encouraged the pope to condemn Israel’s “aggression.”
“We appeal to the pope and all Christian churches in the world to hold an emergency meeting that would expose the false image of Israel, its occupation and aggression against the Palestinian people,” Ahmed Abdel-Rahman told the Palestinian Authority’s official radio network.
Salvador Court Rejects Indictment in Slain Jesuits Case
(RNS) A Salvadorean prosecutor’s petition for a criminal indictment holding the former president of El Salvador and six military chiefs responsible for the 1989 murder of six Jesuits has been rejected by a judge.
The indictment request from special crimes prosecutor Marcial Zelaya was “without legal substance,” Judge Elmer Chavarria ruled Monday (Oct. 23).
He told Zelaya that requests for a new case are the responsibility of a special peace court, not judicial courts, Reuters news agency reported. He also ordered the prosecutor to begin a new investigation to find reasons why the court should reopen the case investigating the 1989 murders of six Jesuits and two women at the University of Central San Salvador.
The murders occurred during El Salvador’s 12-year civil war, a time when opponents of anti-government rebels suspected Jesuits sympathized with the rebel movement. Several military servicemen convicted of the murders were granted amnesty and freed about four years after the crime.
President Francisco Flores, a successor to the accused Alfredo Cristiani, has said he sees no need to re-open the investigation, but earlier this month the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the decision whether to re-open the case should be made by a tribunal, Reuters reported.
Report: Wash Your Hands Before Communion
(RNS) An updated report on the use of a common Communion cup says people may have more to fear from people dipping the bread in the wine than from sipping from the same chalice used by other congregants.
The report by Canadian cardiologist David Gould is an update of his initial 1987 report, which was issued after church-goers expressed fears of contracting the AIDS virus by using the same Communion cup as other parishioners.
Gould’s new report says churchgoers are more likely to get sick from air-borne infections than from sharing a Communion chalice, and the massive amounts of bacteria needed to cause an infection are usually not found on a common Communion cup.
Gould did warn, however, that trying to skirt the problem by dipping bread into the cup _ rather than sipping from it _ may actually cause more problems because hands contain more germs than a person’s mouth, as reported by the Anglican Journal, a Canadian church newspaper.
“Medically, we know that hands are much worse transmitters of infection than lips,” Gould wrote in his report. “Our mothers always told us to wash our hands before eating, because our hands pick up germs. And they had a good reason for saying that.”
If people choose to dip the bread into the cup, they should be careful not to allow their fingers to touch the wine, Gould said. Germs can further be prevented by as much as 90 percent by wiping the Communion cup with a white linen cloth after each sip.
Despite the fears of catching a cold, the flu, or worse from a common cup, Gould said most fears are simply unfounded. If Communion cups were a danger,Gould said there would be cases of mass infections. What’s more, priests _ who tend to drink more of the wine than parishioners _ would be reporting widespread illness, and that has never happened.
“No episode of disease attributable to the common cup has ever been reported,” Gould said. “Thus for the average communicant, it would seem that the risk of drinking from the common cup is probably less than the risk of air-borne infection in using a common building.”
Gospel Music Pioneer Bob MacKenzie Dead at 62
(RNS) Gospel music industry pioneer Bob MacKenzie died Friday (Oct. 20), a week and a half before he was scheduled to be inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame.
MacKenzie, 62, of Brentwood, Tenn., died of apparent heart failure, the association said.
He now will be inducted posthumously at the hall of fame ceremony on Oct. 30 in Nashville, Tenn.
A multiple Grammy winner, MacKenzie was creative director of the John T. Benson Publishing Company and produced almost every album released by the company in the 1960s and 1970s, including those by such artists as the Oak Ridge Boys, the Cathedrals and the Imperials. He later became president of the Benson Company and was known as a mentor for many in the gospel industry.
“Bob was the most eclectic musician and producer I’ve ever known,” said Frank Breeden, president of the GMA, in a statement. “He was a tremendous force in so many people’s lives.”
Quote of the Day: John Davis of California
(RNS) “(The biblical book of) Proverbs tells you to discipline your children, or else they will grow up and kill their parents. All I did was discipline them.”
_ John Davis of California, charged with torturing and false imprisonment of his two sons, 17-year-old Yahweh and 12-year-old Angel. Davis’ remarks were published Monday (Oct. 23) in The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif.
DEA END RNS
