Articles Index

INTERFAITH

World News: Beijing Denies There is Religious Persecution in China. By Lo Man Wai. The Beijing government has released an official "White Paper" on religion, denying that there is religious persecution in China. The detailed document also promises to protect religious freedom as a basic right for all citizens, provided that those who practise religion register with the government and "hold aloft the banner of patriotism". [Ecumenical News International]

World News: Pottery Receipt from King Solomon's Temple Discovered. By Peter Ephross. Making donations to support the local synagogue is nothing new – it happened more than 2,500 years ago. While scholars have long believed that temples were built and kept up with donations, a shard of pottery that has recently come to light provides the oldest physical evidence of this practice. [Jewish Telegraphic Agency]

U.S. News: Alabama Injunction Requires Stop to Prayer in Schools. By Laurie A. Lattimore. In Alabama's ongoing school prayer battle, U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent issued a permanent injunction October 29 against the governor, state attorney general and state board of education from enforcing a 1993 state law permitting prayer in schools. [Baptist Press]

Washington News: Zoroastrian, Hindu, and Vietnamese Choirs Join Interfaith Concert. D.C.'s 18th Annual Interfaith Concert – A Celebration of Religious Freedom – filled Washington National Cathedral on November 18. [InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington]

ECUMENICAL

World Feature: Pro-Gay and Ex-Gay – Is There Room for Dialogue? By Heather Elizabeth Peterson. For nearly three decades, the pro-gay and ex-gay ministries have competed for the souls of gay men and women, each movement convinced that the other is tragically mistaken in its views on homosexuality. Now a small number of people on both sides of the issue are striving to find common ground. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

The Chasm

Bridges Across the Divide

Emerging Common Ground. By the Right Rev. Terence Finlay et al. [Diocese of Toronto]

World News: Results Presented of the Inquiry on Faith in the Netherlands. During a November 8 symposium on "God in the Netherlands" in Hilversum, the first results of the inquiry on faith in the Netherlands were presented. The inquiry concludes that the majority of Dutchmen have turned away from the idea that there exists a personal God, taking care of the life of people. [Golden Compass]

World News: American Revivalism Reaches Britain as Promise Keepers UK Holds Its First Training Day. By Glyn Paflin. There were no tears and no hugs – just a Church of England curate and about 30 other "guys" squinting at a projector screen and discussing questions like, "What is a 'vital relationship'?" [Church Times]

World News: Wavelength That Once Carried Communist Propaganda Will Carry Christian Radio. United Christian Broadcasters (UCB), based in Stoke-on-Trent, is to launch Britain's first national Christian radio station on 1386 Medium Wave using transmitters in Russia. [ASSIST Communications]

World News: Virgin Mary's "Resting Place" Rediscovered by Archaeologists. By Ross Dunn. Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered the site where, according to Christian tradition, Mary stopped to rest on her way from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus. [Ecumenical News International]

World News: Australian Christian Leaders Slam Call for Boycott of Churches. Leaders of Australia's Catholic, Anglican, and Uniting churches denounced a call by some federal lawmakers for rural members to boycott their churches because of the bishops' positions on pending legislation. [Catholic World News]

U.S. News: National Council of Churches Proposes Partnerships with Catholics, Pentecostals, and Evangelicals. The General Assembly of the National Council of Churches in Christ accepted a report from its Ecclesiology Study Task Force that, if actively pursued, will refocus the council on closer relationships both internally and externally. [National Council of Churches]

U.S. News: Evangelical Press Association Urges Charity in NIV Bible Dispute. A controversial ethics committee report which criticized World magazine's reporting of a story involving plans for a "gender-neutral" edition of the New International Version (NIV) Bible was rejected by the board of the Evangelical Press Association (EPA) at its mid-October meeting in Chicago. [Evangelical Press]

U.S. News: Houses of Worship Project Provides Web Pages for Every Church in America. By Geof Becker. The Houses of Worship project opened 16 months ago, and plans to reach out to more than 330,000 North American churches by June. By 2000, project leaders expect to circle the globe, connecting Christendom's estimated 2 million churches. [Associated Press]

ADVENTIST

World News: Adventist Church Attacked with Bomb as Russian Restrictions Continue. By Jonathan Gallagher. The attack comes as the denomination holds gospel outreach programs in Moscow. The rented hall used for the meetings was closed by the hall's custodians who refused to allow the church to continue with its program. [Adventist News Network]

ANGLICAN

World News: Canadian Anglican Statements on Homosexuality Please Both Sides in Debate. By Heather Elizabeth Peterson. Amidst heated debate in the Anglican Communion over the morality of homosexual acts, Canada's bishops have issued a new statement on human sexuality that is being praised by both progressives and traditionalists. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

