c. 2008 Religion News ServicePalin’s church seriously damaged by suspicious fire(RNS) The Alaska evangelical church that former Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin calls home was severely damaged Friday (Dec. 12) by a fire that has been ruled suspicious by authorities.“Our building was damaged by a fire, and will need repairs before we can resume worship there again,” Wasilla Bible Church announced on its Web site. “Praise God that no one in the building was injured, and pray for us as we rebuild.”The congregation met on Sunday at a local middle school and plans to worship there “until further notice,” the church announced.The Anchorage Daily News reported that Palin’s office issued a statement the day after the fire.“Gov. Palin stopped by the church this morning, and she told an assistant pastor that she apologizes if the incident is in any way connected to the undeserved negative attention the church has received since she became a vice-presidential candidate on Aug. 29,” it said. “Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good.”James Steele, chief of the Central Mat-Su Fire Department, said it was the biggest fire his department had handled this year, but did not immediately tie its suspicious origin to political motivation.“We are definitely treating it as suspicious and as potential arson at this point,” he said. “Right now there’s no indication that we have that there’s any connection there. We just don’t have any leads at all as far as the intent or motive in this.”He told the newspaper that the building, which is worth between $4 million and $5 million, sustained about $1 million in damage.The Anchorage Daily News reported that Palin’s husband, Todd, and their children attended the service at the middle school but the governor did not because she was preparing to present next year’s state budget._ Adelle M. BanksYounger Schuller resigns from Crystal Cathedral(RNS) The Rev. Robert A. Schuller has resigned as senior pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Southern California after his father, the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, said his son would no longer be the sole preacher on the church’s “Hour of Power” television program.In October, the elder Schuller said differences between the two men over the “direction and the vision” of the megachurch and its related television broadcast had led them to “part ways.” At that time, the younger Schuller remained as the church’s senior pastor while the elder Schuller hosted the broadcast and invited a range of guest speakers to the pulpit.A statement on Crystal Cathedral’s Web site says its executive team has accepted the younger Schuller’s resignation and he remains a member of the Reformed Church in America, the denomination with which the church is affiliated.“It is expected that Robert will make an announcement soon regarding plans for his new ministry,” reads the statement. “The leadership and congregation wishes him all the best as his plans unfold.”The Rev. Juan Carlos Ortiz, founder of Crystal Cathedral Hispanic Ministry, has been named interim senior pastor.Crystal Cathedral spokesman John Charles said the elder Schuller’s role has not changed at the ministry. The pulpit is being filled by a rotation of pastors around the country, he said.As of Monday (Dec. 15), Charles said the younger Schuller had not yet announced his future plans._ Adelle M. BanksN.M. diocese votes to stay in Episcopal Church(RNS) Episcopalians in New Mexico have voted to leave a conservative umbrella group and “reaffirm” their commitment to the Episcopal Church rather than join a new rival Anglican province on U.S. soil.The Albuquerque-based Diocese of the Rio Grande on Thursday (Dec. 11) said it could not support plans to launch a new Anglican Church in North America and voted to end its four-year membership in the Pittsburgh-based Anglican Communion Network.The Anglican Communion Network is one of 11 conservative groups that joined together to launch the new province on Dec. 3. Four Episcopal dioceses that belonged to the Pittsburgh group and have already left the national church plan to join the new province.But other Episcopal dioceses that supported the Pittsburgh group, like Rio Grande, do not plan to join the new province and are likely to remain in the Episcopal Church, officials said.“The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande disaffiliates from the Anglican Communion Network and rescinds its motion of support and reaffirms the Diocese of the Rio Grande’s commitment to the Episcopal Church,” the diocese’s elected leadership said in a unanimous resolution.The Very Rev. Mark Goodman, the dean of Albuquerque’s Cathedral of St. John, told Episcopal News Service that the diocese wants to find a way to remain a part of the national church. “I think the picture people have in their mind about the Diocese of Rio Grande being a very conservative and evangelical diocese is, in many ways, not an accurate picture of where we are today,” he said.The Rev. Peter Frank, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh group, downplayed the vote in Rio Grande, saying officials knew that not all dioceses would join the new province. Frank’s group is scheduled to fold its operations into the new province over the next few months. About half of the Pittsburgh group’s 100,000 members are expected to join the new province, Frank said.