c. 2000 Religion News Service
Catholics, Baptists, Methodists Remain Top U.S. Church Bodies
(RNS) The Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention and United Methodist Church remain the nation’s largest church bodies, reports the new edition of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.
The volume, prepared annually by the National Council of Churches, continues to report on North American denominational and ecumenical bodies but also includes in its 2000 edition contacts for eight non-Christian American faith traditions for the first time.
The Rev. Eileen W. Lindner, editor of the yearbook, said there is “a more nuanced interpretation” of the various factors effecting changes in liberal and conservative church growth statistics.
“For the first time the Southern Baptist Convention reports a loss rather than a gain in membership,” she said. “The percentage of membership loss for the convention is virtually identical to that of the Presbyterian Church (USA), raising increasing doubts about the adequacy of a conservative church growth as opposed to a progressive church decline scenario.
“On the other hand, a solid and consistent growth pattern continues to be reported by the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination often identified as a growing conservative communion.”
The membership totals for the top three denominations are reported as follows: Roman Catholic Church, 62,018,436; Southern Baptist Convention, 15,729,356; United Methodist Church, 8,400,000.
The yearbook lists the following top 10 U.S church bodies: 1. Roman Catholic Church; 2. Southern Baptist Convention; 3. United Methodist Church; 4. National Baptist Convention, USA; 5. Church of God in Christ; 6. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; 7. Latter-day Saints/Mormons; 8. Presbyterian Church (USA); 9. National Baptist Convention of America; 10. Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
The rest of the top 20 list includes: 11. Assemblies of God; 12. African Methodist Episcopal Church; 13. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America; 14. Progressive National Baptist Convention; 15. Episcopal Church; 16. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; 17. American Baptist Churches USA; 18. Churches of Christ; 19. United Church of Christ; 20. African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
The theme of the yearbook is the growing religious pluralism in America.
“At the close of what has broadly been known as the `Christian Century,’ we felt it was important for the Yearbook to step back and look at the broader religious landscape of the United States,” Lindner said. “In doing so, our growing religious pluralism came boldly into focus.”
The volume includes brief histories and contacts relating to Baha’ism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Native American traditional spirituality and Sikhism.
It also notes the diversification of student bodies at theology schools _ which now are 34 percent female _ and an increase in giving among local churches.
Barna Poll: Born-Again Christians Favor Bush Over Gore
(RNS) A new poll by the Barna Research Group finds that born-again Christians currently say they would vote for Republican George W. Bush as president over Democrat Al Gore by a margin of 51 percent to 31 percent if a general election were held with their names on the ballot.
The survey, completed Tuesday (Feb. 15), found voters who are not born-again Christians would favor the vice president over the Texas governor by a margin of 43 percent to 34 percent.
Among registered voters who expect to cast a ballot in November, the lead for Bush increases to 56 percent to 30 percent among born-again Christians. Gore’s lead remains stable at 44 percent to 36 percent among likely voters who are not born again.
Barna reports both candidates are both professed born-again Christians but Bush draws 55 percent of his support from fellow born-again believers while Gore gains 37 percent from that sector.
The research firm defines “born again” as those who answer two survey questions in the affirmative concerning their faith. They are asked whether “they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today.” They also are asked about life after death and are categorized as a “born-again Christian” if they choose the option that says “after I die I know I will go to heaven because I have confessed my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my savior.”
George Barna, president of the Ventura, Calif.-based research firm, cautioned that the survey results should be interpreted carefully.
“The portrait often painted by the media of born-again Christians is inaccurate,” he said. “That group is not overwhelmingly conservative, or Republican, or unified in its views. … The born-again segment is more demographically diverse than many realize. For instance, one-quarter of the group is non-white, and one-eighth is Catholic.”
Barna added that the voting preferences of born-again voters are subject to change.
“There are millions of born-again adults who have yet to make up their minds about whom to vote for, and many who will switch from their current choice to an alternative before Election Day rolls around,” he said in a statement.
The survey results are based on telephone interviews with a nationwide random sample of 1,002 adults, including 795 who were registered voters. The percentage of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the aggregate sample and plus or minus 4 percentage points for the subgroup of those who were registered to vote.
Religious Groups Urge End to Military Use of Vieques
(RNS) Three weeks after Washington and San Juan struck a deal to allow the U.S. Navy to resume military training on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, Church Women United has condemned the deal as “unacceptable,” and called on the Navy to withdraw immediately from the tiny island.
“The U.S. administration can no longer turn its back on the people in Vieques who are suffering as a result of the Navy’s training,” the group said in a statement. “The recent Clinton administration directive does not allow for the one option which all sectors of Vieques have urged: the immediate suspension of all military training and the cleanup of lands contaminated by military activities. At best, the directive would permit another three years of bombing with inadequate provisions for cleanup.”
