c. 2005 Religion News Service

Catholic Churches Encourage Online Offerings

NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) Fewer Catholics may be tossing money into collection baskets in the coming months, but that actually should be good news for churches.

The Newark Archdiocese recently sent letters to its priests touting a New York company called ParishPay, which coordinates electronic payments between parishioners and their churches. The system is expected to help churches increase collections and smooth dips common on bad weather days and in the summer months when attendance falls.

The push also recognizes that more people are managing their finances over the Internet, said Dave Osborne, director of stewardship and planned giving for the archdiocese, which covers 230 churches across four counties.

“We’re going to become a cashless society and paperless society,” said Osborne, who wrote the letter to the priests. “We’re not going to be writing checks … so it just makes sense for us to try to take advantage of training Catholics to give their resources back to God for the church using modern technology.”

ParishPay is one of several private companies helping churches secure regular electronic donations. Others include Vanco Services and Faith Direct.

Once a church is registered, parishioners can go to http://www.parishpay.com and designate amounts to be transferred from their accounts _ or charged to their credit cards _ each month and for Christmas, Easter and special collections. They also can choose to make their gifts anonymous.

For the service, ParishPay receives a $1 fee, plus 1 percent of each monthly donation. That amounts to $2.50 of a $150 monthly donation.

Andrew Goldberger, co-founder of ParishPay, said churches still come out way ahead, even after the fees.

“Many people make giving decisions based on looking in their wallet and seeing their wife had taken the last $20 bill and they’re left with a 5, or learning that they have to get gas later on and there’s a choice between a 20 and two singles, so they give the two singles,” he said. “People make these sporadic giving decisions all the time.”

Many Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and Catholic churches around the country already are using electronic or Internet donations.

One of the Newark Archdiocese’s biggest parishes, Church of the Presentation in Bergen County, has used ParishPay for two years as a test. It has seen donations increase by more than 10 percent while membership has remained stable, said Dave Corcoran, the church’s director of operations.

Still, only about 300 of the church’s 4,200 families use ParishPay. “I’ve thought about it and … I guess I’m more old-fashioned, I just like to write out the check,” said Donna Spatidol of Wyckoff.

_ Jeff Diamant

Israeli Court Issues Directive to Protect Gaza Synagogues

JERUSALEM (RNS) Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday (Sept. 6) instructed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to ask the Palestinian Authority to protect the synagogues Jewish settlers were forced to abandon in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.

An expanded seven-member panel of judges issued the directive after Israel’s two chief rabbis stated that the destruction of 21 synagogues and several other religious institutions would violate Jewish law.

The synagogues were abandoned with other buildings when Israeli settlers were removed _ many by force _ from the settlements in mid-August. Most of the abandoned settlement buildings are scheduled for demolition and the land will be given to the Palestinian Authority.

The rabbis said the Israeli army’s planned demolition of the synagogues could weaken Jewish claims to synagogues and other property once owned by Jews but expropriated by the Nazis and others.

The court appealed to Sharon to try to save the synagogues through diplomatic channels, despite the fact that the Palestinian Authority reportedly is unprepared to make such a pledge.

During a hearing Monday, Israeli Chief Prosecutor Avi Lihet told the justices that “even if the Palestinian Authority would take it on itself” to guard the synagogues, “it could not live up to such a commitment.”

Lihet added that “the state of Israel does not want to see Palestinians desecrating synagogues. There is a symbolic dimension here, and this is the Israeli stance. We do not want to see Muslims celebrating on the roofs of synagogues.”

In late August, the court had given the army a green light to destroy the synagogues once troops have removed all non-permanent objects. The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the matter.

_ Michele Chabin

Unitarians Form Commission to Probe Charges of Church Racism

(RNS) The Unitarian Universalist Association has established a special review commission to investigate allegations of institutional racism after a series of conflicts at the church’s annual meeting in Fort Worth, Texas.

Tensions flared at the five-day meeting in June when white delegates assumed several non-white UUA youth were hotel service people. Among other events, white Unitarians asked several non-white delegates to carry their bags and park their cars, board secretary Paul Rickter wrote in an open letter of apology posted on the denomination’s Web site in July.

UUA President the Rev. Bill Sinkford and Moderator Gini Courter appointed a five-member commission _ a collection of ministers and members from across the United States _ to review the events leading up to and during the General Assembly.

“The goal is to identify learnings about the structures of racism and ageism both within and outside our faith community which we must address in our journey toward wholeness,” Courter and Sinkford wrote in an Sept. 1 e-mail.

The 200,000-member denomination, which draws inspiration from a variety of sources including Christianity, Buddhism and naturist traditions, lists the pursuit of equality as one of its guiding principles. Though Unitarians have a reputation for tolerance and political liberalism, the June event sparked debate about the possibility of underlying racial tensions within the mostly white denomination.

A faction of Unitarians believes the problems stemmed from the disrespectful behavior displayed by the youth at the conference. Courter and Sinkford hope the commission will lead to answers.

“We expect no recommendations about the behavior of individuals,” they wrote. “Institutional learning is our goal.”

_ Jason Kane

Christian Schools Accuse University of California of Discrimination

LOS ANGELES (RNS) Christian schools have filed a discrimination lawsuit against the University of California, accusing the public institution of refusing to accept courses from private schools with a conservative Christian perspective.

Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta, Calif., and the Association of Christian Schools International, which represents 800 Christian schools in California and nearly 4,000 schools nationwide, charged UC officials with refusing to certify courses that teach creationism and other beliefs.

The University of California system requires private school students to meet certain high-school course requirements before they are eligible to apply to one of the nine undergraduate UC campuses. Only courses that have been approved by university officials can count toward the requirements.

“This case is about viewpoint discrimination,” said Robert Tyler, a lawyer with Advocates for Faith and Freedom, who is representing Calvary. “The university system is apparently going to allow just about every viewpoint to be taught except Christianity.”

According to the complaint, which was filed Aug. 25, UC officials have routinely rejected science courses that teach creationism. They have also rejected non-science courses, including three courses submitted for approval by Calvary: “Christianity’s Influence on American History,” “Christianity and Morality in American Literature” and “Special Providence: American Government.”

“Out of all the different perspectives taught in textbooks _ liberal and conservative, African-American and Hispanic, feminist and environmentalist, and Jewish, Buddhist and Christian _ only one has been singled out to be discriminated against,” said Wendell Bird, an Atlanta-based lawyer who represents the association of schools.

The UC policy, Bird said, violates the First Amendment rights _ including freedom of speech and religion _ of Christian schools, students and teachers.

Ravi Poorsina, a spokewoman for the university, did not dispute the schools’ right to teach their viewpoints. But she said the rejected courses primarily used religious texts and failed to meet UC standards for “knowledge generally accepted, for example, in the scientific or educational communities.”

“Our core objective is to make sure all students who come into the university are thoroughly prepared for UC coursework,” she added.

University of California officials have until mid-September to respond to the complaint, although they could ask for an extension. Bird, representing the Christian schools association, said he expected the first court hearing to take place in December.

_ Sarah Price Brown

Quote of the Day: Georgetown University Professor W. Clyde Wilcox

(RNS) “Knowing someone is a Catholic doesn’t really tell you where they are on abortion at all.”

_ W. Clyde Wilcox, professor of government at Georgetown University, talking about Judge John Roberts’ nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Roberts is a devout conservative Catholic. Wilcox was quoted by The Washington Post.

KRE/PH END RNS