“We’re an organization of free association; we could never force anyone in and we would never force anyone out,” Frank said. “The main thing we need to do, as people make different choices about whether to stay in the Episcopal Church or join with us in creating a new province, is make sure that we don’t demonize each other or stand in judgment of each other.”_ Kevin EckstromSupreme Court declines to hear `candy cane’ speech caseSAGINAW, Mich. (RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in a case involving a Michigan fifth-grader who tried to sell candy canes with a religious message at his school.The high court on Dec. 8 denied the petition that the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defense Fund filed on behalf of Joel Curry.Curry was 11 in 2003 when he made candy cane-style Christmas ornaments with notes that school officials considered “religious literature.” The notes attached to the ornaments, titled “The Meaning of the Candy Cane,” referred to Jesus six times and God twice.Curry copied the message from an ornament at a Christian bookstore. He made the ornaments as part of a class project in which students developed and sold products. He faced no discipline, though school officials told him to remove the message, and received an `A’ on the assignment.Now a 15-year-old high school sophomore, Curry said he was disappointed in the high court’s ruling, but the incident happened “a long time ago” and he doesn’t “think about it much” anymore.“They should have heard it because it’s an important issue involving the Constitution and people’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech,” he said.The Alliance Defense Fund had asked the high court to “consider whether a fifth-grade student’s religious expression on a classroom project may be categorically identified as `offensive’ and therefore legitimately censored by state school officials.”ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit against the Saginaw School District and Curry’s principal in 2004, claiming that the principal violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause because, in the past, she allowed other students to sell religious-themed items.In September 2006, a federal judge ruled that the principal violated Curry’s First Amendment rights. A three-judge panel for the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later reversed that decision._ LaNia ColemanParents in faith-healing case seek to dismiss casePORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) Lawyers for two Oregon City parents charged in the faith-healing death of their young daughter will ask a judge next month (January) to dismiss the case.Lawyers for Raylene and Carl Worthington cite several reasons for requesting a dismissal, including the Oregon Constitution, which they claim protects the Worthington’s right to religious freedom.The Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office may still file a response. Chief Deputy District Attorney Greg Horner declined to comment on the Worthington’s motion. Medical examiners say the couple’s 15-month-old daughter, Ava Worthington, died last March of treatable pneumonia. Her parents never sought medical treatment because they belong to a church that relies on faith healing instead of doctors and hospitals.In June, the little girl’s uncle, 16-year-old Neil Jeffrey Beagley, died of complications from a urinary-tract blockage. A deputy state medical examiner said the boy apparently suffered for years from the intensely painful but medically treatable condition. The teen’s parents, Jeffrey Dean Beagley and Marci Rae Beagley (who are also the parents of Raylene Worthington), are facing charges of criminally negligent homicide.A hearing on the Worthingtons’ motion is scheduled for Jan. 7. Religion writers name election top news story(RNS) Religion reporters chose the 2008 elections and the controversy surrounding President-elect Barack Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as the top story of the year. Democrats’ outreach to faith communities, and the selection of GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, were chosen as the No. 2 and No. 3 top religion stories by members of the Religion Newswriters Association.Obama was also named as the RNA’s top Religion Newsmaker of 2008.The Top 10 list, in order, included:1. Wright’s controversial sermons lead to the withdrawal of Obama as a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Meanwhile, GOP nominee John McCain rejects the endorsements of outspoken evangelists John Hagee and Rod Parsley.2. Democrats increase outreach efforts to woo faith-based voters and pay more attention to evangelicals at the Democratic National Convention. Obama and McCain take part in a faith-based forum moderated by California megachurch pastor Rick Warren.3. Sarah Palin’s GOP vice presidential nomination renews some evangelical interest in the Republican ticket but also causes a dilemma for some religious conservatives who oppose women’s leadership roles.4. The California Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage in May is overturned in November when voters approve a constitutional amendment. Gay marriage is defeated in Arizona and Florida polls as well.5. Pope Benedict XVI brings a message of hope during his first U.S. visit, during which he meets with victims of clergy misconduct.6. Conservative Episcopalians ask Anglican Communion officials to permit a new Anglican Church