Religion Today Summaries – June 3, 2005
Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world. In today's edition:
- Promise Keepers Responds To Charges From National Organization For Women And Activist Professors
- Mich. Parents Protest Pro-Homosexual Posters on Public School Campus
- Judge Offers Offenders ‘Worship Services’ Option of Instead of Jail
- GFA Hopes Missionary Conference Will Spark Outreach Revolution
Promise Keepers Responds To Charges From National Organization For Women And Activist Professors
Michael Ireland, ASSIST News Service
Promise Keepers (PK), the international ministry to men, has responded to critics who claim the group is "narrow," "single-minded," and an "intolerant religious organization." Speaking at a news conference on May 31, 2005, PK national spokesman, Steve Chavis, pulled no punches when responding to criticism from members of the Arkansas National Organization for Women (NOW) and their allies, the Washington County Green Party and the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology, saying they are off base and that the ministry's Fayetteville conference will go on as planned next week. "These groups want to silence Christians from speaking in the marketplace," Chavis said. "Those who protest Promise Keepers are entirely uninformed, reacting to stereotype and their own form of so-called politically correct prejudice." NOW and activist professors at the University of Arkansas have called the men's group "single-minded," "narrow," and an "intolerant religious organization." Chavis says such critics will not deter PK from hosting its event in Fayetteville, which is expected to draw about 20,000 men from Arkansas and surrounding states. He contends that by helping men become better fathers, husbands and leaders -- while teaching them to influence the marketplace -- PK is helping to build stronger communities. Promise Keepers conference theme for 2005 is "The Awakening."
Mich. Parents Protest Pro-Homosexual Posters on Public School Campus
Jim Brown Agape Press
Parents in Troy, Michigan, are vehemently denouncing a school district's decision to hang several copies of a poster they claim promotes homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle. Two years ago, controversy erupted at Troy High School when, at the request of the campus homosexual group, English teacher Sandra Altemann put up a poster in her classroom that reads, "Gay people are everyday people." Afterward, despite the objections of parents who feel the poster promotes an unacceptable lifestyle, Principal Larry Boehms recently allowed four more of the pro-homosexual posters to go up at the school. Tony Cruz, a Christian father of two daughters in the school district, wants the posters removed from classrooms during school hours. "They have no place in the school," he contends, "and as a matter of fact, according to the Equal Access statute, a club can lose its sponsorship if a teacher sponsors the dogma of that club during school hours. And that applies to Christian clubs, it applies to gay clubs -- it applies to any club in between." School officials claim they are not trying to promote a certain lifestyle by hanging the posters, but that they are merely demonstrating tolerance. Parents like Cruz, however, feel the posters are a prime example of the intolerance of pro-homosexual activism.
Judge Offers Offenders 'Worship Services' Option of Instead of Jail
Charisma News Service
A Kentucky judge has been offering some drug and alcohol offenders the option of going to God's house instead of going to the "Big House" or rehab. District Judge Michael Caperton, 50, a devout Christian, believes church attendance could help some of those convicted find spiritual guidance, the Associated Press reported. But critics say the practice violates the separation of church and state. "The goal is to help people and their families," Caperton said. "I don't think there's a church-state issue because it's not mandatory and I say worship services instead of church." Alternative sentencing is popular nationwide -- ordering vandals to repaint a graffiti-covered wall is one example. But legal experts said they didn't know of any other judges who give the option of attending church. A district judge since 1994, Caperton has offered the option about 50 times to repeat drug and alcohol offenders in Laurel and Knox counties since earlier this spring. It is unclear what effect the sentence has had because the first group given the option won't be back in Caperton's court until later this month, The Louisville Courier-Journal reported. Defendants who choose the church option must get a signed affidavit from a pastor or spiritual leader after attending 10 services, Caperton said. (www.charismanews.com)
GFA Hopes Missionary Conference Will Spark Outreach Revolution
Allie Martin, AgapePress
Later this month Gospel for Asia is sponsoring a conference aimed at increasing the effectiveness of churches' mission programs and outreaches. This year's "Renewing Your Passion Missions Conference" takes place June 27-29 at GFA's international headquarters in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, Texas. The 2005 "Renewing Your Passion" conference will feature church planting experts and other Christian ministry specialists from across the U.S., who will work with church pastors and leaders to help them learn to function more efficiently and productively when it comes to missions outreach programs. Dr. K.P. Yohannan, founder of GFA, says those attending the event will gain a better understanding of what makes missions work effective. Conference workshops will cover topics such as short-term mission trips, developing missions leadership in the local church, renewing people's passion for Christ and the unchurched, and disaster relief. Yohannan believes these and other training sessions offered at the conference will help participants expand their evangelical outreach, especially since, he contends, most churches do not have a biblical conception of missions. The GFA spokesman believes the 2005 Renewing Your Passion Missions Conference will address that problem and help missionaries get to the heart of outreach. Gospel for Asia trains and deploys native missionaries into the most unreached areas of Asia.
Originally published June 03, 2005.
