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Be Alert! Commercialization of the Word and Rising Religio-Fascism Part 1
Published by Moriel Ministries
January 19, 2008
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Shalom in Christ Jesus,
2 Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled,
they will accumulate for themselves teachers in
accordance to their own desires, and will turn away
their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
2 Peter 2:1-3
But false prophets also arose among the people, just
as there will also be false teachers among you, who
will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even
denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift
destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their
sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth
will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit
you with false words; their judgment from long ago is
not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
2 Peter 3:3-4
Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will
come with their mocking, following after their own
lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His
coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all
continues just as it was from the beginning of
creation."
2 Timothy 3:1-7
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will
come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money,
boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents,
ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious
gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of
godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid
such men as these. For among them are those who
enter into households and captivate weak women
weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,
always learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth.
Jeremiah 18:15
`For My people have forgotten Me,
They burn incense to worthless gods
And they have stumbled from their ways,
From the ancient paths,
To walk in bypaths,
Not on a highway,
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1) Selling the Good Book by its cover
Publishers have found a niche -- a big one -- for
stylized Bibles inspired by pop culture. Almost
anything goes
LOS ANGELES TIMES [Tribune Company] - By
Stephanie Simon - December 25, 2007
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. -- The original scribes of the
Bible may have been inspired by God. Their modern-
day successors? They find inspiration in vacuum
cleaners, polka-dot bedspreads and a slick, hot-pink
Juicy Couture purse.
This all may sound a bit irreverent. But consider it from
the Bible publisher's point of view: How do you sell a
really old book that 91% of households already have?
You can't update the content, or get the author on
Oprah.
But you can make the look sizzle. If pink and shiny
sells a purse, why not a psalm?
In the conference room they call the Bible Bunker,
executives of Bible publisher Zondervan pore over
fabric swatches. They watch PowerPoints on the latest
in appliances and accessories, noting color trends.
They caress bold new patterns in embossed faux
leather.
"People ask, 'How do you get excited working on one
darn book?' " says Scott Bolinder, an executive vice
president. "Yet there's probably no place you can be
more imaginative -- and more strategic."
It's still possible to purchase, for as little as $7, a
traditional Bible with a stiff, dark, fake-leather cover, of
the sort that used to be tucked into pews all across
America. But if the industry had stuck to those, it
wouldn't be selling $770 million worth of Bibles a year
in the U.S. alone.
Figuring an average price of about $30, which may
well be conservative, that adds up to 25 million Bibles
a year. By comparison, Scholastic has shipped 14
million copies of the latest Harry Potter book in the
U.S. The second-hottest book this year, "The Secret,"
has sold about 3 million copies.
In that context, the Bible's success is phenomenal.
Zondervan plans to keep stoking demand by making
sure God's word looks hip, sounds relevant and is
advertised all over, including in Rolling Stone
magazine and Modern Bride, on MySpace -- even on a
jumbotron in New York City's Times Square.
"A lot of people read the Bible because it's obligatory,
something to keep God off their backs," says Paul J.
Caminiti, a vice president. "We're looking to turn them
into Bible lovers --- so it becomes part of the warp and
woof of their being."
The first wave of innovation came in the 1980s, when
Zondervan, Thomas Nelson Inc., Tyndale House and
other publishers began to create Bibles aimed at
specific groups, such as teens or newlyweds. These
editions contained the whole Scripture, but with added
commentary, prayers and tips for spiritual
growth.
Five years ago, a supplier came to Zondervan
headquarters here in western Michigan with a new
imitation leather. Soft and supple, it could hold fancy
stitching and vibrant colors.
"I remember [the chief financial officer] saying, 'Let's
not go too crazy. Let's start with two-tone, tan-and-
brown and tan-and-black,' " Caminiti says. "Then we
ventured out into red and yellow and they just took off.
Everybody wanted them."
The splashy look snagged prime display space not
just in Christian retailers, but in secular bookstores,
Wal-Marts and Costcos.
Zondervan began churning out limited-edition, one-
season-only Scripture: a thin checkbook-shaped Bible
with jazzy blue and silver stripes for $30, a square
Bible in meadow green for $35, a pocket-size edition
in soft browns and oranges for $20. At least a third of
Bibles are purchased as gifts, and Zondervan made
sure there was one for every occasion -- even sorority
rush. (The light-pink and apple-green colors of Alpha
Kappa Alpha have been a big hit.)
On a gloomy Monday in mid-December, Zondervan
executives review a palette of mahogany hues for a
Father's Day edition. In the Bible Bunker -- amply
stocked with huge, buttery cookies -- they turn next to a
marketing dilemma.
This coming year marks the 30th anniversary of the
best-selling New International Version of the Bible, a
highly readable translation that has vaulted Zondervan
(a division of HarperCollins) to the top of the Bible
publishing world, with a 40% market share.
To celebrate, the company is producing an update of
the NIV Study Bible, with thousands of revised
footnotes. Formatted with extra-wide margins for note-
taking, bound in premium leather, the new edition has
been tentatively priced at $119.99.
But Randy Bishop, vice president of production, has
cold feet. The existing NIV Study Bible comes in a
dozen sizes and bindings, priced from $25 to $80. He
wonders if customers will pay so much more for the
anniversary edition.
"If you put chocolate coating on an Oreo, it's a different
cookie, and you ought to be able to charge more,"
Caminiti argues. "The packaging has to scream that
this is something really new: First time! Fudge-dipped!
Chocolate-coated!"
Todd Niemeyer, vice president of sales, chuckles and
murmurs, "Smoke and mirrors."
The team kicks around inexpensive ways to make the
new edition stand out.
"We could put in an extra ribbon marker --- Maybe
special parchment paper at the beginning?" Bishop
suggests.
"There you go!" says Brian Scharp, vice president of
Bible marketing. "The list of premium features is
growing and growing."
"Gold-plated bling?" Niemeyer asks
mischievously.
"A vial of Holy Land soil attached to the back?" Bishop
offers, as the room dissolves in laughter.
The Zondervan staff has turned down a few ideas -- a
3-D pop-up Bible, for instance -- that they found too
gimmicky. "There is a line, because it's God's word,"
Scharp says.
Later, though, he admits: "It's hard to draw the line in
any one place and say, 'We're never going to cross
that.' "
Zondervan recently published a Celebrate Recovery
Bible for alcoholics. (The commentary notes that
Adam showed an addict's skill at denial when God
scolded him for eating the forbidden fruit.) For kids,
there's a comic-book Bible in Japanese manga style.
(One panel shows elderly Isaac and Rebekah praying
for a child. In the next panel, Rebekah's stomach pops
out -- to a "WHAM! BIFF! POW!")
Holman Christian Standard offers the Golfer's Bible, a
compact hardcover that intersperses the Gospel with
advice on proper grip. Thomas Nelson puts out
BibleZines -- including the New Testament packaged
as a glossy teen magazine, complete with beauty tips
and quizzes. There's even a waterproof Bible with
pages that fold out, map-style.
All this has raised predictable concerns.
"Where the fine line between accessibility and
desecration is, is not real clear sometimes," says
Phyllis Tickle, a noted Christian author. "I find it really,
really distressing to think that young people may have
their first impression of Christian Scripture presented
to them in an almost pandering way."
Shopping in a Christian store in Grand Rapids, Kurt
Forrest looks almost dizzy at the selection. He's trying
to find a Bible for his 7-year-old son among more than
300 titles, including some that break up the Scripture
with science projects or descriptions of gory
battles.
"I want the full-blown Bible," Forrest says,
frustrated, "something he can carry with him all the
way out into his teen years."
Nearly 20 minutes later, he's still browsing.
Which points up a flaw in the Bible-for-every-interest
strategy: Half of all customers who walk into a store
intending to buy a Bible leave empty-handed,
according to Brenda Lugannani, a vice president of
Family Christian Stores, the nation's largest Christian
chain.
"When they look at what's available," she says, "it
begins to confuse them."
On the other hand, modern Christians have come to
expect a very personalized faith.
The culture has steadily moved away from the biblical
concept that believers must be "in the world, but not of
it." Instead of stepping into a distinct Christian culture,
they stay where they are, and Christian culture comes
to them. There are Bible studies just for Harley
owners, evangelists who target only wrestling fans,
ministries for skateboarders and rappers and porn
stars.
So why not a glittery pink, totally tubular Soul Surfer
Bible?
"We're serious about taking the Bible to the masses in
a way the public can understand and engage,"
Caminiti says. "We've always said we publish for every
age and every stage, and we do that
unapologetically."
That's good by Melinda Skarli, who's searching a
Family Christian Store in Grand Rapids for a Bible that
her teenage daughter can give a troubled friend. "I
want one that's going to be cute enough for her friend
to be attracted to," she explains, leafing through a
compact edition bound in hot pink and
orange.
In a way -- an admittedly commercial way -- theologian
Kurt Fredrickson sees modern publishers as
following the hallowed footsteps of Christian heroes
such as Jan Hus, William Tyndale and Martin Luther,
who risked their lives to bring God's word to the
masses.
"For centuries, there's been a desire to make the Bible
more accessible," says Fredrickson, who directs the
doctor of ministry program at Fuller Theological
Seminary.
Yes, the concept of a trendy Gospel may sound
tacky.
