Churches Becoming Less Formal, Styles Changing

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Jennifer Riley
Christian Post Reporter
Mon, Dec. 22 2008 09:08 AM EST

American churches have a more informal worship style and ethnically diverse congregation than ten years ago, found a recent study on religious congregation trends.

More worship services include drums, jumping and shouting or dancing, raising hands in praise, calling out "amen," visual projection equipment, applause, and speaking by people other than leaders compared to 1998, the National Congregations Study shows.

Fewer churches feature traditional choirs during services.

Most of the informal service changes occur in Protestant and Catholic churches that are increasingly using visual projection equipment and drums. The increase in jumping, shouting and dancing occur most frequently in black churches.

Lead researcher Mark Chaves, a sociology professor at Duke University School of Divinity, noted that the study’s findings are especially noteworthy because “religious traditions and organizations are widely considered to be remarkably resistant to change,” according to USA Today.

But the numbers for some features have remained about the same, including a sermon or speech, singing, greeting time, silent prayer or meditation, reading or reciting Scripture time, and speaking in tongues during service.

Besides becoming more informal, churches in America have also changed to be more ethnically diverse.

Noting that recent immigration has “clearly” played a role in congregations’ social composition, the study observed that predominantly white and non-Hispanic congregations are more ethnically diverse than they were in 1998.

The number of people in congregations with no Latinos decreased from 43 percent in 1998 to 36 percent in 2006-07. Meanwhile, the number of congregations with no Asians decreased from 59 percent to 50 percent, according to the study.

Congregations that reported no recent immigrants dropped from 61 percent in 1998 to 49 percent in 2006-07.

Another way of looking at the data is the number of people in completely white and non-Hispanic congregations decreased from 20 percent to 14 percent in the nine-year period.

But the diversity occurred mostly among white churches; the majority of black churches still remain predominantly racially homogeneous.

Diversity is also seen among clergy, mainly in Catholic churches. The head clergy has become increasingly minority, with 13 percent of Catholic churches now led by black or Hispanic priests, compared to only 1 percent in 1998.

Along with the diversity, however, leaders of congregations are older, on average, than they were in 1998. The median age of the head clergy has increased from 49 in 1998 to 53 in 2006. Furthermore, congregations across the religious spectrum have fewer younger leaders. Today, only 39 percent of congregations are led by someone 50 years old or younger, a drop from 48 percent in 1998.

Catholic and liberal/mainline congregations are more likely to have older clergy compared to other churches.

The biggest change seen in congregations over the past decade was in the area of computer technology.

In 1998, the number of congregations with Web sites was only 17 percent. The number has since risen to 44 percent in 2006-07. In other words, since 1998 another 10,000 congregations created Web sites and now 74 percent of service attendees are in congregations with Web sites.

Meanwhile, the number of those using email to communicate with members increased from 21 percent to 59 percent during this time period. Nearly 80 percent of attendees as of 2006-07 are in congregations that communicate with members via email.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Presbyterian Church Seeks to Deal With Churches Leaving Denomination

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Tue, Dec. 16 2008 02:48 PM EST

The departure of congregations from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) poses major risks, including the threat to both church unity and independence from the state, says one leader in the denomination.

Kears Pollock, moderator of the Pittsburgh Presbytery, has invited fellow Presbyterians to join an "informative" convocation, titled "Our Freedom of Religion at Risk – A Presbyterian Crisis," next year amid an exodus of a growing minority of congregations from the PC(USA).

"The unity of the church is at risk from within and from without," Pollock states in his invitation to the Feb. 19, 2009, event. "The current activities of some congregations and ministers encouraging division within the church can lead to subordination of the church to the state particularly when congregational sessions/trustees file civil suits against Presbyteries."

Pollock was addressing the court battles between congregations that left the denomination and their presbyteries – regional bodies of the PC(USA) – over church property ownership.

According to a June report by the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, 40 presbyteries face, or have faced, legal battles or similar challenges.

Pollock believes involving the courts threatens the religious practices of the denomination. "Court orders to prevent presbyteries from dealing with division, disorder, disobedience, dismissal and determination of the true church threaten the beliefs and practices of our denomination," according to a promotional flier for the convocation.

"The evolving civil law in many jurisdictions appears intent on adopting a default condition of requiring all non-hierarchical denominations to be treated as congregational in character ignoring the Biblical and historical nature of Presbyterian ecclesiology," Pollock stated.

"It weakens the constitutional barrier against government interference in religion."

Conservative Presbyterians who have left the PC(USA) have argued that the denomination has abandoned its Reformed roots and biblical foundation. Controversy was stirred in 2001 when the General Assembly – the denomination's highest governing body – did not affirm the "singular" saving Lordship of Jesus Christ. Conservatives became even more discontent when the 2006 General Assembly adopted a resolution that some believe allowed leeway for homosexual ordination.

Furthermore, this past summer the high governing body voted to remove from the denomination's constitution the requirement that clergy live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness." The proposal has been relegated to the presbyteries for approval.

The Pittsburgh moderator suggested that Presbyterians in property disputes are practicing "me centered" religion.

"We have not emphasized fully that Christ’s church is not the building where one worships. Nor is the church the congregation of one’s membership. Rather, we are one church united by the shared covenant through Christ and ultimately, through ecumenism, connected with the whole church, catholic," Pollock stated.

The Feb. 19 convocation will be webcast on the Pittsburgh Presbytery website.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Bible-Believing Episcopalians Split, Form New Denomination

The Episcopalian denomination, like many Protestant denominations, has been in the throes of a battle with liberal elements who prize politically correct pop-culture doctrine over God's word. And as has happened in some other denominations, the liberals have gained control of the Episcopal denomination.

One of the most egregious abandonments of truth in the Episcopal Church has been the embrace of homosexuality. The Bible is very clear in both Old and New Testaments that God's design for the expression of human sexuality is between a man and a woman in marriage. The Bible is equally clear that God does not approve of homosexual behavior, as it is clearly a violation of that design.

Yet the Episcopal denomination has gone so far as to appoint the openly and militantly homosexual V. Gene Robinson as the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.

The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the Anglican Church, with its roots in the Church of England. The worldwide body of Anglicans has for the last year or so struggled to maintain its allegiance to Biblical truth while avoiding a total split with the apostate American branch.

