Foundation still hopes for great books school, but admits it hasn't yet found the money.
Morgan Feddes | February 27, 2012 4:17PM
"Everything is in place except money," C.S. Lewis Foundation founder and president Stan Mattson told Religion News Service last week about the plans to launch C.S. Lewis College at a Massachusetts campus built by evangelist D.L. Moody.
Mattson acknowledges that the foundation did not meet its December 31 goal by more than $3 million, but says its plans are far from dead.
There is still “a window of opportunity to raise the $10-15 million needed to be the sole recipient of the Northfield Campus,” the foundation wrote on its website. “Be assured, we are pressing on towards this goal.”
The campus in question is owned by the Green family, noted owners of the Hobby Lobby craft store chain as well one of the largest collections of biblical antiquities. The family is known for its giant gifts promoting Christian education and the Bible, including a $70 million donation that saved Oral Roberts University.
“If [the Green family] does gift the campus to another organization, and if, for one reason or another, collaboration with that organization should not prove mutually advantageous, the Foundation will … continue to seek to establish C.S. Lewis College at another appropriate location, preferably in the Five College area of Massachusetts,” the foundation wrote.
Chocolate and social media once more top the list. And folks seem to have given up giving up Bieber.
Stephen Smith | February 27, 2012 3:45PM
Editor's note: For the pastfouryears, Stephen Smith has used Twitter's API to take a snapshot of what people say they are giving up for Lent. Each year, the list is a mix of the sincere and the sarcastic, the earnest and the anti-religious. But each year, it results in a fascinating look at American spirituality--especially with the recurrent themes of people tweeting how they plan to give up social networking for the 40 day season of fasting.
This year, Twitter continues to take top honors. Facebook drops a few places compared to last year--has it become less central to people’s lives? This year’s hot new site, Pinterest, almost makes the list, showing up at #118. (Incidentally, Pinterest has a number of Lent-related boards.)
Chocolate comes in at #2--however, if you add up all the mentions of chocolate in its various forms (“chocs,” “chocolate chips,” etc.), it totals over 14,000 mentions, enough to put it at #1.
This year’s biggest gainers are “breathing” and “makeup,” both of which jumped up more than 30 places in the list.
No celebrities make the top 100 this year. Boy band One Direction (aka #1D) is at #144, followed by Justin Bieber at #194 and Tim Tebow at #221. Last year’s curiosity, Charlie Sheen, only got two mentions; he dropped to #10,000 or so.
Overall, food was by far the most popular thing given up.
This list draws from about 300,000 tweets from February 19-25, 2012, and excludes retweets.
Lawyers await written confirmation that court issued execution order.
Compass Direct News | February 24, 2012 1:14PM
Lawyers for an Iranian pastor awaiting a final decision on his death sentence have not received communication from authorities that their client will be executed, despite reports that his death is imminent.
Rumors of an imminent execution of Yousef Nadarkhani were leaked this week after a source close to one of his lawyers contacted international media, informing them that a lower court had signed Nadarkhani’s execution papers and that his death sentence would be carried out soon, sources told Compass.
“The lawyer is waiting for confirmation, but he understood from a source that the execution was issued,” said Firouz Khandjani, a member of the council of the Church of Iran, Nadarkhani’s denomination. “Now we are trying to understand exactly what is happening. Because the information came from someone close to the lawyer, he took it seriously.”
Nadarkhani’s case had been sent to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei for a decision on his death sentence, but legally the lower court still has the authority to issue an execution order, Khandjani said. Khamenei may or may not make a decision, and if the court were to issue an execution order, Khameni would have the authority to block it, Khandjani said.
Though Nadarkhani’s lawyers have not received written confirmation of an execution order, Khandjani said he found it “worrying” that the government has repeatedly disregarded its own law and legal process in its treatment of Christians.
The Iranian government has executed prisoners without prior notice, sources told Compass, though it is not common.
“We are concerned for the safety of Christians in Iran, because the government is not respecting the law or the legal procedures,” Khandjani said. “We are waiting for a confirmation, but we have to take action, because we know of people who were executed without notification.”