"But we're Americans," Fredrickson says. "We're
always trying to find a niche."
stephanie.simon@latimes.com
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2) Dumping Sola Scriptura
HERESCOPE - By Discernment Research Group -
November 29, 2007
"In the actual practices of the Evangelical community
in North America, there is an over-commitment to
Scripture in a way that is false, irrational, and harmful
to the cause of Christ. --- And it has produced a mean-
spiritedness among the over-committed that is a
grotesque and often ignorant distortion of discipleship
unto the Lord Jesus.
[The problem is] "the idea that the Bible is the sole
source of knowledge of God, morality, and a host of
related important items. Accordingly, the Bible is taken
to be the sole authority for faith and practice."
J.P.Moreland quoted in "Postcard from San Diego:
Fighting 'Bibliolatry'
at the Evangelical Theological Society,"
by Ted Olsen, Christianity Today, 11/14/07.
When evangelical leaders talk about a Second
Reformation, they mean reversing the tenets of
the
First Reformation. A stunning example of this occurred
recently when evangelical professor J.P. Moreland
blasted "over-commitment to the Bible" and neglect
of "work on broad cultural themes." If this is the current
state of apologetics in the evangelical world, then
grievous times have arrived.
Perhaps this lack of commitment to Scripture alone,
i.e., Sola Scriptura, explains the recent activities of
Rick Warren, Robert Schuller, Leith Anderson,
Emergents, and a host of Fuller Theological Seminary
leaders, who could all sign on to a common faith
document with Moslem leaders (see previous
post).
There is a terrible omission in this so-called Christian
worldview.
Below, Anton
Bosch has some pertinent comments
about this rather blatant shift in focus.
Overcommitted to the Bible?
At a recent conference, the most popular paper
resulted in four times as many people crowding into
the room than it was designed to hold. The title of this
provocative lecture was "How Evangelicals became
overcommitted to the Bible and what can be done
about it."*
The speaker said that in "the actual practices of the
Evangelical community in North America, there is an
over-commitment to Scripture in a way that is false,
irrational and harmful to the cause of Christ." He
claimed that this over commitment has produced a
mean-spirited and grotesque distortion of Christianity.
He also said that the problem was with "the idea that
the Bible is the sole source of knowledge of God,
morality, and a host of important items." I will not bore
you any further with the rest of his mindless
ramblings.
So what?, I hear you say, "this is what you can expect
from atheists, liberal theologians and other
unbelievers." The problem is that these ideas were
proposed at a meeting of the Evangelical Theological
Society by no-one less than J.P. Moreland , a well-
known Evangelical theologian and professor at Talbot
School of Theology, which describes itself as "a
conservative, evangelical seminary"!
If this is what it means to be Evangelical, then I am not
one of those.
First, we need to confirm that the Bible is indeed the
sole source of knowledge about God. Nothing about
God can be discovered through any other means than
through His Word. Not only is the Bible the sole
source of knowledge about God, but it is also the sole
source of knowledge of morality (right and wrong) and
of every important matter that affects mankind. For
generations believers and churches have confirmed
that the Bible is the only authoritative and infallible rule
of faith, practice, doctrine and daily living. Or in the
words of the Reformers: "Sola Scriptura" (only
Scripture).
The sad fact is that Moreland was simply verbalizing
what most "Christians" think. Even though they won't
admit to it, the majority of "Christians" believe science
rather than the Bible. They trust their experience rather
than the Scriptures and their traditions over the Word
of God. Most believe that common sense is equal to
Bible truth. Psychology is seen as more relevant than
the Word of God and the television is more true (and
exciting) than the Book. Worst of all, they believe their
preachers even when they contradict the
Bible.
Next we need to ask the question: "Are Evangelicals
indeed overcommitted to the Bible?" The answer is an
emphatic NO! The reality is that the vast majority of
Christians do not really believe the Bible and they are
not even moderately committed to it, let alone over-
committed to it. And before we speak in general
terms, let's think about ourselves. The reality is that if
you and I really believed that the Bible is the
authoritative Word of God, we would live very different
lives and be very different people. Here is some
evidence:
- The Bible says that "for every idle word men may
speak, they will give account of it in the day of
judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and
by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-
37). If we really believed that, every one of us would
not say half the things we do say.
- The Bible teaches that unbelievers will be
condemned to an eternity in Hell (Revelation 20:14-
15). If we really believed that, we would be spending
much more time on our knees in prayer. And we
would be pleading with people to make right with God
with a sincerity and conviction that would convince
many that we actually believed what we were
saying.
- The Bible teaches that Jesus is coming soon and
at a time when we least expect Him (1Thessalonians
5:2-3). Yet the vast majority of "Christians" live as
though He is never coming back.
- The Bible reveals that God knows and sees
everything all the time and yet we act as though God
does not know or see what we do in secret and that
He is unaware of our deceit, lies and hypocrisy.
In the same way we can examine countless
Scriptures and see that very very few of us actually,
really believe the Bible and are committed, not just to
read it but to live it. Very few Christians believe that the
Bible is God's Word - the word God has spoken. Most
believe that it only contains some words about God,
mixed with some suggestions for a happy
life.
No, the Bible is God speaking to mankind. It has no
less authority than the ten words God Himself scribed
into the two tablets of stone on Mount Sinai. He has
not changed His mind about His Word and it will be
the standard against which every life and action will be
judged. Whenever we open the pages of the Book we
should do so with reverence and awe - they are God's
eternal words.
We don't need less commitment to the Bible we need
more - a lot more. We need a fresh reverence, love
and respect for the Bible. It should not be the basis of
speculation and debate but rather of obedience and
practice. We need preachers who will unreservedly
commit to the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but
the Bible. We need men who will "preach the word"
(2Timothy 4:2) without fear or favor. We need
Christians who are humble enough to believe God's
Word, no matter what others say or think. And we need
churches that are committed to actually expect their
members to live according to the Bible. In short - we
need to get back to the Bible.
Heretics like Moreland should be excommunicated
publicly. Schools, and the products of the schools, that
harbor such unbelievers should be shunned.
Churches should not accept preachers that have
studied under such men or in such
seminaries.
In case you think that is radical, then hear what Paul
said: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach
any other gospel to you than what we have preached
to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before,
so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other
gospel to you than what you have received, let him be
accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9).
The Truth:
"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of
God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it
pleased God through the foolishness of the message
preached to save those who believe." (1Corinthians
1:20-21).
*The paper was delivered at The 59th Annual
Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society held
November 14-16, 2007 at San Diego, California. The
full text can be read here.
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3) Megachurches Add Local Economy to Their Mission
Evangelicals Riding the Beast
NEW YORK TIMES [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By
Diana B. Henriques and Andrew W. Lehren -
November 24, 2007
In Anchorage early in October, the doors opened onto
a soaring white canvas dome with room for a soccer
field and a 400-meter track. Its prime-time hours are
already rented well into 2011.
Nearby is a cold-storage facility leased to Sysco, a
giant food-distribution corporation, and beside it is a
warehouse serving a local contractor and another
food service company.
The entrepreneur behind these businesses is the
ChangePoint ministry, a 4,000-member
nondenominational Christian congregation that
helped develop and finance the sports
dome. It has a
partnership with Sysco's landlord and owns the
warehouse.
The church's leaders say they hope to draw people to
faith by publicly demonstrating their commitment to
meeting their community's economic needs.
"We want to turn people on to Jesus Christ through
this process," said Karl Clauson, who has led the
church for more than eight years.
Among the nation's so-called megachurches - those
usually Protestant congregations with average weekly
attendance of 2,000 or more - ChangePoint's appetite
for expansion into many kinds of businesses is hardly
unique. An analysis by The New York Times of the
online public records of just over 1,300 of these giant
churches shows that their business interests are as
varied as basketball schools, aviation subsidiaries,
investment partnerships and a limousine
service.
At least 10 own and operate shopping centers, and
some financially formidable congregations are adding
residential developments to their holdings. In one
such elaborate project, LifeBridge Christian
Church,
near Longmont, Colo., plans a 313-acre development
of upscale homes, retail and office space, a sports
arena, housing for the elderly and church
buildings.
Indeed, some huge churches, already politically
influential, are becoming catalysts for local economic
development, challenging a conventional view that
churches drain a town financially by generating lower-
paid jobs, taking land off the property-tax rolls and
increasing traffic.
But the entrepreneurial activities of churches pose
questions for their communities that do not arise with
secular development.
These enterprises, whose sponsoring churches
benefit from a variety of tax breaks and regulatory
exemptions given to religious organizations in this
country, sometimes provoke complaints from for-profit
businesses with which they compete - as
ChangePoint's new sports center has in
Anchorage.
Mixed-use projects, like shopping centers that also
include church buildings, can make it difficult to
determine what constitutes tax-exempt ministry work,
which is granted exemptions from property and
unemployment taxes, and what is taxable commerce. -
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Read Full Report Posted on the Be
Alert! Weblog
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4) Megachurch Took in $69 Million in 2006
Evangelicals Riding the Beast
"Dollar said his income comes from personal
investments, including businesses and real estate
ventures." [Ed. Note: Basically, in biblical terms that
means the money comes from riding the beast.]
