Posted: 9/5/03

New NAE president Ted Haggard
hopes to enhance evangelicals' image

By Steve Rabey

Religion News Service

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (RNS)–Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, says most evangelical Christians are humble, kind and godly folks, but that's not how they're always perceived.

“For many people, the stereotypical image of an evangelical is a very serious old man with an expensive suit who is against whatever is happening that day,” said Haggard, a relaxed and smiling 47-year-old who could easily pass for 37. He was named NAE president in March.

Haggard admits enhancing the image of evangelicals, those theologically conservative Christians who often are socially and politically conservative to boot, will be a big challenge. But he rarely thinks small.

New Life Church, the independent charismatic congregation he founded in his Colorado Springs basement in 1985, now has 9,200 members and plans to break ground on a 12,000-seat worship center next year. The church also is home to the World Prayer Center, a support base for missionary activities, and the Association of Life-Giving Churches, a network of 250 mostly Pentecostal and charismatic congregations.

Haggard, who spoke to Religion News Service at his home in early July, is trying to gain respect for evangelicals nationwide in much the same way he has helped his congregation grow–by focusing on essentials like salvation, Jesus and the Bible instead of divisive side issues, and by trying to love people into heaven rather than scaring the hell out of them.

“Evangelicals are in a period of transition,” says Haggard, who will serve as NAE president until he is voted out. “We're moving from being defined by what we're against to being defined by what we're for.

“We support civil liberties, personal freedom, women's rights, the dignity of the individual, representative government and other ideas that came out of Christian theology 400 years ago. Now we have to articulate those values again as we face struggles with Islamic culture.”

The NAE is in a period of transition as well. Since 2000, the organization has lost some of its key members, such as the National Religious Broadcasters; seen a downturn in funding; and endured the resignation of former President Kevin Mannoia. But membership and funding are up this year.

“We're resurrecting the organization,” Haggard said.

Haggard debuted his kinder and gentler evangelicalism at a May 7 forum on Islam that was co-sponsored by the NAE, an organization that represents 51 denominations with 43,000 congregations and 250 para-church organizations.

While reaffirming evangelicals' belief in the uniqueness and supremacy of Christ, the forum broke new ground by calling on evangelical leaders like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Franklin Graham to tone down their inflammatory anti-Islam rhetoric.

“The impression one gets is that Ted Haggard, in his theology and his tactfulness, is more the son of Billy Graham than Billy Graham's son is,” said Martin Marty, a leading church historian from the University of Chicago, referring to Franklin.

Haggard himself invokes the image of Graham, the globe-trotting evangelist who first gained national attention with his 1949 Los Angeles crusades and remains many Americans' favorite evangelical.

“My dad was a liberal Presbyterian who served the church all his life but never heard the gospel message until he heard Billy Graham on the television,” Haggard explained. “If Billy Graham had started by talking about the evils of liberalism in the Presbyterian church, my dad never would have heard the gospel. But instead, Billy Graham explained how wonderful it is to be born again.”

Haggard grew up in Indiana and graduated from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., before serving as a youth pastor at a Baptist church in Baton Rouge, La. In 1984, he and his wife, Gayle, visited Colorado Springs, where Haggard spent three days praying and fasting. He says God told him to start a church where people could freely worship, whether that meant dancing, jumping, banging on a tambourine or standing silently with eyes closed. Today New Life is the largest congregation in Colorado and one of the fastest-growing churches in the United States.

Haggard is winsome, but he's not wishy-washy. And he's less concerned about being popular than he is about carrying out Christ's command in Matthew to “make disciples of all nations.”

“I am not a peace-at-any-cost guy,” he said. “I have core convictions. I am an activist and an advocate for the things I believe. But I am absolutely convinced ours is the first generation that has a realistic opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission. And the only way that can happen is if we do it together. Which is why I have great hope and enthusiasm for the future of the National Association of Evangelicals. I know Christians cannot successfully fulfill the assignment given to this generation if we're separated from one another.”

Posted: 9/5/03

NAMB cuts $11 million from 2004 budget as income wanes

ALPHARETTA, GA (ABP)–The North American Mission Board plans to cut $11 million from its budget next year, which will eliminate 31 full- and part-time positions–some of which are vacant–and leave seven current employees without jobs.

The proposed $118 million budget–6 percent less than this year–awaits approval by trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention agency during their meeting Oct. 8.

The 2004 budget cuts $3 million from travel expenses, $1.6 million in communication projects, more than $4 million from support of various programs and $1.7 million from personnel expenses.

