Hindu nationalists began burning churches and Christian houses in the east Indian state of Orissa on Christmas Eve. The violence continues, although today it seems to have abated somewhat.

Dozens are injured, many buildings have been destroyed, and the death toll is at 4 (three Hindus killed by police as they burned down the police station, and one Christian killed in the riots).

Compass Direct is reporting higher numbers than those confirmed by the police:

Jacob Pradhan, a Christian leader in Kandhamal district, told Compass that at least four Christians have been killed and more than 50 churches and 200 houses razed or damaged.

Telephone outages and VHP roadblocks made confirming reports “extremely difficult.”

The Associated Press reported that,

On Thursday a mob of Hindus defied a curfew and burned down the house of Radhakant Nayak, a member of India's upper house of parliament and a Christian leader in the area, Nayak told the CNN-IBN news channel.

Also, 11 churches were ransacked and burned in Kandhamal district of Orissa state, the Press Trust of India quoted unnamed police officials as saying.

Meanwhile, in the village of Brahmangaon, a group of Christians burned down several Hindu homes in an apparent retaliation for the attack on churches. Angry Hindus then burned down the village police station, complaining of a lack of protection, a local police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

At least 25 people—both Christian and Hindu—have been arrested so far, and the federal government has announced that it will send in paramilitary troops.

The perpetrators claim that they were defending a Hindu leader who heads an anti-conversion campaign; Christians in Orissa say the attacks were to prevent a Christmas Eve performance that could have led to conversions; AP says it boils down to controversy over thousands of conversions to Christianity in the past few years, “Hindu groups have long charged Christian missionaries with trying to lure the poor and those who occupy the lowest rungs of Hinduism's complex caste-system away with promises of money and jobs.”

The Orissa government has ordered a judicial probe into the attacks, in response to claims that the violence was not spontaneous but sponsored by saffron activists.

Time warns against chalking it all up to religion:

As with most communal violence in India, this latest explosion of hatred is the result not only of religious differences but of a tangled intersection of political power, communal prejudice and the injustices of Hinduism's archaic caste system.

However, in a place where religion permeates everything, it’s not helpful to try to separate religion from political power, prejudice, or the caste system—especially as the hard-line Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gaining power. Orissa is currently governed by a BJP ally.

Posted by Susan Wunderink at December 28, 2007 12:50PM | Comments (1)

Benazir Bhutto was killed at a political rally near Islamabad just hours ago. The New York Times reports that following shots from a gunman, a bomb likely triggered by a suicide attacker went off, killing a dozen or more people along with Pakistan's opposition leader. (Other reports say the gunman and the bomber may have been the same person.) Bhutto, 54, was declared dead at 6:16 p.m. at a hospital in Rawalpindi.

Christians in Pakistan were quick to condemn the killing. The president of Pakistan's Christian Congress, Nazir S. Bhatti, called it a "black day" in the country's history. Christians are a distinct minority in Pakistan, and many have placed hopes for greater democratic freedom and participation on Bhutto's shoulders.

Bhutto's death leaves her political party leaderless less than two weeks before scheduled parliamentary elections. While Bhutto supporters have blamed Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, for the attack, an aide to Musharraf blamed Islamic militants.

The New York Times has posted an obituary for Bhutto as well as an op-ed piece she wrote last month denouncing Musharraf's rule. "It is dangerous to stand up to a military dictatorship, but more dangerous not to," reads the last paragraph of her editorial. Bhutto had been critical of the lack of government security provided to her in recent weeks.

Posted by Madison Trammel at December 27, 2007 9:44AM | Comments (3)

This morning, Dec. 26, conservative Anglicans announced they will gather in Jerusalem (see press statement below) about 6 weeks before the historic Lambeth conference in the UK. Lambeth will start in mid-July and end in early August 2008.

Many conservative bishops will boycott Lambeth due to the fallout over The Episcopal Church's actions supportive of GLBT clergy and couples, TEC's rejection of global accountability, and its re-interpretation of core scriptural teachings.

TEC's ambiguous response to the Windsor Report and its refusals to follow the guidance of Anglican primates meeting in Tanzania in early 2007 to end gay ordinations, same-sex blessings, and property litigation against conservative parishes have undermined Anglican unity worldwide.

The 2003 consecration of a homosexual Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire has been the flashpoint.

In recent weeks, there has been speculation about whether Anglican conservatives will put together a rival Lambeth-like event. Many conservative Anglican bishops expect to opt out of the once-per-decade-event in Canterbury, but had hopes of gathering for a global consultation.

Conservative firebrand David Virtue of Virtue Online observed back in June 07:

The concept of a parallel Lambeth Conference was first raised by the Most Rev. Peter Akinola, Archbishop and Primate of Nigeria, as well as head of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA)....

In mid-December, Virtue noted:

Now the idea has again emerged with a news report out of London, by Jonathan Petre of the Telegraph, that Conservative Anglican leaders are secretly planning a meeting next summer for the hundreds of bishops expected to defy the Archbishop of Canterbury by boycotting the Lambeth Conference.

The unprecedented event will be widely seen as an "alternative Lambeth", further damaging Dr. Rowan Williams's hopes of averting a formal schism over homosexuals, wrote Petre.

Aides of the Archbishop said that any such gathering, which is due to be held just before the official conference, would be perceived as a symbol of division and would send out a "negative" message. Indeed, it would.

These events in June, July, and August pose a three-fold test as I see it:

1. It will test the strength and coherence of an emerging conservative majority within global Anglicanism.

2. It will test the resolve of the Anglican left-wing's agenda to steer the global church toward affirmation of homosexuality as normative human sexual expression.

3. It will test the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury in its ability to provide a viable way forward for a deeply divided church.

Here's the edited version of the press release:

GLOBAL ANGLICAN FUTURE CONFERENCE IN HOLY LAND

ANNOUNCED BY ORTHODOX PRIMATES

Orthodox Primates with other leading bishops from across the globe are to invite fellow Bishops, senior clergy and laity from every province of the Anglican Communion to a unique eight-day event, to be known as the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) 2008.

The event, which was agreed at a meeting of Primates in Nairobi last week, will be in the form of a pilgrimage back to the roots of the Church’s faith. The Holy Land is the planned venue. From 15-22 June 2008, Anglicans from both the Evangelical and Anglo-catholic wings of the church will make pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where Christ was born, ministered, died, rose again, ascended into heaven, sent his Holy Spirit, and where the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out, to strengthen them for what they believe will be difficult days ahead.

At the meeting were Archbishops Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Henry Orombi (Uganda), Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya), Donald Mtetemela (Tanzania), Peter Jensen (Sydney), Nicholas Okoh (Nigeria); Bishop Don Harvey (Canada), Bishop Bill Atwood (Kenya) representing Archbishop Greg Venables (Southern Cone) , Bishop Bob Duncan (Anglican Communion Network), Bishop

Martyn Minns (Convocation of Anglicans in North America ), Canon Dr Vinay Samuel (India and England) and Canon Dr Chris Sugden (England). Bishops Michael Nazir-Ali (Rochester, England), Bishop Wallace Benn (Lewes, England) were consulted by telephone. These leaders represent over 30 million of the 55 million active Anglicans in the world.

Southern Cone Primate Gregory Venables said: “While there are many calls for shared mission, it clearly must rise from common shared faith. Our pastoral responsibility to the people that we lead is now to provide the opportunity to come together around the central and unchanging tenets of the central and unchanging historic Anglican faith. Rather than being subject to the continued chaos and compromise that have dramatically impeded Anglican mission, GAFCON will seek to clarify God’s call at this time and build a network of cooperation for Global mission.”

The gathering set in motion a Global Anglican Future Conference: A Gospel of Power and Transformation. The vision, according to Archbishop Nzimbi is to inform and inspire invited leaders "to seek transformation in our own lives and help impact communities and societies through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Bishops and their wives, clergy and laity, including the next generation of young leaders will attend GAFCON.

The GAFCON website is www.gafcon.org.

Canon Chris Sugden added: "While this conference is not a specific challenge to the Lambeth Conference, it will provide opportunities for fellowship and care for those who have decided not to attend Lambeth. There was no other place to meet at this critical time for the future of the Church than in the Holy Land .”

