MISSION GROUPS-EBOLA
Ebola threat worries Christian mission groups
TULSA, Okla. (AP) β The threat of Ebola has caused some Christian groups to rethink their mission efforts in West Africa.
Real Impact Missions takes 400 high school students a year on short-term mission trips to five countries. Founder and director Scott Boss told the Tulsa World that a trip was scheduled for next spring to Burkina Faso in Africa, but will likely be changed to India.
David Rogers with Youth Vision International said he’s directed his leaders to stop holding Christian youth meetings in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. He says one of his leaders died when he couldn’t get medical attention for an asthma attack because of the Ebola outbreak.
The CEO of Blessings International in Tulsa, which provides medical supplies for missionaries, says he’s seeing fewer people going into affected areas. The organization has been in contact with a pastor in Sierra Leone who has lost five members of his church congregation to Ebola.
Sound:
226-v-31-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–The threat of Ebola has caused some Christian groups to rethink their mission efforts in West Africa. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (9 Oct 2014)
< DC BIBLE MUSEUM Hobby Lobby family starting work on Bible Museum WASHINGTON (AP) β Hobby Lobby President Steve Green says construction is about to start on a Bible Museum just off the national Mall in Washington. In remarks at Ohio’s Cedarville University, Green said his family has spent years amassing a collection of 44,000 biblical artifacts that will be housed in the museum, which they hope to open in the fall of 2017. He says it will be a state-of-the-art facility presenting the Bible’s contents, history and impact on America and the world. Green says the Bible had a significant role in America’s founding, so “to be ignorant of the Bible is to be ignorant of the church and the state.” Sound: 258-a-14-(Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby, addressing conference at Cedarville University)-“does it say”-Hobby Lobby President Steve Green says the museum will present several aspects of the Bible. (9 Oct 2014) < 255-w-28-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby)–Hobby Lobby President Steve Green says construction is about to start on a Bible museum just off the National Mall in Washington. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (9 Oct 2014) < 256-a-06-(Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby, addressing conference at Cedarville University)-“opening of 2017”-Hobby Lobby President Steve Green says some demolition work is about to start on the building that’s being converted into a Museum of the Bible. (9 Oct 2014) < 257-a-11-(Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby, addressing conference at Cedarville University)-“the Bush Library”-Hobby Lobby President Steve Green says the Museum of the Bible will be state of the art when in opens in late 2017. (9 Oct 2014) < 259-a-08-(Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby, addressing conference at Cedarville University)-“that book is”-Hobby Lobby President Steve Green says Americans need to understand the Bible’s importance. (9 Oct 2014) < SCHOOL-PROTEST PRAYER Ohio community plans prayer after shirt challenge NEWARK, Ohio (AP) β An Ohio community is planning a public prayer at this week’s high school football game in response to a recent challenge by a group demanding the separation of religion and government. A resident of Newark, east of Columbus, is behind the planned public demonstration at midfield following the football game at Licking Valley High School Friday night. The school was recently challenged by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation for the T-shirts worn by band members during a performance that said “Salvation.” In a letter, the group said the shirts send the message to non-Christian students that they are outsiders. The Advocate newspaper of Newark reports that the high school principal says any plans for a community prayer are not school sponsored. PIZZA DELIVERY-BIG TIP Indiana college gives pizza deliverer $1,200 tip MARION, Ind. (AP) β A pizza delivery driver has a lot to show for a run to Indiana Wesleyan University. When James Gilpin brought two pizzas costing $12.50 to the university’s chapel Wednesday, he was given a $1,268 tip collected by students. Residential education CEO Keith Newman brought Gilpin onstage and gave him the money, along with $70 in gift cards and thousands of inspirational notes written by the students at the school in Marion. Newman says the big tip for the pizzas illustrates his message that students should do for one person what they wish they could do for everyone. Gilpin told WRTV that he’ll use the money to help with Christmas gifts for his two children. He says he’s already been inspired by the students’ notes. ISLAMIC STATE-CHICAGO ARREST Lawyer: No proof teen sought to back terrorists CHICAGO (AP) β An attorney for a 19-year-old American accused of trying to join Islamic State militants in Syria says the government doesn’t have evidence his client sought to provide material support to foreign terrorists. Mohammed Hamzah Khan’s lawyer spoke after a detention hearing Thursday in Chicago. The federal judge delayed a ruling on keeping Khan in custody until Oct. 21. Attorney Thomas Durkin said Khan is “a very fervent believer in Islam.” Durkin added, “There’s quite a debate over certain versions of Islamic belief.” Authorities arrested Khan Saturday at O’Hare International Airport. Authorities say Khan left his parents a letter saying he was traveling to Syria. Durkin says the parents weren’t aware of those plans and didn’t see the letter until agents found it in a search. Sound: 213-a-07-(Thomas Durkin, attorney for Mohammed Hamzah Khan, 19-year-old American accused of trying to join Islamic State militants in Syria, with reporters after federal court hearing)-“support to ISIS”-Attorney Thomas Durkin says the government won’t be able to prove that his client sought to aid foreign terrorists. (9 Oct 2014) < 214-a-12-(Thomas Durkin, attorney for Mohammed Hamzah Khan, 19-year-old American accused of trying to join Islamic State militants in Syria, with reporters after federal court hearing)-“his religious views”-Attorney Thomas Durkin says his 19-year-old client, Mohammed Hamzah Khan, should not be imprisoned for being devout. (9 Oct 2014) < 215-a-14-(Thomas Durkin, attorney for Mohammed Hamzah Khan, 19-year-old American accused of trying to join Islamic State militants in Syria, with reporters after federal court hearing)-“into their hand”-Attorney Thomas Durkin says the Islamic State group has been setting a trap but the U.S. shouldn’t jump into it. (9 Oct 2014) < VATICAN-FAMILY Top Vatican cardinal wants streamlined annulments VATICAN CITY (AP) β The Vatican’s top lawyer says he favors changing how the church handles marriage annulments to speed them up and reduce costs and red tape. Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio said Thursday that he favors letting individual bishops rather than a church tribunal declare marriages null in certain cases. Catholic doctrine holds that a church marriage is indissoluble. An annulment is a judgment that the marriage had some inherent defect from the start and can be declared null. Reasons can vary, including that the couple never intended for their marriage to last or that one of the spouses didn’t want children. Catholics have long complained that it can take years to get an annulment, if they can get one at all. Coccopalmerio spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a two-week meeting of bishops from around the world debating how church teaching on marriage, divorce, gays and sex can be more relevant to today’s Catholics. Sound: 167-c-14-(Nicole Winfield, AP correspondent)-“to handle them”-AP correspondent Nicole Winfield reports that Catholics have long grumbled that it can take years to get an annulment, if they can get one at all. (9 Oct 2014) < 166-c-12-(Nicole Winfield, AP correspondent)-“a marriage null”-AP correspondent Nicole Winfield reports that the Vatican’s top lawyer favors letting individual bishops make decisions on annulments, changing what has been strictly a judicial church process to an administrative one. (9 Oct 2014) < 165-c-14-(Nicole Winfield, AP correspondent)-“and red tape”-AP correspondent Nicole Winfield reports that a top Vatican cardinal wants to streamline annulments, making it easier for divorced Catholics to re-marry. (9 Oct 2014) < VATICAN-LEGION OF CHRIST Legion of Christ’s US women’s college to close VATICAN CITY (AP) β The Legion of Christ religious order has suffered another blow with the announcement that its training center for consecrated women in the U.S. is closing because of poor enrollment. The Mater Ecclesiae College in Greenville, Rhode Island, had catered to women who were deciding whether they wanted to live like nuns within the Legion’s lay movement. The consecrated branch of the Legion was plagued by serious spiritual and psychological abuses, requiring a Vatican-mandated overhaul just as the Legion itself was taken over by Pope Benedict XVI after revelations that its late founder had fathered children and sexually abused his seminarians. In a letter Thursday, the head of consecrated women in North America, Nancy Nohrden, said that the “difficulties and institutional changes” of the past few years had resulted in fewer vocations and lower college enrollment. She said the school will close at the end of the academic year. PRIEST-FINANCIAL PROBE Catholic pastor removed in financial probe PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) β The pastor of a Catholic church in suburban Detroit has been ordered to step aside in an investigation of church finances. The Rev. Thomas Belczak had been pastor at St. Kenneth Church for more than 10 years. His brother, the Rev. Ed Belczak, is under indictment in an alleged scheme to steal nearly $700,000 from a different church in suburban Detroit. Archdiocese of Detroit spokesman Ned McGrath says the cases aren’t related. In a statement, the archdiocese says investigators are looking into possible “improper use” of money at St. Kenneth in Plymouth Township. McGrath declined to elaborate, although the parish is not in any financial distress. Thomas Belczak officiated at a funeral Mass Thursday before being removed as pastor. PASTOR ACCUSED Allegations against ex-pastor shock church members CANTON, S.D. (AP) β Allegations that the former pastor of South Dakota’s Canton Lutheran Church sexually assaulted a teenage girl have shocked church members, who feel betrayed by a trusted leader. Tony Haglund is charged with three sex crime counts that allege he had sex with a teenage girl between January 2011 and December 2013 while he was the church’s pastor. He was arrested this week in Florida, where he was working as a real estate agent. Haglund resigned from the church about a year ago when the allegations arose and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America South Dakota Synod asked him to step down. Bishop David Zellmer says the synod is cooperating with law enforcement. Church members say part of the healing process for the congregation will involve forgiveness, though it won’t be easy. SISTER WIVES-POLYGAMY Utah appeals ruling in ‘Sister Wives’ case SALT LAKE CITY (AP) β Utah’s attorney general has appealed a ruling striking down parts of the state’s anti-polygamy law in a lawsuit brought by the family on the TLC reality TV show “Sister Wives.” The attorney general’s office filed the appeal Thursday with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In December, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups ruled in favor of reality show star Kody Brown and his four wives. He said a provision of the law forbidding cohabitation violated the Browns’ freedom of religion. Advocacy groups for polygamy and individual liberties hailed it as a landmark decision that removed the threat of arrest for plural families in Utah. Brown family attorney Jonathan Turley has said the family will take the legal fight to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. FASHION-HIJABI-HIPSTERS Muslim hijabi hipsters fusing fashion with faith DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) β Fashion-conscious Muslim women who wear the Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab, have had to get creative. By fusing their sense of fashion with their faith, this growing group is reinterpreting what it means to dress conservatively. They’re spawning a new market for niche fashion brands and finding unexpected support among some mainstream brands, as well as from conservative Christian and Orthodox Jewish women who dress modestly. Ibtihaj Muhammad owns Louella, a fashion brand catering to women who combine modest dressing with fashion. Louella has sold nearly 4,000 pieces since its launch three months ago. Muhammad, a professional athlete and member of the United States fencing team, said she struggled trying to find long-sleeved, floor-length dresses to wear when she traveled on behalf of Team USA and the State Department.