Officials blamed the cuts on sluggish contributions and the economic downturn. The agency joins other SBC entities and Christian ministries that have reduced staff and services recently. In June, the SBC International Mission Board eliminated 61 positions affecting 37 employees. A recent Baptist Standard survey of eight large state Baptist conventions showed all eight are receiving less money from churches than last year.

Twelve of the 31 NAMB positions are vacant and won't be filled. Three employees whose positions were eliminated will retire. Nine others are transferring to other jobs at NAMB. The remaining seven will lose their jobs. The agency employs about 460 people.

NAMB spokesman Marty King said the agency would not identify the employees affected. Positions were eliminated based on need, he said. “This is not a reflection of performance. This number was a lot bigger two weeks ago.”

King said 11 eliminated positions are for support workers, 14 are professional positions that are not supervisory, and six are management positions with supervisory responsibilities.

NAMB officials project the agency's income next year will be $7.2 million less than the 2003 budget–nearly a 6 percent decrease. But some of that money will have to be directed to fixed-cost increases, they said.

“The bottom line is we anticipate having $3.4 million more in expenses we cannot control, but $7.2 million less income,” said NAMB President Bob Reccord. “That means we must come up with nearly $11 million in spending cuts in 2004.”

Reccord expressed appreciation to Southern Baptists for supporting NAMB financially, which he said “allowed us to endure our country's economic downturn better than so many other ministries, non-profits and even for-profit organizations.

“But we must face the fact that mission giving is not keeping pace with growing increases in expenses like health insurance, utilities, and capital and fixed expenses which will increase almost $3.4 million next year,” he said.

Randy Singer, NAMB executive vice president, said that although income from the SBC Cooperative Program and Annie Armstrong Easter Offering–which together comprise more than 75 percent of NAMB's income–has increased incrementally over the past several years, those increases have barely kept pace with inflation.

“Due primarily to the impact of the sluggish economy on our investment income, NAMB has not reached income projections four of the last five years,” Singer said. “We must submit a 2004 budget which takes that into account.”

The proposed 2004 budget freezes salaries for NAMB missionaries and staff, the second year in a row staff have not received pay raises. NAMB funding of state Baptist conventions is not being reduced, but neither will partnership funding increase. The proposed staff reductions do not reduce support for NAMB missionaries who are jointly supported with state Baptist conventions, Singer said.

Posted: 9/5/03

North Carolina convention cuts
24 positions, 20 percent of staff

By Tony Cartledge

North Carolina Biblical Recorder

CARY, N.C. (ABP)–The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina cut 24 staff positions Aug. 26 in the wake of shrinking contributions from churches.

Nine of the 24 positions were vacant, but 15 employees lost their jobs. The cuts represent 20 percent of all budgeted positions and 12.5 percent of actual employees, according to Ed Wiggs, the convention's business services director.

Through Aug. 22, convention income was $1.65 million (more than 7 percent) below budget expectations and about 2.6 percent below last year's income. Income to the North Carolina Missions Offering, which funds the state's Baptist Men and Woman's Missionary Union programs, is down 16 percent from last year.

The convention's executive committee first met Aug. 12 to consider reductions and returned Aug. 26 to consider deeper cuts. Jim Royston, the convention's executive director-treasurer, notified employees by e-mail Aug. 27 that the executive committee had ordered an immediate downsizing. He and other officials then notified the affected personnel that their jobs would be eliminated Aug. 31. Released employees will receive severance packages based on length of tenure, and all who qualify for retirement will receive full retirement benefits.

Through the staff reductions, convention officials hope to save about $250,000 in the remainder of 2003 and $700,000 in 2004.

The cuts were made in a manner that preserves positions that most directly serve churches, Royston said. Terminated were nine program staffers, including an executive team leader, and six support staffers. Royston expressed regret the cuts were necessary and emphasized that reductions were based on positions, not individuals or performance.

Nine of the 15 qualified for retirement benefits, and four of them chose to announce their retirements. They are Doug Cole, executive director of the Council on Christian Life and Public Affairs; Bill Boatwright, communications director; Becky Stewart, secretary to the executive director-treasurer; and Ted Purcell, a long-time campus minister who was currently serving part time at Duke University.

The strategic initiatives and planning team was dismantled, eliminating the positions held by executive team leader Tom Jenkins and secretary Cynthia Howell. Remaining staffers in the group will transfer to other teams.