ASSOCIATED PRESS - November 12, 2007
ATLANTA - An Atlanta megachurch took in $69 million
in 2006, according to a financial statement the
church's minister released in response to a Senate
investigation into him and five other well-known
televangelists.
The Rev. Creflo Dollar disclosed the World Changers
Church International's financial information to The
Atlanta Journal- Constitution, but said the money he
spends is his own.
Dollar said his income comes from personal
investments, including businesses and real estate
ventures. But the church gave him a Rolls Royce,
which he mainly uses for special occasions, he said.
"Without a doubt, my life is not average," he said. "But
I'd like to say, just because it is excessive doesn't
necessarily mean it's wrong."
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on
the Senate Finance Committee, launched an
investigation into the finances of six ministers after
hearing reports of some preachers' lavish and opulent
lifestyles. In a letter last week, he requested answers
by Dec. 6 to questions about their executive
compensation and amenities, including use of fancy
cars and private jets.
Besides Dollar, the letters were sent to faith healer
Benny Hinn, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Texas,
David and Joyce Meyer of Missouri, Randy and Paula
White of Florida and Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth
Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.
Dollar questioned the investigation's focus on
religious groups. The minister is among the religious
leaders who preach the "prosperity gospel," the
teaching that God will shower faithful followers with
material riches. But he said he uses only his personal
finances to pay for his luxuries.
"My lifestyle does not come out of the church's bank
account," he said.
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5) Believer bitter over 'prosperity' preachings
ASSOCIATED PRESS - December 27, 2007
The message flickered into Cindy Fleenor's living
room each night: Be faithful in how you live and how
you give, the television preachers said, and God will
shower you with material riches.
And so the 53-year-old accountant from the Tampa,
Florida, area pledged $500 a year to Joyce Meyer, the
evangelist whose frank talk about recovering from
childhood sexual abuse was so inspirational. She
wrote checks to flamboyant faith healer Benny Hinn
and a local preacher-made-good, Paula
White.
Only the blessings didn't come. Fleenor ended up
borrowing money from friends and payday loan
companies just to buy groceries. At first she believed
the explanation given on television: Her faith wasn't
strong enough.
"I wanted to believe God wanted to do something
great with me like he was doing with them," she
said. "I'm angry and bitter about it. Right now, I don't
watch anyone on TV hardly."
All three of the groups Fleenor supported are among
six major Christian television ministries under scrutiny
by a senator who is asking questions about the
evangelists' lavish spending and possible abuses of
their tax-exempt status.
The probe by Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the
ranking Republican on the Senate Finance
Committee, has brought new scrutiny to the
underlying belief that brings in millions of dollars and
fills churches from Atlanta to Los Angeles --
the "Gospel of Prosperity," or the notion that God
wants to bless the faithful with earthly riches.
All six ministries under investigation preach the
prosperity gospel to varying degrees.
Proponents call it a biblically sound message of hope.
Others say it is a distortion that makes evangelists
rich and preys on the vulnerable. They say it has
evolved from "it's all right to make money" to it's all
right for the pastor to drive a Bentley, live in an
oceanside home and travel by private jet.
"More and more people are desperate and grasping
at straws and want something that will alleviate their
pain or financial crisis," said Michael Palmer, dean of
the divinity school at Regent University, founded by Pat
Robertson. "It's a growing problem."
The modern-day prosperity movement can largely be
traced back to evangelist Oral Roberts' teachings.
Roberts' disciples have spread his theology and
vocabulary (Roberts and other evangelists, such as
Meyer, call their donors "partners.") And several
popular prosperity preachers, including some now
under investigation, have served on the Oral Roberts
University board.
Grassley is asking the ministries for financial records
on salaries, spending practices, private jets and other
perks. The investigation, coupled with a financial
scandal at ORU that forced out Roberts' son and heir,
Richard, has some wondering whether the prosperity
gospel is facing a day of reckoning.
While few expect the movement to disappear, the
scrutiny could force greater financial transparency and
oversight in a movement known for secrecy.
Most scholars trace the origins of prosperity theology
to E.W. Kenyon, an evangelical pastor from the first
half of the 20th century.
But it wasn't until the postwar era -- and a pair of
evangelists from Tulsa, Oklahoma -- that "health and
wealth" theology became a fixture in Pentecostal and
charismatic churches.
Oral Roberts and Kenneth Hagin -- and later, Kenneth
Copeland -- trained tens of thousands of evangelists
with a message that resonated with an emerging
middle class, said David Edwin Harrell Jr., a Roberts
biographer. Copeland is among those now being
investigated.
"What Oral did was develop a theology that made it OK
to prosper," Harrell said. "He let Pentecostals be
faithful to the old-time truths their grandparents
embraced and be part of the modern world, where
they could have good jobs and make money."
The teachings took on various names -- "Name It and
Claim It," "Word of Faith," the prosperity
gospel.
Prosperity preachers say that it isn't all about money --
that God's blessings extend to health, relationships
and being well-off enough to help others.
They have Bible verses at the ready to make their
case. One oft-cited verse, in Paul's Second Epistle to
the Corinthians, reads: "Yet for your sakes he became
poor, that you by his poverty might become
rich."
Critics acknowledge the idea that God wants to bless
his followers has a Biblical basis, but say prosperity
preachers take verses out of context. The prosperity
crowd also fails to acknowledge Biblical accounts that
show God doesn't always reward faithful believers,
Palmer said.
The Book of Job is a case study in piety unrewarded,
and a chapter in the Book of Hebrews includes a litany
of believers who were tortured and martyred, Palmer
said.
Yet the prosperity gospel continues to draw crowds,
particularly lower- and middle-income people who,
critics say, have the greatest motivation and the most
to lose. The prosperity message is spreading to black
churches, attracting elderly people with disposable
incomes, and reaching huge churches in Africa and
other developing parts of the world.
One of the teaching's attractions is that it doesn't dwell
on traditional Christian themes of heaven and hell but
on answering pressing concerns of the here and now,
said Brian McLaren, a liberal evangelical author and
pastor.
But the prosperity gospel, McLaren said, not only
preys on the hope of the vulnerable, it puts too much
emphasis on individual success and
happiness.
"We've pretty much ignored what the Bible says about
systemic injustice," he said.
The checks and balances central to Christian
denominations are largely lacking in prosperity
churches. One of the pastors in the Grassley probe,
Bishop Eddie Long of suburban Atlanta, has written
that God told him to get rid of the "ungodly
governmental structure" of a deacon board.
Some ministers hold up their own wealth as evidence
that the teaching works. Atlanta-area pastor Creflo
Dollar, who is fighting Grassley's inquiry, owns a Rolls
Royce and multimillion-dollar homes and travels in a
church-owned Learjet.
In a letter to Grassley, Dollar's attorney calls the
prosperity gospel a "deeply held religious belief"
grounded in Scripture and therefore a protected
religious freedom. Grassley has said his probe is not
about theology.
But even some prosperity gospel critics -- like the Rev.
Adam Hamilton of 15,000-member United Methodist
Church of the Resurrection in suburban Kansas City,
Missouri -- say that the investigation is entering a
minefield.
"How do you determine how much money a minister
like this is able to make when the basic theology is
that wealth is OK?" said Hamilton, an Oral Roberts
graduate who later left the charismatic
movement. "That gets into theological
questions."
There is evidence of change. Joyce Meyer Ministries,
for one, enacted financial reforms in recent years,
including making audited financial statements
public.
Meyer, who has promised to cooperate fully with
Grassley, issued a statement emphasizing that a
prosperity gospel "that solely equates blessing with
financial gain is out of balance and could damage a
person's walk with God."
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6) Gay-Activist Group Targets Several Megachurches
Same-sex couples who are raising children are being
recruited for 'family outing.'
FAMILY NEWS IN FOCUS - January 2, 2008
Soulforce, a gay-activist group, will visit several
evangelical megachurches this year to "initiate
conversation" and "change hearts and minds." Joel
Osteen's church is on the list. So are Saddleback and
Willow Creek. Bishops Harry Jackson and T.D. Jakes
will be receiving visits, as well.
Same-sex couples who are raising children are being
recruited to be a part of the group's American Family
Outing.
Caleb H. Price, research analyst at Focus on the
Family, said the friendly fa�ade belies the goal of the
group.
He said: "Soulforce claims to want one thing -
dialogue - but in reality, what they're trying to do is
disseminate a false doctrine into the wider Body of
Christ."
Also
Rick Godwin & Eagle's Nest Christian Fellowship:
Spending raises questions
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS [Hearst
Corporation] - By Abe Levy - November 21, 2007
Pastor Rick Godwin constantly presses his flock at
Eagle's Nest Christian Fellowship to give generously
for a new $36 million megachurch under construction
on the North Side at the same time he spends tens of
thousands of dollars of church money on luxury items
for himself.
When he flies, it's first class or private chartered
plane. He stays in high-end hotels and buys
expensive gifts for some of his church associates. He
can watch the Spurs from an AT&T Center luxury suite
and play golf at the exclusive Club at Sonterra.