But now a split has happened. Those in the Episcopal Church who have more loyalty to the Bible than political correctness have announced the formation of a new denomination of conservative Episcopalians called the Anglican Church in North America.

The new denomination will include four Episcopal dioceses that recently split from the U.S. church, along with breakaway Anglican parishes from Canada.

From Fox News:

The announcement Wednesday in Wheaton, Ill., comes after decades of debate over what Episcopalians should believe about issues ranging from salvation to sexuality. Tensions erupted in 2003 when Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop.

It's sad that Bible-believing Episcopalians weren't able to regain control over the denomination. But at least honor has been restored to a segment of the Anglican presence in North America.

The apostate Episcopalians would do well to take a long, hard look at what their embrace of sin has wrought. Maybe if they take an honest look at their loyalties and repent soon, the Episcopalian denomination could be brought back together before too much time has passed.

But when such an advanced state of apostasy has transpired, repentance is against the odds, so I won't hold my breath.

Kudos, though, to the Episcopalians who have clearly declared where their loyalty lies: with God.

Survey Finds U.S. Churches Less Engaged in 2008 Election

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Jennifer Riley
Christian Post Reporter
Sun, Nov. 16 2008 12:47 PM EST

Churches were less active in this year’s election process than in 2004, according to a recently released survey.

The survey by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that significantly fewer voters who attended religious services said that they received information about political parties and candidates at their place of worship during the 2008 election cycle.

Among all voters who attend religious services at least once or twice a month, only 15 percent say they received election information at their house of worship. In 2004, 27 percent said they were given such information.

The difference was most greatest among white evangelicals, who reported a 17 percent change between 2004 and 2008 (33 to 16 percent, respectively) and among Catholics, who also saw a 17 percent drop (31 to 14 percent).

Black Protestants, meanwhile, were the most likely to hear about candidates and parties in churches during this election year (29 percent) compared with other religious groups.

Besides being less likely to receive information on presidential candidates, church-goers this year were also less likely to say they received information about state or local ballot initiatives or constitutional amendments.

In 2004, nearly one-in-five (19 percent) voters who attend religious services received such information, compared with 13 percent in this year’s campaign.

Fewer voters also said their clergy explicitly encouraged them to vote in a particular way. Only eight percent of those who attend services say they received this kind of encouragement in 2008, which is slightly less than the 11 percent who said they were urged to vote for a particular candidate or ballot initiative by clergy or religious group in 2004.

Among the religious groups, Catholics were the ones most likely to say they were encouraged by clergy or other religious groups at their church to vote in a particular manner. Nearly one out of five white Catholics (18 percent) said they were urged by the church to vote a certain way, more than double the figure for any other religious group.

The survey results were based on telephone interviews conducted Nov. 6-9, 2008, among a sample of 1,500 voters (“voters” are those respondents who said they voted in the 2008 election).

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Breaking News: Christian Church Teaches from Bible!

You know our society is in trouble when it's controversial news that a church would actually stick with Biblical teaching about homosexuality.

Mixing religion and politics is inappropriate

BY STAR PARKER
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
COALITION ON URBAN RENEWAL & EDUCATION

A number of years ago, John McCain did a hilarious segment on "Saturday Night Live" in which he did a spoof commercial for an album called "McCain Sings Streisand."

The "commercial" featured a crooning McCain torturing a number of Streisand hits -- "People," "Memories," "The Way We Were."

The senator then pitched, "I've been in politics for 20 years, and for 20 years I've had Barbra Streisand trying to do my job. So I decided to try my hand at her job."

Pastor Rick Warren's presidential candidate "Civic Forum" at his Saddleback Church brought this SNL highlight to mind.

I'm picturing a segment with Lou Dobbs or Brit Hume preaching a Sunday sermon in a crowded church and then looking into the camera and saying, "Rick Warren is taking a fling at my job, so I thought I'd try my hand at his."

My apologies to Pastor Warren. Who am I to question a pastor who has sold 35 million books that flick on the light for folks to see that life is more than just about themselves?

God Bless Pastor Warren for this.

But I think his foray into presidential politics carries a lot of baggage and creates problems.

If anything characterizes the problems we're having today it is relativism and ambiguity. A blurring of lines between everything. John McCain's "Saturday Night Live" sketch jokes about one part of this. Our elevation of entertainment and celebrity to the point where movie stars start thinking they should be setting public policy, and the public taking them seriously.

In our materialism, we're losing the distinction between money, power and celebrity as compared with knowledge and wisdom.

Now we're seeing a world in which clarity between good and evil, right and wrong, knowledge and ignorance, men and women is disappearing into a borderless and indistinguishable gray.

For whatever good intentions, Warren may have, by posturing as a neutral broker between different points of view, many of which have profound moral and religious implications, and he contributes to the moral ambiguity which we'd expect a pastor to be combating.

We have institutions for civic and political forums. The press, universities, town halls, etc. If they're not delivering well, let the marketplace work to improve what we're getting. But this is not the job of pastors or churches. If it is, where do we go to learn about good and evil?

What exactly is going on in America when our obsession is to cleanse every inch of public space from religion, yet somehow we think it is appropriate to bring a presidential political forum into church?

Our kids can't pray in public school. Or read the bible or learn to apply traditional values in managing their lives. The Ten Commandments cannot appear in our courthouses. A creche cannot be displayed in a public space during Christmas season.

Yet somehow we think a church is an appropriate forum for hosting candidates for president?

Our world is turning upside down. Rather than raising our public and private lives to a higher moral standard, we're politicizing religion.

It's actually worse, I think.

The pretense of neutrality is really a left-wing illusion. It's a sleight of hand to buy into relativism and somehow Warren seems to have fallen into the trap.

When a pastor hosts a political candidate that has a 100 percent rating by NARAL Pro-Choice America and a zero percent rating by the National Right to Life Committee, he gives legitimacy to that candidate. When legitimacy is given to a line reasoning that says that poverty and AIDS are symptoms of anything other than moral breakdown, the relativist views of the left are justified.

To a disproportionate measure, when we are talking about poverty and AIDS in America, we are talking about black communities. These communities are in disarray because of moral ambiguity. They not only need moral clarity and leadership, they crave it.

