EPISCOPAL CHURCH-GAY MARRIAGE
Episcopalians vote to allow gay marriage in churches
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) β Episcopalians have voted to allow religious weddings for same-sex couples, just days after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide.
The vote was taken at the denomination’s national assembly in Salt Lake City. The measure passed by an overwhelming margin in the House of Deputies, the voting body of clergy and lay people. Tuesday, the House of Bishops had approved the resolution.
The church of nearly 1.9 million members is known for electing the first openly gay Episcopal bishop in 2003. Since then, many dioceses have allowed priests to perform civil same-sex weddings.
Still, the church hadn’t changed its own laws on marriage until now. Under the new rules, clergy can also decline to perform the ceremonies.
CHURCH FIRE
Official: Fire at South Carolina black church wasn’t arson
GREELEYVILLE, S.C. (AP) β Local and regional authorities say they haven’t ruled out any potential causes in a fire that destroyed a black church in South Carolina, but a federal official says preliminary indications show the blaze was not arson.
An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives office that oversees North and South Carolina said officials “haven’t ruled anything out or in” with regards to the Tuesday fire at the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville.
But a federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the case publicly says preliminary indications are that the fire wasn’t intentionally set.
Officials say the fire is still under investigation.
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CHURCH FIRE-STATISTICS
Stats show church fires not unusual
GREELEYVILLE, S.C. (AP) β There have been more than a half-dozen fires at black churches since a white gunman was recently charged with murder in the shootings of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. Investigators have determined that several were intentionally set, but have yet to announce any evidence of racial motives.
According to the best available national statistics, if these have been the only church fires happening recently, this would be a relatively safe time. According to a 2013 estimate by the National Fire Protection Association, which analyzed government data and survey results, an average of 31 houses of worship burned every week from 2007 through 2011.
Among these, arson was relatively rare: Just 16 percent of the estimated blazes at religious structures were intentionally set during the five-year period ending in 2011.
SUPREME COURT-RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Supreme Court grants relief to religious organizations
WASHINGTON (AP) β A religious liberty organization says it’s pleased with a recent Supreme Court decision that offers relief from the federal government mandate that employers provide insurance coverage for contraceptives or abortifacient drugs to employees or face fines.
A group of Pennsylvania-based religious organizations, including Catholic Charities and other social service organizations, are challenging the mandate. Adele Keim (kym), with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, says it’s the sixth time the Health and Human Services mandate has been before the Supreme Court, and the sixth time it has lost. The High Court also ruled in similar cases involving Little Sisters of the Poor, Wheaton College, the University of Notre Dame, and the Michigan Catholic Conference, and the business Hobby Lobby. Keim says it’s expected that the Supreme Court will hear a non-profit challenge to the mandate in the next year.
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PREGNANT WOMAN LAWSUIT
Court dismisses lawsuit filed on behalf of pregnant woman
DETROIT (AP) β A federal court in Michigan has dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of a pregnant woman who was denied appropriate medical treatment because of the hospital’s religious directives. The court said it was doing so, in part, because resolution of the case would involve reviewing religious doctrine.
The case involved Muskegon resident Tamesha Means who was taken to a Catholic-affiliated hospital while having a miscarriage. She says the hospital said there was nothing it could do, and sent her home.
The lawsuit claims the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which drafted the hospital’s directives, is responsible for the unnecessary trauma and harm that Means and other pregnant women in similar situations have experienced. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed the case and says it will appeal.
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POPE-PHILADELPHIA-SOUVENIERS
Pope dolls, bobble heads up for sale months before US visit
PHILADELPHIA (AP) β Pope Francis is a doll. No, really.
The people organizing the pontiff’s September visit to Philadelphia have launched an online store featuring papal plush dolls and bobble heads.
The World Meeting of Families website features posters, T-shirts and life-sized cutouts depicting the 78-year-old Francis in his trademark white cassock and cap.
The pope’s nine-day visit to the U.S. and Cuba ends with a two-day stop in Philadelphia on Sept. 26-27. He’s scheduled to visit inmates, speak on religious freedom and immigration, and celebrate Mass.
Among the other items for sale: travel mugs featuring the World Meeting logo and My First Rosary baby toys.
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VATICAN-ENVIRONMENT
Anti-capitalist eco-crusader Naomi Klein hosted at Vatican
VATICAN CITY (AP) β The Vatican has yet another strange partner in its expanding ecological alliance, hosting anti-capitalist eco-crusader Naomi Klein at a conference on saving the planet.
Klein, author of “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate,” acknowledges that she never expected to be invited to the Vatican, “as a secular Jewish feminist.”
But she told a Vatican news conference that Pope Francis’ recent encyclical on the environment and the global economic system that is threatening it spoke to her. She said it should inspire those who use the Bible to defend man’s domination of nature and deny climate change to change their ways.
