KILLINGS BY POLICE-CHURCHES
Black churches pray in protest of police slayings
NEW YORK (AP) — Congregants in African-American churches nationwide have worn black to Sunday services and said special prayers to draw attention to fatal police shootings of unarmed black men.
Church leaders organized “Black Lives Matter” Sunday in response to the police slayings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York. Several historically black denominations, including the Church of God in Christ and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, led the effort.
Some pastors prayed over the men in attendance. Others prayed for police to do their jobs with integrity. Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter’s House Church in Dallas said in a sermon that black men shouldn’t be “tried on the sidewalk.”
The day of prayer came a day after demonstrations nationwide pressed for changes to the criminal justice system.
Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed)
167-v-32-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–Congregants in African-American churches nationwide have worn black to Sunday services, and said special prayers, to draw attention to fatal police shootings of unarmed black men. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (14 Dec 2014)
< NEWTOWN SHOOTING-ANNIVERSARY Newtown victim’s mom speaks out about gun violence NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) — The mother of a first-grader who was killed in the Newtown shooting rampage says other mothers across the country also have broken hearts over gun violence. Nelba Marquez-Greene spoke Sunday at The First Cathedral church in Bloomfield, Connecticut, about the loss of her daughter, Ana Grace. Marquez-Greene asked anyone feeling despair or the desire to commit “a senseless act of violence” to stop and ask for prayer instead and “to know that we love you.” Her husband, saxophonist Jimmy Greene, also spoke and played at the service. Other churches also remembered the victims on the second anniversary of the massacre that left 20 first-graders and six educators dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School. No public memorial events were held. Newtown officials said the day would be for private reflection and remembrance. Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed) 162-w-35-(Julie Walker, AP correspondent, with Nelba Marquez-Greene, mother of Ana (AH’-nuh) Marquez-Greene, one of the 26 victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School)–A church service was held to honor one of the 20 children killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut two years ago. AP correspondent Julie Walker reports. (14 Dec 2014) < 163-a-11-(Nelba Marquez-Greene, mother of Ana (AH’-nuh) Marquez-Greene, one of the 26 victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School, at church service)-“come from us”-Nelba Marquez-Greene, whose daughter Ana was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, says there needs to be tougher gun laws and mental health reforms. (14 Dec 2014) < 164-a-09-(Nelba Marquez-Greene, mother of Ana (AH’-nuh) Marquez-Greene, one of the 26 victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School, at church service)-“see her again (applause)”-Nelba Marquez-Greene, whose daughter Ana was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, says when they first heard about the shooting they knew their daughter was gone. (14 Dec 2014) < 165-a-08-(Nelba Marquez-Greene, mother of Ana (AH’-nuh) Marquez-Greene, at church service)-“has been despair”-Nelba Marquez-Greene, whose daughter Ana was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, says it has not been easy, but they put their faith in the Lord. (14 Dec 2014) < RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AMBASSADOR Senate confirms rabbi to be religious freedom ambassador WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed Rabbi David Saperstein to be the U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom. The 67-year-old Saperstein, an activist in the liberal Reform branch of Judaism, received Senate confirmation Friday to the post that sat vacant for more than a year. Ambassador Suzan Johnson Cook resigned in October, 2013. When Saperstein’s nomination was announced in July, Secretary of State John Kerry called him “one of America’s most compelling and committed voices on religion in public life.” Kerry said the rabbi was joining the effort to reduce persecution “at a very important time.” Rabbi Saperstein is the first non-Christian to occupy the diplomatic post since its creation in 1998. Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed) 270-w-32-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Secretary of State John Kerry)–The Senate has confirmed Rabbi David Saperstein to be the U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (14 Dec 2014) < CROSS DISPUTE-CONGRESS Senate passes bill addressing Mt. Soledad dispute WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress has passed a bill that could resolve the legal conflict involving San Diego’s Mount Soledad cross and veterans’ memorial. The bill the Senate passed Friday sets defense policy. It includes a provision from Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr. that authorizes the Defense Department to sell the land containing the memorial and a 43-foot cross to the Mount Soledad Memorial Association. The private association already maintains the site. The House has also passed the bill, so now it goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. Federal courts have ruled that the cross is an unconstitutional effort by the government to endorse a religion, and a judge has ordered the cross’s removal. Transferring the land to a private group aims to eliminate that conflict, but it’s uncertain whether Hunter’s legislation will end the litigation. CARROLL COUNTY-PRAYER Md. county to continue disputed prayer policy WESTMINSTER, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s Carroll County commissioners have voted to continue allowing members to open their meetings with sectarian