WORLD AIDS DAY-CHURCH
Megachurch continues World Aids Day outreach
LAKE FOREST, Calif. (AP) β One of America’s largest evangelical churches is continuing its nearly decade-long outreach to AIDS victims.
On this Dec. 1 World Aids Day, Southern California’s Saddleback Church is offering free and confidential HIV testing.
Saddleback co-founder Kay Warren and her husband, Pastor Rick Warren, highlighted the church’s AIDS ministry in the U.S. and Africa at Sunday services. Kay Warren said this year’s goal is to eliminate the stigma that many people attach to the disease.
Saddleback Church hosted the second annual Global Summit on Aids and the Church in 2006, with speakers including then-Senator Barack Obama.
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193-a-09-(Elizabeth Styffe (STYF’, rhymes with life), global director of Saddleback Church’s HIV and AIDS ministry, speaking at Sunday service)-“matters to us”-Elizabeth Styffe, global director of Saddleback Church’s HIV and AIDS ministry, says the church is observing World AIDS Day on its California campus. (30 Nov 2014)
< 190-w-33-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren, and his wife Kay Warren)–One of America’s largest evangelical churches is continuing its nearly decade-long outreach to AIDS victims. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (30 Nov 2014) < 192-a-06-(Kay Warren, co-founder of Saddleback Church, in recorded remarks to Sunday services)-“around the world”-Kay Warren, co-founder of Saddleback Church, says there should be no stigma attached to AIDS. ((cut used in wrap)) (30 Nov 2014) < 191-a-10-(Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, speaking at Sunday service)-“around the world”-Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren says his church has a longstanding commitment to helping AIDS victims. (30 Nov 2014) < FERGUSON-CHURCH FIRE Ferguson pastor suspects arson in church fire FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) β The pastor of a church gutted by fire in Ferguson, Missouri, says it will be rebuilt. Flood Christian Church had been attended by Michael Brown’s father and his family. It was among dozens of businesses damaged or destroyed by fires last Monday after the grand jury investigating the 18-year-old Brown’s fatal shooting failed to indict police officer Darren Wilson. The Washington Post reports that Pastor Carlton Lee preached Sunday in a parking lot adjacent to the church’s burnt wreckage. Lee has said he believes the small church was targeted, noting that he received more than 70 death threats after calling for Wilson’s arrest. Federal investigators say evidence suggests the church was forced into. But a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it’s unclear if the church was randomly targeted or if the fire was linked to the church’s ties to Brown’s family. Sound: 208-a-12-(Reverend Carlton Lee, pastor, The Flood Christian Church, in AP interview)-“you pray with me”-Flood Christian Church Pastor Carlton Lee says he often counsels the father of shooting victim Michael Brown, but says strangers are also stopping him on the street to pray for healing in Ferguson. (30 Nov 2014) < 206-a-11-(Reverend Carlton Lee, pastor, The Flood Christian Church, in AP interview)-“down there ASAP”-Flood Christian Church Pastor Carlton Lee says he found out his church was set on fire while he was was out with his parishioners trying to quell some of the unrest in Ferguson, Monday night. ((cut used in wrap)) (30 Nov 2014) < 207-a-07-(Reverend Carlton Lee, pastor, The Flood Christian Church, in AP interview)-“than ever before”-Flood Christian Church Pastor Carlton Lee says although his church was set on fire during the Ferguson rioting, his congregation vows to rebuild. (30 Nov 2014) < 205-w-35-(Nicki Mayo with Reverend Carlton Lee, pastor, The Flood Christian Church, in AP interview)–The Missouri church where the father of shooting victim Michael Brown worshipped is struggling to rebuild after a suspected arson during the Ferguson riots. AP correspondent Nicki Mayo reports. (30 Nov 2014) < FERGUSON-SHARPTON Sharpton: Officer’s resignation won’t heal Ferguson FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) β The Rev. Al Sharpton says healing won’t begin in Ferguson, Missouri, until families of police shooting victims receive justice. Sharpton told parishioners at the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Ferguson that this weekend’s resignation of Officer Darren Wilson did not patch the wounds. Wilson fatally shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown in a Ferguson street after the two scuffled inside Wilson’s police SUV. Last Monday the grand jury refused to bring charges against Wilson. In church on Sunday, Sharpton told parishioners not to give up, but to keep struggling to prevent future incidents. Outside the church following Sharpton’s message, congregants said they’re trusting God that Brown’s death can help produce racial progress. Sound: 140-r-23-(Sound of singing, at church service in St. Louis with Michael Brown’s parents in attendance)–Sound of singing at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church service in St. Louis with Michael Brown’s parents in attendance. (30 Nov 2014) < 136-a-13-(Reverend Al Sharpton, at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, in remarks)-“Michael Brown’s justice”-Reverend Al Sharpton says that in spite of the resignation of Officer Darren Wilson, he will continue marching for justice. (30 Nov 2014) < 138-a-14-(Reverend Al Sharpton, at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, in remarks)-“come to Ferguson”-Reverend Al Sharpton says he will continue the fight for justice in Ferguson. (30 Nov 2014) < 139-a-07-(Reverend Al Sharpton, at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, in remarks)-“no other way”-Reverend Al Sharpton says authorities should not be taking the lives of young people so easily. (30 Nov 2014) < FERGUSON-OREGON Rev. Jesse Jackson calls for peace after Ferguson PORTLAND, Ore (AP) β Rev. Jesse Jackson has urged churchgoers in Portland, Oregon, to keep fighting for racial justice. Jackson preached