Showdown in the Methodist Church The Presbyterian Layman, December 3, 1998 Pastor Donald Fado of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Sacramento, CA is preparing to openly defy the UMC’s Book of Discipline by performing a “holy union” service for two lesbians at the 930-member church on Jan. 16. Approximately 80 UMC ministers will join…
COCU Plenary to be held in January United Methodist Reporter, December 2, 1998 Representatives of an almost 40-year-old dialogue of nine U.S. Christian denominations will gather Jan. 20-24 in St. Louis to consider whether their churches are ready to take a major step toward Christian unity at the beginning of the 21st century. Among the…
NCC finds “no evidence” of Chinese persecution of Christians Institute on Religion and Democracy, November 30, 1998 During the Cold War, mainline church leaders in the United States were largely silent about the plight of persecuted religious believers behind the Iron Curtain. Only when the Soviet empire fell did some begin to admit the folly…
Layman editor will report from WCC assembly The Presbyterian Layman, November 27, 1998 Parker T. Williamson, Executive Editor of The Presbyterian Layman, will provide daily, on-site coverage of the 50th Jubilee assembly of the World Council of Churches through The Layman Online. Williamson’s wrap-up of the assembly will be published in the January-February 1999 issue…
Court rules United Church of Canada deviates from doctrinal standards The Presbyterian Layman, November 23, 1998 A recent Bermuda court decision could open the doors for hundreds of conservative United Church congregations in Canada to quit the denomination and take their buildings with them. The Supreme Court of Bermuda has ruled that a small Methodist…
Church news briefs The Presbyterian Layman, November 20, 1998 Government Ohio can keep its motto “With God, all things are possible,” but a federal judge has ruled that the Bible cannot be cited as the source of the quotation. The motto appears on state documents and publications and in public locations. By taking away the…
The making of ‘Prince of Egypt’ The Presbyterian Layman, November 18, 1998 Scores of slaves toil to bring the massive idol of Pharaoh Seti to the center of the great city of the Egyptian empire in Dream Works’ epic drama The Prince of Egypt.DreamWorks SKG’s animated movie “The Prince of Egypt,” an epic drama taken…
‘Prince of Egypt’: A review The Presbyterian Layman, November 18, 1998 Dream Works’ epic drama The Prince of Egypt tells the story of Moses and Rameses, two brothers raised on a lie and torn apart by a secret revealed. “The day we decided to make the movie was the day we decided this is not…
Commissioning history November 18, 1998 Presbyteries will soon be electing commissioners to the 1999 General Assembly. There commissioners will decide how to handle a request from Milwaukee Presbytery, which for the second straight year has approved an overture asking presbyteries to delete the “fidelity and chastity” provision (G-6.0106b) from the Book of Order (see story…
Celebrating too soon The Presbyterian Layman, November 18, 1998 Presbyterians who gathered in Dallas and Atlanta rejoiced over what General Assembly Moderator Douglas Oldenburg described as a denomination that has “turned the corner.” Praising God for the fact that clear biblical standards of sexual behavior stand firmly in our Constitution, we applauded signs of denominational…