Frequently asked Questions

1. Who is sponsoring the Conference?
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) is being called by those who took part in the Nairobi Consultation:

Archbishops Peter Akinola (Nigeria), Henry Orombi (Uganda), Emmanuel Kolini (Rwanda), Benjamin Nzimbi (Kenya), Donald Mtetemela (Tanzania), Archbishop Peter Jensen (Sydney) Archbishop Nicholas Okoh (Nigeria). Bishop Don Harvey (Canada) and Bishop Bill Atwood (Kenya) who also represented Archbishop Greg Venables (Southern Cone). Bishop Bob Duncan (Anglican Communion Network and Common Cause USA.), Bishop Martyn Minns (Convocation of Anglicans in North America), Canon Dr Vinay Samuel (India and England), Canon Dr Chris Sugden (England)
Bishop Michael Nazir Ali (Rochester, England) and Bishop Wallace Benn (Lewes, England) were consulted and also form part of the Leadership Team.

These bishops and their colleagues represent over 30 million Anglicans out of the 55 million active Anglicans. ( Nigeria 18m , Uganda 8m Kenya 2.5m Rwanda 1 m Tanzania 1.3 m plus Southern Cone, US, Sydney, England). The notional total of the Communion is 77m. The active membership is nearer 55 m, since of the 26m notional members in CofE 3.7m attend at Christmas Services)

2. Whom do you expect to come?
We will be inviting bishops and their wives, senior clergy, church planters, and lay people including the next generation of young leaders. We aim to make it a Global Anglican Conference with its eye on the future and future leadership.

3. Is this a Global South Initiative?
Not quite. Many of the Primates at the Nairobi Consultation are in the Global South, but it also included Anglican leaders from parts of the world beyond the geographic Global South.

4. Why a pilgrimage?
We are looking to the future of the Global Anglican Communion, which is itself a pilgrimage.

Those who want to hold on to the Biblical and Historical faith need to come together to renew their faith and develop a fresh vision for our common mission. The way we have chosen to do this is to undertake a pilgrimage to a land whose heritage we all share, the land where Jesus Christ was born, ministered, died, rose again, ascended into heaven and sent his Holy Spirit, and where the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out. We believe this will strengthen us for the difficult days ahead.

The conference will outline the mission imperatives for the next 25 years for orthodox Anglicans. It is important therefore to reconnect with our roots in the biblical story.

5. Is not Israel/Palestine a controversial venue?
Israel/Palestine has been a place of conflict for decades. That should not keep us from making pilgrimage to a land that is our common heritage. We want to bring fellowship and bear testimony to the Christian communities in Israel/Palestine. Those of us from Africa are no strangers to the pressure that Christian communities are put under from other religious groups and communities.

6. Why call it in June?
The pilgrimage is to strengthen bishops at a crucial time in the life of the Anglican Communion. Many bishops will not be able to accept the invitation to the Lambeth Conference as their consciences will not allow it. Some will attend both gatherings. The purpose of the consultation is to strengthen them all spiritually.

7. Is it not really an alternative to the Lambeth Conference?
No. It is not at the same time or in the same region as the Lambeth Conference. So there will be some who will attend both conferences and thus be able to consult with the Archbishop of Canterbury and others there.

As Archbishop Gregory Venables has said: “While there are many calls for shared mission, it clearly must rise from common shared faith. Our pastoral responsibility to the people we lead is now to provide the opportunity to come together around the central and unchanging tenets of the central and unchanging historic Anglican faith. Rather than being subject to the continued chaos and compromise that have dramatically impeded Anglican mission, GAFCON will seek to clarify God’s call at this time and build a network of cooperation for Global mission.”

GAFCON is a call to vision and action for mission based firmly on the “faith once delivered to the saints” and revealed in Scripture, to reform the church and transform persons, communities and societies through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. African Bishops had this focus at their Lagos 2004 conference. The Episcopal church’s agenda has recently overshadowed it. We now need to develop this gospel agenda for all like-minded in the communion.

It is to outline the mission imperatives for the next 25 years and how to begin to respond to them.

It is a pilgrimage to the places of the Biblical story to renew our faith and commitment. It is to envision the Global Anglican Future.

The Lambeth Conference has a different agenda.

8. Is this all over a gay bishop?
No. GAFCON is about churches being grouped by what they have in common. We're for growth, we're for being passionate about the truth. We want to look to the future. That's what the conference is about - Global Anglican Future.

9. Aren't you splitting the church?
No. Communion depends on having something in common. Churches in the Global South are growing. They're passionate about the truth and their faith. We are building on this strength.

As the Anglican Communion develops, some of the old bonds are loosening, and some new bonds are being formed. That's a good thing. These bonds involve churches which are growing, and which have something distinctive to say to the world. GAFCON is enthusiastic about mission. Its focus is the future.

Posted by Tim Morgan at December 26, 2007 9:26AM | Comments (5)

My three children and I love to watch The Charlie Brown Christmas Special on video every December. It's hard to believe that was made in 1965. Charlie's question "Can any one tell me what Christmas is all about?" is a haunting one indeed.

That's not the only haunting question at Christmastime. Rev. Martin Ssempa, who I believe is one of Africa's most passionate church leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS, has been published in a leading Ugandan newspaper, asking what can be done about sexual violence associated with HIV/AIDS.

Rev. Ssempa, who spoke at the first Saddleback HIV/AIDS conference, said:

This Christmas I am praying for the end of sexual violence in Africa. Last week the High Court in South Africa’s Cape convicted George Mugalula who killed his five year-old stepdaughter Aakifah Salie due to marital frustrations with his wife, also Aakifah’s mother, Faiza Salie. According to court documents, Mugalula was angered and tortured by his wife’s many affairs and secret work as a prostitute at “Paradise Penthouse”, a massage parlour in Cape Town. Apparently he thought that his wife was working in a night painterly but was shocked to discover that she was listed as one of the playgirls in Paradise Penthouse. This apparently triggered off his violent behaviour which in the end was directed at the vulnerable five year-old who bore the brunt of his traumatised love.

In some African nations, there's a persistent belief, promoted by 'traditional healers,' that sexual relations with a virgin are a cure for HIV/AIDS.

Rev. Ssempa notes:

We need the gospel to dispel the dangerously grotesque idea that sex with a virgin girl can cure HIV/AIDS. This prescription spread by African traditional healers in East and Southern Africa has multiplied sexual violence among virgin young girls and boys. There is a need to condemn this practice both by the perpetrators as well as the healers who perpetuate his dangerous idea.

Among quite a few health care leaders, there's a professional reluctance to address the false traditional belief systems that have arisen in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Traditional healers are often revered and feared figures in village life. The church has the moral authority to take on harmful beliefs and practices without demonizing the messengers.

At the end of his article, Ssempa points a way forward: Pray & Work.

This Christmas we need to pray and work for the victims of sexual violence that the peace of God will come to them. We also need to pray that the systems which entrench this evil will be broken. May the prince of peace bring a cessation of sexual violence in our land.

Merry Christmas!

Posted by Tim Morgan at December 24, 2007 8:32AM | Comments (2)

As it turns out:

1. The Archbishop of Canterbury didn’t actually call the nativity "a legend."

2. The Pope didn't actually call The Golden Compass "godless."

3. Fred Thompson wasn’t actually endorsed by “an umbrella group for 40 million conservative Methodists across the U.S.”

4. Mitt Romney’s dad didn’t actually march with Martin Luther King Jr., and neither did he.

5. I didn’t actually find five stories in this vein. But here’s my favorite media criticism artifact of all time.

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 21, 2007 1:30PM | Comments (0)

Compass Direct
A news service that provides reports, interviews, and analyses of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith.

Dictionary Of African Christian Biography
An ever-growing collection of African Christians’ biographies, written largely by African Christians. Many people profiled here whom you won’t find in print.

Lausanne
Site of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. Includes the Lausanne Covenant and Manila Manifesto, the Lausanne Occasional Papers, newsletters, conference materials, Lausanne World Pulse, among other resources.