In 2005, an independent audit done at the church's
request questioned similar expenditures, such as spa
services massages and vitamins for Godwin, and
warned that changes were needed to bring the church
into compliance with tax rules for religious nonprofits. -
- - -
See More
Posted on the Be Alert! Weblog
Source
Link
District teams with church for 'gay' event
WORLDNETDAILY - November 29, 2007
A number of school-sponsored clubs are holding a
World AIDS Day "event" at a California church that will
be opened with "remarks" from Rev. Benita Ramsey,
but school officials are denying it is in any way school
sponsored or religious, even though the same "event"
a year ago included a "prayer" meeting.
The dispute arose over the announcement on school
stationery from the Murrietta Valley Unified School
District, which said the "Murrieta Valley High School
will hold an event at St. Catherine's Catholic Church in
Temecula to commemorate World AIDS Day."
"Students from several school clubs will take part in
the event including the Gay Straight Alliance, Black
Student Union, Ballet Folklorico, Si Si Puede, MVHS
Dance and members of the MVHS Choir, Temecula
Valley Choir and Riverside City College Choir," the
school said. - - - -
Read Full Report
New York: Gay Pastor in the Bronx Could Lose Her
Collar
NEW YORK TIMES [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By
Tim Murphy - November 25, 2007
In 1994, when the Rev. Katrina D. Foster became
pastor of Fordham Evangelical Lutheran Church in the
Bronx, she threw herself into ministering to her small,
mostly Caribbean-born congregation. She not only
preached to them on Sundays but lived in the
neighborhood and showed up to support them in
everything from surgeries to legal matters.
But Pastor Foster was keeping a secret from her
congregation. She held onto it even after a woman
came to live with her in the parsonage, then joined the
church choir.
"Some people would say, 'It's so nice you have
someone to live with you in that 11-room house,' "
said Pastor Foster, 39.
But in 2002, when the woman, Pamela Kallimanis,
became pregnant, they knew the time had come. So
Pastor Foster sat her congregants down one by one
and told them that she and Ms. Kallimanis were
partners and were expecting a child.
Not one person openly criticized her, she said.
Instead, "they threw us the most wonderfully
outrageous baby shower in the side yard next to the
church," she said. "The woman I was most anxious
about telling" - the church president - "I thought she
was going to leap across the table and hug
me."
The response, however, was not all positive. A small
number of families trickled away. Pastor Foster said
only one member told her outright why she had
stopped coming. "I got her on the phone one day and
she said she couldn't sit under a pastor who was a
homosexual," she said.
Now Pastor Foster and her roughly 100 congregants
face a new challenge: the possibility that she, along
with four other pastors in the New York area and 81
nationwide, could be defrocked in 2009 by the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The
country's largest Lutheran denomination, it allows
openly gay pastors but forbids them from being in
same-sex relationships, according to the Rev.
Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the denomination's
New York-area synod. - - - -
Read Full
Report
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7) San Diego Christian Leader Pays Steep Price For Speaking Out Against Rick Warren
JAMES HARTLINE REPORT - December 29, 2007
A nationally recognized Christian activist has learned
firsthand that there is a steep price to pay for speaking
out against the moral corruption of one of America's
most powerful Protestant [sic] ministers.
Despite the
high cost to himself personally, James Hartline has
been willing to expose, what he says, is a disturbing
trend of theological and moral compromise coming
from the pulpit of Rick Warren, pastor of the 20,000-
member Saddleback Church.
Included in Hartline's laundry list of complaints
against Pastor Warren is the recent speaking
engagement of pro-gay and pro-abortion Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at Saddleback
Church. Hillary Clinton's invitation from Warren to
speak at his church followed a speech by Clinton
before the radical gay activist group The Human
Rights Campaign (HRC) where she told the
HRC "she wants a partnership with gays if elected
president."
Hartline, who publishes a number of Christian news
websites, says that he does not take any pleasure in
speaking out against Warren. He simply does not
want his fellow Christian believers to be taken
advantage of by Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren's
unbiblical activism. It has been painful for Hartline to
stand up to Rick Warren -- In the process of reporting
on Warren's moral compromises in the pulpit, Hartline
has had a number of well-known Christian friends
turn on him and abandon support for his
ministry.
Several months ago, the San Diego-based Christian
activist could tell that something was just not right in
his relationship with two close friends who work in the
Christian media. Warm and welcoming conversations
had abruptly turned into brief, cold and uncaring
responses to his telephone calls and emails. For
Hartline, he had a hard time understanding how close
friends could so quickly become "spiritually
schizophrenic." Eventually, he began to see a pattern
evolve. What James Hartline was about to learn in the
midst of this trying time would cause him to
understand how treacherous the religious waters in
America have become in the 21st century: "Taking on
Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren is the religious
equivalent of taking on a mob boss in the Italian
Mafia," says Hartline.
James Hartline concluded that all of these newly-
found troubles with his friends began when he signed
a well-publicized ministry coalition letter in December
of 2006. The ministry coalition letter that Hartline is
referring to is a document he signed along with some
of America's top evangelical leaders. The letter was
published in newspapers and websites throughout
American on December 1, 2006. The document was
titled: "Pro-Family Coalition Issues 'World AIDS Day'
Appeal to Rick Warren to Address Homosexuality
and 'Gay' Promiscuity in Effort to Stop
Pandemic."
Among the many things that the coalition saw
happening with Pastor Warren's AIDS Summit event
that they had outlined in the document was his inviting
of pro-abortion and pro-homosexual activists to speak
at Saddleback Church. Peter LaBarbera, a leading
figure in America's evangelical pro-family movement,
called on Warren to address the leading cause of HIV
transmission in the United States: gay promiscuity in
gay sex clubs. LaBarbera pointed out in the AIDS Truth
Coalition press release that Pastor Warren had invited
Mark Dybul, a practicing homosexual, to speak at
Saddleback Church.
The evangelical document was a major
embarrassment for Rick Warren. The document,
issued as a press release, confronted Warren for
allowing pro-abortion Democratic presidential
candidate Barak Obama to speak at Saddleback
Church during Warren's AIDS Summit. The document
pressed Pastor Warren to speak out against
homosexual promiscuity, a leading cause of AIDS --
something members of the AIDS Truth Coalition did
not see Rick Warren mention during his AIDS Summit
at Saddleback in 2006. - - -
Because Hartline, a former homosexual, has been
fighting AIDS for ten years, his statements in the
coalition letter against Rick Warren brought extra
attention to Warren's immoral compromises during
Saddleback's AIDS Day Summit. Hartline's highly
publicized comments in the letter stated: - - -
According to published reports, Saddleback Church
began to evict members from their congregation when
these members confronted Rick Warren for his
inviting pro-abortion advocate Barak Obama to speak
from the pulpit of Saddleback Church. Shortly after
these confrontations began to become public and
after the AIDS Truth Coalition press release was
issued, KBRT radio personality Paul McGuire invited
Warren's wife Kay onto his program. For an hour on
that program, McGuire allowed Kay Warren to attack
and degrade the many Christians who had
questioned her husband's ministry tactics and
practices. McGuire's program went from being a
Christian talk show to a manipulative platform for Rick
and Kay Warren's emergent church propaganda. Paul
McGuire's website now prominently features a
supportive photograph of Rick Warren. Additionally,
McGuire has repeatedly featured sound bites by Kay
Warren in his program's advertisements. - - - -
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8) Rick Warren's distortions of reality
WORLDNETDAILY - By Joseph Farah - December 13,
2007
Rick Warren loves to apologize for things he didn't do,
for things other people did that weren't wrong, even for
things that occurred hundreds of years before he was
born.
For instance, he recently apologized to Muslims
worldwide for atrocities committed against their
ancestors during the Crusades.
He also recently apologized for American "excesses in
the war on terrorism."
And he has apologized for the church because it
hasn't done enough about the spread of AIDS and
problems like global warming.
Yet, I must observe that despite his predilection for
apologies, he has a great deal of trouble owning up to
his own personal mistakes.
Here we are more than a year after his misguided trip
to Syria in which he was used politically by the anti-
Jewish, anti-Western, terror-supporting police state,
and Warren insists his only error
was in posing for a photo op with President Bashar
Assad.
The whole episode, Warren says, is just a big
misunderstanding. And - guess what - it's all my
fault!
Here is what he told WND staff writer Art Moore about
the trip to Syria: "The only mistake I made in Syria.
This was the mistake. I shouldn't have taken a photo
op [with the president]."
In other words, Rick Warren still doesn't get it -
despite all the dialogue on this issue. He still does
not recognize how his trip gave aid and comfort to a
diabolical enemy of freedom and Christianity. He still
does not recognize how destructive it is when the
Syrian dictator shows pictures of himself with Rick
Warren and quotes "America's mega-pastor" saying
harshly critical things about the U.S. and offering
nothing but praise for Damascus. He still does not
recognize how saying there is freedom of religion in
Syria is a lie that justifies the country's continued
persecution of Christians - particularly in neighboring
Lebanon.
Instead, Warren blames me. He says I'm lying when I
present this information to the world. And he's still
defending the totalitarian terror-sponsoring state!
"Syria says we have freedom of religion, [but] it does
not mean we have freedom to change religion," he
says. "That's the problem. The problem is you can be
a Christian in Syria and not be persecuted. I could give
you hundreds and thousands of examples of that.
Christians that are actually meeting above ground,
they are not in secret. I've been in their churches. The
problem is we've got to get them moved to the next
step, which is the freedom of conversion."
