Tuesday
November 18, 2008
CHURCH LEADER BRIEFING
AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Glen Scorgie, author of A Little Guide to Christian Spirituality
HEADLINES:
+ Gospels Approved for China Olympics
+ Record Fuel Prices Slam Charities
+ Teens Flocking to Summer Missions
+ Southern Baptists Elect 'Peacemaker'
+ Church of England Blasts British Gov.
+ Religious Freedom Panel Urges State Dept. to Take Action
+ Protestants in Russia Facing Increased Pressure
+ Study Debunks 'Technical Virginity' Among Teens
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Gospels Approved for China Olympics
(The Christian Post 06.19.08) - Although Chinese authorities had earlier said Olympic tourists would not be allowed to bring Bibles for "distribution or propaganda," officials are allowing the printing of 50,000 Gospel booklets for athletes, printers recently announced.
In addition to the booklets, Amity Printing Press in Nanjing -- the world's largest Bible production factory -- is working in conjunction with the Bible Society to publish 30,000 Chinese-English New Testaments and 10,000 Chinese-English entire Bibles.
"This great sporting event presents a unique opportunity to make the life-changing message of the Bible available to thousands of athletes and visitors from all over China -- and all over the world," says James Catford, chief executive of Bible Society.
An estimated two million visitors and 16,000 athletes and officials will attend the Beijing Olympics, which begin Aug. 8. (Source: The Christian Post, www.christianpost.com)
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Record Fuel Prices Slam Charities
(The Christian Post 06.19.08) - Record fuel prices are hitting Christian ministry and charity organizations doubly hard.
"We're finding the price of food is going up due to transportation costs, and production costs are going up as well. When those two things are put together, then all of a sudden the amount of money you had available for food is strained even more. There's just less available," Gary Zander, communications coordinator for Food for the Hungry, tells Mission News Network.
"We could serve 100,000 people two years ago, now we're only able to help 66,000 people," says Bruce Whitmire of Living Water International, whose organization supplies clean water for thousands of people around the globe. Higher fuel costs make it more difficult to conduct daily operations, he says.
At the same time, many look to the current situation as an opportunity to trust God. "God still supplies our needs according to His riches and not according to ours," says Al Joslyn of Bible Pathway Ministries. (Source: The Christian Post, www.christianpost.com)
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Teens Flocking to Summer Missions
(RT 06.16.08) - The Modesto Bee reports that thousands of teens will participate in short-term mission trips in the next weeks, and religion scholars estimate that about three million 13- to 17-year-old young Christians nationwide will serve on mission team this year.
Youth mission trips have only become common in the last 10-20 years. While some are encouraged by this new phenomenon, however, others question the true impact of these trips.
Lakewood Church youth pastor Tom Elmore, who will lead a group of about 50 to Honduras, says, "That's where they get their first taste" of evangelism and being the hands and feet of Jesus.
In contrast, David Livermore, author of "Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence," say these trips have become a rite of passage, benefiting team members more than the community they're supposed to be serving. (Source: Religion Today, www.religiontoday.com)
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Southern Baptists Elect 'Peacemaker'
(RT 06.13.08) - The Rev. Johnny M. Hunt, the pastor of an Atlanta area megachurch, is the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention, taking leadership of the largest Protestant denomination in the US.
The Rev. Benjamin Cole, an associate pastor in Enid, Okla., who championed former president Rev. Frank Page's election, says Hunt is a "passionate catalyst... I don't think there's any question he genuinely loves Southern Baptists and the world around him and wants to connect them in a way that brings them together."
Malcolm Yarnell, a professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth, voices similar hopes. "Johnny is not going to be the type that brings divisions. He tends to avoid big theological controversies. He's not the type to point a finger at somebody. He's more likely to point a finger at himself and exhort the rest of us." (Source: Religion Today, www.religiontoday.com)
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Church of England Blasts British Gov.