Mission Atlas Project
Interactive site with up-to-date information, maps, tabular data sets, and more. Will help you assess the current status of missions throughout the world.

MisLinks
This directory of links, which I helped create, is like a bibliography of bibliographies. Provides links to several thousand missions sites arranged by topic (including short-term missions, people groups, member care, and so on).

Mission Network News
A news service dedicated to keeping Christians informed on evangelical missions activity around the world.

Strategic Network
Over 17,000 articles on missions in a “knowledge base,” as well as support for professors who want to use any of those articles for reserve readings.

World Christian Database
Provides comprehensive statistical information on world religions, Christian denominations, and people groups. Full use requires subscription.

Posted by Susan Wunderink at December 21, 2007 11:38AM | Comments (1)

A Unitarian Universalist congregation in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, may be a new ally in the Christmas wars. Someone at a recent service turned in the church for apparently violating the fire code, which prohibits trees at all places of assembly.

The Rev. Roberta Finkelstein, minister of South Church Unitarian Universalist, was not amused.

"It's sad that someone who accepted our hospitality and attended a concert here would be the instrument that resulted in the loss of one of our traditions," she said.

Finkelstein confirmed that there has been talk about some kind of protest against the Fire Department's mandate. One of the suggestions that reportedly surfaced was that one of the trees be laid on its side outside the church with a sign on it that would read: "This congregation has celebrated the holiday season with evergreen trees as a central focus of its worship decoration since Rev. Charles Follen, Unitarian minister, erected the first Christmas tree in this country at his home in 1832 and (at) his Unitarian Church in Lexington, Mass., in 1839. We find this invasion into the religious practices contrary to our understanding of our national and state constitutions."

Finkelstein said the trees would be taken down, but did not rule out some kind of protest.

"I think it would be a reasonable thing to do to leave the trees on church grounds with an indication of our feelings on them," she said.

Ultimately, the church decided on a ceremony to “reflect on the symbolism of the trees, thank them for gracing our sanctuary for the brief time they were up, and say good-bye to them in ritual,” Finkelstein wrote in a letter to her parishioners. “Then we will proceed, over the next few days, to welcome the Solstice and celebrate Christmas just as we had planned. Trees or no trees, the spirit of the season lives in our minds and hearts.”

Posted by Stan Guthrie at December 20, 2007 9:50AM | Comments (0)

As the smoke clears from the Vice Presidential ceremonial office, Dick Cheney is getting more (indirect) attention because of a ruling that says Secret Service records of White House visits from nine conservative Christian leaders should be released.

While the issue in the ruling was really about whether the Secret Service’s visitor records are subject to the Freedom of Information Act (and the court ruled that the requested records are), Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)’s objective is to look into “the influence that conservative Christian leaders have, or attempt to have, on the President [of the United States].”

"The White House doesn't want to talk about how much influence these leaders have, and we want to talk about how much they do have," CREW executive director Melanie Sloan said.

CREW wants to see records of visits by nine leaders of particularly activist (lobbyist) organizations:

• James Dobson of Focus on the Family. CREW was one of the organizations that instigated a 2006-2007 IRS audit of the organization for electioneering as a nonprofit.
• Gary L. Bauer, former president of Family Research Council who ran for President in 2000. He is currently president of American Values and on the board of Campaign for Working Families.
• Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America.
• Traditional Values Coalition executive director Andrea Lafferty and founder Louis Sheldon, Lafferty’s father.
• Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, Moral Majority, and Council for National Policy, currently Free Congress Foundation.
• Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council
• Donald Wildmon, founder and chairman of the American Family Association
• The late Jerry Falwell, co-founder of Moral Majority

Reuters reported that

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth rejected as "misguided" the Secret Service's arguments that disclosing the records would reveal confidential policy deliberations.
Their disclosure would then be open to challenge only on a case-by-case basis, for reasons such as state secrecy or attorney-client privilege.

Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said the agency was reviewing the ruling but had not decided whether to appeal.

But for the particular records of the nine people’s visits to the White House, the ruling may not amount to evidence for CREW at all. Sean Sirrine, who blogs at Objective-Justice, writes, “Why is everyone so excited?”

The court is holding that these records can be obtained through the FOIA, but that if the records have already been given to the White House or destroyed there is nothing the court can do about it under this action exept [sic] order the Archivist of the United States to take enforcement action to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from unlawfully destroying agency records in the future.

Yes, the Secret Service might hae [sic] to release the records they have on the "nine conservative religious figures" mentioned in case, but if they no longer have any of those records, too bad.

Posted by Susan Wunderink at December 19, 2007 12:41PM | Comments (5)

More violence against Christian leaders in the Middle East.

In recent days, Turkey has been in the news with fresh military action against Kurdish rebels along Turkey's southern border.

But Compass Direct news services also calls important attention to this attack on a Catholic priest:

ISTANBUL, December 17 (Compass Direct News) – A 19-year-old Muslim youth stabbed an Italian priest in the stomach yesterday after Sunday services outside a Catholic church in Turkey. Father Adriano Franchini, 65, was hospitalized overnight in the Aegean city of Izmir, and hospital authorities expected to discharge him today, the Anatolia News Agency reported. According to the daily Hurriyet newspaper, the arrested assailant admitted in his statement to the police that he had been influenced by a recent episode of the popular television serial drama “Kurtlar Vadisi” (Valley of the Wolves). The series caricatures Christian missionaries as political “infiltrators” who pay poor families to convert to Christianity. The attack comes amid a growing climate of violence against Turkey’s Christian minority population.

Click here for the full article.

Turkey's ultranationalists are determined to gain the upper hand in Turkey's civil society. Their agenda includes further suppression of Christianity.

CT's January 2008 cover story focuses on: Jesus in Turkey, A Bloodied Church is Reborn. That article will be posted online soon.

Posted by Tim Morgan at December 18, 2007 5:15PM | Comments (0)

The wrongful termination suit between three ORU professors and college administrators is going to arbitration, but meanwhile there has been a shakeup of sorts on the school's board of regents.

"The evangelist Creflo Dollar has resigned from the Oral Roberts University board of regents, and another evangelist, Benny Hinn, has lost his status as a voting member of the board," the Tulsa World reported.

The newspaper notes that the move comes as Dollar and Hinn balked at requests for financial information from Sen. Charles Grassley, but the school had no comment on the reason for the changes. Are Dollar and Hinn distancing themselves from ORU, or is ORU distancing itself from them?

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 18, 2007 2:38PM | Comments (25)

Just weeks ago, much was made of the demise of the one of America's largest voting blocs. The, "extraordinary evangelical love affair with Bush ended in heartbreak over the Iraq war and what they see as his meager domestic accomplishments," wrote The New York Times David D. Kirkpatrick. Evangelicals would no longer cast deciding votes in presidential elections--for at least six weeks.

Then came the surprising rise of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is neck and neck with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. Today, The Wall Street Journal credits Huckabee's rise to evangelicals.

The candidate's quick rise is a vivid demonstration of the power social conservatives continue to wield in Republican politics. It also illustrates the bloc's evolution. Grass-roots churchgoers no longer necessarily follow their national leadership.

"The leaders may have committed to someone [else], but their followers are flooding" to Mr. Huckabee, says Mike Campbell, his state campaign chairman in South Carolina.

Mr. Campbell is likely referring to Pat Robertson's endorsement of Giuliani. Campbell also seems to have in mind CT's January editorial, which says, "There isn't an evangelical vote. We are not some pious voting bloc up for grabs."

Many evangelicals have been paying attention to the race and making up their own minds. The Journal reports:

In Des Moines, Iowa, Pastor Rex Deckard of Calvary Apostolic Church noticed a change around mid-November. At a meeting with about 25 ministers, he reminded the group that Jan. 3 was caucus day. "Remember to vote for Huckabee!" someone shouted out, and the room broke into applause. "I thought, 'Wow, there seems to be something building,' " Mr. Deckard says.

Mr. Deckard gave Mr. McCain a serious look but initially decided to support social conservative Sen. Sam Brownback. When Mr. Brownback dropped out of the race, Mr. Deckard moved to the Huckabee camp, as is clear to his congregation: His briefcase and car now sport Huckabee stickers. Looking around, he realized others were coming to the same place.