Nadarkhani spoke to his wife as recently as Wednesday, according to sources, and Jubilee Campaign reported that the American Center for Law and Justice had confirmed that he was still alive earlier today.
Some sources told Compass they are skeptical of the credibility of information that Nadarkhani’s lawyers received and the certainty with which international press have been reporting his “imminent death.” They say this may be a governmental ploy to gauge international reaction to such a rumor.
Christians in Iran are routinely arrested and interrogated. Most of them belong to networks of house churches meeting in small groups in secret.
In December the head of Iran’s Judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, reportedly ordered the presiding judge over the trial in Rasht to make no moves on Nadarkhani’s case for one year.
In September 2010 Nadarkhani was sentenced to death after a court of appeals in Rasht, 243 kilometers (151 miles) northwest of Tehran, found him guilty of leaving Islam. He has been in prison since October 2009.
The court in Rasht was expected to pronounce a verdict on Nadarkhani’s appeal in October 2011 but instead sent the Christian’s case to the nation’s Islamic authority, Khamenei.
At an appeal hearing in June, the Supreme Court of Iran upheld Nadarkhani’s sentence but asked the court in Rasht to determine if he was a practicing Muslim before his conversion. The court declared that Nadarkhani was not a practicing Muslim before his conversion, but that he was still guilty of apostasy due to his Muslim ancestry.
The Supreme Court had also determined that his death sentence could be annulled if he recanted his faith. The Rasht court gave Nadarkhani three chances to recant Christianity in accordance with sharia (Islamic law), but Nadarkhani refused to do so. The Supreme Court in essence ruled that Nadarkhani could be executed if he did not recant.
“You have to consider that Nadarkhani has been condemned twice,” Khandjani said. “One time by a local court, and then the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence.”
Authorities arrested Nadarkhani in his home city of Rasht in October 2009 on charges that he questioned obligatory religion classes in Iranian schools. After finding him guilty of apostasy, the court of appeals in Rasht in November 2010 issued a written confirmation of his charges and death sentence.
One of Nadarkhani’s lawyers, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, also faces charges for “actions and propaganda against the Islamic regime,” due to his human rights activities.
Iranian authorities view Iranian Christians as pawns of the West trying to bring down the regime, sources said. As Christians in Iran are held hostage to the government’s political whims, some Iranian Christians say the key to their freedom is continued pressure from the international community.
“We have to keep praying and sharing information about Christians in Iran, because this is a difficult moment for the people of Iran,” Khandjani said. “The minorities are particularly affected, but Iranians in general are under pressure from the government. Their freedoms are very restricted.”
The American Dollar said it didn't "want to be tied to a global televangelist" and wanted $3 million.
Morgan Feddes | February 21, 2012 2:55PM
A federal judge tossed out an indie-music duo’s claims in a copyright suit against Joel and Victoria Osteen, but ruled the band's claims against Osteen’s Lakewood Church could move forward.
The American Dollar claimed Lakewood and the Osteens had continued to use the song “Signaling Through the Flames” in ads for its DVD Supernatural, even though the band had only given Lakewood limited rights for a year. The rights expired in February 2011; Lakewood officials said they did not know the rights had expired.
Both parties agreed to use British Columbia copyright law during the case, as that was provided in their licensing agreement. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison said the agreement “does not entitle [Lakewood] to perpetual Internet use of the Composition for post-expiration productions. … Therefore, Plaintiffs’ claims against Lakewood for direct and contributory copyright infringement should not be dismissed.”
However, Ellison threw out the claims against the Osteens because The American Dollar “failed to state a claim for direct or contributory infringement against the Osteens.” He gave the duo two weeks to modify their claim.
The American Dollar filed the suit last August, asking for $3 million in damages. In the suit, the band also expressed the desire to break ties with Osteen and Lakewood.
“[The American Dollar’s] musical styles consist of meditative and inspirational instrumentals much like that of a dramatic motion picture soundtrack,” the suit claimed. “[Record label] Yesh is not affiliated with any religious groups or political organizations, and does not desire to have its music associated with [Lakewood and Osteen]. Instead, Yesh desires broad marketing of its music without compromising its artistic integrity or alienate its niche following.”