prayers. Thursday’s 3-2 decision leaves it to the courts to decide whether the practice violates the First Amendment’s prohibition on state-sponsored religion. The issue had been unresolved since the November election put three new members on the all-Republican, five-member board. Proponents say the policy conforms to a Supreme Court ruling in May allowing clergy to invoke specific deities in opening prayers at government meetings. That opinion didn’t address Carroll County’s practice of having prayers said in rotation by the elected commissioners. Veteran Commissioner Richard Rothschild has shown a preference for overtly Christian prayers. Plaintiffs in a pending lawsuit contend that sectarian prayers said by government officials violate the U.S. Constitution. CHRISTMAS SIGNS Pastor putting Christmas signs in yards CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee pastor says he is using yards to remind people to keep Christ in Christmas. Pastor Jimmy Terry of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Clarksville told The Leaf-Chronicle that he wants to put 10,000 signs on private properties in Montgomery, Cheatham, Houston, Stewart and Dickson counties in Tennessee and in the cities of Oak Grove, Guthrie and Hopkinsville in Kentucky. Terry says the holiday is becoming more and more about materialism. The signs he began distributing on Dec. 1 say the true meaning of Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus. Terry says donations paid for the cost of printing the signs, which are free to the public, though contributions are being accepted. VATICAN-US NUNS Vatican report on US nuns to be released in Rome VATICAN CITY (AP) — A much-anticipated Vatican report on U.S. women’s religious orders, which was ordered under Pope Benedict XVI, will be released Tuesday in Rome. It’s one of two separate Vatican inquiries of American nuns that angered many Catholic sisters, who considered the reviews an attempt to bring them more under the authority of the all-male church leadership. Some sisters would not fill out the study’s questionnaire or participate in on-site interviews. The other investigation, by the Vatican’s guardian of orthodoxy, was released in 2012. It focused narrowly on the major umbrella organization for sisters, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and concluded the organization had strayed from church doctrine and had to change. Researchers at Georgetown University say the number of nuns has dropped from about 180,000 in 1965 to fewer than 50,000 this year, and most of them are elderly. VATICAN-POPE-JOY DAY Pope: Enough gloom, try joy ahead of Christmas VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is encouraging people to strive for joy, telling his worldwide flock, “We’ve never heard of a sad saint.” Some 50,000 people came to St. Peter’s Square to cheer the pope during his traditional Sunday window appearance. Among them were many children clutching figurines of baby Jesus for Francis to bless for Christmas crèche scenes at home or school. Francis said: “Man’s heart desires joy. Every family, every people, aspires to happiness.” To symbolize the joy Christians experience awaiting Christmas, priests wore pink vestments at Mass on Sunday. Francis said being “missionaries of joy” should be part of a lifestyle that helps people face difficult situations in life. He held up a pocket-sized prayer book and told the crowd to take free copies being distributed in the square. CHURCH COMPLAINTS NC church members facing charges in beating of gay man SPINDALE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina student says he feared for his life when he was beaten by church members in an attempt to cure him of being gay. Five members of the Word of Faith Fellowship church in Spindale have been indicted for kidnapping and assault in connection with Matthew Fenner’s beating. Fenner told The Associated Press that they surrounded him in the church’s sanctuary after a service two years ago and began shouting, choking and beating him. The University of North Carolina student says they believed they could beat the demons out of him and stop him from being gay. The church’s attorney says the church members are innocent. This is the latest controversy to surround the church, which has been accused for years of enforcing extensive control over its congregation. RACE DISCUSSIONS-MORMON CHURCH Mormons say race remains taboo topic in church SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A year after Mormon leaders published a landmark essay on the church’s past ban on blacks in the priesthood, some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say race seems to remain a taboo topic. Amid a nationwide uproar over race and police use of force, black Mormons like retired Pennsylvania state trooper Kevin Mosley said this week they want to talk about the issues with members of their faith, but it’s tough. The Mormon church barred men of African descent from its lay clergy until 1978. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that last year’s online essay was a landmark acknowledgement that disavowed the church’s painful history, but it wasn’t highly publicized by leaders and some members aren’t aware of it. MYANMAR-BUDDHA IMAGE ARREST Myanmar bar manager accused of insulting Buddhism YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A New Zealand bar manager in Myanmar has been arrested for allegedly insulting Buddhism after posting an online advertisement showing a psychedelic image of Buddha wearing headphones. Police say the V Gastro Bar in Myanmar’s capital was shut down after a complaint was filed against the advertisement, which was posted on the bar’s Facebook page. Bar manager Philip Blackwood and two Myanmar employees were arrested and are scheduled to appear in court this week to face charges of insulting religion, which carry a penalty of up to two years in prison. The image has been removed from the Facebook page and replaced by an apology. The arrests come during a surge of religious nationalism in Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country.