World Brief: Traditionalist Bishops Prepare Plans for Separate Anglican Church in England. By Heather Elizabeth Peterson. Bishops and deans belonging to the traditionalist Forward in Faith movement have announced plans to start a separate Anglican province in England. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

U.S. News: Episcopal Church Signs Covenant with Native Americans. By James Solheim. On a blustery Saturday afternoon, on the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America, the Episcopal Church apologized for centuries of abuse and signed a new covenant calling for reconciliation with Native Americans. [Episcopal News Service]

U.S. Brief: Traditionalist Episcopal Bishop Resigns. Bishop William Wantland of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, recently announced his resignation, citing a new church policy on women's ordination as one of the reasons behind his decision. [Episcopal News Service]

See also Greenbelt Anglican News; Australian Christian Leaders Slam Call for Boycott of Churches

Assemblies of God – see Pentecostal

BAHA'I

Washington News: American Bahá'í Elections Mark New Era in the Faith. By Heather Elizabeth Peterson. On the anniversary of the birth of their prophet-founder, Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'ís in the Washington area joined other American Bahá'ís in taking the next step in what they perceive as the formation of a divinely planned world order. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

BAPTIST

U.S. News: Southern Baptists' Mission Board Adopts Guidelines for Cooperative Work. By James Dolson. A set of "Guidelines for Interdenominational Cooperation" adopted by the North American Mission Board at its November 5 meeting affirm agreement on essential theological truths as a foundation for any cooperation with non-Southern Baptist groups. [Baptist Press]

U.S. News: Disney Chief Responds to Southern Baptist Boycott. The chairman of the Walt Disney Company appeared on the 60 Minutes news show on November 23 and denied charges that his company has an anti-Christian agenda. [Catholic World News]

U.S. News: American Baptists' Unity Committee Strives for Balance in Homosexuality Debate. The American Baptist Churches USA General Board, meeting in New Jersey November 22 in semiannual session, received for first reading the report of the Commission on Denominational Unity. [American Baptist News Service]

Washington News: D.C. Baptist Convention Votes to Align with Progressive National Baptists. By Robert L. Maddox. The District of Columbia Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly to align itself with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., during its November 17-18 annual meeting at First Baptist Church, Washington. This decision makes the DCBC the only Baptist body in the Southern/American Baptist orb to become triply aligned. [Baptist Press]

BRETHREN

U.S. News: Brethren Arrested for Protests at Army Training School. At least four Brethren were among the 601 protesters who were arrested Sunday at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, after marching two miles into the base to oppose the continued operation of the School of the Americas. [Church of the Brethren Newsline]

CATHOLIC

World News: Germans and Austrians Criticize Vatican's Move to Reign in the Laity. A new Vatican instruction, released on 13 November, warns against abuses of lay ministry in the Church. But its tone and its contents have been greeted with harsh criticism by German and Austrian bishops. [The Tablet]

World News: Pope John Paul Opens Historic Meeting of American Bishops. The first ever pan-American meeting of bishops was opened November 16 by the Pope when he presided at the inaugural Mass in St Peter's in Rome. In his homily, he emphasised that the "three Americas, which today are mostly Christian", must be considered together. [The Tablet]

World Brief: Austrian Old Catholics Vote for Women Priests. By Christa Pongratz-Lippitt. The Austrian Old Catholic Church has voted in favour of ordaining women priests and blessing "lasting" homosexual partnerships in church. [The Tablet]

U.S. News: Catholic Bishops Hold Fall Meeting

U.S. News: Catholic Bishops Condemn "Rhetoric of Violence". By Heather Elizabeth Peterson. At a time when members of the Catholic Church remain deeply divided over several important issues, the president of the U.S. bishops' conference has called upon all Catholics to be reconciled through "truth . . . spoken in love." [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

U.S. News: Catholic Bishops Consider Bringing Back Meatless Fridays. The U.S. bishops continued their biannual meeting on November 11 by agreeing to begin a year-long study of a proposal to bring back abstinence on Fridays as a way to emphasize the day as a time for penitence. [Catholic World News]

U.S. News: Catholic Bishops Approve New Spanish Liturgy. The U.S. bishops finished their fall meeting on November 13 with the probable approval of a new Spanish liturgical text and a report marking the 25th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand. [Catholic World News]

U.S. Brief: Santa Fe Catholics Told They Must Not Scatter Loved Ones' Ashes. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe issued new guidelines in November on the proper burial of cremated Catholics after reports that ashes have been scattered outdoors or made into clay pots. [Catholic World News]