The group’s lawyer, Jarrett Ellzey, told the Houston Press in August that The American Dollar didn’t want to be tagged as religious music writers because of the Lakewood ads. "They don't want to be tied to a global televangelist for the rest of their careers, and a controversial one at that," he said.
Lakewood spokesman Don Iloff told Chron.com in August that the church had not realized the agreement had expired and had offered to renew it before the suit was filed. “Now they’re asking for $3 million,” he said. “They see deep pockets. This is about business.”
Churches could use either description. Chairman calls it a 'win-win.'
Michael Foust, Baptist Press | February 21, 2012 10:01AM
The task force appointed to study a possible name change of the Southern Baptist Convention is recommending the convention maintain its legal name but adopt an informal, non-legal name for those who want to use it: Great Commission Baptists.
The report Monday night ended weeks of speculation by Southern Baptists and fellow evangelicals as to what the task force would do. The convention was formed in 1845, and a name change was first proposed in 1903, although one was not adopted then, or since.
The task force was appointed by Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright.
"This is an issue that just won't die," task force chairman Jimmy Draper said in presenting the task force's recommendation to the Executive Committee, which will consider it Tuesday.
The name "Southern," Draper said, is a barrier to the Gospel in some regions of the country.
If the Executive Committee approves it Tuesday, then convention messengers will consider it in New Orleans in June at the SBC annual meeting.
The recommendation would mean that the legal name of the convention would remain "Southern Baptist Convention" and could be used by any church which wishes to use it. But other SBC churches could call themselves "Great Commission Baptists" if they wish.
"We believe that the equity that we have in the name Southern Baptist Convention is valuable," Draper said during the task force's recommendation. "It is a strong name that identifies who we are in theology, morality and ethics, compassion, ministry and mission in the world. It is a name that is recognized globally in these areas."
Draper continued: "We also recognize the need that some may have to use a name that is not associated with a national region as indicated by the word 'Southern.' We want to do everything we can to encourage those who do feel a name change would be beneficial without recommending a legal name change for the convention. We believe we have found a way to do that."
The goal from the beginning, Draper said, "was to consider the removal of any barrier to the effective proclamation of the Gospel and reaching people for Christ."
Changing the legal name, Draper said, would have been fraught with problems.
"We believe that the potential benefits of a legal name change do not outweigh the potential risks that would be involved in a legal name change," Draper said. "Changing the name of the convention would require a great cost in dollars and in energy, and would present huge challenges legally that create a multitude of issues. The value of a name change does not justify the risks involved.
"At the same time, we are concerned about the negative perception that the word 'Southern' may carry in certain geographic areas of North America. But even there, the opinions are mixed on this issue. From leaders in non-Southern states, one-half of those we heard from reported that it would be a benefit to them to change the name, but the other half said it would not be a benefit. It is true that the leaders of African American and other ethnic Southern Baptist churches indicated that it would be helpful to them."
Keeping the legal name while using an informal, non-legal name would be a "win-win" situation, Draper said.
Two task force members spoke to the Executive Committee regarding the report: Ken Fentress, pastor of Montrose Baptist Church in Rockville, Md., and Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
"Why am I Southern Baptist?" Fentress asked. "This is a question that I've been confronted with several times over the years, and it's probably true that most African Americans are Southern Baptist despite objections of many in the larger black Christian community."
The convention's ties to slavery upon its founding in 1845 are a barrier to some in the African American community, Fentress said, saying "the name Southern Baptist is full of meaning, significance and history.
"For many African Americans, our reasons for being Southern Baptist are theological--not cultural, not political, not geographical," Fentress said. "... I am a Southern Baptist specifically because of the theology for which the Conservative Resurgence stood."
The SBC name, he said, has been "a source of difficulty for church planters ... serving in areas outside the American South."
At a news conference, Draper said that in recent history, messengers have not been given a report explaining the rationale behind the argument for a new name.
"I don't think Southern Baptists, at large, ever really saw the bigger picture, and when we came to the conventions, the vote was usually an emotional vote," Draper said.