Freedom of religion, of course, means people have
the right to choose their own faith. It does not mean
you have the right to attend services in a government-
approved church.
In police states that persecute Christians, there is
almost always an above-ground church. That's how
the Soviet Union maintained control and gave the
appearance of religious freedom. That's how it is
done in China today. That's how it is done in Syria
today.
Warren rationalizes more by explaining how Syria is
not near the top of the list of countries that persecute
Christians.
What he chooses to forget is that within days of his trip
to Syria, the most prominent anti-Syrian Christian
politician in Lebanon, Pierre Gemayel, was
assassinated in a suburb of Beirut. Syrian intelligence
agents were suspected. Lebanon, once the only
Christian country in the Middle East, has been torn
asunder by terrorism and violence overseen by Syria
for more than 20 years.
I called on Rick Warren to condemn Syria for that
assassination, as much of the world did. He chose to
ignore it, as he has ignored the systematic
persecution of Lebanese Christians by Syria.
While in Syria, Warren also tried to make the case that
Syria was not involved in terrorism and is actually
a "moderate" state.
Not only does Warren have exceptionally low
standards for religious freedom, but he is either
woefully ignorant of Syria's position in the hierarchy of
world terrorism or, worse, deliberately covering it
up.
Every major terrorist group in the world has
headquarters in Syria. Syria is a terror-sponsoring
country, according to the State Department. Syria is
Iran's closest ally. Iran is the No. 1 terror-sponsoring
country in the world.
But back to what Warren says was his "only" mistake -
posing for a picture with Bashar Assad. Warren
claims the Syrians, without his consent, issued the
following public statements:
- "[The] American delegation stressed that the
American administration is mistaken not to hold
dialogue with Syria."
- "Pastor Warren hailed the religious coexistence,
tolerance and stability that the Syrian society is
enjoying due to the wise leadership of President al-
Assad, asserting that he will convey the true image
about Syria to the American people."
- Warren gave Assad a "memorial drawing"
to "thank the Syrian people for their --- efforts exerted
for maintaining peace and harmony."
- Warren was quoted as saying: "Syria wants peace,
and Muslims and Christians live in this country jointly
and peacefully [for] more than a thousand years, and
this is not new for Syria."
- He would, in the words of the official news
agency, "tell the Americans that the ideas which had
been shaped about [Syria] didn't reflect the truth and
they have to come to Syria and see by themselves and
realize her nice people and visit her wonderful and
historical ruins."
- It was reported he told Syria's Islamic grand mufti
that there could be no peace in the region without
Syria and that 80 percent of Americans rejects what
the U.S. administration is doing in Iraq.
- He praised Islamic-Christian co-existence in
Syria.
"So, Joseph Farah took that information off of the
government sheet and said, 'Rick Warren said this
about Syria,' off of the statement," he claims now. "I
happened to be in Rwanda from there. I wrote Joseph
and said, Joseph, that's just not true. I didn't say those
things. You're reading a statement. And he wrote back
in a very accusatory letter that said, well, I can't wait to
see the video. In other words, he didn't believe me. He
said, I can't wait to see the video. And I wrote him back
and said, there is no video."
Actually, please go back and
read what I wrote at the time. Never did I accuse Rick
Warren of saying these things. Never did I make that
assumption. In fact, I concluded my column
suggesting Rick Warren would come home saying he
was misquoted.
As far as video goes, Rick Warren's story has
changed over and over again. Yes, he told me there
was no video. Then I saw video on YouTube -
that was the video that showed him saying Syria was
a land characterized by tolerance and moderation and
religious freedom for Christians. After I sent Warren a
link to the video, it was pulled down within
minutes.
Even now Rick Warren is saying that little video clip
was an anomaly, insisting the rest of his trip was not
recorded. However, as WND has previously reported,
that is not what he told his own Saddleback Church
congregation upon his return to America.
He showed video of his trip in
the church and said it was culled from over 12 hours
of video recording!
Members of his flock were so disturbed by the
contradiction between what he told them and what he
told me that they took the trouble to provide me with
the details.
"I didn't lie at all," says Warren. "He [meaning me]
didn't stop to check it out. And so he then writes six
columns on the basis of his assumption. There was
no video of that meeting. At the end, they took a
picture, so he chose to believe what the government
said, instead of believing me."
Not so. I never accused Rick Warren of saying those
things. Instead, I gave him the opportunity to repudiate
them. Interestingly, he never has - at least not with
any specificity.
Yet, he still feels compelled to explain that Syria is not
that bad. All I know is that if I went to a foreign country
and met with the president, who then manufactured
quotes from me and issued these false statements to
the world, I'd be pretty bugged about that. I would hold
that country accountable. For some reason, Rick
Warren doesn't feel that is necessary.
Also
Ed Note: WorldNet Daily's Art Moore
did a three part series on Rick Warren back in
December which many Discernment ministries such
as Lighthouse Trails carried on their blogs. If you have
not read the articles, I have posted the entire series on
the Be Alert! Blog with links to the original reports that
also contain numerous pictures.
Rick Warren: 'I always own up to mistakes'
'Purpose-driven' megachurch pastor
answers evangelical critics - Part 1
Rick Warren: 'I never wanted fame'
But pastor with
global vision says he 'loves making an influence' -
Part 2
Rick Warren: AIDS too big for church alone
Traditional
values challenged in unusual alliance to combat
disease - Part 3
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9) Rick Warren Counsels Jews on Recruiting Congregants
THE CHRISTIAN POST - By Jennifer Riley - December
17, 2007
Megachurch pastor Rick Warren attended a large
Reform Jewish gathering last week to share tips on
how to build a community.
Warren - who saw his church expand from seven
people meeting in his house to 22,000 people
worshipping in an expansive treasure island-like
campus - said the key to holding onto visitors is
involving them in a small group.
"We believe congregations have to grow large and
small at the same time," Warren said Thursday,
according to the San Diego Union-Tribune
newspaper. "We don't really feel like people are in the
congregation until they're in small groups."
The "Purpose-Driven" pastor spoke to thousands of
Jewish leaders Thursday night at the Union for
Reform Judaism's biennial convention in San
Diego.
With the holiday season in mind, Warren urged clergy
to take advantage of crowded events to publicize other
programs so people can get involved in the
community through smaller groups.
"There are some principles that apply regardless of
our faith, if it's Jewish or Christian," he said at the
convention.
One of his principles: "Just be nice to people.
Smile."
After Warren spoke a few minutes at the podium, he
sat alongside two popular Southern California rabbis
for a casual talk about strengthening congregational
life.
Other advice given by Warren included looking at
everything from an outsider's viewpoint, such as
simplifying worship terms, making strangers feel
welcome, and encouraging interaction.
"The congregation that really loves people, you have to
lock the doors to keep people out," said Warren,
whose Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., is
scheduled to host 14 Christmas services this year
with an estimated crowd of 45,000 people. - - - -
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10) False Message Preached to Wal-Mart Shoppers
BIBLICALTHOUGHT.com - By Drew Kerr - December
13, 2007
You may have been innocently going about your
Christmas shopping when Wal-Mart and Sam's Club
played a Christmas Carol Concert in all of their stores.
On December 7, 2007, Wal-Mart and The Salvation
Army teamed up with Mr. Purpose Driven for a video
presentation by the Salvation Army's Brass Band and
a Christmas message from Pastor Rick
Warren.
The short message given by Rick Warren was as
follows:
"What is the purpose of Christmas? We find the
meaning of Christmas in the words that the angel
gave us 2,000 years ago: It's a time for celebration, it's
a time for salvation and it's a time for reconciliation.
The angels said three things: I bring you good news of
great joy; Unto you is born a Savior and peace on
earth good will toward men. This Christmas, make it a
time for celebration. It's a time for good news of great
joy. Celebrate the good news in life, not the bad news.
Look for the good news: God's love for you. Make it a
time where you don't just go through the season
thinking you just want to get it over with, make it a time
to really celebrate. I bring you good news of great joy.
Make it a time for salvation. You know the Salvation
Army for over 100 years has been using Christmas as
a time to collect funds that minister to people all year
long; the uneducated, the sick, the poor, the
defenseless, the orphan, those who need it most.
What does salvation mean? In a word, it means
freedom, freedom from fear, freedom from guilt,
freedom from bitterness, freedom from loneliness. It
means freedom from my past and free to look into the
future with confidence. This is the message of
freedom, the message that the Salvation Army has
been bringing for over 100 years. Make it a time for
reconciliation. The first Christmas the angels
said, 'Peace on earth, good will toward men' and I
don't know a time in our history when we've needed
the message of reconciliation more. We need to be
reconciled to our families; to our neighbors; to our
enemies; to other nations; to each other. It doesn't
matter what religious background you have. We need
to be reconciled to God and to each other. This is the
message that I hope you'll carry this
Christmas."
There we have it Ladies and Gentleman! This
message by Rick Warren is void of biblical doctrine
and exhibits his false teaching. Why the Southern
Baptist Convention hasn't exercised any kind of
discipline on him is beyond me? The Baptists may
have independent churches, but the association of
churches needs to speak out against heretical
teaching.
