Vote on same-sex marriage

Posted on May 8, 2012 by John Hilton

North Carolinians head to the polls today to consider a state constitutional amendment that declares, “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized.”

The measure would ban same-sex marriage, domestic partnerships and civil unions of any kind.

Religious groups have entered the fray on both sides of this issue. The New York Times predicts the amendment will pass.

Recent polling has shown a softening on the issue and a number of states have passed laws legalizing same-sex marriage. What do you think? Take a vote below on which statement reflects your position on the issue.

poll by twiigs.com

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A Jesus app and same-sex marriage

Posted on May 7, 2012 by John Hilton

Finding life stressful? Too hectic? Not enough time to read the Bible for inspirational messages of faith?

Well, there’s an app for that.

I have never downloaded an app myself, but I try to keep up on what is happening. Someone sent me this link to Jesus Calling Devotional, a free (for a week trial) app for an “uplifting and powerful motivational daily devotional.”

The app is based on Sarah Young’s best-selling, 365-day devotional, “Jesus Calling.” After many years of writing in her prayer journal, missionary Sarah Young took to writing down whatever she believed God was saying to her.

The result was the best-selling book, “Jesus Calling.” The daily inspirational messages have connected with a large audience.

And now there’s an app.

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Gay marriage is in the religion news again (does it ever really go away?).

A link roundup:

Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that he is “absolutely comfortable” with gay marriage, a step further than President Obama has been willing to go.

I’ve been quoting the Pew Research Center polling on this and other issues lately and CNN does the same: Despite the Roman Catholic Church’s rigorous opposition to gays getting the right to marry, Pew found that Catholics support gay marriage by a margin of 52% to 37%. That’s a shift from 2010, when just 46% of Catholics favored gay marriage.

My view is it’s going to happen. Sooner or later…

Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton is in North Carolina lobbying against a ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage.

While North Carolina already bans same-sex marriage, the provision would officially stamp the policy defining marriage as the union of one man and one women as an amendment into the Constitution, making it the final state in the Southeast to add such a law regarding same-sex marriage.

Famed evangelist Billy Graham backs the measure.

North Carolinians will vote on the state’s Marriage Amendment Act next Tuesday.

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World renowned biblical scholar N.T. Wright coming to Dallastown

Posted on May 6, 2012 by John Hilton

Here is a first-draft of a story we will run in Thursday’s religion section about the Saturday appearance of world-famous New Testament scholar N.T. “Tom” Wright at Hearts and Minds in Dallastown:

Byron Borger’s Dallastown bookstore wouldn’t normally be on the radar of N.T. “Tom” Wright, one of the most respected Christian scholars in the world.
But the two men got to know each other a little after Borger sold Wright’s books at the C.S. Lewis Institute in Washington, D.C. They quickly discovered they have mutual friends, including a very good friend of Borger’s.
That led to Wright’s scheduled appearance at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hearts and Minds.
“This is certainly the most prominent and esteemed author we have ever hosted in our 30 years of book selling,” Borger said. “We except an overflow crowd, with fans coming from as far away as Ohio, New Jersey (and) New York.”
Wright, 63, a retired Anglican bishop, is one of the world’s leading authorities on the New Testament. His popular books include “Simply Jesus” (2011) and “How God Became King” (2012).
In the latter book, Wright argues that many Christians have forgotten what the four gospels are about: the story of how God, in and through Jesus, became the king of all the world.
For 20 years, Wright taught New Testament studies at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford universities. Among modern New Testament scholars, Wright represents more conservative Christian views.
At times, those views have attracted controversy.
In December 2005, Wright announced, on the day that the first civil partnership ceremonies took place in England, that he would likely take disciplinary action against any clergy registering as civil partners, or any clergy blessing such partnerships.
He later issued a statement calling for the need “to spell out further (wearisome though it will be) the difference between (a) the ‘human dignity and civil liberty’ of those with homosexual and similar instincts and (b) their ‘rights,’ as practising let alone ordained Christians, to give physical expression to those instincts.”

For more information, go here.

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Catholic Church might tighten annulment rules

Posted on May 3, 2012 by John Hilton

I’ve held onto this one for a couple days. Seems like I’m writing a lot about the Catholic Church these days, but in fairness, the church is pretty active.

The most recent news concerns annulments. A recent Rome conference yielded news that the Vatican may be moving towards a more restrictive posture on annulments.

This is interesting for us because while the United States is home to just 6 percent of the world’s Catholic population, we account for roughly two-thirds of the 60,000 annulments issued by church courts each year.

As the National Catholic Reporter reports:

The April 26-27 Rome conference focused on canon 1095 of the Code of Canon Law, which allows a marriage to be declared null if one of the parties lacked the ability to consent because of “causes of a psychic nature.” Of the 15 to 20 possible grounds for an annulment in church law, more are granted on the basis of canon 1095 than all others combined, roughly two-thirds of the total.

