c. 2008 Religion News Service

British clerk files suit over gay partnerships

LONDON (RNS) A Christian government clerk in Britain has taken her town hall bosses to court for threatening to fire her because she refused to register civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples.

Lillian Ladele, who earns more than $60,000 a year as a registrar, says she was bullied by officials at London’s Islington Council after she told them she objected on religious grounds to same-sex civil partnerships.

In testimony before an employment tribunal in London, Ladele likened forcing her to preside over such ceremonies to force-feeding a Muslim “unclean” food.

Ladele has registered births, deaths and marriages at the town hall for 16 years and had been allowed unofficially to opt out of civil partnership rites.

But that changed with the British government’s introduction of the Statistics and Registration Act, which removed the opt-out option last December and made her subject to local council orders _ including registering gay and lesbian civil partnerships.

“I sincerely believe that civil partnerships are contrary to God’s law,” she told the tribunal. “I cannot condone something I see as sinful.“

“It’s like a Muslim being told to eat food that is unclean.“

She added that “the council knows that if I am required to choose between my conscience and their desire that all registrars must undertake civil partnership duties, then I will have to honor my faith and face unemployment.“

_ Al Webb

`Davey and Goliath’ creator dies at 90

(RNS) Richard T. Sutcliffe, the creator of the “Davey and Goliath” animated television series, died May 11.

Sutcliffe died at the age of 90 at a Dallas hospital from complications after suffering a stroke, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America announced.

Sutcliffe developed the idea that led to the popular series that aired from 1961 to 1976 and is now a property of the ELCA.

As executive producer, he hired the staffers who were responsible for the show’s stop-motion animation production. In 2004, Sutcliffe and his production team were honored with the Wittenberg Award by The Luther Institute, which recognized outstanding service to church and society.

Born in Columbia, Pa., Sutcliffe first worked as a journalist at The Roanoke (Va.) Times and later became assistant editor of The Lutheran, the magazine of the former United Lutheran Church in America, in Philadelphia.

In 1962, when the United Lutheran Church and three other Lutheran church bodies merge to become the Lutheran Church in America, he became associate director of the church’s Commission on Press, Radio and Television.

Sutcliffe’s daughter, J.T. Sutcliffe of Dallas, told The Dallas Morning News it was years before her father learned the influence of the series he created about a boy named Davey Hansen and his talking dog, Goliath.

“People started saying, `My children love that,’ or `We loved it growing up,”’ she said. “He’s gotten a lot of good and positive feedback in these years looking back on it. I knew that he was happy with it then.”’

Sutcliffe became director of university relations for Southern Methodist University in 1969, the Dallas newspaper reported. He later became a director of communications for the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, but returned to the university position and retired in 1982.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Churches applaud agreement between Burger King, farm workers

(RNS) Burger King Corp. has reached an agreement with a migrant workers’ advocacy group that is backed by U.S. churches to improve working conditions by raising wages for tomato pickers by one cent per pound.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which has received financial support from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other faith groups, announced the agreement with the hamburger chain on Friday (May 23) in Washington.

The penny-per-pound raise could add about $20 to workers’ daily wage of $50, according to the coalition. The agreement also adds a half-cent per pound to help tomato growers cover costs.

Long Island Bishop William Murphy, chairman of the Catholic bishops’ committee on domestic justice and human development, called the agreement “an important step toward greater justice for farm workers in Florida.”

Mainline Protestants, including the National Council of Churches and the Presbyterian Church (USA), have also supported the Immokalee, Fla.-based coalition. Similar deals have been reached with McDonald’s and Yum! Brands, the parent of Taco Bell.

_ Daniel Burke

Fourth Canadian diocese approves same-sex weddings

TORONTO (RNS) A fourth Anglican diocese in Canada has voted to approve conducting same-sex marriages.

Clergy and lay delegates attending the annual synod of the southern Ontario Diocese of Huron voted May 26 to ask Bishop Bruce Howe to permit clergy to bless same-sex marriages “where at least one party is baptized” and to authorize an appropriate rite.

Howe said he “gave concurrence” to the motion based on the large percentage in favor, but cautioned that he intends to consult with other bishops before acting on the vote.

Howe said he would likely not announce a final decision before the autumn.

“The diocese made a very strong decision _ over the 70 percent mark,” he told the Anglican Journal. “I’ll be on the phone this week with other bishops, but obviously nobody is going to do anything before the Lambeth Conference,” the upcoming decennial meeting of worldwide Anglican bishops in England.

The latest decision mirrors those of the dioceses of Ottawa, Montreal and Niagara, which voted last year in favor of the “local option” that allows clergy “whose conscience permits” to bless gay marriages, provided the parish approves and where at least one party is baptized.

The Vancouver-based diocese of New Westminster has offered same-sex blessing ceremonies since 2002, but they are not considered marriages. Canada is one of five countries that allow same-sex marriage.

Howe said he did not know of any parishes or clergy which plan to leave the Anglican Church of Canada because of synod’s decision. To date, 17 Canadian congregations have quit the national church and joined the breakaway Anglican Network in Canada, which opposes same-sex marriage.

_ Ron Csillag

Quote of the Day: Elizabeth “BB” Blanchard of Baton Rouge, La.

(RNS) “Why me? I don’t know. But it has been a really cool experience having a biblical disease.”

_ Elizabeth “BB” Blanchard, 15, of Baton Rouge, La., who recently finished taking medication to treat leprosy, a rare disease that dates to biblical times. She was quoted by The Washington Post.

KRE/CM END RNS