The task force, Draper said, is praying that when people come to the convention in June -- if the report is OK'd by the Executive Committee -- "the people [will] at least have a background on which to make a decision."
"We're not stipulating that anybody do anything," Draper said of a church's usage of a name. "Already, Southern Baptists can do anything they want to do. But it really would very helpful ... to so many that have become disenchanted [that] if they use a name other than Southern Baptist, Southern Baptists said, 'That's OK.'"
Christianity Today reported on SBC president Bryant Wright’s plans to launch the task force in September. In 1999, CT also reported that Southern Baptist congregations and other denominational churches are increasingly likely to drop denominational labels from their names.
Granddaughter alleges over wrongful termination, threats. Both sides allege misappropriated funds.
Morgan Feddes | February 17, 2012 4:34PM
The granddaughter of Trinity Broadcasting Network founders Paul and Jan Crouch has accused some of the network’s directors of illegally distributing “charitable assets” worth more than $50 million for their personal use.
Brittany B. Koper, the daughter of Paul Crouch Jr., was TBN’s chief financial officer until last September. She says she was wrongfully fired after she refused to cover up the alleged distribution scheme.
The allegations are not against TBN itself, but against Koper’s former attorneys from Davert & Loe, who have also done legal work for TBN. She has accused them of breach of fiduciary duty, professional negligence, and other transgressions.
“Her assertions are outright fiction and wholly without merit,” Douglass S. Davert, one of the attorneys named in the suit, told The Orange County Register. ”The allegations are defamatory and to the extent they get printed we are going to defend ourselves vigorously.”
Colby May, spokesperson for TBN, told Pat Robertson’s CBN News that the assertions are “a bold faced lie.” The fact is that Ms. Koper has confessed several different times to embezzling money, he said. "She and her husband, basically, in the dark of night up and moved to New York [after leaving TBN].
The Orange County Registerreported that Davert & Loe had filed a similar lawsuit against Koper and her husband last October. They accused the Kopers of forging documents and misappropriating nearly $400,000 in funds, but the suit was dismissed without settlement in January. Tymothy MacLeod, Koper’s attorney, said the suit was a preemptive attempt to discredit Koper.
“It’s kind of a sordid affair,” he told the paper. “Many layers. But at the heart is the wrongful termination. She was terminated for insider whistle blowing.”
Additionally, the suit claims TBN officials threatened Koper at a hearing regarding the reasons for her firing. “When questioned about the grounds for termination, Matthew Crouch, a director at Trinity Broadcasting, began tapping the firearm he had brought to the meeting and asked Ms. Koper what she thought would happen when she wrote a memo to the board critical of Matthew Crouch’s financial improprieties,” the suit says. “Matthew Crouch continued tapping the gun he was holding to ensure that Ms. Koper recognized the lethal threat being made.”
Last October, Paul Crouch Jr. left his role as vice president and chief of staff at TBN to join The World Network as director of project development.
Outrage as official says exemptions to antidiscrimination laws are like Shari'ah law.
Morgan Feddes | February 17, 2012 3:25PM
The chairman of the United Kingdom’s Equality and Human Rights Commission has stirred up some debate after stating that religious exemptions to antidiscrimination laws should be limited to houses of worship.
Trevor Phillips, speaking during a debate organized by the Religion and Society Research Program, also compared Christian groups seeking exemptions from equality laws to Muslims who want to implement Shari‘ah law in parts of Britain.
"The law stops at the door of the temple as far as I'm concerned," he said. "Institutions have to make a decision whether they want to [provide public services under public rules] … but you can’t say 'because we decide we’re different then we need a different set of laws'."
Phillips referred to several cases where religious groups have protested requirements that they not discriminate on sexual grounds, including Catholic adoption agencies and the owners of a Christian bed and breakfast who were ordered to pay damages after turning away gay couples.
"To me there's nothing different in principle with a Catholic adoption agency, or indeed Methodist adoption agency, saying the rules in our community are different and therefore the law shouldn't apply to us," Phillips said. "Why not then say Shari'ah can be applied to different parts of the country? It doesn't work."