Over the centuries, church courts typically interpreted the capacity to consent fairly narrowly – as long as someone was of age, not coerced and not clearly insane, they were presumed to be capable. Yet as divorce has become more common, there’s often a powerful pastoral drive to find grounds for an annulment, given that a Catholic whose marriage breaks up can’t get remarried in the church without one, and if they remarry under civil law, they’re excluded from the sacraments.

Sheila Rauch Kennedy, who successfully fought to overturn an annulment granted to her husband, then-U.S. Congressman Joseph Kennedy, in 1997, has written that church courts in America have adopted such an expansive reading of canon 1095 that it can now cover “almost anything … from personality traits such as self-centeredness, moodiness or being eager to please, to unproven ‘disorders’.”

I have expressed my opinion that the church doctrine is outdated and unrealistic in this day and age. So it is interesting to me that the church is doubling down on its theology.

Last week, I wrote about the Vatican cracking down on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR).

It is obvious the Pope Benedict is behind the more restrictive policies. I’ve given my opinion. What’s yours?

I wonder what Catholics think about the church moves to interpret the doctrine more narrowly.

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Vacation Bible school time again.

To have your vacation Bible school listed in the York Daily Record, send announcements to news@ydr.com by June 4 with VBS title/theme, church name, location, times, cost and contact information.

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Mormonism gaining; Catholics, Protestants losing in new survey

Posted on May 2, 2012 by John Hilton

Interesting bit of news in my inbox this morning: Mormonism is the fastest-growing religion in more than half of the states and moving into many parts of the country where it had no presence previously.

Check out the stats here.

Released Tuesday, the 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study (RCMS) shows that the mainline Protestants and Catholics, the dominant religions of the past century, are losing ground to the rapid rise of Mormons and, increasingly, Muslims.

The Religion News Service breaks down the study, which is conducted once every 10 years and can track Americans’ religious affiliation down to the county level, from the largest (Los Angeles County, where Mormons grew 55 percent while Catholics shrank by 7 percent) to the smallest (Loving County, Texas, which is home to 80 people and one nondenominational evangelical church).

Romney’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reported 2 million new adherents and new congregations in 295 counties where they didn’t exist a decade ago, making them the fastest-growing group in the U.S.

Mormons were the fastest-growing group in 26 states, expanding beyond their historic home in Utah to the heart of the Bible Belt and as far away as Maine.

Muslims came in second, with growth of 1 million adherents in 197 new counties, to a total of about 2.6 million. Overall, non-Christian groups grew by 32 percent over the past decade.

The survey identified nearly 350,000 religious congregations in the United States, from Albanian Orthodox to Zoroastrian. Those churches, temples and mosques are the spiritual home for 150.6 million Americans, and researchers say they were able to capture 90 percent of all U.S. congregations.

The RCMS study relies mainly on self-reported data from churches and denominations.

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Osteen the “rock star” plays Nationals Park

Posted on May 1, 2012 by John Hilton

Neither rain nor a bad tie could keep megapastor Joel Osteen from his appointed rounds at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. over the weekend.

The controversial Osteen’s appearance at the home of the Washington Nationals was rained out Saturday, but he spoke Sunday to a near-sellout crowd.

As the WaPo reports, tens of thousands of worshippers paid $15 a ticket and treated Osteen “like a rock star when he entered, screaming and snapping photos.”

I’ve written about Osteen before. A college dropout with no formal pastoral degree, he has made millions from his motivational books and his weekly sermons televised from his Lakewood Church in Houston.

According to 60 Minutes, Osteen’s ministry rakes in over $73 million a year. His brother, sister and mother are all minister’s in his church—a family operated cash cow.

Critics say Osteen is more of a self-help guru akin to the Tony Robbins of the world than he is a true man of God.

A Sunday comment from Osteen: “You know when restaurants ask you whether you’d like to supersize it? That’s what God’s like. He wants to supersize it. He wants to supersize your joy,” Osteen told the roaring crowd.

Um, yeah, OK.

There are so many different things going on with Osteen, in my view, some good and some not so good. He’s obviously tapping into a need everyday people have to believe there is something better and wonderful out there for them.

It’s the same feelings of hope that make lottery tickets so popular.

Supporters will say Osteen makes people feel better, so where’s the harm in that? And he’s done good things like establishing a network of over 300 pastors nationwide to connect followers to real churches.

And Osteen hasn’t been soiled by any controversies related to the millions he has raked in. So is he bad for religion?

My answer is a qualified he isn’t good for religion. Selling people false hope in a slick package isn’t what they need. Wrapping your message in the thinnest coat of “God” and religion isn’t the way to gain credibility.

People don’t need a prosperity salesman. Sometimes they just need a dose of reality.