in North America that would permit unhappy conservatives to operate under the authority of a North American bishop.7. Terrorism, believed to be motivated at least partly by religious fervor, results in the deaths of almost 200 people in Mumbai, India, in a three-day siege that attacked a Jewish center and resulted in the death of an American rabbi and his wife. Meanwhile, attacks on Christians continued in the eastern Indian state of Orissa and elsewhere.8. China cracks down on Buddhists hoping for Tibetan independence in a prelude to a peaceful Olympics.9. The crumbling economy and a related drop in contributions prompts many faith-based organizations to cut back on expenses, even as there is an increased need for social services.10. Violence continues in Iraq, with Sunnis and Shiites attacking each other and Christians also being targeted. Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Rahho is kidnapped and murdered in Mosul.The list was determined through a poll conducted among RNA members from Monday through Wednesday. About 38 percent of the nearly 300 active members of the organization participated._ Adelle M. BanksCalif. bishops reach out to gays in wake of Prop 8(RNS) California’s top Catholic clerics are trying to sooth hard feelings over the recent passage of the state’s gay marriage ban, explaining the church’s support for the measure while attempting to assure gays and lesbians that they are “cherished members of the church.”“The passage of Proposition 8 in the state of California does not diminish in any way the importance of you, our homosexual brothers and sisters in the church,” wrote Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony in an open letter published last week (Dec. 5) in “The Tidings,” the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The letter was signed by Mahony and six auxiliary bishops in the archdiocese.On Nov. 5, a slim majority of Californians voted for Proposition 8, which amends the state constitution by defining marriages as the union of a woman and a man. Gay rights activists continue to fight the referendum in court, and many have expressed anger at the Catholic Church and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, both of which strongly advocated for the proposition.Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco also published an open letter recently, defending the rights of religious leaders to participate in civil debates and calling for a cease fire in personal attacks.“We need to stop talking as if we are experts on the real motives of people with whom we have never even spoken,” Niederauer wrote. “We need to stop hurling names like `bigot’ and `pervert’ at each other. And we need to stop it now.”Mahony and Niederauer said their support for Proposition 8 was intended to preserve the traditional definition of marriage, not harm gays or lesbians.“Your intrinsic value as human beings and as brothers and sisters continues without change,” Mahony wrote. “If we had ever thought that the intent of this proposition was to harm you or anyone in the state of California, we would not have supported it.”_ Daniel BurkeOrthodox Jews torn on ethical aspects of kosher foodsNEW YORK (RNS) Struggling with a kosher meat industry labor scandal that won’t go away, Orthodox Jews have begun publicly debating what role _ if any _ ethical standards should have on their eating habits.At a panel discussion Tuesday (Dec. 9) at Yeshiva University, four scholars presented a range of responses to accusations of illegal and underage labor used at Agriprocessors, an Iowa-based plant that produced about half of the country’s kosher meat and poultry.Agriprocessors filed for bankruptcy in November; former CEO Sholom Rubashkin is in jail, awaiting trial on labor and bank fraud charges.Orthodox Jews make up less than one-fifth of American Jews, but are the majority of those who keep kosher. Over the past year, many have balked at calls for boycotts against accused companies; Orthodox rabbis say they must ensure kosher food remains affordable and available, and don’t want to act prematurely if a major supplier has not been proven guilty.Regardless of the claims against Agriprocessors, some rabbis continue to maintain that kosher certification has nothing to do with a company’s labor practices. Rabbi Avi Shafran, spokesman for the ultra-Orthodox Agudath Israel of America, compared workplace ethics and kosher laws to the relationship between personal hygiene and poetry.“A great poet might opt to not shower,” Shafran said, “but that bad habit doesn’t necessarily affect the quality of his writing.”In contrast, Shmuly Yanklowitz, co-founder of Uri L’Tzedek, an Orthodox Jewish social justice group, said visiting the terrified Agriprocessors workers earlier this year convinced him that fair treatment of workers must be a priority in kosher food production.“Where is our moral courage?” he asked. “We’re fighting for the soul of the Jewish people.”For now, most seem to cling to a middle ground, represented by Rabbi Menachem Genack, head of kosher supervision for the Orthodox Union, and Rabbi Basil Herring, head of the orthodox Rabbinical Council of America.While agreeing that dietary laws do not technically include labor principles, and that government agencies are better equipped to investigate companies than a system proposed by the Conservative movement, they concluded that kosher certifying agencies should include some workplace stipulations in their contracts _ if only to reclaim the perception that their food adheres to a higher standard.