The remarks drew almost instant criticism. George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, called the statement "ridiculous."
"We are a democracy in which Christianity is established in the Church of England and a nation profoundly influenced by this faith in its Catholic and Anglican heritage," he said. "We need lawmakers to respect this heritage and seek accommodation wherever a strongly held faith seems to clash with new legislation."
Andrea Williams, director of the Christian Legal Center, said Phillips’ assertion was "inflammatory" and "intolerant," adding that Phillips "fails to understand the nature of faith and what inspires faith and what makes agencies like Catholic adoption agencies so selfless."
However, the National Secular Society’s Keith Porteous Wood sided with Phillips. "There is no such thing as partial equality, and every time an exemption is made, someone else’s rights are compromised."
Phillips later dismissed the criticism and said his comments were not meant to be controversial. "You would have to really work hard to make what I said 'inflammatory."
In August, CT reported on Phillips’ assertion that though Christians face discrimination, politically motivated faith groups often blow it out of proportion.
Chairman: "We do not believe the 2011 NIV rises to the level to where it should be pulled or censored."
Morgan Feddes | February 16, 2012 12:14PM
The trustees of LifeWay Christian Resources unanimously voted to continue selling 2011 New International Version (NIV) Bibles in its chain of bookstores, even though the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) at its annual convention last June asked the publishing organization not to do so.
CT reported that the SBC passed the resolution criticizing the NIV update as an "inaccurate translation of God's inspired Scripture," largely because the translation avoids using male terms in passages where context suggests that both genders are intended (except where the pronoun in question has messianic allusions).
In the resolution, convention delegates asked LifeWay, which is owned and operated by the convention, not to sell the Bibles.
At LifeWay’s February trustee meeting, both a task force in charge of following up on the SBC’s resolution and the trustee executive committee recommended that LifeWay continue to sell the Bibles, Baptist Press reported.
Committee chairman Adam Greenway emphasized that the decision was not an endorsement of the NIV 2011.
"It is not that we are endorsing the 2011 NIV," Greenway told Baptist Press. "We endorse what we publish, and the translation we publish is the Holman Christian Standard Bible. That is the translation that we endorse. … We are not giving a stamp of approval. ... We are simply saying from a retail perspective, we do not believe that we should cease carrying and make available to the public the 2011 NIV. … We do not believe the 2011 NIV rises to the level to where it should be pulled or censored or not carried in our retail chain."
Greenway said both Albert Mohler Jr. and Russell Moore of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, along with several others, supported the continued sales of the 2011 NIV.
During that same meeting, LifeWay president Thom S. Rainer addressed the company’s decision to end its relationship with Susan G. Komen for the Cure because of its relationship with Planned Parenthood. (CT reported last month on LifeWay’s decision, as well as Komen’s brief split from Planned Parenthood.) Rainer said LifeWay was reviewing options for the use of the special pink Bibles it had already produced for Komen, but that the Bibles would not be destroyed.
Congregations affected by New York City's ban on worship in school buildings have already announcedwhere they'll be meeting this weekend, but they could head back into the schools for at least another two weeks if they want to.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an injunction this morning barring the New York Board of Education from enforcing its worship ban for 10 days, effectively allowing congregations to continue meet in the public schools through the end of the month.
"The court’s order is a message of hope for fundamental freedoms in New York City," Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Jordan Lorence said in a press release. While Lorence continues to argue the churches' case before the district court, he encouraged efforts in the state legislature to repeal the ban to continue.
Earlier this week, Chief Judge Loretta Preska asked the city to delay its enforcement and work out an agreement with the churches. The city's lawyer, Jonathan Pines, said no. "This case has been litigated for 16 years,” he told reporters. “It's now time for it to come to an end and for the Department to be allowed to administer a policy that the appeals court found altogether constitutional." Pines additionally told Preska Tuesday that other groups have already filed applications to use the school buildings in the churches absence. "The hardship is entirely one of [the churches'] making," he said.
Churches will stop gathering in school buildings this week.