(ASSIST 06.12.08) - A highly critical study by the Church of England accuses the British governments of Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown of focusing "intently" on minority faiths, while neglecting the Church of England. As a result, discrimination against the Christian faith has taken hold.
The study accuses the British government of ignoring the breakdown in society, and failing to recognize the church's potential contribution to public affairs.
In contrast, the study, titled "Moral, But No Compass," praises the Conservatives for what it calls their "strident" plans to tackle poverty. It calls for a minister for religion to be appointed, and accuses the government of "religious illiteracy." (Source: ASSIST News Service, www.assistnews.net)
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Religious Freedom Panel Urges State Dept. to Take Action
(BP 06.11.08) - A bipartisan United States commission has called for designation of the same 11 countries that it recommended last year as the world's worst violators of religious liberty as it awaits a long overdue response from the State Department.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its annual report May 2, again urging Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to keep Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan as "countries of particular concern" (CPCs). The independent panel also repeated its recommendation that Rice add Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam to the CPC list.
CPC designation is reserved for governments that have "engaged in or tolerated systemic and egregious violations of religious freedom." Rice, however, has not designated any CPCs in 18 months. (Source: Baptist Press, www.sbcbaptistpress.org)
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Protestants in Russia Facing Increased Pressure
(ASSIST 06.10.08) - Protestants in Russia are facing increased pressure from the Orthodox Church and the state. Protestants are frequently labeled and treated as "totalitarian sects."
Recent press reports featured incidents in the Russian city of Stary Oskol. Members of the secret service FSB "visited" a small Methodist congregation recently. The church, with approximately 40 members, meets in a private apartment. According to Pastor Vladimir Pachomov, an officer predicted that Protestantism in Russia would probably soon come to an end.
After the uninvited visit by the FSB the local authorities denied the group state recognition as a religious association. The authorities claimed that the religious activities were only a "facade" for unspecified business transactions.
Unofficially, other reasons were mentioned to Pachomov. It was alleged that the Methodist group was under American influence and perceived to be a "foreign element", from which nothing good could be expected. Other reports from Stary Oskol mention that police broke up an Adventist gathering, and Baptists were denied the use of a rented theater. (Source: ASSIST News Service, www.assistnews.net)
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Study Debunks 'Technical Virginity' Among Teens
(BP 06.06.08) - A study appearing in the July issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health finds that teenagers do not appear to commonly engage in oral sex as a way to preserve their virginity, contrary to a claim by abstinence opponents that such pledges had resulted in a generation of so-called technical virgins.
The study, conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm for Planned Parenthood, says analysis of a federal survey of more than 2,200 males and females age 15 to 19 finds that 55% reported having oral sex. But those who described themselves as virgins were far less likely to say they had tried it than those who had engaged in intercourse, The Washington Post reported.
"That suggests that oral and vaginal sex are closely linked," Rachel Jones of the Guttmacher Institute said. "Most teens don't have oral sex until they have had vaginal sex."
Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, says the study invalidates the suggestion that technical virgins account for the rise in oral and anal sex among the nation's youth.
"Sexually experienced teens were almost four times more likely to engage in oral sex and 20 times more likely to engage in anal sex than their peers who were virgins," Huber told The Post.
The NAEA called on health professionals and educators to address the risk of sexually transmitted diseases associated with oral and anal sex by redoubling abstinence education efforts in light of the study.
"Teens are confronted with the dominant cultural message that says that sex, in all its varieties, is expected behavior and without consequence," Huber says. "It's a message young people receive not just from mainstream media but in classrooms that teach so-called comprehensive sex education.
"This research shows that risk begets risk, so the risk avoidance approach of abstinence-centered education remains the healthiest message for teens to receive," Huber says. (Source: Baptist Press, www.sbcbaptistpress.org)
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The Zondervan ChurchSource Church Leader Briefing is comprised of selected and edited news bulletins from a variety of reporting sources attributed to each story. (Its founding editor is Jonathan.Petersen@comcast.net.) Zondervan is a member of the Online News Association.