Faith Digest

Posted: 10/26/07

Faith Digest

NAE names president. The National Association of Evangelicals board unanimously elected Leith Anderson as the organization’s president.

Anderson, pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minn., was named interim president in November 2006 following the resignation of former Colorado megachurch pastor Ted Haggard, who was brought down in a sex and drug scandal. Anderson, 63, has been senior pastor of his church, affiliated with the Baptist General Conference, since 1977. The congregation has grown to 5,000 regular attenders during his tenure and is known for its outreach abroad, including to people suffering from HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Group warns Brits to leave clerical collars at home. A British church safety group is advising clergy—from the archbishop of Canterbury on down—to remove clerical collars when they are off duty to reduce the risk of being attacked. A new report issued by National Churchwatch says clergy are in danger from assailants who believe they have money or who bear some sort of “grudge against God.” National Churchwatch, an independent organization that provides clergy with personal safety advice, said priests are attacked more often than those of other professions because they are considered unlikely to fight back. In Britain, five vicars have been murdered in the past decade. In a survey of 90 ministers that Nick Tolson, who heads the safety group, said he conducted last year, nearly half reported they had been attacked in some form during the previous 12 months.

‘Thou shalt donate organs.’ The Church of England says human organ donation is a Christian duty, in line with the giving of oneself and personal possessions voluntarily for the wellbeing of others. But at the same time, the church has sidestepped the question of whether to back a so-called “opt-out” system, in which everyone is considered a donor unless he or she specifically stipulates otherwise, or an “opt-in” approach that allows people to sign up as donors. The church’s statement on organ donation came during discussion in the House of Lords on whether a position on organ donation should be adopted across the 27-member European Union, of which Britain is a part. The Church of England made it clear that it remained firmly opposed to the sale of human organs, but it supports living donors giving organs when no commercial gain is involved.

Adventists see growth globally. Worldwide membership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church has increased to 15.4 million, according to statistics announced at a recent international gathering in Silver Spring, Md. Membership totaled 15,435,470, a net increase of 681,448, or 4.62 percent, as of mid-2007, said John Torres, media relations manager for the international church. Matthew Bediako, secretary of the international church, also provided figures that show how many members have departed. For every 100 members who joined the church between July 2006 and this past June, 24 left. He called this year’s retention rate of 76 percent “healthy.” Although statisticians found that more than 1 million people joined the church, when departures are factored in, the net growth is 681,448. In the fiscal year ending June 2006, the church lost 45 people for every 100 new members.