And this shift in loyalties is having a ripple effects throughout the Republican primary campaign, The New York Times reports. Mitt Romney, who has long led Iowa, stands to lose ground from Huckabee's rise, which would benefit a lagging Giuliani campaign, according to the Times analysis.

Of course, with its deft reporting on the evangelical crackup, maybe we should take such analysis with a grain of salt.

Posted by Rob Moll at December 17, 2007 4:03PM | Comments (13)

You can find all sorts of summaries of the baseball steroid scandal, but one commentary on it is worth commenting on. It is by Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune entitled "Some of us still are here to talk about past."

Morrissey got it basically right. George Mitchell, the head of the investigation, said, "A principal goal of this investigation is to bring to a close this troubling chapter in baseball's history and to use the lessons learned from the past to prevent the future use of some substances. While that requires us to look back, as this report necessarily does, all efforts should now be directed to the future."

Morrissey replies, "Some of us would like to linger awhile at the scene of the crime."

His instincts are good. We cannot fathom who we are today or what we are to become without an understanding of our past. We live in an age that wants to move forward, get on with solutions. But there is no forward without looking back.

But I wonder if Morrissey goes far enough. He finally agrees with Mitchell: "It does no good to punish players now for past sins."

I'm not sure, first, if there are any other types of sins but past sins. And if there are no consequences, well, what's to prevent another scandal in the future?

Second, I not sure we can ever "put this all behind us" without various people actually stepping forward, acknowledging their wrongdoing or negligence, and apologizing. The shorthand term is "repentence," but it's a notion that goes unmentioned in any of the accounts I've read so far.

And while Morrissey is quick to point the finger elsewhere--quoting Mitchell, who said that "commissioners, club officials, the players association, the players" all shared responsibility--nowhere in the column is there a clear indication of the role the sports media played in the cover-up.

Only a full accounting, including a few personal apologies and some substantive consequences, is really going to bring healing and hope to baseball. Mitchell is a bit confused about what an investigation can do. It can bring problems to light. But it is not something that by itself can "bring closure." A partial accounting, without repentance or consequences, will simply leave an open, sore wound for decades to come.

That being said, it is nonetheless a healthy sign that major league baseball has done as much as it has. Better late and partial than never.

Posted by Mark Galli at December 14, 2007 2:35PM | Comments (0)

The Left Behind Games name change caught my attention, but I almost missed another interesting Christian media story this week. Social networking site BigChurch.com, which has apparently always been one of the sketchier Christian dating sites, has a new owner.

Penthouse Media Group.

Forget the moral issues for a moment -- Kind of makes you wonder how good at compatible matchmating the site is, doesn't it?

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 13, 2007 3:33PM | Comments (5)

The much-criticized videogame company has a new board of directors and now has a new name, Inspired Media Entertainment. It's the second name change for the company, which used to be Bonanza Gold, Inc.

It also has a new deal with Tyndale House Publishers. "The company's Left Behind license term and fees, due December 31, 2007, of $250,000, has been reduced to smaller payments of $21,000 each quarter for the next three years," the company said in the same filing that announced its intent for the name change.

The company saw a bit of additional bad press in October when it threatened critical bloggers with legal action. But the company seems to have dropped that campaign.

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 13, 2007 3:02PM | Comments (2)

I've rarely been a big fan of Hollywood-style, lefty social activism. But two cheers for activist-actress Mia Farrow for taking on the continuing genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

The situation in Darfur could be resolved in a matter of days and weeks if the Bashir regime in Khartoum was willing to abide by its commitments. A nation-state loses its legitimacy when it permits its own citizens to be slaughtered at will with no consequences locally, nationally, or internationally.

Here's a recent comment about Darfur from the highly credible International Crisis Group:

The Darfur conflict has changed radically in the past year and not for the better. While there are many fewer deaths than during the high period of fighting in 2003-2004, it has mutated, the parties have splintered, and the confrontations have multiplied. Violence is again increasing, access for humanitarian agencies is decreasing, international peacekeeping is not yet effective and a political settlement remains far off.

The bottom line is that the innocent still die daily inside Darfur as the interagency wrangling and political realities prevent the peace-keeping forces from moving into position with the necessary resources.

There is a student organization in Canada, Dream for Darfur. It's doing good work in raising funds for advocacy and care.

But other organization, Olympic Dream for Darfur with support from Mia Farrow, is upping the stakes for corporate America and the Beijing Olypics. ODD is pressing China and American corporate sponsors of the Beijing Olympics '08 to influence the Islamicist regime in Sudan to end the genocide.

Farrow's recent commentary in the Wall Street Journal states more of the staggering facts of how the killing is crossing borders and hitting even the relief worker population in the region:

This week, Oxfam's director in Sudan, Alun MacDonald said, "Our staff are being targeted on a daily basis. They are being shot, robbed, beaten and abducted." The security situation, he insisted, "is the worse since the entire conflict began." Seven aid workers were killed in October, according to Mr. Macdonald. "These aren't conditions we can keep working in."

For Christians, the Save Darfur Coalition is an faith-friendly and evangelical-supported organization that draws in local churches and community organizations.

They have a zip code-friendly database that provides ready access to like-minded folks who are burdened to stop this killing. I put in my local zip code in the western suburbs of Chicagoland and found about 10 groups.

This is the kind of grassroots effort that in time will bear fruit.

Pray for Darfur.

Posted by Tim Morgan at December 13, 2007 11:03AM | Comments (0)

There's a lot of confusion about what happened this morning outside Cathedral Christian Center in Glendale, Arizona. Initial reports say a woman was shot in the head after "trading kids" with the suspect, who left the scene. The church houses a preschool.

"According to investigators, the woman's estranged husband may be the shooter," KPNX reports. "They believe he also took the woman's two children after the shooting. The 4-year-old child was later dropped off at John C. Lincoln Hospital. It's unclear if that child was injured. The 3-year-old has been left at a house in Surprise and is safe."

KTVK, KPHO, and KNXV also have reports.

Update: Daniel Parasca has reportedly committed suicide. The victim, Gabriela Parasca, was his wife, who had a restraining order against him. Their 4-year-old daughter was injured in the earlier shooting at Cathedral Christian Center.

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 12, 2007 12:18PM | Comments (4)

The churches and ministry:

• Church prays for shooting victims | His Love Fellowship is a church regularly attended by Murray's parents, Ronald and Loretta. The two were not at the prayer service but issued a statement (The Denver Post)


• Missionaries reclaim site of shooting | Young people sing, pray and forgive in Arvada hallway (Rocky Mountain News)


• ‘Let the healing begin’ at New Life | ‘Family meeting’ planned for police and firefighters who responded, members, public (The Gazette)


• ‘The nation is watching’ pastor’s trial by fire | The Rev. Brady Boyd said when he was hired to lead New Life Church that he didn’t want to be in the spotlight (The Gazette)


• Weapons at church? For everything there is a time | Many large churches have taken up arms (The Denver Post)

The gunman:

• Gunman's family releases statement | Expresses grief over his murderous rampage, sympathy for his victims and love for the young man who killed four and wounded five others Sunday (The Denver Post)


• Also: Full statement from Ronald and Loretta Murray (Rocky Mountain News)


• Shooter's lessons strict, rule-driven | Few educators recommend the ultra-religious home-school curriculum, which forbids dating and rock music (The Denver Post)


• Gunman killed by his own bullet | After security guard’s wounds took him down, Murray shot himself with one of the two handguns he was carrying (The Gazette)


• Injured gunman shot self, autopsy shows | Boyd said he wishes he knew why Murray targeted New Life because it would give him some comfort. (The Denver Post)

The gunman’s internet posts:

• Gunman's postings blasted Christians, praised self-cutting (Rocky Mountain News)


• FBI may have been warned about rampage | Federal authorities were alerted to anti-Christian postings apparently written by Matthew Murray only hours after he opened fire on a missionary center and just before his deadly rampage at a Colorado megachurch, the Web site's administrator said (Associated Press, most recent AP story here)