The Vatican has come under fire from conservatives for hosting the U.N. chief and Jeffrey Sachs at another climate conference, given their support for access to contraception.
NOAH’S ARK PARK-SUIT
Group building Noah’s ark seeking lost Kentucky tax incentive
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) β Lawyers for a Christian ministry building a Noah’s ark theme park say Kentucky officials violated religious protections in the First Amendment when they denied the project a state tax incentive worth millions.
The builder of the 510-foot wooden ark, Answers in Genesis, is suing to get back into the tourism incentive program, which could be worth around $18 million.
The group’s lawyers told a federal court in Frankfort that the Christian group should not be treated differently for the incentive just because its theme park will have religious themes. Kentucky tourism officials say the giant wooden ark would be an evangelical tool and shouldn’t receive tax dollars. They are asking that the group’s lawsuit be dismissed.
MEXICO-CHURCH-VIOLENCE
Mexico’s Catholic church says priest, nuns, robbed, attacked
MEXICO CITY (AP) β Mexico’s Roman Catholic church says three elderly nuns were gagged and bound during a robbery at their mission house in southern Mexico.
The Diocese of Tehuantepec says the nuns were uninjured. The parish priest was beaten, bound and robbed at gunpoint nine months earlier.
In 2014, three priests were found dead and apparently murdered in neighboring Guerrero state.
It’s not clear whether priests have been specifically targeted or are simply victims of the generally high levels of violent crime that prevail in some parts of Mexico.
MUSLIM GIRLS-ATHLETIC WEAR
New sports uniforms level the playing field for Muslim girls
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) β A group of primarily Muslim girls in Minneapolis has designed their own sportswear that is aimed at being both practical and modest.
When the girls played in traditional dress, they risked tripping on long skirts. Or a head scarf could come undone during a crucial play. The solution: athletic wear that allows the girls to move freely while preserving their modesty.
Working with designers from the University of Minnesota, the girls came up with two designs. One uniform, good for all sports, features leggings and a knee-length tunic. For the basketball team, the girls designed a bright red outfit that includes a tight black headpiece.
GAY MARRIAGE-DAYCARE
New Mexico church daycare says it’s closing due to finances, same-sex marriage ruling
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) β A Las Cruces, New Mexico, church daycare says it’s closing due to troubled finances and the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage.
First Baptist Church’s Senior Pastor David Burrows told a TV station in El Paso (KFOX-TV) that church officials are refusing to accept government funds because they don’t want the government telling them who they can hire.
That move comes after Burrows says a new security system, nine new employees and a lack of government funds created a $300,000 shortfall for the church.
Parents say church officials also told them they didn’t want the federal government forcing them to hire gays or atheists. Burrows didn’t deny the parents’ claim but said plans to close the daycare also were discussed before last week’s ruling.
CHURCH OF CANNABIS-INDIANA
Congregants, protesters gather at Indiana Church of Cannabis
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) β More than 100 people packed a pot-smoking Indianapolis church for a music-filled first service without their illegal sacrament, days after authorities threatened arrests if the congregation lit up during the rites.
Participants in the First Church of Cannabis’ inaugural service had planned to celebrate by smoking marijuana.
But church founder Bill Levin (luh-VIN’) decided to keep pot out of the service to avoid arrests and ensure he can test the state’s new religious objections law in civil court and not on criminal grounds.
About 40 people unhappy with the new pot-smoking church stood across the street from the small chapel during the service, holding protest signs. One read, “Marijuana is illegal in Indiana.”
PAUL REVERE BELL
Historic 1800s church bell restored, returned to Cape Cod
WEST BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) β A piece of American history with a connection to a famous patriot is returning home to Cape Cod in time for July 4 celebrations.
The Cape Cod Times reports the historic bell that sat atop the 1717 Meetinghouse in West Barnstable returned home Tuesday following its restoration in Ohio.
The bell, cast by the Paul Revere foundry in Boston in the early 1800s, cost $28,000 to repair. It needed a frame, yoke, bolts, wheel and clapper.
In attendance for the bell’s return was Paul Revere III, a fourth great-grandson of the patriot.
BEST SELLER LIST
Christian Booksellers Association Best Seller List
UNDATED (AP) β The Christian Booksellers Association is out with its best seller lists for July. Based on the latest sales rankings available the top selling book in the Christian Living category is “Jesus Calling.” That’s followed by “The Power of Right Believing,” and “God’s Promises for Graduates.” ”Jesus Calling Kids” tops the children’s books category. “Armed and Dangerous” is the top seller on the young adult list. “Mom’s Night Out” tops the video category. “America the Beautiful” is the top audio book.