Partisanship is not our problem today. Healthy partisanship is vital to freedom.

Our problem is moral ambiguity. Anyone that thinks this ambiguity is helpful in addressing poverty, crime, and disease is misinformed.

We need political leaders that are more moral, not church leaders that are more political.

Star Parker is president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education and author of the new book White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay.

Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. After receiving Christ, Star returned to college, received a BS degree in marketing and launched an urban Christian magazine. The 1992 Los Angeles riots destroyed her business, yet served as a springboard for her focus on faith and market-based alternatives to empower the lives of the poor.

Archbishop of Uganda Says Anglican Head Betrayed Biblically Faithful Churches

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Maria Mackay
Christian Today Reporter
Fri, Aug. 01 2008 09:00 AM EDT

The Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Rev. Henry Orombi, has accused the head of the Anglican Communion of betraying biblically faithful churches by inviting bishops involved in the consecration of an openly gay bishop to their global conference.

Orombi, one of more than 200 bishops boycotting the two-week Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, said in a comment for The Times that the current system for appointing the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Dr. Rowan Williams, was a “remnant of colonialism.”

“Even the Pope is elected by his peers. But what Anglicans have is a man appointed by a secular government,” wrote Orombi.

“Over the past five years, we have come to see this as a remnant of British colonialism, and it is not serving us well,” he added. “The spiritual leadership of a global communion of independent and autonomous provinces should not be reduced to one man appointed by a secular government.”

Bishops are in the process of drafting final reflections, largely drawn from the outcomes of the discussion groups at the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference. In the document, the bishops acknowledge a “lack of confidence” in the structures of Communion.

They also state, “We must acknowledge that there are great tensions in our relationship at present, and an erosion of trust between us.”

Nevertheless, bishops at Lambeth want to work together and some have called Orombi's remarks disrespectful.

"They were very strong words, I must say, especially since the Archbishop [of Canterbury] has tried to keep the church together," said the Rt. Rev. Ragnar Persenius, Bishop of Upssala, in Communion through the Swedish Lutheran Church, according to VirtueOnline, a conservative Anglican publication.

"I wonder what conservatives are doing to keep the church together. They do not seem to contribute to a solution. Some are not even speaking to others. Although they have serious theological disagreements, they also have to get into the conversation," Persenius added, while noting that most Lambeth attendees "want to stay together."

Orombi’s attack comes as bishops debate the most divisive issue in the Anglican Communion, human sexuality. The 2003 consecration of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson widened rifts within the global Communion.

Bishops said that Thursday’s discussions on sexuality had been characterized by generosity and respect.

“We haven’t suddenly reached a consensus about the issues of human sexuality. The problems are not all solved but there are significant differences,” the Most Rev. Philip Aspinall, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Australia and spokesman for the Conference, told reporters.

The Chair of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa, the Most Rev. Ian Ernest, commented, “We are able to look at each other. We are able to shed tears with one another, but at the same time knowing that we’ve got different ways and different convictions.”

On Friday, bishops are tackling the controversial Anglican Covenant on structures of unity in the Communion.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Anglicans Disagree Over Biblical Authority

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Jul. 31 2008 06:12 PM EDT

Before entering talks on human sexuality on Thursday, Anglican leaders took a deep look at the issue underlying the ongoing and highly publicized gay debate – the Bible.

"The issue of homosexuality comes down to an issue about the Bible," said the Most Rev. David Moxon, Archbishop of New Zealand, according to VirtueOnline, a conservative Anglican publication. "Underneath all the discussions and debates is how do we view the Bible?"

Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, said a lot of the division in the Anglican Communion "has to do with the Bible."

Bishops attending the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England, this week spent Wednesday in conversations under the theme "Living Under Scripture: the Bishop and the Bible in Mission."

"Everyone in the Anglican Communion has their own process of making sense of the Bible. People who claim that their way of making sense is taking the Bible more seriously than someone else are just trying to talk more loudly or stamp their foot more firmly," said Prof. Gerald West, Professor of Old Testament at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa and coordinator of the Bible Studies at Lambeth, according to VirtueOnline.

While noting that he doesn't believe there are wide differences in the Anglican Communion over biblical authority, West said Anglicans maintain a "common commitment" to Scripture, as reported by VirtueOnline.

During the discussions, bishops were asked to look at the way they view details of Scripture from various perspectives and to discuss whether the theme of homosexuality is in the Old and New Testaments in the same way that it exists for marriage, polygamy and rape, according to the Anglican Journal.

"Is there such a thing as homosexuality in the ancient world? Did it exist then?” West explained. He also said bishops looked at the context in which Scripture is engaged.

In most cases, according to West, "what you think is important in your context shapes the way you see Scripture."

Weeks before the Lambeth Conference, renowned evangelical theologian Dr. James Innell Packer affirmed that homosexual behavior is sin and that those who affirm such behavior "are understanding the Bible in a very different way from that in which the rest of us think that it asks to be understood."

"God uses language to tell us things, and the Bible is the language that He's used," he said. "The Bible is personal communication from the Creator to us creatures, and in personal communication you speak and write to be understood. You don't communicate in code; you don't say one thing in a way which is intended to be understood as meaning its opposite."

"God is, we believe, straight forward; the Bible, in that sense, is straight forward, and Paul in 1st Corinthians is straight forward."

Packer left the Anglican Church of Canada earlier this year, citing "poisonous liberalism" and arguing that top leaders in the Canadian church body have changed their interpretation of Christianity.

"I'm simply being an old-fashioned mainstream Anglican," Packer said.

The Anglican Communion has been wracked by divisions, particularly since the 2003 consecration of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire and the blessing of same-sex unions in the British Columbia diocese of New Westminster.

Conservative Anglicans have argued that The Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada have departed from Scripture and Christian orthodoxy.

According to Moxon, Wednesday was the first time Anglican bishops together discussed the question of "how do we use the Bible?" He added that the intent of the discussions was to simply ask "What’s the high common ground when we approach the Bible?"

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Rick Warren Opposes Candidate Endorsements

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter
Tue, Jul. 29 2008 06:44 PM EDT

Popular megachurch pastor Rick Warren said he does not believe pastors should endorse political candidates in a recent interview held weeks ahead of his highly-anticipated leadership and compassion forum, which will feature presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama.

