epiScope

'Steeplejacking' churches

Minister says conservative conspiracy behind dissent in progressive congregations
By: GARY WARTH - Staff Writer
North County (CA) Times
November 1, 2007

Disagreements within congregations and schisms in denominations may be the products of a carefully planned and well-financed plot to dismantle progressive churches, a clergyman alleges in a new book.

"The Institute on Religion and Democracy is at the center of all this," said the Rev. John Dorhauer. "Their purpose, on behalf of the neo-conservative movement of the right wing of the Republican party, is to foment dissent in mainline churches, with the ultimate goal of silencing the prophetic witness they have been historically known for."

Dorhauer, a member of the conference staff for the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the United Church of Christ, wrote about the institute in "Steeplejacking: How the Christian Right is Hijacking Mainstream Religion," released in July by Ig Publishing. He co-wrote the book with the Rev. Sheldon Culver, also on staff of the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the United Church of Christ.

It’s all here …

Kansas church liable in Marine funeral protest
By Jon Hurdle
Reuters
November 1, 2007

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - A jury on Wednesday ordered an anti-gay Kansas church to pay $10.9 million in damages to relatives of a U.S. Marine who died in Iraq after church members cheered his death at his funeral.

Church members said Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder's death was God's punishment of America for tolerating homosexuality, and they attended his 2006 funeral in Maryland with signs saying "You're going to hell" and "God hates you."

The federal jury determined the Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, and three of its principals invaded the privacy of the dead man's family and inflicted emotional distress.

Albert Snyder, the Marine's father, testified that his son was not gay, but the church targeted the military as a symbol of America's tolerance of gays. Matthew Snyder died in combat in Iraq in March 2006.

It’s all here …

'Steeplejacking' churches

Minister says conservative conspiracy behind dissent in progressive congregations
By: GARY WARTH
North County (San Diego, CA) Times
October 4, 2007

Disagreements within congregations and schisms in denominations may be the products of a carefully planned and well-financed plot to dismantle progressive churches, a clergyman alleges in a new book.

"The Institute on Religion and Democracy is at the center of all this," said the Rev. John Dorhauer. "Their purpose, on behalf of the neo-conservative movement of the right wing of the Republican party, is to foment dissent in mainline churches, with the ultimate goal of silencing the prophetic witness they have been historically known for."

Dorhauer, a member of the conference staff for the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the United Church of Christ, wrote about the institute in "Steeplejacking: How the Christian Right is Hijacking Mainstream Religion," released in July by Ig Publishing. He co-wrote the book with the Rev. Sheldon Culver, also on staff of the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the United Church of Christ.

It’s all here …

We are not alone...

A look at Presbyterian alphabet soup and what it means
By TERRY MATTINGLY
Scripps Howard News Service
2007-09-05 00:00:00

To follow Presbyterian news updates, outsiders need to learn a few key facts.

The Presbyterian Church in America is not the same thing as the American Presbyterian Church. Also, Orthodox Presbyterians are not to be confused with Bible Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians, Reformed Presbyterians, Associate Reformed Presbyterians or Evangelical Presbyterians.

This Presbyterian alphabet soup became less complicated in 1983, when the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. joined with the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., the so-called Southern branch. This created the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which today has about 2.3 million members.

Is that clear? If so, take a deep breath because Presbyterian affairs are about to get more complicated as new divisions and unions reshape the churches that trace their roots to John Calvin and his Reformed branch of Protestantism.

It’s all here …and is there an echo in here?

Mysterium tremendum

A number of Episcopal Church leaders have been scratching their heads this week, wondering how they ended up with a free book from the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD).

epiScope was tipped to this by the Rev. Dan Webster of the National Council of Churches of Christ USA (NCCC/USA), whose lovely wife happens to be a rector in a small Episcopal parish north of the Big Apple.

Addressed to “Senior Paster” [sic], the package contains a copy of “Islamic Imperialism,” by Efraim Karsh, professor and head of the Mediterranean Studies Programme at King's College, University of London.

epiScope thought a few handy links on Professor Karsh might be helpful in solving the mystery. (Note to Jim Tonkowich: Where's my copy?)

UPDATE: You don't suppose IRD's bulk mailing has anything to do with this? Nawwww...surely not.

A whole new world?

Episcopalians and the New World
The Episcopal church gets ready to celebrate its 400th anniversary in America.
by Mark D. Tooley
03/08/2007 12:00:00 AM

On May 17, 1607, English settlers landed on Jamestown Island in Virginia and created what would be the first permanent British colony. An Anglican clergyman led them in prayers of thanksgiving and in constructing the first permanent Protestant church in the Western hemisphere.

In two months, the 400th anniversary of this event will be celebrated. The Episcopal Church, as the spiritual descendants of the original Jamestown colony, is participating, although perhaps with some hesitation. Fifteen years ago, the quincentenary of Christopher Columbus's voyage to America was marred by controversy, with groups such as the National Council of Churches denouncing the celebration of "genocide" against the native peoples of America.

It’s all here … and more reading on Matoaka/Pocahontas is below.

Incidentally, according to "Pocahontas' People - The Powhatan Indians of Virginia through Four Centuries" by Helen C. Rountree, "Chanco" is actually a combination of several Indians--an unnamed boy and a man named "Chauco"--who "were torn in their loyalty because they had become fringe people to both societies" (p.73-74).