c. 2004 Religion News Service

Editors: Mathew is cq in the 5th graph below.

Focus on the Family Settles Suit Over Anti-Gay Advertisements

(RNS) Focus on the Family has settled a 3-year-old lawsuit involving its advertisement of a Florida conference about homosexuality and youth.

A lawyer representing the conservative Christian group based in Colorado Springs, Colo., announced Wednesday (Oct. 13) that a settlement had been reached with Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and Clear Channel Outdoor, Tampa Bay Division.

The ministry filed suit in 2001 after it was barred from placing ads on Tampa-area bus shelters that promoted “Love Won Out,” a one-day conference that was described as “addressing, understanding and preventing homosexuality in youth.”

Focus on the Family argued that its free-speech rights were violated when the posters were barred based on their content. Last year, an appeals court ruled that a federal judge in Tampa mistakenly threw out the suit.

“We are pleased that all parties were able to reach an amicable settlement,” said Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based legal defense organization that represented Focus on the Family.

“As a result of the settlement, the language in the Advertising Transit Shelter Agreement, which governs advertising on bus transit shelters, has been amended and Focus on the Family will be permitted to advertise its pro-family conference.”

An official of Focus on the Family said the resolution will lead to a future meeting.

“Focus on the Family is looking forward to conducting another `Love Won Out’ conference to educate the public about overcoming homosexuality in youth,” said Tom Minnery, vice president of policy for the ministry.

The lawsuit figured in the debate over a Christian movement that advocates that gays can become straight through therapy and prayer. Gay rights groups have countered the movement. At the time the suit was filed, the Human Rights Campaign, a prominent gay activist organization, said the ads should be rejected.

_ Adelle M. Banks

National Association of Evangelicals Adopts Civic Engagement Statement

(RNS) The National Association of Evangelicals has approved a statement calling on evangelicals to be more involved in public policy.

The organization’s board of directors unanimously adopted the document titled “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility” at an Atlanta meeting on Oct. 7.

“Never before has God given American evangelicals such an awesome opportunity to shape public policy in ways that could contribute to the well-being of the entire world,” reads the 12-page document. “Disengagement is not an option.”

A draft of the document _ which addresses issues ranging from religious freedom to poverty to recycling _ was circulated among 100 evangelical leaders before the recent vote.

The organization, in releasing the document, called it “a milestone in the movement of evangelicals from the insularity of a revival tent mind-set in the early 20th century to the political activism of the 21st century.”

The statement outlines areas on which evangelicals tend to agree _ such as opposition to abortion and “innovations such as same-sex `marriage”’ _ but urges cooperation with others for the greater good of society.

“We will differ with other Christians and with non-Christians over the best policies,” the statement reads. “We must take care to employ the language of civility and to avoid denigrating those with whom we disagree.”

The document encourages Christians to stay politically informed, vote and remain in touch with government representatives about their biblical values.

“We urge all Christians to take their civic responsibility seriously even when they are not full-time political activists so that they might more adequately call those in government to their task,” it reads.

The statement is part of the National Association of Evangelicals’ Evangelical Project for Public Engagement, which began in 2001 and will include a book that is to be released next March when the association holds a meeting in Washington.

The association represents at least 10 million U.S. Christians in about 50 denominations and 250 other ministries.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Bishop Urges Prayers on Abortion to Patron Saint of Politicians

(RNS) The Roman Catholic bishop of Wilmington, Del., has asked Catholics to pray to the patron saint of politicians in hopes that elected officials who support abortion might have a “change of heart.”

Bishop Michael Saltarelli issued a prayer litany to St. Thomas More for politicians to be “courageous and effective in their defense and promotion of the sanctity of human life.”

“Our hope is to lead our people back to prayer and to the basic tenets of this great nation _ `In God We Trust,’ `One Nation Under God,’ `God who is the author of all life,” Saltarelli told his diocesan newspaper. “We will storm heaven with our prayersâÂ?¦”

St. Thomas More, a close associate of England’s King Henry VIII, was beheaded in 1535 when he refused to acknowledge the king as head of the church in England. In 2000, Pope John Paul II named him the patron saint of lawyers, politicians and statesmen.

The “Prayer for Virtuous Governance” has been distributed to parishes and Catholic schools, and the bishop said he hopes Catholics will use it beyond the Nov. 2 elections.

Catholic politicians who support abortion rights _ especially Sen. John Kerry _ have come under fire from some bishops for violating church teaching. Saltarelli said he has met with dissenting politicians and urged all Catholics not to seek Communion if they are unworthy to receive it.

“Thomas More knew the consequences of his choice. He knew the world would view him as politically incorrect,” he told the newspaper.

_ Kevin Eckstrom

Quote of the Day: Professor Diane Jacobson of St. Paul, Minn.

(RNS) “I take joy when Scripture contradicts itself, because this indicates that God’s truth is far more complicated than my truth. If we use it to make life easy, we betray how Scripture makes truth work.”

_ Diane Jacobson, professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., speaking at a recent Lutheran World Federation meeting in Switzerland on “Authority of the Bible in the Life of the Church.” She was quoted by Lutheran World Information, the federation’s information service.

MO/JL END RNS