“I don’t think it’s right for pastors to endorse [a political candidate] in the first place,” Warren said on a recent CNN interview when asked if he thinks McCain was right to disavow controversial pastors John Hagee and Rod Parsley.

“I would never endorse a candidate. I would never campaign for a candidate,” he added.

“I think as a pastor my role is to pastor all the flock regardless of their political persuasion, so I wouldn’t have wanted endorsements anyways.”

Warren has, however, invited political candidates to speak at his church on the topic of HIV/AIDS. Past politicians that have spoken at Saddleback Church during its annual HIV/AIDS conference include Sens. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Sam Brownback.

Next month, Obama and McCain will appear together for the first time during the ’08 presidential race to answer questions from Warren about faith and moral issues such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate change and human rights.

“I believe in the separation of church and state, but I do not believe in the separation of faith and politics,” Warren said, “because faith is simply a worldview and everybody’s got a worldview.”

A person who says he can separate his faith and worldview is either an “idiot” or “lying” because it’s impossible, the influential Christian leader contends.

“We make our decisions based on our values, based on our worldview so I think it’s entirely appropriate for America to say not only what is your faith – whether it is in Christ or someone else – but what is your worldview because that is going to influence how we live in the next four year,” he said

And in terms of how evangelicals will vote, Warren echoed what many other Christians have said this year – evangelicals are not monolithic and are open to both Republican and Democratic candidates.

“I do think that a lot of people, not just evangelicals, have reserved judgments,” the founding pastor of the 22,000-member Saddleback Church said. “I think a lot of America hasn’t made up its mind yet between these two candidates and I’m hoping that this forum will allow these two guys (McCain and Obama) to speak for themselves without an interpreter or any spin on it.”

McCain and Obama will each respond to Warren’s questions at the Saddleback Church forum on Aug. 16.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Senior Anglical Clergy Demand Halt to Homosexual Blessings

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Maria Mackay
Christian Today Reporter
Tue, Jul. 29 2008 09:00 AM EDT

A group of senior Anglican clergy presented a document on Monday demanding a halt to the consecration of partnered gay and lesbian bishops, blessings for same-sex unions and cross-border interventions.

The document by the Windsor Continuation Group warned that if the three moratoria – which would maintain bans that were presented in 2004 – were not observed, the Anglican Communion was “likely to fracture.”

“The patters of action currently embraced with the continued blessings of same-sex unions and of interventions could lead to irreparable damage,” the group said in its preliminary observations at the Lambeth Conference, which brings together bishops from the Anglican Communion once every ten years

The Most Rev. Clive Handford, chair of the Windsor Continuation Group, told reporters on Monday that the moratorium would be "retrospective" but later clarified that this did not imply the resignation of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson, whose consecration in 2003 by the U.S. Episcopal Church heightened controversy in the Communion.

"We're not asking that he be defrocked. We're just saying that there should not be any more [consecrations]. We're aware that he was elected according to the processes of The Episcopal Church. Whatever we may think about that, nonetheless that it had gone through the process."

The document further recommended the “swift” formation of a "Pastoral Forum" to oversee parishes and dioceses that break from their regional denomination. In recent years, conservative congregations that split from the U.S. Episcopal Church have realigned with overseas Anglican provinces – a move U.S. Episcopal bishops have denounced.

In a bid to stop conservative congregations from seeking alternative oversight from foreign primates, the Pastoral Forum would act as as a "holding bay" for such breakaway parishes and be "a key mechanism to achieve reconciliation," according to the document.

The document's authors also stated that the forum should have the powers to respond quickly to conflict.

"We believe that the Pastoral Forum should be empowered to act in the Anglican Communion in a rapid manner to emerging threats to its life," they noted.

The document was handed out to hundreds of bishops at the Lambeth Conference, due to conclude this Sunday in Canterbury.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Homosexual Bishop Refuses Call to Resign, Repent

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Jul. 24 2008 10:43 AM EDT

The openly gay bishop at the center of much of the divisions in the Anglican Communion rejected a conservative bishop's call for him to resign in order to restore unity.

"Those calling for my resignation seem to be under the impression that if Gene Robinson went away, that all would go back to being 'like it was,' whatever that was! Does ANYONE think that if I resigned, this issue would go away?!" New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson said Wednesday in his blog.

"We are not going away, as much as some would like us to," Robinson added, referring to gays and lesbians.

On Tuesday, the Archbishop of Sudan, the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul, called for Robinson’s resignation "for the sake of the Church," saying his behavior violated "the norms of the Anglican Communion."

The New Hampshire bishop has lived openly with another man for 20 years and had a civil ceremony in June 2008. The Anglican Communion, meanwhile, rejects homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture.

“Three hundred bishops have stayed away from this conference because of Gene Robinson. Shouldn’t Gene Robinson resign to allow the 300 bishops to come back to the house?” the Sudanese archbishop said as he also called for repentance from the American bishops who supported Robinson's consecration in 2003.

Robinson received news of the Sudanese bishop's call just before making an address at the University of Kent's Law School's Centre for the Study of the Law, Gender and Sexuality. He was there as Anglican bishops from around the world were meeting for the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference at the university. Robinson was not invited to attend Lambeth but is in Canterbury on the outskirts of the event.

Although he said in his latest blog that he has decided not to make an official response to the Sudanese archbishop's remark, he reflected on the remark in two long paragraphs.

"Everyone seems to forget that I am not here representing myself, but rather all the people of the Diocese of New Hampshire, with whom it is my privilege to minister in Christ's name," Robinson wrote. "They have called me to minister with them as their Bishop, and suggestions that I resign ignore the vows that I have taken to serve my flock in New Hampshire."

He added that his denied representation at the Lambeth meeting also deprives his entire diocese of "a seat at the table."

The Anglican spiritual head, Dr. Rowan Williams, had withheld invitations from "bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion" when they were sent out last year.

Some U.S. Episcopal bishops are sponsoring "Fringe" events for Anglican bishops and their spouses of the global Communion to meet Robinson during Lambeth. Attendees will hear how he was consecrated and testimonies from bishops who voted for and against his consecration.

Robinson will share his own testimony but he insists the event will not be a "sell job."