• Gunman wrote of rejection as reason for revenge | At times he was DyingChild_65, at others nghtmrchld26. But regardless of Matthew Murray's alleged screen name, he was always angry when posting to various anti-religious websites (The Denver Post)


• Messages spurred search between shootings | Postings left on an Internet message board Sunday morning by a user referring to himself as "nghtmrchld26" were so alarming that a visitor called authorities (Rocky Mountain News)


• Killer posted Web links to Columbine videos (Rocky Mountain News)


• Debate renewed on Columbine writings | Chilling echoes of Columbine killer Eric Harris' angry manifesto heard in church gunman Matthew Murray's Web writings resonated with two families touched by tragedy (The Denver Post)

The security guard:

• Heroics are talk of guard's town | Her brother in South Dakota is "shocked" that she halted a rampage, but others hailed the ex-cop's shooting skills (The Denver Post)


• Guard walks police through heroic gunbattle at church | Assam met with detectives for most of Tuesday, going over her movements inside the church. She declined to speak with reporters. (Rocky Mountain News)


• Guard fired in ’97 for lying | Blemish on her record in no way diminishes her heroics, a spokesman for the department said (The Gazette)

The victims:

• Arvada victims praised for faith, leadership | Family, friends and grieving members of a "worldwide family" gathered today to celebrate two lost lives (The Denver Post)


• Hundreds mourn missionaries gunned down in Arvada (Rocky Mountain News)


• Arvada shooting victim turned life around | Being a skinhead and Goth in Washington, Penn., Philip Crouse had been the one others feared (The Denver Post)


• Sisters recalled as girls who were going to change world | Rachel and Stephanie Works were both home schooled and both were deeply religious. Their family is well-known in Denver (The Denver Post)

Opinion:

• Action, not reaction | New Life security an example to follow (Editorial, The Gazette)


• Background noise | Acts like Sunday’s can happen anywhere (Editorial, Craig Daily Press, Co.)


• Shooting attacks | There's more to protecting society than guns and armor (Editorial, Lufkin Daily News, Tex.)


• Tragic shootings serve as reminder to be vigilant | A bunker mentality won't help (The Pantagraph, Bloomington-Normal, Ill.)


• Weapons of war at the mall and church | Surely the presidential candidates can’t wait to address the latest gun rampages with a detailed plan of action at the very next televised debate (Editorial, The New York Times)


• Armed guards necessary in today’s world | New Life Church isn’t alone (Barry Noreen, The Gazette)

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 12, 2007 10:18AM | Comments (0)

Pastors’ attempts to ward off the Christmas spirits of consumerism and busyness are so predictable, they’re easy to ignore. So many churches are looking for creative ways to reinvigorate members to take the energy they usually put into holiday-season spending and convert it into compassionate giving.

Such is the Advent Conspiracy, a self-described “emerging international movement” began in 2006 by Rick McKinley, senior pastor of Imago Dei Community, a 1,500-member emergent church in Portland, Ore. Sick of the de-emphasis on Christ during the weeks leading up to Christmas, McKinley challenged his congregation to give like God does.

“It’s called the Advent Conspiracy because Jesus’ birth . . . was done in secret, almost hidden,” said McKinley to Nancy Haught of The Oregonian. “He didn’t come posturing for power. . . . He came giving himself away to others. Ultimately, he gave the greatest gift of all—his life for our life. We think Christmas should be celebrated the same way.”

In response to McKinley’s challenge, Imago Dei and four other congregations—Ecclesia in Houston, Windsor Crossings Community Church in Chesterfield, Mo., New Providence Community in Nassau, Bahamas, and Fellowship Church in Anthem, Ariz.—collected $430,000 last Christmas season. The majority of the collection was given to Living Water International, a nonprofit group working to dig clean wells in impoverished countries.

In the months following the conspiracy’s first-year success, news of its efforts spread over the Internet. It received hearty praise from the likes of megachurch pastor Rick Warren and evangelical missions organization World Relief. This year, about 490 churches from 10 countries have joined the conspiracy, reports Jeanne McKinley, who directs the program with her husband, Rick. On its website, the conspiracy provides downloadable print materials and videos for use in church services and small groups.

World Relief has also volunteered another 500 churches to join the campaign, while 17,000 individuals have pledged online to put the campaign’s credo—“Worship More, Spend Less, Give More, and Love All”—into practice this Christmas.

While believers can and should actively resist consumption and busyness for busyness’s sake, especially at a time both are so pervasive, one wonders if the proper way for churches to help this resistance is to create a program to join, especially (and ironically) one rife with slogans and logos. The way Christians can really make their Advent celebration countercultural is not by aligning themselves with a movement, even one that may have godly intentions. In its press release, the conspiracy says it wants to restore the “scandal of Advent,” by worshiping a God who calls us to constantly give away instead of hoard. Sure, that’s a bit of a scandal for most of us. But if the conspiracy wants to be truly scandalous, it will have to call us back to put aside all our programs and movements and wait, with joy and terror, for the Christ child who is coming to reconcile the world to himself.

More coverage of the Advent Conspiracy:

• For Christmas, Fishers church urges donations as part of Advent Conspiracy | Fishers church joins Advent Conspiracy urging donations in the spirit of Christmas (The Indianapolis Star)


• Organization wants less spent on Christmas and more donated to others (The Kansas City Star)


• 'Advent Conspiracy' urges Christian giving (Religion News Service, via The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla., alt. site)


• Find true meaning of Christmas -- in August (Hank Arends, Statesman Journal, Salem, Ore.)


• WWJD? Treat giving differently, that's what (Wendi C. Thomas, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis)

Posted by Katelyn Beaty at December 11, 2007 4:12PM | Comments (3)

The churches:

• Church stunned by former member's deadly actions | Matthew Murray's mother is in charge of Love Fellowship's women's ministry. A prayer service is planned for tonight. (The Denver Post)


• New Life Church offering comfort (The Denver Post)


• Churches mixed over armed guards | Public reluctance, liability issues work against it, experts say (Rocky Mountain News)


• Americans might balk at vigorous strategies (Rocky Mountain News)


• Pastor decries 'moral detachment' | But failure to deal with guns, mental illness also cited (Rocky Mountain News)


• Unsafe at New Life Church | God bless that hallowed ground. Even if it can't be safe--because no place is--it can be a place of renewal and healing (Patton Dodd, Beliefnet)

The shooter:

• Police: Church gunman killed himself (Associated Press)


• Reports: Colorado gunman posted anti-Christian writings (CNN)


• Diatribe foretold horror | Shooter Matthew Murray posted reworked writing of Columbine killer between attacks (The Denver Post)


• Web posting replicates Columbine shooter's manifesto | A diatribe was posted at 11:03 a.m. Sunday on a website devoted to people who have left religion (The Denver Post)


• Murray's religious rants all the rage on the Internet (Rocky Mountain News)


• Gunman's hate boiled over | Shooter had failed to pass muster with missionary center (Rocky Mountain News)


• Roommate: Murray booted from center for bizarre behavior (Rocky Mountain News)


• Family friend calls gunman "loner" | A prayer service for all the families affected is scheduled for Tuesday night (The Denver Post)


• 2 Sisters Killed and the Reason: Revenge? (The Gazette)

The victims:

• Victims came from family of faith | Remembering Rachel and Stephanie Works (The Denver Post)


• As father recovers, Aurora family grieves loss of 2 girls | Gunman opened fire on teens, dad as they left church (Rocky Mountain News)


• In his own words: Larry Bourbonnais | Colorado Springs resident Larry Bourbonnais, 59, is a New Life parishioner and a Vietnam veteran who was slightly injured by a bullet fragment during the shooting at New Life Church (Rocky Mountain News)


• Service set for slain missionaries | ""We're inviting as many people as would like to be there" (Rocky Mountain News)

Other:

• Making sense of the senseless | The following days will yield more details about how this tragedy unfolded, but we may never fully understand why five people, including the gunman, are dead (Editorial, The Denver Post)


• Lethal rage | Another young man's murderous rampage (Editorial, Rocky Mountain News)


• Church guard gains hero status | Ex-cop 'was very focused' as she 'took him down' (Rocky Mountain News)


• Neighbors witnessed an 'unnerving' sight (Rocky Mountain News)


• Columbine stepfather: 'And nothing changes' (Rocky Mountain News)

For earlier links, see this blog entry.