Sunday at Emmanuel Temple, a day after 10 people were arrested in Portland following a protest related to the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting. The Oregonian says Jackson criticized the grand jury that decided Monday not to indict Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson, but also took aim at other systemic and national racial disparities. Jackson delivered a similar speech at a gathering Saturday night. Portland police say that after Jackson left, some protesters marched around downtown and sporadically disrupted traffic. Officials say some bottles were thrown at officers and a police car was damaged. The nine adults and one juvenile arrested will face charges that include disorderly conduct. RITUAL ABUSE-CONVICTION CHALLENGED Freed Texas day care owners still want exoneration AUSTIN, Texas (AP) β Former day care owners who spent 21 years in prison before being freed amid questions over their convictions for child abuse involving satanic rituals are struggling to convince prosecutors that they should be fully exonerated. Dan and Fran Keller, who divorced in prison, were freed on bond last year when the only physical evidence against them was found to be a mistake. They had been convicted in 1992 after therapists testified that they helped three children recover memories of satanic rituals and sexual abuse at an Austin preschool the Kellers operated. The Kellers, who always denied the charges, want the courts to throw out their convictions. But a year after they were freed from prison, Travis County prosecutors remain unwilling to proclaim them innocent. Prosecutors told the Austin American-Statesman that to overcome a jury finding of guilt, the courts require new evidence that unquestionably establishes innocence. TURKEY-RUSSIAN ORTHODOX Pope seeks meeting with Russian Orthodox leader ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) β Pope Francis says he is ready to go anywhere, anytime to meet with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church β even while acknowledging that he doubts the day will ever come that Catholic and Orthodox theologians agree to end the 1,000-year schism. Francis spoke to reporters Sunday en route home from Turkey, where he made a remarkable gesture of deference to the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians by bowing down to receive his blessing. Francis also assured Turkey’s Orthodox community that the Catholic Church wouldn’t force the Orthodox to give up their patrimony and tradition on the path to unity. Asked about prospects of meeting with Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Francis said both wanted to meet. TURKEY-POPE Pope ends Turkey trip with joint statement; seeks unity with Orthodox Church ISTANBUL (AP) β Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, are calling for an “appropriate response” from the international community to persecution of Christians. The two demanded an end to violence against Christians in Syria and Iraq and called for dialogue with Muslims, capping Francis’ three-day visit to Turkey. Francis and Bartholomew are urging leaders in the region to intensify help to victims of the Islamic State group, and especially to allow Christians who have had a presence for 2,000 years to remain on their native lands. After a liturgy alongside Bartholomew in the Orthodox Church of St. George, the pope called for unity, assuring the Orthodox faithful that it wouldn’t mean sacrificing their rich liturgical or cultural patrimony or “signify the submission of one to the other, or assimilation.” The churches split in 1054 over differences on the primacy of the papacy. HOME INVASION-KOSHER DIET Death row inmate’s prison food complaint rejected HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) β A federal judge in Connecticut has rejected the arguments of a home invasion killer on death row who complained that the food he is being served in prison is not kosher. Steven Hayes, convicted of killing a mother and two daughters, sued the Department of Correction in August, alleging the preparation practices for kosher meals in the kitchen at the state’s highest-security prison do not conform to Jewish dietary laws. Hayes describes himself in the lawsuit as an Orthodox Jew and says he’s been requesting a kosher diet since May 2013. He says he has suffered “almost two years of emotional injury from having to choose between following God and starving or choosing sin to survive.” U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Thompson rejected Hayes’ motions, noting that the state Department of Correction has two rabbis who certify that the food and the food preparation process comply with Jewish dietary laws. ISRAEL-VANDALISM Police say fire damages bilingual Jerusalem school JERUSALEM (AP) β Israeli police say suspected arsonists have set fire to a bilingual Hebrew-Arabic school in Jerusalem. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri says the fire was set Saturday night to a classroom in the Jerusalem school, which has both Jewish and Arab students. Graffiti was found on the walls reading “death to Arabs” and referencing a late ultranationalist rabbi. She said police were investigating but it appeared to be the latest so-called “price tag” incident. The phrase is used by a small group of mostly teenage Jewish extremists to protest what they perceive as the Israeli government’s pro-Palestinian policies. Mosques, churches, dovish Israeli groups and even Israeli military bases have been targeted by vandals in recent years. The acts have been widely condemned by Israeli leaders across the political spectrum. NIGERIA-VIOLENCE Nigeria: Kano mosque blasts death toll above 102 KANO, Nigeria (AP) β Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is vowing to track down the perpetrators of the bomb blasts that killed more than 100 people at the central mosque in the city of Kano. The multiple explosions that hit the mosque on Friday also injured more than 150. Hundreds had gathered Friday in the mosque, which is known for attracting moderates, for a sermon in a region terrorized by attacks from the Islamist group Boko Haram.