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Faith in diversity

Posted on April 30, 2012 by John Hilton

I went to an interesting church service yesterday: “cultural diversity Sunday” at Faith UCC.

See the story and video here.

The Rev. Ron Oelrich of Faith UCC holds London Lambert, 6 months.

It was interesting to see Faith UCC, a predominantly white church, share its pews with Mount Zion Community Fellowship Church, a black church, and First Spanish United Methodist Church, a Hispanic congregation.

I could tell that for many of the blacks and whites in the crowd, it was their first time hearing the sounds of church from the other side. As I wrote in my story, black churches get down with Christ with ebullient sounds and joyous singing.

White churches favor more traditional choir music with the trusty church organ. We heard both Sunday at Faith UCC and, while it might not have changed any minds about how to conduct church, it extended a bridge.

And there can’t be anything but good that comes from experiencing how another culture lives and loves Christ. Especially when those folks are your neighbors.

In that vein, another cultural diversity service in planned in late-May. Here is the press advisory I received over the weekend from Bryan K. Wade II, Bible Tabernacle Men’s Ministry president:

“Judah In the City of York” is a Christian Outreach event which brings together, pastors’ Carl H. Scott (Bible Tabernacle Christian Center), Bob Reidy (Church of the Open Door), and Miguel Ramos (Soldados de Jesus).

All three pastors will take the stage at Bible Tabernacle Christian Center, May 26 2012, and each will present the Word of God to the community/city of York.

All three pastors of various ethnicities; African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic will bring together several different cultural groups, low and high socioeconomic, urban and suburban families, and young and old, in a time with the theme centered upon this scripture; “What shall I Render unto God for all his Benefits unto me, Ps 116:12″ This is to be a Time of Praise, for “Judah” biblically represents the response of Praise when thinking about how good God has been towards his people.

Featured in this event, the Bible Tabernacle Men’s Choir, Bible Tabernacle Voices for Christ choir, Bible Tabernacle Young Adult Choir, Multiple Mime/Dancers from Bible Tabernacle along with Min. Danny Haas and Abundant Life C.O.G.I.C. praise team. Included also will be, free items given to the community, appliances, electronics, new toys, new clothing, jewelry, toiletries, and linens to those of the
community in need.

This program proves the power of God by the presence of unity demonstrated by three very seldom associating churches and deposits their ministry into the city of York on 361 S. Pine Street, outside, behind Hannah Penn middle school.

In a timewhere the community is lacking resources for school funding coupled
with the bewildering scenarios that often plague lives young and old
in the streets, three very different churches are coming together financially
and spiritually to celebrate the Lord and give attention to the
importance of spirituality in times like these.

This effort, turning away hearts and minds from those things that sadden, depress, and dissipate a community is indeed turning up the heat upon the coldness
of the streets and placing hope in the hearts of those of all cultures
corporately in praise and worship.

This event is headed by the Men’s Ministry at Bible Tabernacle along with Pastor Carl H. Scott, one very familiar with successful outreach in the City of York. It will last from 12 PM until 4 PM and include the following fun items; children’s
Bounce House, Dunk Tank,along with Catered Food (free), Prayer, and
health screenings with literature. This is an opportunity for anyone
of the surrounding area to begin their summer with a spirit of love, something our city sincerely needs.

Bryan K. Wade II

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My visit to Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine

Posted on April 29, 2012 by John Hilton

Took a tour Saturday of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on Amsterdam Street in New York City.

The church takes up a whole city block and totals 121,000 square feet inside.

It felt … big. No, enormous. Or was it “gigantic?” But I have to say the one thing it didn’t feel like was a church.

I’m still baffled and intrigued by the church push for size. At least the megachurches that want thousands of members can say that growing that size enables them to raise more money and, theoretically, help more people.

But why would you set out to build a church of infinite size? I say infinite because nobody is really sure how big St. John the Divine is supposed to be. It’s nickname is “St. John the Unfinished.”

Construction began in 1892, and continued periodically until 1941. Construction resumed in the 1980s and stopped in 1997, but as our tour guide made clear, the cathedral isn’t finished. Who knows when construction will begin again, but the church has discussed two towers and even a third tower to rise from where a dome has capped the cathedral.

And our guide made it VERY clear that St. John is “bigger than St. Patrick’s,” the famed NYC Catholic Church. He must have said “we’re bigger” four or five times.

I still don’t quite get it. I’ll be writing more on this through the week.

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Vatican vs. the nuns

Posted on April 26, 2012 by John Hilton

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Vatican devalues Catholic women

Posted on April 25, 2012 by John Hilton

The Catholic Church has a new controversy regarding the standing of women within the church. This comes on the heels of the contraception debate.

In that issue, various polls claimed that 92 to 98 percent of Catholic women use birth control. I have blogged in this space in the past suggesting the church might be a tad out of touch with the feminist movement.

Now I am certain of it.
Continue reading →

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