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 11, 2007 11:31AM | Comments (0)

After Washington Redskins football player Sean Taylor was murdered in his Miami home on December 3, there were whispers that his rough lifestyle was to blame. In an article for the Adventist Review, Mark Kellner, news editor, says au contraire:

At the time of his murder, Sean Taylor was running, but with God’s crowd at the Perrine Seventh-day Adventist Church in Miami. Peay believes he was making a run towards heaven — and away from his former ways.

During a late night conversation last October with Peay at an International House of Pancakes restaurant in College Park, Maryland, Taylor reaffirmed a decision he’d made earlier in 2007 to return to the Adventist Church and to the Lord.

According to Peay, Taylor said, “Pastor, I love going home to see my daughter. I’m not with all that other stuff anymore.”

Posted by Stan Guthrie at December 11, 2007 8:39AM | Comments (3)

When Matthew Murray came to New Life Church in Colorado Springs with a rifle, two handguns, and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, it was church member Jeanne Assam, who stopped his attack.

Assam, 42, volunteers as a security guard at the congregation, and shot and killed Murray after he fired several times in the church parking lot, killing two.

"It was me, the gunman and God," she said at a press conference.

"I give credit to God. I say that very humbly," the former Twin Cities patrol officer is quoted in the Denver Post. "God was with me, the whole time I was behind cover. Based on the firepower he had, compared to mine. I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me my hands weren't even shaking."

New Life Senior Pastor Brady Boyd credited Assam with stopping the shooting that killed two teenage sisters. She is one of about 12 armed security officers at New Life Church, according to Boyd.

"He never got more than 50 feet inside our building," Boyd said at the press conference. "There could have been a great loss of life yesterday, and she probably saved over 100 lives."

Posted by Sarah Pulliam at December 10, 2007 8:19PM | Comments (2)

The uncle of Matthew Murray, the reported gunman in Sunday's shootings, spoke at a press conference today at the Youth With a Mission training center where Murray began his attacks.

"Our family cannot express the magnitude of our grief for the victims and families of this tragedy. On behalf of our family and our son, we ask for forgiveness," said Phil Abeyta, pastor at His Love Fellowship church in Denver, speaking for Murray's family. "We cannot understand why this has happened. We ask for prayer for the victims and their families during this time of grief. We are cooperating fully with the police agencies involved in the investigation of the events that led to this tragedy." (The comments were published by The Denver Post and KUSA.)

At the press conference, YWAM director Peter Warren explained the organization's connection to both the shooter and to the victims at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. The organization also released a similar statement on its website:

The victims at New Life Church, sisters Stephanie Works (18) and Rachel Works (16) were involved with a summer outreach organized by New Life Church and a ministry of YWAM which rents office space in the New Life campus. An older sister from the Works family participated in a YWAM Discipleship Training Program at a centre in Colorado Springs.

Murray was briefly a student at the YWAM Arvada training centre in 2002. He was enrolled in a Discipleship Training School (DTS) but did not complete the program. The DTS is a 12 week classroom course followed by a 12 week field assignment, usually to another culture. The goal of the program is to form Christian character and assist students in discovering their unique, God-given talents. Cross-cultural exposure and global awareness are special emphases throughout these courses, preparing the students to use their talents to obey the commands of Jesus. The program also involves local outreach with nearby churches and communities, and each student is involved in helping run the practical operations of the YWAM centre.

Not everyone completing a DTS necessarily joins YWAM. Many participate in a DTS to take time out to focus on their faith and consider whether God might be calling them to Christian ministry. For those who choose to go on into a career with YWAM, successful completion of the DTS qualifies them to apply for hundreds of staff opportunities or further training.

Murray did not complete the lecture phase of his Discipleship Training School, nor did he participate in the field assignment. The program directors felt that issues with his health made it inappropriate for him to do so. Murray left the Arvada training centre and no one at the facility recalls that he has made any other visits or had any communication with the centre since that time.

YWAM would like to express its heartfelt condolences to the families of the other victims. Our hearts also go out to the Murray family, to whom we extend a spirit of forgiveness.

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 10, 2007 8:04PM | Comments (1)

With megachurches come mega crowds, mega money, and increasingly, mega security concerns.

The crowds -- anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 worshippers each weekend -- can be an attractive target for a deranged shooter. Overflowing offering plates are tempting to thieves, and well-known preachers can become high-profile targets.

Sunday's shootings at New Life Church in Colorado Springs and a missionary training facility in Arvada, Colo. -- which left five people dead, including a gunman -- reflect the security nightmares facing some of the country's largest churches. Many of those churches now employ armed guards to protect human, financial and physical "assets."

The full article is available here.

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 10, 2007 5:30PM | Comments (3)

Police identified the man who carried out two deadly rampages Sunday at a megachurch and a Youth With a Mission training center as Matthew J. Murray, a 24-year-old man who “hated Christians.”

Five people were killed during two separate shootings that took place 12 hours apart and 70 miles away from each other. (See previous post)

Murray had recently sent “hate mail” to YWAM after being kicked out of the program three years ago, a search warrant affidavit says, according to the Rocky Mountain News.

“It appears that the suspect had been kicked out of that program approximately three years prior, and during the past few weeks, had sent different forms of hate mail to the program, and/or its director,” Colorado Springs Detective Bradley Pratt wrote Sunday in a statement supporting of search warrant for Murray’s family home.

Murray, armed with hundreds of rounds of ammunition and four weapons killed two teenage sisters and wounded their father and two others.

He fired numerous rounds in the parking lot before entering the church, where he was killed by a security guard. The guard fired as many as six bullets into him, according to the Denver Post.

New Life Pastor Brady Boyd said the church's security guard who killed the Murray was a “hero.” He said she is normally his personal security guard, but on Sunday was on the lookout for danger following reports of a shooting at a Christian ministry near Denver earlier in the day that left two dead. He said she has a background in law enforcement but is not currently a law enforcement officer.

According to the Gazette in Colorado Springs, Fourth Judicial District Attorney John Newsome, said in a statement released today that shots fired by the guard appeared to “not only be appropriate, but also justified under Colorado law.” He said that his office is still reviewing the incident.

"Any New Testament church is under attack and duress. It's unique to us as westerners to think that when we come under attack there's something wrong with the church," which isn't true, Boyd said to the Rocky Mountain News.

Police are scheduled to hold a news conference at 5 p.m. (Central).

Posted by Sarah Pulliam at December 10, 2007 3:31PM | Comments (0)

As details continue to come in about Sunday's shootings at two Colorado megachurches, connections are being drawn between the victims of the two shootings and their alleged killer.

Colorado media are reporting that Matthew Murray, 24, has been identified as the gunman in the shooting at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Police are investigating connections between that shooting and a similar shooting earlier Sunday at the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) training facility in Arvada, on the campus of Faith Bible Chapel.

This afternoon, some new connections are emerging. The two sisters killed in the New Life Church parking lot had deep connections with the YWAM facility. The Gazette of Colorado Springs reports:

[The victims' uncle, Mark] Schaepe said family members suspect that the shooter could have targeted the girls because they were involved heavily with Youth With a Mission and had frequented the Arvada training center for the missionary group where two people were shot to death hours before the New Life attack.

The girls had gone on a mission trip to China with Youth With a Mission last year, Schaepe said.

Denver station KMGH reports that many people at the Colorado Springs church have similar connections: "There is a Youth With A Mission office on the New Life Church campus, and many members of New Life have completed the YWAM's school and discipleship programs. They have also worked together in local evangelical outreach programs."

Meanwhile, Denver station KUSA reports that Murray was homeschooled. The Denver Post, which is affiliated with KUSA, reports that sisters Stephanie and Rachael Works, had also been homeschooled.

New Life Church pastor Brady Boyd has told several news outlets that Murray was not affiliated with the congregation, and called the shooting "a senseless random attack."