"My goal is to talk about my own life and journey in Christ in such a way that those who are listening will perceive that the God I know in my own life is the same God they know in THEIR lives," he said. "Then we can wrestle with the faithful differences we have in interpreting that God's will for us and for God's church."

More than 200 bishops are boycotting the Lambeth Conference mainly in protest of the invitation of bishops who supported Robinson's consecration and the Communion's failure to discipline those who participated in the 2003 event. Conservative bishops contend the U.S. church body along with other is departing from orthodox Christianity on issues of human sexuality, the authority of Scripture and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The Sudanese archbishop affirmed Tuesday, "We reject homosexual practice as contrary to biblical teaching and can accept no place for it within the Episcopal Church of Sudan. We strongly oppose developments within the Anglican Church in the USA and Canada in consecrating a practicing homosexual as bishop and in approving a rite for the blessing of same-sex relationships.”

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Presbyterians Grieve Over Crisis of Conscience

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Jul. 23 2008 01:32 PM EDT

Presbyterians grieved by the pro-gay actions of the highest governing body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plan to converge next month to look for a way forward.

The meeting will provide a forum and analysis for around 200 PC(USA) leaders as they lament votes by the denomination's General Assembly in June that favored homosexuality.

The Assembly's actions "have caused a crisis of conscience within the denomination," said Renee Guth, executive director of the New Wineskins Association of Churches, a network of some 200 conservative Presbyterian churches discontent with the PC(USA).

The Assembly on June 27 approved an "authoritative interpretation" of the church constitution, allowing non-celibate gay and lesbian candidates for ordination to conscientiously object the current standard which requires fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman and chastity in singleness. The governing body also voted to delete the fidelity and chastity requirement – a vote that will go to the denomination's 173 presbyteries for approval – and approved changes to a document of the Reformed Christian faith that would delete "homosexual perversion" from a list of condemned behaviors.

Days after the biennial Assembly meeting, the PC(USA)'s top leaders sent a letter to all of its 11,000 congregations acknowledging the anxiety the Assembly created for some and the "storms" that are to come. The leaders urged congregations to stay together and not "act or react immediately" to the decisions.

But some have already begun acting.

"We have had strong interest from many PC(USA) pastors and elders from across the country for the Atlanta meeting," Guth and co-moderators Gerrit Dawson and Carmen Fowler of the New Wineskins network said in a recent announcement.

New Wineskins will be hosting a meeting for PC(USA) leaders in Atlanta on Aug. 6-7, ahead of their annual convocation.

"We are organizing this event around the needs of those in attendance by placing all options on the table, doing a side by side analysis, and spending more time listening than speaking."

Some of those options include being "in the denomination but not of it," they listed, and various forms of non-geographic presbyteries, among others.

While the conservative network typically holds one gathering each year, addressing both PC(USA) denominational issues and the larger missional vision of the New Wineskins, the group has decided to host two meetings this year with the Atlanta one focusing solely on the denominational issues.

"The Atlanta meeting is for PC(USA) pastors and elders who share our commitment to Essential Tenets, who are grieved by the actions of this past General Assembly, and who are now asking new questions and seeking new answers," the network leaders explained.

Attendees of the Atlanta meeting will also be introduced to the vision of New Wineskins, which consists of congregations that have left the PC(USA) over its liberal direction on theology and those that have remained.

The New Wineskins network, representing about 100,000 Presbyterians, was formed in 2001 after the General Assembly of the PC(USA) would not affirm the singular saving Lordship of Jesus Christ. Conservative Presbyterians began discussing what a church in the 21st century and faithful to Christ would look like as they tried to rediscover their Reformed and Presbyterian roots.

Their fifth convocation is scheduled for November in Baton Rouge, La., where they hope to move away from discussing denominational issues and toward the larger vision of the New Wineskins.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Homosexual Bishop Must Resign or Repent, Says Sudan Church Leader

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Maria Mackay
Christian Today Reporter
Wed, Jul. 23 2008 09:20 AM EDT

CANTERBURY, England – The head of the Anglican church in Sudan said on Tuesday that unity could be restored to the troubled Anglican Communion only when the openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson resigns or confesses he has "made a mistake" in embracing homosexuality.

The Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul told reporters at the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade gathering of Anglican bishops, that Robinson “should resign for the sake of the Church.”

“We consider him as a human being. We are not throwing him away. But he is supposed to resign to allow the Church to be united,” he said. “The norms of the Anglican Communion have been violated.”

He added that those involved with Robinson's consecration also had to confess.

"We as Christians always forgive one another and confess whenever we make mistakes. If they could do that that would help the Anglican world."

Just under a quarter of Communion's bishops have boycotted the Conference in protest of the attendance of pro-gay clergy. The absent bishops, largely conservative church leaders from the Global South, held an alternative summit in Jerusalem last month, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON).

“I think there is already a breakdown of the Anglican Communion,” the Sudanese archbishop said. “Three hundred bishops have stayed away from this conference because of Gene Robinson. Shouldn’t Gene Robinson resign to allow the 300 bishops to come back to the house?”

In an official statement issued earlier on Tuesday, the Episcopal Church of Sudan said that it could not accept church leaders who practice contrary to the biblical teaching on sexuality.

The Archbishop reaffirmed that position to reporters, saying: "God is not making a mistake creating Adam and Eve. He would have created two Adams if he wanted. But we are saying now God is wrong in creating the different sex. That is a concern.”

Conservative leaders had called for a "heartfelt repentance" and "genuine change" from the U.S. Epsicopal Church in the years following the 2003 consecration of Robinson. Last September, The Episcopal Church offered to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of openly gay candidates, while still committing to the rights of gays and lesbians and their full inclusion. Many conservatives were disappointed and saw no change in the U.S. church's position.

Still, the Sudanese Archbishop stressed that he and other conservative leaders in the Global South wanted the Anglican Communion to remain united.

“I am here to say let the Anglican world be united. That is my position. I am calling even GAFCON to come back to the Anglican world.”

He also warned that the ordination of homosexual clergy and blessing of same-sex couples in the U.S. Episcopal Church had damaged the standing of the Bible and Christians in majority-Muslim countries.

“We are called infidels by the Islamic world … It will give them an upper hand even to kill our people,” he said.