Warren mentions salvation and then defines it as
freedom. The truth is that the Bible speaks of salvation
as deliverance from the wrath of God to be carried out
upon the ungodly at the end of this age (1
Thessalonians 1:10; 5:8-9 and 1 Peter 1:5). What
eternal benefit will anyone gain if they have salvation
as defined by Warren? He defines salvation
as "freedom from fear, freedom from guilt, freedom
from bitterness, freedom from loneliness." Rick
Warren is comforting unbelievers on the road to
condemnation by telling them that they are "free to
look into the future with confidence". Woe to Rick
Warren for preaching a false message to a lost and
dying generation (Gal. 1:8-9).
Rick Warren has changed definitions and this causes
us to scale the language barrier with him as we do
when involved in apologetics against the cults. Rick
Warren has redefined the meaning of salvation. This
is similar to discussions with Mormons when talking
about salvation, the Christian has deliverance as the
definition and the Mormon has exaltation as a god as
their definition of salvation.
I would like to say something to the person that
doesn't understand why I would write a blog about
Rick Warren.
When I meet people that are raving about Rick
Warren's books, it becomes clear that bad doctrine
needs to be uprooted and good doctrine needs to be
planted down. The fans of Rick Warren need to
understand that if God is just, then He cannot forgive
sinful man without a substitutionary sacrifice. Mankind
is not accepted into God's kingdom by merely coming
to understand their purpose. If you are a person that
enjoys Rick Warren's teaching, then here is a place
we can dialog and hold the teaching of Rick Warren
up to the light of Scripture. Does the Gospel entail
finding God's purposes? Is the Gospel about telling
people that God will never love them any more nor any
less? Like Rick Warren, should we tell people that
there is nothing they can do to make God stop loving
them? Or is the Gospel something like the one
presented below?
-God will sit in judgment of all mankind (Romans
2:16) and "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's
sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the
eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews
4:13)". "Righteousness and justice are the foundation
of His throne" (Psalm 97:2).
-Man's problem is sin: "Your iniquities have separated
you from your God; and your sins have hidden his face
from you" (Isaiah 59:2), "All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
-God has provided a substitute: Christ was sacrificed
once to take away the sins of many people (Hebrews
9:28). "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on
our behalf, so that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians
5:21). "Therefore He is able to save forever those who
draw near to God through Him, since He always lives
to make intercession for them" (Hebrews
7:25).
-We can't just pray a prayer and expect to go to
heaven, but we must have a new relationship with our
Creator. A new relationship with our Creator will
require a new relationship to sin. We must have
repentance by turning from our sin and turn to God.
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to
salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10). "Repent and believe in
the gospel" (Mark 1:15). "For I am not ashamed of the
gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith to faith; as it is written, 'But the righteous
man shall live by faith'" (Romans 1:16-17).
-When you turn to God in repentance and faith, after
God gives you a new heart and new desires, then you
will become a Christian. "And the testimony is this,
that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does
not have the Son of God does not have the life" (1
John 5:11-12). "I have been crucified with Christ; and it
is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me"
(Galatians 2:20). "He who believes in the Son has
eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not
see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John
3:36).
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11) Taking Revival to the World
Australia's largest and most influential church extends
its reach to London, Paris, and Kiev.
CHRISTIANITY TODAY [CTI Publications] - By
Cassandra Zinchini - October 26, 2007
Step into a Hillsong London service and you walk into
the Dominion Theater, which seats 2,000 people.
Choose a seat on the balcony or on the ground floor,
and when the strobe lights and sophisticated video
images begin flashing in the dim theater, you might
wonder if you're waiting for We Will Rock You: The
Queen Musical!, the show currently running at the
Dominion.
Hillsong Church, which recently celebrated its 20th
year in Sydney, Australia, is growing its global reach
Sunday by Sunday. As the largest church in Australia's
history, it regularly attracts 20,000 people to its
weekend services. GOD TV, a Christian satellite
channel, broadcasts many Hillsong events, boosting
its potential audience to 400 million
worldwide.
A member of the Assemblies of God denomination,
Hillsong has burgeoning church plants in London,
Paris, and Kiev, Ukraine. It has also been holding
services in Moscow and Berlin. Hillsong's reputation
alone is enough to generate huge interest. In London,
a Saturday night service and three Sunday services
are necessary to accommodate the 7,000 in
attendance.
Hillsong is perhaps best known for its music. Its
famous worship pastor, Darlene Zschech, wrote the
song "Shout to the Lord." It is estimated that 25 million
Christians sing that song each week
worldwide.
Since the 1990s, Hillsong has released about 50
praise and worship recordings. Hillsong United, its
youth ministry and band, has sold recordings by the
millions in the American market. Hillsong United
began its recent North American tour in Nashville, at
the worship service of the Gospel Music Association's
music week.
Last fall in London, 3,000 people gathered at the Excel
Center for the first-ever Hillsong Conference Europe.
On the first night, the crowd hushed and then broke
into applause as the lights went off and words
appeared on the video screens at the front: "The
church is not peripheral to the world; the world is
peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body in
which he speaks and acts and fills everything with his
presence."
Applause broke out again as the music began. A lone
guitarist stood in the spotlight. Beside the stage,
Zschech stood drinking coffee, bouncing up and down
in her heels. Hillsong's senior pastor, Brian Houston,
stood front and center watching the screens flicker
footage of a welcome from Sydney, Australia, to Paris,
where a drummer played in front of the Eiffel Tower, to
the slums of India to a crusade of thousands in Brazil
to a choir in Toronto singing the Hillsong chorus "How
Great Is Our God."
This event was a Hillsong-branded depiction of the
Great Commission and a moving visual picture of
their self-proclaimed mission: "To reach and influence
the world by building a large Bible-based church,
changing mindsets, and empowering people to lead
and impact every sphere of life." And it means "every
sphere"-from church growth to politics to revival to
social action to personal healing. - - - -
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12) A Shocking "Confession" from Willow Creek Community Church
Ed Note: Don't get too excited yet as this may not be
as
good a report as it sounds to be at first hearing. First
of all notice that it took a "study", not the Bible to figure
this out and secondly the news now is that all Willow
Creek is doing is more "studies" to best find how to fix
this problem. There is certainly much more to come
on this issue.
BE/\LERT!
CROSSWALK [Salem Communications Corporation] -
By Bob Burney - October 30, 2007
If you are older than 40 the name Benjamin Spock is
more than familiar. It was Spock that told an entire
generation of parents to take it easy, don't discipline
your children and allow them to express themselves.
Discipline, he told us, would warp a child's fragile
ego. Millions followed this guru of child development
and he remained unchallenged among child rearing
professionals. However, before his death Dr. Spock
made an amazing discovery: he was wrong. In fact, he
said:
We have reared a generation of brats. Parents aren't
firm enough with their children for fear of losing their
love or incurring their resentment. This is a cruel
deprivation that we professionals have imposed on
mothers and fathers. Of course, we did it with the best
of intentions. We didn't realize until it was too late how
our know-it-all attitude was undermining the self
assurance of parents.
Oops.
Something just as momentous, in my opinion, just
happened in the evangelical community. For most of a
generation evangelicals have been romanced by
the "seeker sensitive" movement spawned by Willow
Creek Community Church in Chicago. The guru of this
movement is Bill Hybels. He and others have been
telling us for decades to throw out everything we have
previously thought and been taught about church
growth and replace it with a new paradigm, a new way
to do ministry.
Perhaps inadvertently, with this "new wave" of ministry
came a de-emphasis on taking personal
responsibility for Bible study combined with an
emphasis on felt-needs based "programs" and slick
marketing.
The size of the crowd rather than the depth of the heart
determined success. If the crowd was large then
surely God was blessing the ministry. Churches were
built by demographic studies, professional
strategists, marketing research, meeting "felt needs"
and sermons consistent with these techniques. We
were told that preaching was out, relevance was in.
Doctrine didn't matter nearly as much as innovation. If
it wasn't "cutting edge" and consumer friendly it was
doomed. The mention of sin, salvation and
sanctification were taboo and replaced by Starbucks,
strategy and sensitivity.
Thousands of pastors hung on every word that
emanated from the lips of the church growth experts.
Satellite seminars were packed with hungry church
leaders learning the latest way to "do church." The
promise was clear: thousands of people and millions
of dollars couldn't be wrong. Forget what people need,
give them what they want. How can you argue with the
numbers? If you dared to challenge the "experts" you
were immediately labeled as a "traditionalist," a
throwback to the 50s, a stubborn dinosaur unwilling to
change with the times.
All that changed recently.
Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year
study on the effectiveness of their programs and
philosophy of ministry. The study's findings are in a
new book titled Reveal: Where Are You?, co-authored
by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive
pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels
himself called the findings "earth shaking," "ground
breaking" and "mind blowing." And no wonder: it
seems that the "experts" were wrong.
The report reveals that most of what they have been
doing for these many years and what they have taught
millions of others to do is not producing solid
disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not
disciples. It gets worse. Hybels laments:
Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars
into thinking it would really help our people grow and
develop spiritually, when the data actually came back
it wasn't helping people that much. Other things that
we didn't put that much money into and didn't put
much staff against is stuff our people are crying out
for. - - - -
Read Full Report Posted on the Be Alert!