“We don’t know the shooter. He has no connection to our church,” Boyd told The Gazette.

Cody Askeland, a neighbor of Murray, who lived with his parents, told KMGH the family is "really religious." The Denver Post reports, "An official at Colorado Christian University said the school's records show that Matthew Murray enrolled in one class last year but dropped out soon after."

CNN is running a report from an unnamed longtime member of New Life Church who said Murray "had a falling out with Youth With a Mission after working with the organization a couple of years ago and that he sent antagonistic and threatening correspondence afterward." Christianity Today reporters have not been able to confirm this report, but The Denver Post reports that YWAM "said that though Murray worked for YWAM at one time, reports that he was a member are incorrect."

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 10, 2007 2:19PM | Comments (35)

Five people were left dead after shooting sprees at two Colorado megachurches Sunday. Five others were wounded.

Two people were killed and two wounded at the YWAM training center on the grounds of Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada, a Denver suburb. A man walked into the center around midnight and after about 30 minutes of talking with staff members, he asked to spend the night there. The receptionist at the center told him no, that no unauthorized person were not allowed. The man reportedly said, “Then this is what I’ve got for you,” pulled out a gun and began shooting.

About 70 miles away and 12 hours later, three people were killed after a man in similar dress opened fire at New Life Church in Colorado Springs.

Sisters Stephanie Works, 18, and Rachael Works, 16, died from gunshot wounds. Their 51-year-old father, David Works, was shot twice in his abdomen and groin area and is in fair condition. Also wounded were Judy Purcell, 40, and Larry Bourbannais, 59. They were treated and released.

Witnesses told the Gazette in Colorado Springs that a man in a black trench coat opened fire in the parking lot setting off a smoke grenade before blasting cars and church members. Police said that the gunman was shot and killed by a plainclothes security guard with a law enforcement background and who is a member of the church.

New Life's senior pastor, Brady Boyd, said that after the YWAM shooting the church called in more than the usual number of security volunteers and "because of the extra precautions we saved many lives yesterday."

"They came to church with their families to worship, and what happened today was a tragedy," Boyd said at a press conference. "As a pastor, my heart is broken today for people that lost their lives."

Another Colorado Springs megachurch, Woodmen Valley Chapel, is providing grief counseling for New Life members, pastor-at-large Tim MacDonald told Christianity Today.

"We’re in a sense of disbelief and surrealism that this would take place. We're still dealing with shock and after effects of what has taken place," he said. "We are so saddened by what’s taken place, but we’re helping in whatever way we can.”

MacDonald said the shooting creates concerns for Woodmen's level of security.

"Our security plan is being scrutinized at this very moment," he said. "We're looking at what we need to do to have security without drawing away from the reason that people have come to church and that is to worship Christ."

The two dead victims at the YWAM center were identified as Tiffany Johnson, 26, of Minnesota and Philip Crouse, 24, of Alaska. Youth With a Mission leases property on Faith Bible Chapel’s property.

George Morrison, the church's senior pastor, told Christianity Today that Crouse had put up Christmas lights at his house just two weeks ago. “It was tragic," Morrison said. "He was a young man that had a vision for his life and wanted to be involved in missions in Kazakhstan."

Morrison said church members were concerned and questioning, especially after hearing reports of the shooting at New Life. "These things happen in malls, in churches and in the world we live in, it’s sad that we live with this. It’s sobering that this could happen anytime, anywhere, to any person," he said. "We just have a sense that you have to move on.”

The choir at Faith Bible Chapel had planned to kick off Sunday’s service with "Joy to the World."

"We couldn't do it, Phil Waters, a member of the church choir, told The Denver Post. “There was no joy this morning."

The choir instead sang a piece about bringing offerings to God, he told the Post.

"We are really close to these kids," he said. “It was tough to be out there (singing) and not have tears running down your face."

More coverage includes:

• Colo. church gunman had been kicked out (Associated Press, most recent AP version)


• Shooter was seeking revenge, court papers say (The Gazette)


• A gunman's bloody trail: from hate mail to mass murder (Rocky Mountain News)


• Pastor tells of horrific day | The New Life Church attacker refused a guard's order to drop his weapon and fired before he was shot to death (Rocky Mountain News)


• Church members find comfort in groups, prayer (The Gazette)


• Church members await news, ask why (The Gazette)


• Gunman defied guard's order | The New Life Church attacker refused a guard's order to drop his weapon and fired before he was shot to death. (Rocky Mountain News)


• Gunman sent 'hate mail' to Arvada missionary center (Rocky Mountain News)


• Church gunman "hated Christians" (The Denver Post)


• Arvada investigators believe attacks linked | Gunman among 5 dead in assaults at center, church (Rocky Mountain News)


• Deadly attacks at mission, church may be linked | "Reason to believe" in connection (The Denver Post)


• 7,000 at church when shots fired | When bullets started flying, security officers locked the doors and people crowded into the basement (The Denver Post)


• Gunman fires on parishioners | Two members of New Life Church are killed and three are hurt. A security guard shoots and kills the attacker (The Denver Post)


• A commitment to overcome tragedy | First a wayward pastor, then a gunman in the parking lot. (The Gazette)


• 'Last place' for a deadly attack | Thousands were at one of state's largest churches (Rocky Mountain News)


• Danger and death in Arvada | Missionaries were training to serve in violent regions (Rocky Mountain News)


• Arvada missionary workers gunned down (The Denver Post)


• Group targeted in shooting has far reach | Begun in 1960 after a 20-year-old college student said he experienced a vision from God, Youth With a Mission has grown into one of the world's most formidable Christian missions groups (Associated Press)


• No general alert sent after center shootings | Deputy Chief Gary Creager said Sunday night that detectives had no indication the gunman was headed anywhere in particular and were given only a sketchy description that would have been useless to other law enforcement agencies (Rocky Mountain News)

On the victims:

• Slain Springs sisters were active in Arvada missionary group (Rocky Mountain News)


• Philip Crouse had undergone transformation (Rocky Mountain News)


• Tiffany Johnson was known for her smile, her love of children (Rocky Mountain News)


• Charlie Blanch involved with YWAM for 2 years (Rocky Mountain News)


• Dan Griebenow has group rooting for his recovery (Rocky Mountain News)


• Young missionaries caring, forgiving | One victim had turned away from gangs; one was called "an angel" (The Denver Post)


• Police ID teens killed in New Life shootings (The Gazette)


• Vietnam vet among Springs wounded | Larry Bourbannais, 59, was eating a hamburger in the cafeteria on the church campus when he heard gunfire, said his daughter(The Denver Post)


• Teen sisters killed in Springs (The Denver Post)

On church shootings and security:

• Attacks force churches to boost security | Some of the nation's estimated 1,200 megachurches have been quietly beefing up security in recent years, even using armed guards to protect the faithful (Associated Press)


• Church security can be tricky | Some already employ armed, professional security officers, while others rely on volunteer church members (The Gazette)


• At a glance: violence at churches (The Denver Post)

From our sister publications:

• Leader's Insight: Security Against Shooters | A police officer's advice on how to prevent, or react to, a gunman at church. (Leadership, June 11, 2007)

Posted by Sarah Pulliam at December 10, 2007 8:58AM | Comments (28)

A church member and a gunman died after a man opened fire at New Life Church in Colorado Springs Sunday. Three people were wounded in the shooting that took place in the church parking lot after a morning service.

Police believe the shooting was related to another attack that happened just 12 hours earlier. Two people were killed and two wounded at a training center for Youth With a Mission in Arvada, a Denver suburb. A man walked in and asked to spend the night there. After a worker at the center said no and began to discuss alternative places he could stay, the man pulled out a gun and began shooting. (See previous post).

After the New Life shooting, witnesses told the Gazette in Colorado Springs that a man in a black trench coat opened fire in the parking lot. Police said that the gunman was shot and killed by a security guard, which authorities say probably saved many lives.

New Life Church has already gone through a major transition in the last year. Former senior pastor and former National Association of Evangelicals president Ted Haggard stepped down in November 2006 after admitting to a long-term relationship with a male prostitute.