More than 600 bishops have gathered at the University of Kent in Canterbury for the Lambeth Conference. The meeting will run until August 3 and cover a range of issues, including social justice, the environment, human sexuality and the draft Anglican Covenant.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Archbishop of Canterbury Regrets Absence of Conservative Bishops

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Maria Mackay
Christian Today Reporter
Tue, Jul. 22 2008 08:52 AM EDT

CANTERBURY, England – The Archbishop of Canterbury said on Monday that the hundreds of conservative bishops boycotting the Lambeth Conference would have helped heal divisions in the Anglican Communion had they decided to take part.

Speaking to journalists on the first official day of business, Dr. Rowan Williams said his message to the some 210 absent bishops was: “We’re sorry you’re not here.”

“The great pity is that to have those voices in the discussion as we conceived it would have been a healing and a helpful thing,” he said.

The boycotting bishops, largely from the Global South, are angry over the attendance at Lambeth of pro-gay clergy, including some of those involved in the 2003 consecration of the openly homosexual Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.

They held an alternative gathering in Jerusalem last month, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), during which they accused parts of the Anglican Communion of teaching the “false gospel.”

Williams reaffirmed the Anglican Communion’s official position on human sexuality, saying that it did not endorse sex outside of marriage and that the Anglican Communion had made its position “corporately clear” in previous Lambeth Conferences. He was referring to Resolution 1.10 agreed by bishops at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, which rejected homosexuality as incompatible with Scripture and reaffirmed marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The Archbishop of Canterbury rejected talk of a schism in the 77 million-strong Anglican Communion.

“If this is the end of the Anglican Communion, I don’t think anyone has told the rest of the people here,” he quipped.

Williams acknowledged concerns over the legitimacy of Lambeth’s outcomes in light of the bishops’ absence, but hinted that the discussion process would continue with or without them.

“It’s a point I put as strongly as I can to those who are not here, that if they want their voices incorporated in this, this is the way to do it.”

He said the anger of the provinces that have pulled out of Lambeth, including Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Sydney, would need to be addressed in the coming months and years ahead.

The wife of the Rt. Rev Pierre Whalen, Bishop of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, echoed the Archbishop’s sentiments.

Joining him at the press conference as a spokeswoman for the parallel spouses’ conference, Melinda Whalen said they missed the contribution of the wives of bishops boycotting the conference.

“We miss hearing their stories and we miss the contribution they could have made to our conference if they had joined our conference.”

Addressing controversy from a recent synod vote, Williams said he did not believe the General Synod vote reaffirming support for women bishops had caused the Church of England to enter the Lambeth Conference as a “bleeding, hunted animal with arrows in its side.”

In his opening presidential address Sunday, Williams outlined his vision of unity achieved by consent and not coercion.

“It’s my conviction that the option to which we are being led is one whose keywords are of council and covenant. It is the vision of an Anglicanism whose diversity is limited not by centralized control but by consent,” he said, elaborating on Monday that the council would take the form of an international advisory body.

“That is a vision worth working for and worth sharing with our ecumenical partners,” he told journalists at the press conference.

The once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, currently taking place at the University of Kent in Canterbury, will see more than 600 bishops tackle issues such as human sexuality, the environment and the draft Anglican Covenant, a document that attempts to bind the Anglican Communion’s 38 provinces into a process of joined-up deliberation whenever disputes over contentious issues occur.

On Thursday, the bishops will march through central London to highlight the Millennium Development Goals and press world governments to do more to ensure they are reached by the target date of 2015.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

More Methodists Supporting Homosexual 'Marriage' Despite Christian Teaching

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter
Sat, Jul. 19 2008 12:26 PM EDT

More United Methodists are throwing their support behind clergy in California who want to perform same-sex "marriages" despite the denomination's stance that homosexual practice is "incompatible with Christian teaching."

On Thursday, delegates from the Northeastern Jurisdiction Conference of the United Methodist Church - from Maine south to West Virginia - approved a resolution expressing respect for clergy in the California regional bodies who participate in wedding same-sex couples "as a matter of Christian conscience, spiritual discernment and prophetic witnessing," as reported by the United Methodist News Service.

The vote comes months after the United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's highest governing body that meets every four years, rejected changes to its constitution that would have liberalized the church's stance on homosexuality. In April, measures that would have removed the ban on noncelibate gay pastors and the statement that homosexual practice is "incompatible with Christian teaching" were voted down after emotional debates.

In the following months, however, regional conferences have approved measures supporting homosexuals after the California Supreme Court legalized gay "marriage" on May 15.

Methodists from the California-Pacific Annual Conference passed in June a resolution supporting same-sex "marriage" and encouraged congregations and pastors to welcome and embrace such families.

More recently, more than 80 retired United Methodist clergy from northern California have offered to conduct same-sex "marriage" ceremonies on behalf of clergy who cannot perform them.

The latest move by the Northeastern Jurisdiction Conference, which met July 13-18 in Harrisburg, Pa., for its 18th session, was applauded by pro-gay Methodists. Acknowledging that the United Methodist Book of Discipline – Church law – forbids churches and clergy from performing same-sex unions, the approved resolution also asks for lenient disciplinary action against clergy who disobey church law on the issue.

Laws can only be changed by the General Conference and this year, many have opposed changes and called Methodists to be faithful to biblical teaching.

Conservatives, meanwhile, observe a continuing liberalization and decline in the United Methodist Church.

Membership has dropped annually since 1968.

The Northeastern Jurisdiction Conference is one of five U.S. jurisdictions serving United Methodists. Delegates met this week to elect and assign bishops for the next four years among other business. This year's meeting was themed "Extreme Church: Extreme Expectations."

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Study Examines the Unchurched

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter
Tue, Jul. 15 2008 12:32 PM EDT

With churches largely mapping out their local mission around what they identify to be an "unchurched" population, a research firm set out to paint a clearer picture of who unchurched Americans really are.

“There’s a whole industry seeking to help clergy reach the unchurched, with seminars, books, videos, training centers, and consultants,” Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, noted. “However, many people don’t really have a basic notion even of just what it means to be ‘unchurched.’ There’s often an assumption that people either do attend worship services, or they don’t."

