c. 2003 Religion News Service
Presbyterians: Jesus is True, But Not Necessary for Salvation
(RNS) Nearly three-quarters of Presbyterians believe that the “absolute truth for humankind is in Jesus Christ,” but fewer than half say that only Christians will be saved, according to a new church survey.
The periodic poll of members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) found that 70 percent of members, 75 percent of elders, 71 percent of pastors and 55 percent of specialized clergy (such as chaplains) agreed that the “only absolute truth for humankind is in Jesus Christ.”
When asked if “only followers of Jesus Christ can be saved,” 43 percent of parishioners, 50 percent of elders, 39 percent of clergy and 24 percent of specialized clergy agreed.
The poll comes as the church awaits a report from a 20-member task force that is studying the theological unity of the 2.5 million-member church. The task force is expected to issue its final report in 2006.
The nature and role of Jesus in salvation has divided the church in recent years. A furor erupted in 2001 when one pastor rhetorically asked, “So, what’s the big deal about Jesus?” and suggested there may be other avenues for salvation.
A statement passed by the church’s 2001 General Assembly affirmed salvation through Jesus but remained silent on the destiny of non-Christians. “Although we do not know the limits of God’s grace and pray for the salvation of those who may come to know Christ, for us the assurance of salvation is found only in confessing Christ and trusting Him alone,” the resolution said.
In other findings, two-thirds of members and 80 percent of pastors and elders believe that “Jesus will return to earth some day,” and 86 percent of members and 96 percent of pastors believe in life after death.
While 93 percent of parishioners believe in heaven, only 78 percent believe in hell.
The Presbyterian Panel survey of 3,500 people was conducted by mail between October 2002 and January 2003. The same respondents will be surveyed by the church through 2005.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Protestant Leaders Urge Bush Support on Child Tax Credit
(RNS) Twelve prominent Protestant leaders have urged President Bush to support extension of the child tax benefits to minimum-wage families who were left out of the final tax bill signed into law last month.
In a letter dated June 19, the Protestant leaders, affiliated with the National Council of Churches, asked the president to pressure Congress to restore a provision to provide child tax benefits to 6.5 million low-income families that was dropped from the final version of the tax bill.
Reminding the president of his support for faith-based charities, leaders of Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist and other churches asked Bush to intervene on behalf of the estimated 12 million children the tax cut excludes.
“You have called faith-based groups `soldiers in the armies of compassion.’ As faith leaders we implore you to lead us in the fight for the children of low-income families by interceding on their behalf. Without your intervention, this bill will surely die in Congress,” the letter said.
The leaders said they were encouraged by a Senate bill that extends the $400 child-tax benefit to low-income families but were concerned about the House version of the bill.
After the Senate voted 94-2 to include families making $10,500 to $26,000 in the tax credit, the House leadership signaled it would only approve the bill as part of a larger tax cut. The proposed House bill, which would make the child tax credit permanent for wealthier families, could cost up to $100 billion over the next 10 years, according to some estimates.
Supporters of the Senate bill said Congress should hurry to pass the bill before the first group of checks are sent out to middle-income families this summer.
“We really need the president to move on this,” said the Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, a coalition of 36 liberal Protestant and Orthodox denominations. “Our children need us to show them through our actions that we care about their well-being. And the president can do that by urging Congress to pass the child tax credit benefits now.”
_ Alexandra Alter
Archbishop of Canterbury Seeks to Calm Storm Over Gay Bishop
LONDON (RNS) Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on Monday (June 16) tried to calm the storm created by the appointment of Canon Jeffrey John as suffragan Bishop of Reading in the diocese of Oxford, England.
In a letter to the Church of England’s diocesan and suffragan bishops, Williams said the appointment would not short-circuit the current debate within the church over what its stance should be on homosexual relationships.
Williams said he did not believe the appointment weakened the commitment of the Church of England’s bishops to the common mind they expressed in the 1991 report “Issues in Human Sexuality.”
“Nor do I believe that Canon John’s appointment either subverts current discipline or forecloses future discussion,” Williams said.
“It would certainly be deplorable if it were assumed that the existing approach has been abandoned by stealth, or that the forthcoming guide to the debate on sexuality that we have agreed to publish was slanted towards a change in that policy.