“Why would somebody walk into a church and do something like that?” New Life member Kim Ho-Sing-Loy told the Gazette. “Especially with what just happened with Pastor Ted, this church just doesn’t need this any more.”

New Life's website says Sunday night service was canceled and the church will be closed Monday.

“It’s surreal,” Mario Garcia told the Gazette. “It’s a sad state of affairs in our country when we are not able to come to services and be safe. How do you reassure them that church is a safe place?”

Coverage includes:

Fatal church shootings may be linked (Rocky Mountain News)
Springs, Arvada attacks linked (Denver Post)
Gunman fires on parishioners (Denver Post)
4 die in Colo. church, mission attacks (Associated Press)

Posted by Sarah Pulliam at December 10, 2007 12:16AM | Comments (0)

Shortly after 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning, a man went to the Arvada, Colorado, training center for Youth With a Mission and asked to spend the night there. Police say that when Tiffany Johnson, a worker at the center from Minnesota, said no and began to discuss alternative places he could stay, the man walked inside, pulled out a gun, and began shooting.

Johnson, 26, died, as did Alaskan Philip Crouse, 24. South Dakota resident Dan Griebenow, also 24, is in critical condition and was shot in the neck. Charlie Blanch, a 22-year-old from Minnesota, was shot in the legs and is in stable condition.

About 45 YWAM students were in the facility, which is on the grounds of Faith Bible Chapel megachurch.

"The young man – I don't know who he is; I don't think [the victims] knew him – but he must be going through a lot personally in his own life to do something like this," Peter Warren, the Director of Youth with a Mission Denver, said in a press statement. "Our belief is that only God is the judge and our place is to forgive and that's a difficult thing to do, but really, I think it's the right thing to do."

The suspect is still at large.

Coverage includes:

• Gunman kills 2 in missionary center (Associated Press)
• Two killed in shooting at Arvada missionary dorm (The Denver Post)
• Police hunt for gunman who killed two at Arvada missionary dorm (The Rocky Mountain News)

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 9, 2007 2:40PM

Dozens of churches and groups have left the Episcopal Church in recent years. Today is the first time that an entire diocese has voted to officially split from the national body. The votes weren't close: the clergy in California's Diocese of San Joaquin voted 70-12 to withdraw, and laity voted 103-10.

"We have leadership in the Episcopal Church that has drastically and radically changed directions," diocesan spokesman Van McCalister told the Associated Press. "They have pulled the rug out from under us. They've started teaching something very different, something very new and novel, and it's impossible for us to follow a leadership that has so drastically reinvented itself."

The diocese, which has 47 parishes, 48 church buildings (including its headquarters), and 8,800 members, will affiliate with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, headquartered in Buenos Aires. As it removed all references to the national Episcopal Church body in its constitution, the diocese added a clause describing itself as "a constituent member of the Anglican Communion and in full communion with the See of Canterbury."

The New York Times notes that the diocese "has long been different from the rest of the Episcopal Church":

It is one of three dioceses that does not ordain women priests. It stopped sending money to the Episcopal Church budget after the consecration of Bishop Robinson. Its cathedral runs a ministry for those struggling “with sexual brokenness,” Bishop Schofield said, which includes homosexuality.

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori refused to acknowledge that the diocese is leaving.

"The Episcopal Church receives with sadness the news that some members of this church have made a decision to leave this church," she said in a press release. "We deeply regret their unwillingness or inability to live within the historical Anglican understanding of comprehensiveness. We wish them to know of our prayers for them and their journey. The Episcopal Church will continue in the Diocese of San Joaquin, albeit with new leadership."

Anglican superblogs like TitusOneNine and Stand Firm will have comprehensive links, but here are a few news stories:

• Diocese Secedes | In a historic vote, the conservative Diocese of San Joaquin becomes the first in the nation to split from the more liberal Episcopal Church in a debate over the role of gays, women in the church (The Fresno Bee)
• Diocese will leave Episcopal Church | San Joaquin 1st in nation to make dramatic move (The Modesto Bee)
• Diocese votes to split from church | Talk of schism heated up after gay bishop was installed in 2003 (The Bakersfield Californian)
• Episcopal fold loses 1st diocese -- in valley (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Church votes to secede | Episcopal Diocese of S.J. to join more conservative group (The Stockton Record, Ca.)
• Episcopal diocese secedes in rift over gays | The Diocese of San Joaquin in Central California is the first to break from the U.S. church over its relatively liberal views on homosexuality and biblical authority (Los Angeles Times)
• Episcopal Diocese Secedes over Role of Gays (All Things Considered, NPR)
• Diocese splits from Church in gay row (The Telegraph, London)
• US Church splits over gay rights (BBC)
• Historic split for U.S. Episcopals (Reuters)
• What would Jesus rue? | The scriptural basis for homophobia is thin, culturally difficult to translate and open to interpretation. Yes, ordaining gays is controversial. But is it apostasy? (Michael Fitzgerald, The Stockton Record)

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 8, 2007 4:41PM | Comments (13)

I'm proud of our own coverage of Romney's "Faith in America" speech (here, here, and here). But that doesn't mean I'm not jealous of Religion and Ethics Newsweekly's phenomenal roundup of scholars' reactions over at their election blog.

I don't know how many people the PBS program asked to respond, but they got brief reactions from Allen Hertzke, David Davenport, Steve Monsma, James K.A. Smith, David Gushee, Kimberly H. Conger, Richard Wightman Fox, Ronald C. White, Leo Ribuffo, David O'Brien, Randall Balmer, and Charles T. Mathewes. The Newsweek/Washington Post blog On Faith did a roundup too (with an impressive lineup that included Martin Marty, Stephen Prothero, and Richard Bushman, the world's top Mormon/Mormonism historian). But I found Religion and Ethics Newsweekly's a bit more provocative. Watch out, On Faith. PBS is right behind you!

One of the better observations in the Religion and Ethics Newsweekly lineup, I thought, came from Smith, who focused on the title of Romney's speech, "Faith in America." "From where I sit, it looks like Romney's 'own' faith is faith in America. Americans needn't worry about Romney's Mormonism because, at the end of the day, the faith that trumps all others is 'Americanism,'" he wrote. "If evangelical culture warriors had worries about Romney's faith, his jeremiad today should confirm that he pledges allegiance to the same 'God of liberty' that they do. We're all Americanists now. But I hope Mr. Romney and his culture warrior friends (whether on the right or left) won't be surprised if some of us find it hard to believe in Americanism and its God of liberty."

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 7, 2007 1:12PM | Comments (1)

One indication that Rob Bell's Nooma videos are extremely popular and influential? Check out all of the spoofs on YouTube. Most are overly long, no one has quite nailed their Bell impersonation, and few are able to parody both the style and substance of the videos. But it's significant that there are so many, and that several come from outside the U.S. You won't find parodies of Rick Warren, John Piper, or Billy Graham, but Bell has more than a dozen.

Posted by Ted Olsen at December 7, 2007 10:55AM | Comments (0)

British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons, 54, is back home in Liverpool. She had been convicted in Sudan of "insulting Islam" before receiving a pardon and being expelled from the country. Now Gibbons is hoping to rest before starting a job search. A public relations person hired by her family tried to shoo away inquisitive reporters.

Some at the home were happy to talk to reporters – British Muslims delivering a message of support and a bouquet bearing the message: "Welcome back, Gillian."

"It was outrageous, she shouldn't have been treated that way," said Dr. Abdul Hamid. "She's been the victim of something ridiculous. We're glad she's back home and her ordeal is all over."

While her supporters scoffed at the allegations, the woman herself, although out of Sudan, treaded carefully when asked at Heathrow about her offence. "I don't think I really know enough about it to comment really," she said. "It's a very difficult area and a very delicate area."

She added, "I was very upset to think that I might have caused offence to people."

The AP report notes, "Children and staff at Liverpool's Garston Church of England Primary School, where she taught for 12 years until 2000, had been praying for her safe return."

There was no word about whether the teddy bear made it out of Sudan safely.

Posted by Stan Guthrie at December 6, 2007 2:15PM<