Washington News: Catholic Students Rally for Crucifix in Classroom. Hundreds of students at Georgetown University were planning to demonstrate on November 1 to demand that the Catholic university place crucifixes in all the classrooms. [Catholic World News]

See also Results Presented of the Inquiry on Faith in the Netherlands; Australian Christian Leaders Slam Call for Boycott of Churches; National Council of Churches Proposes Partnerships with Catholics, Pentecostals, and Evangelicals; Married Priests Reordained in the Czech Republic; Pope Confesses Christian Failings Toward Jews

Charismatic – see Pentecostal–Charismatic

CHURCHES OF CHRIST–CHRISTIAN CHURCHES

Washington News: Disciples Minister Has Big Plans for Denomination's "National Cathedral". Next spring, another Rev. Jackson is set to "march" on Washington, D.C. Beginning April 1, the Rev. Alvin O'Neal Jackson becomes senior minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)'s "national cathedral" – National City Christian Church. [Disciples News Service]

Disciples of Christ – see Churches of Christ–Christian Churches

EASTERN CHRISTIAN

World Brief: Married Priests Reordained in the Czech Republic. Eighteen married Catholic priests who were clandestinely ordained in the Latin rite during the communist era in the former Czechoslovakia have been reordained as Greek Catholic priests. [The Tablet]

U.S. News: Ecumenical Patriarch Tours the United States

U.S. News: Ecumenical Patriarch's Visit Provides Focus for Orthodox Dispute over Church's Future. By Steve Kloehn. As His All Holiness travels to Chicago for a three-day visit, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew finds himself at the head of a church that is wrestling with its history, trying to find its way into the future without betraying the traditions that are the wellspring of Orthodox faith. [Chicago Sun-Times]

U.S. News: Harming the Environment is Sinful, Ecumenical Patriarch Says. By Larry B. Stammer. In a pronouncement that political and church leaders called an unprecedented religious defense of the environment, His All Holiness Bartholomew I declared on November 8 that the degradation of the natural world is "sin." [Los Angeles Times]

See also Pope John Paul Opens Historic Meeting of American Bishops

Episcopal – see Anglican

GENERAL

World News: Canadian Court Says Mother Can Raise Child as Jehovah's Witness. Canada's Supreme Court ruled on November 7 that a woman can raise her child as a Jehovah's Witness over the objections of her former common-law husband. [Catholic World News]

World News: Remarks by Head of Canadian Church Provoke Debate Over Christian Beliefs. By Andrea Hopkins. Canada's largest Protestant denomination, the United Church of Canada, has become a flashpoint for bitter debate among Canadian Christians after its leader questioned the divinity and resurrection of Jesus. [Reuters News Service]

Clarification of Remarks. By the Right Rev. Bill Phipps. [United Church of Canada]

U.S. News: Church of Satan Founder Dies. Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, died Oct. 29 of pulmonary edema. LaVey was cremated after a Satanic funeral. [Evangelical Press]

HINDU

U.S. Brief: American Hindus Try New Form of Matchmaking. A compromise to dating is attracting both plaudits and brickbats from America's Patel community. [Hinduism Today]

ISLAMIC

World News: British Home Secretary Rejects Call for Law to Protect Muslims. By Clare Garner. Legislation should be introduced to outlaw "Islamophobia", the Runnymede Trust argued on October 23. But the British government has no plans to change the law to protect Muslims from religious discrimination. [The Independent]

World News: Britain's Muslims Unite. By Clare Garner. Representatives of more than 250 Muslim organisations met in London on November 23 to launch the Muslim Council of Britain, the first umbrella organisation to represent Islam in that country. [The Independent]

World News: U.S. and Turkey Differ in Attitudes Toward Islamic Headscarves. Even as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission recently reinstated a Muslim worker wearing hijab to her job, Turkey's military-backed government is introducing restrictions on wearing headscarves in several universities. [Islamic Voice]

World Brief: Indonesia Adopts Islamic "Expected Visibility" Lunar Calendar. Indonesia has agreed to implement the expected visibility imkan-e-ruyah system for its national calendar which has proved to be accurate over the last decade. [Islamic Voice]

JEWISH

World News: Pope Confesses Christian Failings Toward Jews. Pope John Paul's admission at a Vatican symposium that Christian anti-Jewish prejudice has contributed to persecution of Jews down the ages has received a mixed reaction from the Jewish community. [The Tablet]