Weblog
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13) Bishop Paulk pleads guilty, is fined $1,000
80-year-old preacher charged with lying under oath in
sexual misconduct lawsuit
THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION [Cox
Enterprises] - By Chris Quinn - January 15, 2008
Bishop Earl Paulk pleaded guilty to felony perjury in
Cobb Superior Court Wednesday.
Judge Frank R. Cox, chief judge of Magistrate Court,
sitting in as assisting Superior Court judge, said he
fined Paulk $1,000 and put him on probation for 10
years. He ordered Paulk to pay $32 a month in
probation fees.
Paulk, formerly a prominent minister, was charged
with perjury for lying during a deposition last year in a
sexual misconduct lawsuit against him. He turned
himself into Cobb County authorities at 8 p.m.
Tuesday and was sentenced about 18 hours
later.
Cox said District Attorney Pat Head and Paulk's
attorney arranged the sequence of legal
events.
Louis Levenson, the attorney for the couple suing
Paulk, said the plea should serve as a
warning.
"I hope that people will take a page out of this book
and see that whatever their religious beliefs or
philosophical beliefs that there is no excuse for
speaking untruthfully in court," he said.
Levenson represents Bobby and Mona Brewer, former
staff members at what was known as Chapel Hill
Harvester Church, which Paulk built into a nationally
known ministry. Their suit claims Paulk coerced Mona
Brewer into a sexual relationship and used his
influence to hide that and other improprieties.
"Earl Paulk was the architect of an entire scheme to
protect the kingdom," Levenson said.
He defined 'kingdom' as the church and system of
influence Paulk built.
In a deposition taken in the suit, Paulk said Mona
Brewer was the only woman he had sex with outside
of marriage. A DNA test last year showed Paulk
fathered a child by the wife of his brother, the Rev. Don
Paulk. That discovery led to the perjury
charge.
Paulk claimed in the past that Brewer initiated the
relationship.
A staff member at the church referred calls to Joel
Pugh, Paulk's criminal defense attorney.
Pugh did not return calls.
Paulk's religious celebrity peaked in the 1980s and
1990s with TV appearances and more than 10,000
church members. He was nationally influential among
independent charismatic churches.
His fame turned to infamy as he faced a series of
allegations of sexual misconduct with many women.
Though he no longer leads the church, now called the
Cathedral at Chapel Hill. He still participates,
speaking briefly. Attendance has dropped
dramatically.
The Rev. D.E. Paulk, the Bishop's son by his sister in
law, leads the congregation and speaks openly about
his familial and church problems and about
forgiveness.
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14) A Return to Tradition
Emerging Apostasy:
A new interest in old ways takes root in Catholicism
and many other faiths
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT [NY Daily News/M
Zuckerman] - By Jay Tolson - December 13, 2007
Worshipers come to St. Mary, Mother of God in
downtown Washington, D.C., for various reasons, but
many say that a big draw is the Tridentine Latin mass
that is said here every Sunday. Soon, St. Mary may be
less well known for that distinctive liturgical offering
than for the number of big-name government and
media types that occupy its pews. Now that Pope
Benedict XVI has loosened the restrictions on
churches that want to observe the pre-Vatican II rite,
more parishes are availing themselves of the option.
Call it part of a larger conservative shift within the
church-one that includes a renewed emphasis on
such practices as personal confession and reciting
the rosary as well as a resurgent interest in traditional
monastic and religious orders.
But this shift extends beyond the Roman Catholic
Church. In Richardson, Texas, the congregation of
Trinity Fellowship Church participates in something
that would have been considered almost heretical in
most evangelical Protestant churches five or 10 years
ago: a weekly Communion service. An independent,
nondenominational church of some 600 members,
Trinity Fellowship is not the only evangelical
congregation that is offering a weekly Eucharist,
saying the Nicene or Apostles' creeds, reading the
early Church Fathers, or doing other things that seem
downright Roman Catholic or at least high
Episcopalian. Daniel Wallace, a professor of New
Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary,
which trains pastors for interdenominational or
nondenominational churches, says there is a growing
appetite for something more than "worship that is a
glorified Bible class in some ways."
Something curious is happening in the wide world
of
faith, something that defies easy explanation or
quantification. More substantial than a trend but less
organized than a movement, it has to do more with
how people practice their religion than with what they
believe, though people caught up in this change often
find that their beliefs are influenced, if not subtly
altered, by the changes in their practice.
Put simply, the development is a return to tradition and
orthodoxy, to past practices, observances, and
customary ways of worshiping. But it is not simply a
return to the past-at least not in all cases. Even while
drawing on deep traditional resources, many
participants are creating something new within the old
forms. They are engaging in what Penn State
sociologist of religion Roger Finke calls "innovative
returns to tradition."
You see this at work quite clearly in the so-called
emergent communities, new, largely self-organizing
groups of young Christian adults who meet in private
homes, church basements, or coffeehouses around
the country. So free-form that many don't even have
pastors, these groups nevertheless engage in some
ancient liturgical practices, including creedal
declarations, public confession, and Communion.
They may use a piece of a bagel as the body of Christ,
but the liturgy is a traditional anchor in services that
may include films, skits, or group discussions of a
biblical topic.
More Hebrew. The return to traditional forms and
practices is occurring not only in the big tent of
Christianity. In Judaism, too, in addition to a small but
detectable surge in the Orthodox denomination, the
most observant branch of the faith, even the moderate
Conservative and the progressive Reform
denominations are shifting toward the older ways,
including the use of more Hebrew in the services or
stricter observance of the Halakha (Jewish law). Many
young adults who are joining the Jewish equivalent of
the Christian emergent communities, the independent
minyanim (plural of minyan, the quorum required for
communal worship), are drawn in part by the
commitment to traditional liturgical practices and
observances. Reform may still be the largest Jewish
denomination in America, but much of the faith's
vitality is devoted to recapturing those traditions that
modernizers dismissed as relics.
The state of traditionalism in Islam is more difficult to
capture. On one hand, more young Muslims are
embracing outward symbols of their devotion-women
wearing head scarves, men growing beards. Many are
also more observant of the duties of the faith, whether
saying the five daily prayers or fasting during
Ramadan. But it is hard to say whether all of this
signals a return to traditional Islam or the embrace of
a highly puritanical reformist Islam associated with
Wahhabi and Salafist teachings-teachings that many
Islamic scholars find contrary to the deeper traditions
of the faith. Indeed, Ali Gomaa, the grand mufti of
Egypt, and some Islamic scholars in America argue
that an informed understanding of sharia (Islamic law)
is the best antidote to extremism and
fundamentalism. The uncertainty, of course, is
whether their views will find a wider following among
contemporary Muslims.
In all faiths, the return to tradition has different
meanings for different people. To some, it is a return
to reassuring authority and absolutes; it is a buttress
to conservative theological, social, and even political
commitments. To others, it is a means of moving
beyond fundamentalist literalism, troubling authority
figures, and highly politicized religious positions (say
on gay marriage and contraception or abortion) while
retaining a hold on spiritual truths. In short, the new
traditionalism is anything but straightforward.
And that is one reason it is so hard to quantify. Mary
Bendyna, executive director of the Center for Applied
Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University,
laments the lack of hard data on traditionalist
developments in the Catholic Church but plans to
launch a large study on sacramental life in January.
Even without the numbers, though, Bendyna is
confident that a change is afoot. "There has been a
renewed interest in traditional life, in traditional
devotions, even among young Catholics," she says.
(Bendyna doubts, though, that the Latin mass will
catch on in a big way. "There just aren't that many
priests who are prepared to celebrate it," she says.)
More broadly, Bendyna wonders whether a renewed
interest in traditional devotions or religious orders
correlates directly with conservatism on such matters
as papal infallibility, contraception, or the exclusively
male and celibate clergy. Determining that
relationship, Bendyna says, is one of the greater
investigative challenges.
"Hype." Some liberal Catholic clergy are completely
skeptical about the scope and meaning of the
traditionalist turn. "It's more hype than reality," says the
Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and political
scientist at Georgetown's Woodstock Theological
Center. Reese thinks the church should focus less on
the Latin mass than on the three things that draw
most churchgoers: "good preaching, good music, and
a welcoming community." He is equally dubious about
all the attention being devoted to the habit-wearing
Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia and a few other
traditional religious orders that have enjoyed an uptick
in younger members. "I have no problem with their
habits," says Reese. "On the other hand, if the church
ordained women, we'd have thousands more women
coming forward."
But Sister Patricia Wittberg, a sociologist at Indiana
University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, sees
more substance in the new traditionalism. "I think
churches that can articulate what they do and what
they stand for tend to grow better." To that extent, she
says, the conservative turn in the church makes
sense. But she points out that there are two kinds of
conservatives. "One group," she says, "would like to
take things back to the [16th-century Counter-
Reformation] Council of Trent, but I don't think the
future's with them. I think the future is with a group that
is interested in reviving the old stuff and traditions in a
creative way. Sisters in traditional orders may wear
habits, but they often live in coed communities."
Sociologist Finke agrees: "Members of traditional
religious orders want to be set apart, to have a more
active spiritual formation and a strong community life.
But while they are obedient, they are less submissive
to authority and want to make more of their own
decisions and be active professionally in outreach
activities. It's a structured life, but it's a structure they
are seeking and not simply submitting to
authority."