“We have to act with due consideration, we have to always put the ethical and moral at the top of our agenda but to do so in a way that brings about, rather than defeats, the goals that we need to achieve,” Herring said._ Nicole NerouliasFirst Muslim congressman makes pilgrimage to Mecca(RNS) The first Muslim elected to Congress has become the first sitting member of that body to travel to Mecca for the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites.“It was transformative. It was a wonderful experience,” Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., told the Associated Press. “I learned a lot about myself, about my faith.”Ellison traveled to the Saudi Arabian city for the annual pilgrimage attended by millions of Muslims from across the globe. He said he was impressed by how diverse Muslims were “kind of the same” as they made the pilgrimage together.“You had people of all backgrounds, all races, all descriptions,” he said. “You had people there who were clearly well-to-do, you had people who were desperately poor.”Ellison, D-Minn., had planned the trip for more than a year, his spokesman Rick Jauert told the Star Tribune newspaper. He didn’t expect that Congress would be addressing possible assistance for the auto industry in the midst of a tough economy.“The plans were made not anticipating there would be a lame-duck session at all, and if there was, it wouldn’t be this late,” Jauert said. “He had let the speaker and majority leader know that he was going, and they were OK with that. If they knew they were going to bring up something on which his vote was essential, he probably wouldn’t have gone.”Ellison, who was elected in 2006, was accompanied by members of his mosque, Jauert said, but his wife, who is Catholic, and two sons remained at home.The congressman paid for the journey with his own funds.“It was a personal trip, a pilgrimage,” Jauert said._ Adelle M. BanksCherie Blair criticizes Vatican on contraceptionVATICAN CITY (RNS) The Catholic wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair voiced dissent from her church’s teaching on contraception in a lecture Friday (Dec. 12) at a Vatican-chartered university in Rome.Cherie Blair made the remarks on the same day that a new Vatican document condemned recently developed forms of birth control and fertility treatments.“I am on record as having had difficulties with accepting the current teaching on responsible parenthood,” said Blair, a human rights lawyer, in a lecture on the church and women’s rights at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, commonly known as the “Angelicum.”Anti-abortion groups had protested Blair’s appearance at the university, whose alumni include the late Pope John Paul II, because of Blair’s support for contraception and what they said were her links to organizations that favor abortion rights.In her lecture, Blair endorsed what she described as the Catholic Church’s “clear distinction” between contraception and abortion, and stated that “we know better than ever before now, thanks to modern science, that life begins at conception with the contribution of both man and woman.”She also noted that she had refused to undergo an amniocentesis test when she found herself pregnant at the age of 45, and lamented the “wide and indiscriminate use of abortion” as a means of sex selection favoring the birth of boys._ Francis X. RoccaAmerican Bible Society’s new president begins Jan. 1(RNS) A longtime executive of evangelical organizations will become the new president of the American Bible Society on Jan. 1.The Rev. R. Lamar Vest, the current executive vice president of Global Scripture Ministries for the New York-based society, was chosen in November by the society’s trustees.Vest, 68, succeeds Paul Irwin, whose contract with the society ended in June weeks after news reports that an Internet contractor that had received millions of dollars from the society had previous ties to the pornography industry.At the time, a society spokeswoman said the nonrenewal of Irwin’s contract “was not a reflection of any wrongdoing.” The society also had ended its relationship with the Internet contractor.Vest had interim responsibility for some of the society’s day-to-day activities following Irwin’s departure.“Grounded in his deep commitment to the church as well as his many years of fostering new global Bible mission, Dr. Vest will provide strong leadership for the ongoing work and ministry of the American Bible Society,” said society board chairman Dennis C. Dickerson.Vest is a member of the executive committee of the United Bible Societies Global Board. He has been chairman of the National Association of Evangelicals and chairman of the American Bible Society’s board of trustees. He also has worked as an executive of the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.)._ Adelle M. BanksQuote of the Week: Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson(RNS) “I haven’t asked for one, and I won’t. I’ve gotten the only pardon I care about, which is from Christ.”_ Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson, the former Nixon aide who was imprisoned for his role in the Watergate scandal, on whether he will seek a presidential pardon. He was interviewed by Christianity Today after receiving a Presidential Citizen Medal.DSB END RNS