"But what we find in this study is that up to one out of every five Americans is attending worship services at least occasionally during the year, even though they are not regularly involved. That has huge implications for local congregations who are trying to attract new people," Sellers added.

Traditionally, people who attend worship service at least once a month and on a regular basis have been considered "churched" while those who don't attend frequently enough have often been labeled "unchurched," according to the Phoenix-based research firm.

A new study, released Monday by Ellison Research, broke down the American population into a more detailed picture of religious service attendance.

Results showed that only 63 percent of "churched" Americans actually attend worship services once a week or more; 12 percent of the "churched" attend three times a month; 16 percent attend twice a month; and 9 percent go to service once a month.

Among "unchurched" Americans, not all stay away from worship services, the research firm reports. Findings revealed that 18 percent of the "unchurched" say they visit services occasionally, just not regularly. Also, 22 percent of the "unchurched" attend on special occasions such as Christmas and Easter.

Only 60 percent of the "unchurched" do not attend worship services at all, the Ellison study found.

The study showed what attendance at religious services actually looks like: 11 percent attend more than once a week; 22 percent attend once a week; 14 percent two to three times a month; 5 percent attend once a month; 9 percent attend occasionally, but not on a regular basis; and 10 percent attend only on religious holidays.

Overall, 29 percent of Americans never attend worship services.

The study further linked worship attendance to several factors, including family history of attendance and parental religious involvement.

Those least likely to attend service regularly are Americans who are not born again and whose parents did not attend service.

With both parents attending religious services at least occasionally, there is a 62 percent chance that their children are now regularly attending services as an adult.

Also, if an adult attended worship services regularly at some point before the age of 18, there is a 55 percent chance that person is currently attending once a month or more. The odds decrease to 21 percent for a person who never attended prior to age 18.

With millions of Americans likely to attend services, the Ellison Research head wonders if churches are paying attention to the newcomers.

"We estimate that up to 43 million adults who do not regularly attend worship services will visit a church or place of worship at some point during the year, to say nothing of children and teens who visit with their family or on their own," Sellers said. "Are those congregations and clergy members ready for them?”

The study was conducted on a sample of 1,007 adults.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Exodus Annual Conference Offers a Hand to Freedom

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Tue, Jul. 15 2008 07:58 AM EDT

There is a tremendous hunger among young people for the message Exodus International preaches – that freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ is possible, according to the ministry's head.

Exodus International, which claims to be the world's largest Christian referral and information network dealing with homosexual issues, is holding its annual Freedom Conference in Asheville, N.C., beginning Tuesday. For 33 years, Exodus has seen thousands of people seek answers at its conference as they, or loved ones, struggle with same-sex feelings.

Over 700 people, including many from outside the United States, are expected to attend this year's Freedom event. Part of this year's speaker line-up is evangelist Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham.

"We are always trying to bring in respected Christian leaders to our conference," commented Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, to The Christian Post. "It's also a chance to introduce them to an often overlooked ministry group-people who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction."

The ministry's annual conference caters to a wide range of groups, from men and women, youth and parents, to married couples where a spouse has homosexual attraction. Forty percent of this year's conference attendees are men and women personally struggling and 14 percent are youths.

And this year's event comes just months after the California high court ruling that legalized same-sex "marriage," and months before California voters head to the polls in November to decide whether to overturn the court decision and protect traditional marriage.

"While the culture wars over the issue of homosexuality are hotter than ever with the marriage issue, Exodus is growing and more people are seeking help," Chambers said.

The Exodus International network has grown by 71 percent in five years, Chambers noted. The ministry has over 120 local ministries in the country and Canada is also linked with other Exodus world regions outside of North America, totaling over 150 ministries in 17 countries, according to the Exodus Web site.

But with growth, Exodus continues to meet protesters especially around this time of year when it holds its Freedom Conference. A group of local gay rights advocates, who are calling themselves Equality Asheville, plan to sponsor a series of events titled "You're Fine Just the Way You Are," according to Asheville's Citizen-Times.

Noel Nickel, who's organizing the competing events, wants to give people the "whole spectrum."

“I think (Exodus’) intentions are harmful, because it’s cloaked in the message of love,” Nickel said, as reported by the local newspaper. “We’re trying to make sure that there is a full spectrum of educational aspects."

Jaye Thomas, who turned away from homosexuality with support from Exodus, acknowledged that Exodus "is no stranger to opposition."

"But neither was Jesus," he said. "Exodus is not in the business of converting anyone. We just offer a hand to walk beside people who want freedom from the bondage of sexual addiction.”

Many have found "freedom" from homosexual feelings through Exodus. But in addition to serving those personally struggling, Exodus has also helped family members and pastors learn how to love their loved ones or congregants who are struggling with gay or lesbian attraction.

"There is a right to choose one’s passage in life," Chambers, who left homosexuality more than 14 years ago, told the Citizen-Times. "I didn’t choose those feelings [of same-sex attraction], but when I was old enough, I did choose my behavior."

This year's Freedom Conference on July 15-20 is themed "A New Day" and 41 percent of conference participants are reportedly attending for the first time.


Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Pastor Encourages Open Discussion of Social Issues

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Jul. 10 2008 08:53 AM EDT

As Christians across California grapple with the legalization of same-sex "marriage," the shock factor at one emerging church remains small.

And it's not because the young and growing church embraces a liberal theology or supports gay "marriage," but because they don't avoid talking about sexuality, including homosexuality.

"In our church, at least from the people I have been hanging out with, I have not yet heard too much 'Oh my god, look what happened,'" said Dan Kimball, pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, Calif., and a well-known emerging church leader who subscribes to a more conservative theology. There wasn't much of a reaction at Vintage Faith to the May 15 court ruling that allowed same-sex couples to wed, he said. Many believed it was inevitable.

And Kimball had more conversations with pastors outside the state who were more curious about the impact of the ruling than those around his church. He believes people at his church were not shocked partly because of their openness in discussing marriage and homosexuality.

At Vintage Faith, they've created a culture of addressing and responding to such issues. Kimball encourages other churches to do the same – to create a culture of teaching the theology of these controversial issues in a way that people can understand and not approaching the issues just at the surface level.

"I hope then people will be able to respond in a healthy way and not [be] reactionary," he said in a recent interview with Skye Jethani, managing editor of Leadership journal.