“So let us be clear: There can be no question of trying to pre-empt, undermine, or short-circuit the reflection of the Church as a whole.”
Concerns over the appointment raised by evangelicals in the diocese of Oxford, Williams said, were “theologically serious, intelligible and by no means based on narrow party allegiance or on prejudice” and must be considered fully.
“Confidence in the ability of a new bishop to minister to those in his pastoral care is a centrally important matter, and it is clear that serious questions remain in the diocese,” the archbishop said. “To consider these with prayerfulness and maturity needs time and a measure of calm. It is not for anyone outside the diocese to override or pre-empt what is obviously a painful and complex process.”
Williams stressed that appointment of a suffragan is made by the Crown on the advice of the diocesan bishop. This particular appointment was one he had sought neither to promote nor to obstruct, he said, adding that it would be a “tragedy” if the controversy took up so much of the bishops’ energies that they lost their focus on the priorities of their mission.
Separately, eight of the Church of England’s 40 serving diocesan bishops (four sees are at present vacant) have come out in support of John.
However, evangelical opponents said they were dissatisfied with a meeting last Friday with Bishop Richard Harries of Oxford.
“We feel this appointment would be catastrophic in terms of the unity of the Church of England,” said Philip Giddings, a lay representative of the diocese on the Church’s general synod.
But in an open letter to Williams, the eight bishops assured him of their full support for John and their “full confidence” in the ability of both Harries and Williams to discern the church’s needs.
“We would also want to add that, although Dr. John’s appointment was related to the needs of the diocese of Oxford and the Reading episcopal area, his arrival in the bishops’ meeting will enable our attentive listening to the experience of gay Christians to be in our midst rather than at second hand, and for his willingness to bear the cost of enriching our life in this way we are grateful,” they said.
_ Robert Nowell
Benke Re-Elected As LCMS District President
(RNS) The Rev. David Benke, who was embroiled in controversy after participating in a post-Sept. 11 interfaith event, has been re-elected as president of the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
Benke, 57, was re-elected during the district’s 55th annual convention June 6-7 in Bronxville, N.Y., the denomination announced.
Delegates to the meeting officially thanked Benke for “ministering to the citizens of Metro New York and the country following the terror attacks by offering a prayer in the `precious name of Jesus’ at the Prayer for America civic event.”
In May, the denomination announced that Benke’s suspension for taking part in that event had been lifted.
The gathering at Yankee Stadium featured non-Christian clerics as well as Christians representing various denominations. Benke was suspended after some LCMS pastors and congregations believed his role in the event amounted to syncretism _ worshiping with non-Christians. A dispute resolution panel determined that he did not reject practices of his denomination.
Benke oversees churches in eastern New York state in his role as district president.
_ Adelle M. Banks
African Continent Leads In Mennonite Membership For First Time
(RNS) African members of Mennonite-related churches now outnumber similar church members on any other continent, the Mennonite World Conference announced.
The conference, based in Strasbourg, France, released its new census figures on June 18.
There are 451,959 baptized Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and related church members in Africa, compared to 451,180 members in North America. The increase of members since 2000 has caused the African continent to move ahead of North America in terms of Mennonite membership for the first time.
In 2000, there were 443,918 in North America and 405,979 in Africa. While North American membership rose by 7,262, African membership grew by more than six times that amount _ 45,980.
African membership in 166 countries ranges from a low of 144 in Togo to a high of 194,119 in Congo.
Total estimated membership in the 200 Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and related churches in 65 countries now totals 1,297,716. That’s an increase in membership from 1,203,995 in 197 bodies in 63 countries in 2000.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: Episcopal Bishop John Chane
(RNS) “We’ve been discussing the issue of same-sex blessings since 1972 in the Episcopal Church. I think we’ve spent enough time discussing. For those who say our theology is thin, I say, `Your faith is thin, and your fear is thick.”’
_ Episcopal Bishop John Chane of Washington, speaking to a suburban Maryland congregation about the church’s upcoming General Convention meeting, where delegates and bishops will debate a proposal to allow same-sex union ceremonies. Chane was quoted by The Washington Times.
DEA END RNS
