c. 2008 Religion News Service

McCain has `excellent conversation’ with Grahams

WASHINGTON (RNS) Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain visited evangelists Billy and Franklin Graham on Sunday (June 29) at the elder preacher’s North Carolina home.

“We had a very excellent conversation, and I appreciated the opportunity to visit with them,” the Arizona senator said in a statement following the meeting.

“Billy Graham recalled that during the Vietnam War when I was a prisoner, he visited my parents twice in Honolulu, and he and my father prayed together for me. And I expressed my appreciation for that a long time ago.”

Franklin Graham said the 45-minute private meeting was held at McCain’s request. “I was impressed by his personal faith and his moral clarity on important social issues facing America today,” he said in a statement. “We had an opportunity to pray for the senator and his family, and for God’s will to be done in this upcoming election.”

McCain, who has been urged to do more outreach to evangelicals, told reporters afterwards he did not know if either Graham would vote for him, the Associated Press reported. “I didn’t ask for their votes,” the senator said.

Franklin Graham did not consider the meeting to be a presidential endorsement.

“While as a Christian minister I am not endorsing a candidate for president, I do endorse the responsibility of men and women of faith everywhere to vote and to be involved in the political process,” he said.

Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, held a June 10 meeting with Christian leaders that included Franklin Graham. Some evangelical leaders, including Christian publisher Steve Strang, have encouraged McCain to follow suit.

“I urge Sen. McCain to have a similar meeting _ or several such meetings,” said Strang, who attended the session with Obama, in an online report on the Obama gathering. “There is a lot of latent support for him in the Christian community.”

_ Adelle M. Banks

Jews encouraged by Presbyterian action on Middle East

(RNS) Jewish groups said the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s recent call for peace in the Middle East is an “important step forward” in repairing relations between the two sides after several years of acrimony.

At the Presbyterians’ recent General Assembly meeting in San Jose, Calif., the church called for a non-partisan approach to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“We will avoid taking broad stands that simplify a very complex situation into a caricature of reality where one side clearly is at fault and the other side is clearly the victim,” said a statement passed by the assembly.

The church, in a 504-171 vote, also joined with other denominations to endorse the Amman Call, which was initially issued by the World Council of Churches last June and urges a peaceful two-state solution. Delegates also called for more direct U.S. involvement toward brokering a peace agreement and to refrain from unilaterally supporting either side of the conflict.

Previously, Jewish groups were upset with what they perceived as the church’s bias against Israel, arguing that the church overlooked the actions of Palestinian militants. In response to the Assembly’s statements, the nine Jewish groups expressed hope that the church will direct pressure against Iran and Syria, both of which have provided support for terrorist acts against Israelis.

While optimistic, the Jewish groups expressed concern with some elements of the Assembly’s position.

“(The Amman Call) purports to advance peace, but is inconsistent with a political solution that would include a viable Jewish state alongside an independent Palestinian state,” the groups said in a statement.

Tensions flared between Jews and Presbyterians when the church voted in 2004 for “phased, selective divestment” in companies with operations in Israel, such as Motorola, Caterpillar, and Citigroup. Two years later, the assembly changed course, seeking investment only in “peaceful pursuits” and individually engaging the companies to discuss concerns.

_ Tim Murphy

Canadian Anglican leader says church `obsessed about sex’

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (RNS) The leader of the Anglican Church of Canada wants his divided flock to get their minds off sex.

“The church is about much more than sex, here and elsewhere. But some Anglicans are obsessed about sex,” Anglican Archbishop Fred Hiltz said in an interview.

Elected last year as Canada’s senior Anglican, Hiltz emphasized Anglicans should especially get their minds of sexuality as practiced by gays and lesbians.

Hiltz was referring to his denomination’s decade-long battle over the blessing of same-sex relationships, an issue that threatens to rupture the church in Canada and around the world.

Hiltz, 54, said it’s unfortunate some Christians are “preoccupied” with sexual acts between homosexuals _ and “falsely equate homosexuality with promiscuity.”

The small number of Canadian Anglican congregations that provide same-sex blessings, he said, offer them only to gay or lesbian couples ready to commit to long-term monogamous relationships.

Even though the United Church of Canada, the largest Protestant denomination in Canada, has been blessing homosexual relationships since 1990, the rites have caused a furor among the 70 million- member worldwide Anglican communion, which includes African and Asian leaders who are vociferously opposed.

Since Vancouver-area Bishop Michael Ingham formally sanctioned same-sex rites in 2002 and an openly gay Episcopal bishop was elected in the U.S. in 2003, Hiltz is disturbed some conservative Anglicans are threatening to break up the global communion over homosexuality.

The subject will be front and center when the world’s Anglican bishops meet this July in England for the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference. Some Anglican primates in the Third World, where the church is growing rapidly, have warned they will not attend.

Hiltz made his comments before he was scheduled to talk to a large Anglican congregation in downtown Vancouver with a speech entitled, “It’s Not All About Sex.”

“We laughed when we came up with that title,” he said, “but it’s true.”

Instead of being known as the denomination that is facing a possible schism over homosexuality, Hiltz wants his church to be recognized for actively trying to “make a difference in the world” by dealing with crises involving global poverty, HIV/AIDS, aboriginal healing, homelessness and climate change.

_ Douglas Todd

Quote of the Day: Kenneth Wood, the late editor of Adventist Review

(RNS) “I looked on the church paper as a voice to influence the church rather than just a mouthpiece reflecting what was happening in it. It needs to be a trumpet giving a good sound and having a powerful influence.”

_ Kenneth Wood, who died May 25, edited Adventist Review, the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s national publication, for 16 years. His quote from the Review was reported by The Washington Post.

KRE/RB END RNS