c. 2007 Religion News Service

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Sees Membership Decline

(RNS) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America saw a slight drop in membership in 2006, continuing a trend of decline of more than a decade.

The total of baptized members at the end of 2006 was 4,774,203, a 1.6 percent decrease from the 2005 total of 4,850,776, denomination officials said.

The denomination has lost about 466,000 baptized members in the last 16 years, said the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary. In 1990, there were 5,240,739 members.

Recent declines are due to a decrease in the number of new members, the disbanding of 40 congregations and “roll cleaning,” in which long-inactive members have been removed from the membership lists of churches.

In a separate matter, Almen spoke Thursday (July 19) to the triennial convention of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in Houston and urged leaders of the two denominations to continue their regular dialogues. The two groups have theological differences but cooperate on efforts such as relief work, immigration services and recruitment of chaplains.

“The task has not been easy, and at times the prospects have seemed discouraging,” said Almen, who will retire later this year after 20 years as ELCA secretary. “These two church bodies need to work together in as many ways as possible, now and in the years to come. We need to do so not just for ourselves, but … for the sake of our children, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Church of England To Use Harry Potter to Reach Youths

(RNS) As excitement builds for the seventh _ and reportedly last _ Harry Potter novel, the Church of England is publishing a guidebook showing church leaders how to draw biblical lessons from the publishing megahit.

According to the church’s bookshop Web page, the 48-page book, entitled “Mixing it Up With Harry Potter” will “help young people … see that a relationship with God is even more enchanting than a visit to Hogwarts.”

Written by Owen Smith, a 24-year old British church youth worker, the booklet marks an attempt by Anglican leaders to make their messages appeal to youths.

“Harry Potter is full of good lessons,” Smith told the London Times. “It’s a hugely moral series of stories about good evil, love, friends and everything else.”

The latest installment in the hugely popular Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows,” is due to go on sale Saturday (July 21).

Smith’s booklet marks a departure from the Church of England of seven years ago, when it declined filmmakers’ requests to shoot the first Harry Potter movie in Canterbury Cathedral.

But the boy sorcerer is still a target of criticism in some Christian circles, who say the books and movies glorify witchcraft, which is biblically forbidden.

Pope Benedict XVI has said the books contain “subtle seductions” that “deeply distort Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly.”

And James Dobson of Focus on the Family has consistently opposed the books, saying the witchcraft and wizardry contribute to a New Age ideology.

_ Michelle Rindels

Rifts Emerge Among Alabama Evangelicals in Fight Against Abortion

(RNS) The national protests led by Operation Rescue/Operation Save America this week in Alabama revealed a rift among evangelical Christians over tactics in the fight against abortion.

Activists took out a full-page advertisement in The Birmingham News on Monday, criticizing Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and other evangelicals for not taking a more strident stance against abortion.

Flip Benham, director of Operation Save America, signed the statement that called Dobson a “moral relativist” for praising the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling upholding a ban on partial-birth abortion.

Benham’s group has also taken out an ads critical of Dobson in The Washington Times and in Colorado Springs, Colo., where Focus on the Family is based.

Focus says it remains part of a pro-life movement that is “taking every available step toward ending abortion in the United States.”

On Sunday, protesters showed up in front of four of Birmingham’s largest evangelical churches holding giant graphic posters of aborted fetuses.

Rebecca Tibbs, who attends one of those churches, said: “I would never join up with them. People with small children were very disappointed. The pictures were not necessary. People were shocked and appalled.”

Although the protesters were invited to Alabama by Doers of the Word Church in East Birmingham, which has hosted rallies, few other churches have been visible in support of the abortion protests.

Benham said that most of the nearly 200 people protesting this week were from outside Alabama and that Benham said dramatic measures are required.

“Our purpose is to let it be known in the city of Birmingham that little boys and girls are being killed,” Benham said. “Hopefully the church will pick up the mantle. Abortion will not come to an end before the church makes up its mind it will come to an end.”

_ Greg Garrison

Nepal’s “Living Goddess” Will Have Title Reinstated

CHENNAI, India (RNS) _ The 10-year-old Nepalese girl whose status as a Hindu “living goddess” was revoked after she visited the United States will now reportedly have her title reinstated.

Temple authorities at Sajani Shakya’s hometwown of Bhaktapur said she will retain her title because she is willing to undergo a “cleansing” ceremony, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

In June, Shakya became the first “kumari” or living goddess to visit the U.S., a trip that provoked the ire of Nepalese religious officials, who said her purity had been tainted.

The tradition of kumaris dates back more than 300 years. Around the age of 2 or 3, a young girl is selected based on a list of 32 “perfect characteristics,” including flawless skin, hair, eyes and teeth.

Hindus believe these girls are possessed by the goddess Taleju, and they revere kumaris by bowing to them and bringing requests to their feet. Once the girl-goddess reaches puberty, Hindus believe Taleju leaves her body and temple officials begin the search for another girl.

_ Achal Narayanan

Quote of the Day: Seventh-day Adventist Regional Leader Dean Coridan

(RNS) “The day of working an 80-hour week must come to an end. The church does not own us.”

_ Dean Coridan, president of the Iowa-Missouri conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, describing what he tells ministers at workshops. His conference is encouraging pastors to trim their workweeks to 45 to 55 hours. He was quoted by Adventist News Network.

DSB/CM END RNS