Contradictory? To be sure. And it becomes no less so
in other denominations and religions. That may be
why George Barna, whose Barna Group does
extensive polling on religious life in America, does not
identify neotraditionalism as one of the
four "megathemes" in his most recent survey of the
American scene. But one of those themes, "Nouveau
Christianity," speaks to the conditions that some say
are giving rising to it: "'unChristian' behavior by church
people, bad personal experiences with churches,
ineffective Christian leadership amid social crises."
Such factors have led, the Barna Group reports, to
new spiritual practices that embrace diversity and
tolerance, emphasize conversations and relationship,
blend all forms of art and novel forms of instruction,
and foster new spiritual communities. But how do
tradition and orthodox practices enable attempts to
build a stronger spiritual life?
Talk to Carl Anderson, the senior pastor of Trinity
Fellowship Church, and you get an idea. "Seven or
eight years ago, there was a sense of
disconnectedness and loneliness in our church life,"
he says. The entrepreneurial model adopted by so
many evangelical churches, with its emphasis on
seeker-friendly nontraditional services and programs,
had been successful in helping Trinity build its
congregation, Anderson explains. But it was less
successful in holding on to church members and
deepening their faith or their ties with fellow
congregants. Searching for more rootedness,
Anderson sought to reconnect with the historical
church.
Connections. Not surprisingly, that move was
threatening to church members who strongly identify
with the Reformation and the Protestant rejection of
Catholic practices, including most liturgy. But
Anderson and others tried to emphasize the power of
liturgy to direct worship toward God and "not be all
about me," he says. Anderson also stressed how
liturgy "is about us-and not just this church but the
connection with other Christians." Adopting the weekly
Eucharist, saying the Nicene Creed every two or three
weeks, following the church calendar, Trinity reshaped
its worship practices in ways that drove some
congregants away. But Anderson remains committed,
arguing that traditional practices will help evangelical
churches grow beyond the dependence on "celebrity-
status pastors."
Something of a celebrity ex-pastor himself, Brian
McLaren, the popular author and a founder of Cedar
Ridge Community Church in Spencerville, Md.,
recently left the pastorate to talk and write about the
emergent movement and other developments in
Christianity. While at Cedar Ridge, which catered
specifically to previously "unchurched" seekers,
McLaren instituted a Eucharistic liturgy and
contemplative prayer retreats. And he appreciates the
role of tradition in the new self-organizing
communities that are sprouting up around the
country. "Protestantism has been in a centrifugal
pattern for so long, with each group spinning away
from others," McLaren says. "But now there is some
kind of pull back to the center."
Like McLaren, Tony Jones, author of The New
Christians: Dispatches From the Emergent Frontier
and national coordinator of Emergent Village, talks
about the postmodern aspects of the new
traditionalism. People of the postmodern mindset-
particularly 20- and 30-somethings-question the
hyperindividualism of modern culture. They search for
new forms of community but tend to be wary of
authority figures and particularly of leaders, Jones
says, who take divisive liberal or conservative social-
political positions-one reason why the emergent
groups tend to be antipastoral. "The problem is not
the issues," says Jones, who belongs to an emergent
church, Solomon's Porch, in Minneapolis. "The
problem is how we talk about issues. We are going to
live in reconciliation with each other, and traditional
practices are what restore us and hold us
together."
The young neotraditionalists also have an almost
intuitive attraction to liturgy, ritual, and symbol as
forms of knowledge that complement the dominant
rational, scientific one. "There is a certain kind of
postmodern sensibility that loses confidence in the
rational explanation of everything," McLaren says. For
him, Jones, and others, "doing church" in traditional
and innovative ways is a form of theological reflection
that leaves behind the fundamendalists' need to make
all religious propositions into pseudoscientific
statements, to turn Genesis, for example, into a
geology textbook.
Pushing limits."I would argue that people are looking
for a dialectic," says Avi Weiss, senior rabbi of the
Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in Bronx, N.Y., and
founder of a new rabbinical school that trains Jewish
leaders in the approach of what he calls Open
Orthodoxy. "People are looking for a commitment that
is grounded but not one that is stagnant," Weiss
says. "The other part of the dialectic is an openness
but not without limits."
So in Weiss's synagogue, you will see things that
push the limits of orthodoxy to encourage a more
open and accepting community. There is the
traditional divide (mehitza) between women's and
men's sections, for example, but it is a low one that
runs down the middle of the central worship space,
rather than a high mehitza that sequesters women in
the back or on the sides. Opposing many less flexible
Orthodox scholars, Weiss argues that it is correct
within Jewish law for all congregants to touch the
Torah and for women to lead their own prayer groups-
practices that he allows. Most important, while he
wants congregants to follow as much of the Halakha
as they can, he opens the door to all Jews and indeed
all people who want to explore the path of Orthodox
Judaism.
The success of his approach, including his
encouragement of participatory leadership, can be
seen not just in Riverdale but in the synagogues led
by his associates and former students. When Rabbi
Shmuel Herzfeld, once an assistant rabbi at
Riverdale, took over Ohev Sholom almost four years
ago, the northwest Washington, D.C., synagogue had
dwindled to about 15 families. Today, with some 300
families (and bearing the additional name "the
National Synagogue"), it buzzes with energy and
enthusiastic congregants. "Most come from
nonspecific affiliations," says Herzfeld. "They find
authentic spiritual life and tradition. Some make the
full, radical transformation into the Orthodox life. Some
even sell their homes and move so they can walk to
shul on the Sabbath." Jill Sacks and her husband,
Tom, formerly members of a Conservative synagogue
who lived in Bethesda, Md., for 26 years, are one
couple who moved to be closer to Ohev Sholom. They
were drawn by Herzfeld's self-deflecting but
charismatic leadership, the traditionalism, the vibrant
community, and the commitment to social outreach.
Sacks's former synagogue was a very egalitarian one,
she says, and she read the Torah and the haftarah
there. "I had that option," Sacks says, "but I am very
happy with this synagogue."
The appeal of traditionalism across all Jewish
formations-including the some 80 independent
minyanim that researchers have identified in the
United States and Canada-has some scholars
wondering whether the biggest middle-ground
formation, Conservatism, may not soon be absorbed
by a Reform denomination that is more orthodox and
an Orthodox denomination that is more
accommodating. A new regard for tradition may be
rearranging Judaism's organizational
landscape.
In all corners of Judaism, as in all parts of Christianity,
traditions are being adapted in strangely innovative
ways. Ari Y. Kelman, a professor of American studies
at the University of California-Davis, describes what
he finds at the Mission Minyan in San Francisco, a
group of about 100 mostly youngish Jewish adults
who convene for davening (praying) at the Women's
Building in the artsy Mission District. "The service is
traditional," he says, "from the right end of
Conservatism and the left end of Orthodox. It's all in
Hebrew, with no instruments or instructions on when
to sit or stand. Most of it's mixed seating, but there's
also a separate men's section and a separate
women's section-a sort of tri-hitza. Women lead the
first part of the service, which is not officially prayer,
and men lead the second part."
Limits and openness: Welcome to the new, and
sometimes bewildering, world of religious
traditionalism.
* Emphasis Added
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15) Mixing Jesus With Java
The appeal of new religious communities
U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT [NY Daily News/M
Zuckerman] - By Jay Tolson - December 13, 2007
The transition from a casual, coffee-shop gathering to
a Christian worship service is almost imperceptible.
In a cozy space at Jammin' Java, a cafe in a Vienna,
Va., shopping center, 18 young adults sit and chat,
refill their mugs, or prepare the area for the coming
service. A projector screen is set up; candles are
arranged; a basket of rolls, a chalice, and small
glasses of grape juice are set out. At 10 o'clock,
systems engineer Deanna Doan steps up to the mike,
and the group finds itself celebrating the second
Sunday of Advent.
The Church of the Common Table, as the group calls
itself, is part of a nationwide emergence of small, self-
organizing religious communities. And to people who
follow the world of contemporary religion, they are
among the most interesting things going. The Rev.
Frederic Burnham, a retired Episcopal priest and
senior fellow at the Sims Institute for Servant
Leadership in Hendersonville, N.C., draws on chaos
theory to study how these spontaneously generated
groups manage to walk the line between freedom and
order. "Holding the balance is what the emergent
church is dealing with," says Burnham.
Team leaders. One way Common Table does so,
explains Michael Stavlund, a graduate of Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., is by
spreading the leadership role among three members
of a team. Though he is the only paid staffer, Stavlund
and the other team members try to stay in the
background, encouraging everybody to take a turn
leading services and activities. But is the steadying
presence of a person like Stavlund necessary? "It
would be different without him," says Kate Maisel, a
newspaper editor. "He is one of the essential
parts."
The service itself walks that fine line bordering chaos.
A PowerPoint presentation of an Advent calendar and
a talk on the difference between Roman and Christian
conceptions of peace, followed by a freewheeling
discussion, are typically innovative offerings. But the
worshipers come together quietly for the confession
and the Eucharist-a movingly simple ceremony that
ties them to the oldest practitioners of their faith.
Some chafe at certain practices, including saying the
Nicene Creed. But others don't. "A core of tradition
keeps us pointed in the right direction," says John
Bozeman, a university administrator. "It keeps us from
being just an encounter group."
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Contact Information
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