U.S. News: Reform Jews Remain Cautious on Interfaith Marriages, Support Civil Marriages for Homosexuals. By Debra Nussbaum Cohen. David Belin has long been trying to convince the Reform movement to sanction rabbinic officiation at interfaith marriages, but his colleagues are not interested. The 4,500 Reform Jews attending the Union of American Hebrew Congregations' biennial backed the movement's rabbinic arm by refusing to even consider Belin's resolution urging Reform rabbis to officiate at interfaith marriages. [Jewish Telegraphic Agency]

U.S. News: Brandeis Study Finds Benefits in Free Synagogue Membership. By Susan Jacobs. A Brandeis University researcher is maintaining that synagogues can increase their membership by offering free membership. [Jewish Telegraphic Agency]

U.S. News: Crisis of Jewish Unity Dominates Annual Assembly. By Judith Mann. North America's Jewish federation world pulled out all the stops in mid-November to try to prevent the rifts over pluralism in Israel from widening into an unbridgeable divide. [Jewish Telegraphic Agency]

LUTHERAN

World News: Blessings Allowed, but No New Ritual for Same-Sex Partnerships, Danish Lutherans Decide. After a long-drawn public discussion, the question on a blessing in church of homosexual partners was answered by the bishops of the Church of Denmark during their meeting at the end of October. [Church News from Denmark]

METHODIST

U.S. News: United Methodists End Year in Debate Over Same-Sex Ceremonies. By Linda Bloom. Debate over whether clergy should be allowed to perform same-sex covenanting ceremonies intensified and the discussion over future directions for the United Methodist Church continued during 1997. [United Methodist News Service]

Muslim – see Islamic

Old Catholic – see Catholic

Orthodox Christian – see Eastern Christian

PAGAN

World News: Speaker at North West England Conference Explores Relations Between Pagans and Christians. By Andy Wilkinson. The North West England District of Britain's Pagan Federation held its 1997 conference on October 25 at Blackpool, Lancashire. [Elements]

World News: British Pagans Celebrate Interfaith Purchase of Sacred Stones. By Heather Elizabeth Peterson. An unusual coalition of Pagans, Christians, and others gathered in south-central England on November 1 in order to celebrate the purchase and preservation of one of England's oldest religious sites. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

World Brief: British Archaeologists Discover Prehistoric Temple Site, Bigger Than Stonehenge. By Heather Elizabeth Peterson. Stanton Drew has kept its secret for many years. The three stone circles located in Somerset, southwestern England, have long been famous, but a recent geophysical survey reveals evidence that an enormous wooden temple once stood on the site. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

See also Pagans in the Military

PENTECOSTAL–CHARISMATIC

U.S. News: Christian Prayer Team Prays for Colonial American Sins. By Adrienne Gaines. Rick and Patti Ridings believe the future of revival in the United States depends on how Americans deal with the nation's past. That's why the international prayer leaders, who have been based in Brussels, Belgium, for the last 15 years, returned to the United States to organize the 13 Colonies Prayer Journey. [Charisma]

U.S. News: Assemblies of God Pray for Persecuted Christians Abroad – and Fear Persecution at Home. A season of prayer beginning September 28 culminated in the second International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on Sunday, November 16. [What's New Nationally & Internationally]

U.S. News: Vineyard Church Founder Dies. By Dan Wooding. John Wimber, one of the most colorful and controversial leaders of the charismatic movement in the United States, suffered a massive brain hemorrhage the evening of November 16. [ASSIST Communications]

See also National Council of Churches Proposes Partnerships with Catholics, Pentecostals, and Evangelicals

Presbyterian – see Reformed

REFORMED

U.S. News: Reformed Council Votes to Suspend Christian Reformed Church from Membership. By Darrell Todd Maurina. "Sad but inevitable." That's how Rev. Gordon Keddie, newly-elected chairman of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council, described the 6-1 vote by the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council to begin the process of suspending the Christian Reformed Church from the fellowship of conservative denominations in the United States and Canada. [United Reformed News Service]

See also Results Presented of the Inquiry on Faith in the Netherlands

Roman Catholic – see Catholic

HOMETOWN

Greenbelt News: Thanksgiving Service Remembers Good Samaritans. By Heather Elizabeth Peterson. Helping strangers in need was a theme that ran through this year's Greenbelt Interfaith Thanksgiving Service. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

Greenbelt Brief: Community Church Collects Items for Strangers Near and Far. Greenbelt Community Church is in no danger of running out of activities during the holiday season. [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

See also American Bahá'í Elections Mark New Era in the Faith

MAGAZINE MATTERS

Letters: Pagans in the Military [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

Editor's Note: Links to the Outside World [Greenbelt Interfaith News]

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November 1997