Tim Morgan | February 7, 2012 11:35AM
A day after embattled New York pastors who use public school buildings to hold off-hours worship services complained that they had little support from the city's megachurches, Redeemer Presbysterian lead pastor Tim Keller issued an op-ed-style letter, saying:
I am grieved that New York City is planning to take the unwise step of removing 68 churches from the spaces that they rent in public schools. It is my conviction that those churches housed in schools are invaluable assets to the neighborhoods that they serve. Churches have long been seen as positive additions to communities. Family stability, resources for those in need, and compassion for the marginalized are all positive influences that neighborhood churches provide.
There are many with first-hand experience who will claim that the presence of churches in a neighborhood can lead to a drop in crime. The great diversity of our city means that we will never all agree completely on anything. And we cherish our city’s reputation for tolerance of differing opinions and beliefs. Therefore, we should all mourn if disagreement with certain beliefs of the church is allowed to unduly influence the formation of just policy and practice. I disagree with the opinion written by Judge Pierre Leval that: “A worship service is an act of organized religion that consecrates the place in which it is performed, making it a church.” This is an erroneous theological judgment; I know of no Christian church or denomination that believes that merely holding a service in a building somehow “consecrates” it, setting it apart from all common or profane use. To base a legal opinion on such a superstitious view is surely invalid. Conversely, we concur with Judge John Walker’s dissenting opinion that this ban constitutes viewpoint discrimination and raises no legitimate Establishment Clause concerns.
Yesterday, in an online news piece, Bill Devlin, pastor of Manhattan Bible Church, complained about the lack of megachurch support.
Pastor Bill Devlin of Manhattan Bible Church has helped lead the Right to Worship protests since the beginning. He told The Christian Post that a steering committee made up of 10 pastors affected by the ban came to him and asked, "Where are these pastors who have these huge churches? They have been absolutely silent." Devlin said they have tried contacting large churches that have their own buildings, and the "major response we've gotten from big dog churches and pastors is, 'We'll pray for you.'"
For the full report in the Christian Post, click here.
Thousands march in protest of Feb. 12 eviction plans.
Morgan Feddes | February 1, 2012 12:34PM
Breaking news update:
The full New York Senate has approved the bill (S6087) that would allow houses of worship to rent from schools in connection with worship services.
According to the Office of State Senator Fernando Cabrera, "Despite heavy and unprecedented lobbying from the Bloomberg Administration, the New York State Senate overwhelmingly approved Senate Bill S6087 which amends education law in relation to authorizing religious meetings and worship in school buildings and school sites.
"When asked to comment on the bill, one of its leading supporters, Pastor and New York City Council Member Fernando Cabrera responded by saying: “Today was a real testament to the power of bipartisan leadership but now, we need the same leadership and bipartisan example showed by the Assembly. We now call on speaker Silver to follow the example of the Republican lead senate, to stand for houses of worship poor communities.”
Christianity Today will update this story as needed.
As protests continue over New York City’s plans to evict churches that meet in school buildings, the state’s legislature took a key step toward allowing those churches to stay.
Last Friday, the Senate Education Committee approved an amendment to New York’s education laws that would allow churches to meet at schools outside school hours. Only one member of the 18-member committee voted outright against the bill, though six voted for it "with reservation."
There has been no word on when the full Senate might vote on the legislation, but the New York City Council will reportedly hold a hearing on it tomorrow morning. Council member Fernando Cabrera has introduced a resolution supporting the state bill.
About 60 New York City congregations are scheduled to be evicted from the school buildings February 12.
CT reported in December that the Supreme Court had declined the Bronx Household of Faith’s appeal of the city’s ban on worship services in public schools. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in June that the NYC Department of Education had the legal right to bar churches from renting school facilities for worship services.
Many protests have been staged throughout the city. On Sunday, thousands of protestors marched across the Brooklyn Bridge. Dimas Salaberrios, pastor of Infinity New York Church, held a 24-day hunger strike; he was forced to end it after experiencing chest pains. January protests at the city’s Law Department and at Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s State of the City address led to dozens of arrests.
Image from NYCReligion.info. Used with permission.
