Religion Today Summaries - July 22, 2003
Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world. In today's edition:
- Another Christian's Blasphemy Trial Starts in Pakistan
- Churches Turn to Surfing and Skating to Spread Gospel
- Conservative Episcopal Bishops Appeal to Overseas Anglican Leaders
- Opposition to Missionary Teams Continue in India
Another Christian's Blasphemy Trial Starts in Pakistan
Barbara Baker, Compass Direct
Trial proceedings against Christian schoolteacher Pervaiz Masih began on July 17 in northeast Pakistan, two years and three months after the high school principal was jailed for alleged blasphemy. Now 35, Masih has been refused bail since his arrest in April 2001, when teenage boys reportedly claimed he had made slanderous remarks against the Muslim prophet Mohammed while tutoring them two months earlier. But according to a fact-finding report issued two weeks after the teacher was arrested, Masih's blasphemy accusations were based on "professional biases and rivalry, including religious hatred." Masih's family has engaged a Muslim lawyer who is trying to resolve the case at the High Court level. For security reasons, Masih is being escorted by three or four policemen in a separate vehicle from his cell at the Sialkot District Jail to the Daska court hearings, 40 minutes away.
Churches Turn to Surfing and Skating to Spread Gospel
Charisma News Service
More churches in beach communities are catching the wave of popularity of surfing and skateboarding to reach out to young adults. Trying to make religion relevant to everyday life, congregations and ministries in recent years have been turning to the activities once considered fringe sports, despite their reputation as aggressive, anti-establishment sports. "Churches realize that surfing and skateboarding are fertile grounds for youth outreach," noted a Florida newspaper. There's even a Christian skateboard-clothing company and a version of the New Testament aimed at surfers. "You need to be culturally relevant and doctrinally sound," said Eddy Fredryk, who served for eight years as a youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Central Florida. "It's been in the last 10 years that church people started thinking outside of the box. True Christianity is challenging Christians to take their faith to where they live and where they play." Fredryk, 41, has skateboarded since the 1970s and until recently ran a skateboard ministry called Splinter. Fredryk set up Crosswaves, a surfing ministry that proclaims to be "surfing for the Savior," that offers free surfing lessons to anyone who stays for about an hour-long Bible study. "It's so powerful in kids' minds to see that [they] can wear skate clothing and be a Christian at the same time," said Mike Doyle, a pastor at Calvary Chapel in Florida, who started a skateboard ministry.
Conservative Episcopal Bishops Appeal to Overseas Anglican Leaders
Kevin Eckstrom, Religion News Service
Twenty-four conservative Episcopal bishops have threatened to break ties with the national church if an openly gay priest is confirmed as the next bishop of New Hampshire. The bishops said the June 7 election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson to the New Hampshire post signals a church that is "desperately confused, errant and disintegrating." Robinson's election will need to be certified by delegates and bishops at the church's July 30-Aug. 8 General Convention. The 24 bishops said confirming Robinson as bishop -- along with an expected debate over blessings for same-sex couples -- would be an "unparalleled departure" from church teaching. The bishops, in a July 18 statement, appealed for guidance from overseas Anglican leaders, who last month said their communion with the bishop of Vancouver had been "impaired" after his decision to allow same-sex blessings. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold has said other dioceses must "respect" Robinson's election and "no one can say, `I have no need of you' to another member of this church." It in unclear what shape any action by the bishops would look like. One conservative official said the bishops refuse to obey the American hierarchy. A less serious scenario would involve the bishops declaring themselves at odds with the rest of the church but never formally leaving.
Opposition to Missionary Teams Continue in India
Charisma News Service
Members of a missionary outreach team in the Andhra Pradesh State in India were beaten and arrested when they visited a village to do evangelistic work. According to Christian Aid Mission (CAM), the missionaries were preaching and distributing tracts during the April incident when a group of men sent by the village chief confronted them with knives, sticks and rods. After beating the missionaries, the men tied them up and took them to jail, where they were in custody for a week. The director of the mission that sent the team met with the chief to plead for the Christians' release. At first the chief refused to hear him, but after much prayer, the leader told CAM: "The Spirit of the Lord moved him and he listened to my words and released the workers." Such opposition is common in remote villages of India. In April, this particular ministry sent missionaries to 355 villages, where they distributed 100,000 tracts, preached to 67,000 people and saw 457 commit their lives to Jesus. Also in the same month, the mission conducted five free medical camps that treated 6,045 poor people.
Originally published July 22, 2003.