The group _ an ecumenical organization of women in the United States and Puerto Rico _ also noted that “live ammunition over the years has affected the health and livelihood of the residents of Vieques, as well as destroyed the natural environment of the small island.”
Under the Jan. 31 pact, the U.S. Navy will continue military training for three more years on the 21-mile-long island seven miles off Puerto Rico’s east coast, but they won’t use live ammunition. At the end of that time, island residents would vote whether to resume live-fire training in return for a $50 million economic package, or cancel training altogether.
The campaign to halt the 60-year practice of military training on the island was sparked last April by the death of a civilian security guard. He was killed and four others were injured by an errant bomb released during a Navy training mission.
A group of both Catholic and Protestant church leaders have planned to protest the recent deal with a silent march on Monday (Feb. 21) in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital.
Austrian Situation a `Severe Warning’ to Churches
(RNS) The general secretary of the Conference of European Churches says the inclusion of the far-right Freedom Party in the Austrian government should serve as “severe warning” to churches across the continent.
“The danger with the Austrian situation is that they (the far right) appear to have been given political legitimacy because their representatives are in government,” the Rev. Keith Clements told Ecumenical News International, the Geneva-based religious news agency. “That must give pause for reflection.”
Clements’ comments were prompted by the Feb. 4 formation of a new Austrian coalition government that includes the Freedom Party, led by Joerg Haider, a controversial politician who has made opposition to immigrants his central policy stand and who has spoken kindly of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi-era Waffen SS. He has since apologized for some of the remarks.
The formation of the government has prompted mass demonstrations in Austria and other European nations and raised concerns among European governments and the United States.
Churches in Austria and beyond have generally been cautious in their response. The Vatican urged a wait-and-see attitude but in the United States, a number of Jewish groups have been sharply critical of the inclusion of the Freedom Party in the government even though Haider will not hold a government post.
The Roman Catholic Church in Austria has called for calm and said the country should not be diplomatically isolated because of the new government.
Similarly, the Ecumenical Council of Austria, which includes Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant groups, has issued a statement calling on churches in Europe “not to isolate Austria, but to stand alongside Christians of Austria in fraternal attachment.”
Clements told ENI he will be formally replying to the statement but said in the meantime there was no question of boycotting Austrian churches. “Far from it,” he said. “We need to show solidarity to strengthen the witness against all forms of racism, xenophobia and the erosion of human rights.”
Kentucky Senate Approves Deletion of Non-Christians from Colonial History
(RNS) A bill that would delete non-Christian religions from history lessons about the Colonial American era has been passed by the Kentucky Senate.
The bill, approved Tuesday (Feb. 15) by a 37-1 vote, asks the Kentucky board of education to stop the “suppression and censorship” of “Christianity’s influence on Colonial America.”
“When the boat came to these great shores, it did not have an atheist, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian and a Jew,” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. Albert Robinson. “Ninety-eight-plus percent of these people were Christians.”
Before passing the resolution, the Senate _ over Robinson’s objections _ made changes, substituting every reference to Christianity with the words “Judeo-Christianity.”
One legislator, the only Jewish lawmaker in the General Assembly, said she was getting tired of attempts to “impose a majority religion,” citing a proposed bill that urges schools to end extracurricular activities held on Sunday because of “religious obligations.”
“I am beginning to get, as a mother of three children, about fed up with this thing,” said Rep. Kathy Stein.
The lone dissenter in the Senate vote, Ernesto Scorsone, a Democrat from Lexington, said approval of the bill “diminishes … the notion of the separation of church and state.”
Robinson’s resolution also drew criticism from Senate President David Williams.
“I can’t believe we’re arguing this,” he said. “We’re trying to exclude people of faith, people of a common ancestry.”
But Robinson insisted he “never intended to be inclusive,” adding that including the reference to Judaism was a “terrible injustice” to “Christians and the Christian history of this nation.”
His proposal, which must also receive approval from the state House, drew fire from The Courier-Journal of Louisville.
“We’re not sure which boat Sen. Robinson had in mind,” an editorial read. “Did he include the boats filled with Africans, stolen from their homeland faith and brought here on slave ships?”
Quote of the Day: Brent Walker of Baptist Joint Committee
(RNS) “You can teach about religion in the public schools in a responsible, academic and objective way. You can teach the Ten Commandments academically. Why not do it the right way rather than passing laws to stick it up on the wall as some kind of magic talisman to ward off evil?”
_ Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, speaking of his opposition to the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools during a lecture Feb. 10 at Southern Baptist-affiliated Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky. He was quoted in the Feb. 17 report of Associated Baptist Press, an independent news service.
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