Kimball is currently teaching out of the New Testament book 1 Corinthians in a series titled "Sin City: Being the light of Jesus in a darkened culture." Early in the series, which launched on June 15, he addressed marriage and human sexuality, teaching the theologically conservative position that marriage is designed for a man and a woman. An open forum followed the sermon last weekend.

While Vintage Faith does not endorse homosexual "marriage" theologically, the church – like any emerging church – is ingrained in the culture, a culture that has becoming increasingly tolerant of the homosexual lifestyle.

"To me, I really believe that if church leaders aren't involved in people ... [who] are gay outside of their church, that needs to happen so that they can just understand [their] lives more," Kimball said in the interview.

"So when they think about [homosexuals], it's not just this population of people that is faceless; they really can think of hearts and minds and eye expressions," he added.

Church leaders need to see every human being, regardless of their sexuality or lifestyle, in the image of God, he stressed.

"That to me is critical because then you respond differently," the emerging pastor said.

Kimball's seven-week "Sin City" series continues on Sunday with a message on "Single Like Jesus." The series aims to help Christians share the way of Jesus in their culture and avoid being consumed by a sin-saturated culture.


Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Ministries Agree to Financial Reforms Amidst Congressional Inquiry

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Jul. 09 2008 08:11 AM EDT

Two prominent mega-ministries under a Senate probe for opulent spending indicated they would institute reforms even before the investigation is complete, according to a new report.
Charismatic preachers Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn are the only two that have fully cooperated with an investigation that is currently scrutinizing four other popular ministries and they are now reportedly taking their own action to ensure proper financial standing as a nonprofit.

"Transparency has been and will continue to be a standard of this ministry," said Joyce Meyer, who was the first to turn over requested papers, in a statement Tuesday. "We hold a deep commitment to our ministry partners and friends, and this is why we have a tradition of going above and beyond what is required by law. We are committed to the truth and to our purpose."

After review of the ministries' financial documents and responses to a range of questions, Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, concluded that both Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn have answered every question and "in the spirit of true cooperation, also have provided information over and above what was requested."

"Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn have engaged in open and honest dialogue with committee staff," Grassley said Monday.

The investigation began last November after media reports and ministry watchdogs alleged opulent spending and possible abuse of nonprofit status by six ministries, each of which has millions of followers. Grassley, who is leading the probe, has asked for financial records and answers to questions regarding organizational as well as personal spending.

The Senate probe, however, has not gone without question and criticism.

Creflo Dollar of World Changers Church International has declined to provide any of the requested information. And Grassley has received limited responses from Randy and Paula White of Without Walls International Church, Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, and Kenneth and Gloria Copeland.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries has gone public with its protest, launching a Web site, www.BelieversStandUnited.com, against the senator's investigation.

Copeland, who has said his ministry fully complies with all laws, believes the inquiry is a violation of religious freedom, an invasion of privacy and a threat to the separation of Church and State. He also raised suspicion over Grassley’s targeting of only Pentecostal churches that preach the “prosperity gospel” – a teaching that God wants his followers to be rich both spiritually and materially.

Currently, the Senate Finance Committee is consulting with its attorneys to determine the next steps regarding Copeland.

“The ministries that continue not to cooperate appear to be heeding the advice of attorneys who are not familiar with congressional oversight in general and specifically the Finance Committee’s oversight and legislative work in the area of tax-exempt organizations over the last seven years," Grassley said. "These attorneys who aren’t part of the ministries themselves have a natural incentive to prolong the process as long as possible.”

Meanwhile, amid the ongoing investigation, Meyer and Hinn have plans to institute reforms and Grassley expressed full support for "self-reform," which he said can be faster and more effective than government regulation.

Delanie Trusty, CFO for Joyce Meyer Ministries, said Tuesday, "As our ministry grows, we continually examine how we can most efficiently serve and minister to people. We embraced this opportunity to examine in detail the daily operations of the ministry, and we have reconfirmed our commitment to the high standards we hold ourselves to."

Each year, Joyce Meyer Ministries voluntarily undergoes an independent financial and legal audit to ensure its goals of accountability, the ministry noted.

Grassley encouraged ministries to pursue independent accreditation programs, such as the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

"The most successful non-profit organizations recognize the need for transparency about their operations and accountability to their donors and the taxpaying public," Grassley commented.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Church of England Votes in Favor of Female Bishops

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Jennifer Gold
Christian Post Correspondent
Tue, Jul. 08 2008 11:22 AM EDT

After lengthy debate, the Church of England’s General Synod voted on Monday to confirm its support for the ordination of women as bishops without offering much in the way of safeguards for objectors.

The Synod had already agreed to the ordination of women bishops in principle but was voting on Monday night on legislation to confirm the process towards the first ordinations as well as possible concessions for church members and clergy opposed to female bishops.

Much to the disappointment of the more traditional Anglicans, members rejected proposals to create new dioceses for objectors and to appoint “super bishops” who would have offered alternative care for opponents.

Synod members voted at the York meeting to instead implement a voluntary national code to accommodate objectors. Bishops voted 28 to 12, clergy by 124 to 44 and the laity by 111 to 68.

The idea of "super bishops" had enjoyed the support of the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, meanwhile stressed to the Synod his view that a “systematic marginalization” of Anglo-Catholics would be wrong. He was quoted by The Times as describing traditionalists as a “necessary abrasion.”

Adding that he does not want to limit the authority of women bishops, Williams said, "I am deeply unhappy with any scheme or any solution to this which ends up, as it were, structurally humiliating women who might be nominated," as reported by The Associated Press.

The vote casts a shadow of uncertainty over ongoing efforts between the Church of England and the Vatican to achieve “full visible unity.” On Tuesday, the Vatican condemned the Church of England's support for women to become bishops, noting it as a move breaking with tradition. Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, said the decision will have consequences for dialogue which had so far been "fruitful."

Dialogue between the two church bodies has already been on the rocks because of concessions to homosexual clergy in parts of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Church legislators will now get to work on drafting new legislation to turn the vote into reality, reports The Times. The ensuing document will be debated at next February’s Synod in London before being passed over to dioceses for approval. A final vote is not likely to be taken for another two to three years.

Women have been allowed to become priests since 1994, but they have not received the green light to become bishops in the church.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.