Two other staffers with lengthy tenures saw their positions eliminated. Velma Ferrell, who worked with international student ministries, and Carolyn Hopkins, in WMU, each had served the convention 26 years. Positions working in support of the Council on Christian Higher Education were eliminated, affecting Executive Director Wayne Wike and secretary Cheryl Cruickshank. The council will continue to function and receive program funds, Royston said, with day-to-day responsibilities shifted to other convention personnel.

Two positions in Baptist Men and one in partnership missions were eliminated. These include youth and student missions consultant John McGinnis and receptionist/secretary Carla Foster.

Positions held by benefits coordinator Donna Thompson and international student ministry secretary Alice Johnson also were eliminated.

Nine budgeted positions not currently filled will be removed from the budget. These include four program staff and five support staff. In all, the cutbacks affected 13 program positions and 11 support positions.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 9/5/03

Russian court convicts
Baptist worker of smuggling

By Frank Brown

Religion News Service

MOSCOW–In a case being watched closely by evangelical Protestants worldwide, a judge convicted an American Baptist youth pastor of currency smuggling Aug. 22, in the process confiscating $48,000 in charitable donations collected from believers in the United States.

The part-time pastor, Andrew Okhotin, was given a suspended sentence of six months and is free to leave Russia, where he has been stuck since March. But Okhotin vows to appeal the verdict and remain in Moscow, perhaps missing the start of the fall term at Harvard Divinity School, where he is a third-year graduate student.

“I don't know how long I'll have to stay,” he said after hearing the verdict, calling the seizure of the $48,000 a “theft.”

“If they stole from you, what would you do?” he asked.

Minutes earlier, Okhotin wore a crooked smile of disbelief as Judge Igor Yakovlev pronounced him guilty and declared the $48,000 in 50- and 100-dollar bills to be “contraband used in the commission of a crime” and now the property of the Russian government.

The judge acknowledged Okhotin's “exceptionally positive character references” witnessed by the dozens of faxed and mailed appeals from hundreds of evangelical Christians, Okhotin's professors and a letter from eight U.S. members of Congress. But, in arriving at the verdict, Yakovlev ignored Okhotin's version of what happened on the morning of March 29 when Okhotin arrived on a flight with the cash in his backpack.

In sometimes conflicting accounts, two customs inspectors testified that Okhotin's choice of the green, nothing-to-declare corridor was a willful attempt at deception.

Okhotin told the court he chose the green corridor by accident, cooperated with the inspectors and immediately produced a customs declaration for the cash that he had filled out on the flight from New York. The customs inspectors ignored it, Okhotin said, choosing instead to demand bribes of first $10,000 and then $5,000 for his release.

“We raised the question of bribery here. Did the judge take an interest? No. Did the prosecutor take an interest? No,” Okhotin said, calling the court proceeding a “cover up” for the wrongdoing of the customs officers.

Neither the prosecutor nor customs officials were on hand for the verdict. The prosecutor, Alla Tomas, previously refused to comment on any aspect of the case. Irina Kondratskaya, a customs inspector accused by Okhotin of soliciting a bribe during his 12-hour interrogation at the airport, angrily declined in a brief telephone conversation to speak about what happened.

Aside from Okhotin's case, which has received scant attention from the Russian media, law enforcement corruption is a hot topic this summer in Moscow. In July, at the same airport used by Okhotin, three border guards were arrested and accused of taking bribes to allow wanted criminals to leave Russia on fake passports. On Aug 21, six Moscow police officers were charged with taking part in an extortion and contract murder racket.

Worldwide, Okhotin's case has taken on a life of its own by slowly, organically provoking the prayerful indignation of evangelical Christians. Supporters are following his journey through the Russian legal system, his 27-day hunger strike and the prayer appeals on the K-Love Christian radio network, through e-mail and on Christian-oriented websites from Denmark to North America to Russia.

About 50 young Baptists at the church where Okhotin volunteered weekends as a youth pastor stayed up until 2:30 a.m. the day of the verdict praying for “God to defend Andrew and help those Russian families who were waiting for the help he was bringing,” said the church's pastor, Alexander Brover, in a telephone interview from Westfield, Mass.

Members of Southwick Baptist Church contributed to the $48,000 sum raised to aid needy Russian Baptists, Brover said, adding that he thinks a divine plan is at work in Okhotin's predicament.

“God took Andrew on this path to prepare him for something bigger. God is teaching him something,” the pastor said.

Indeed, of all the people who could have run afoul of customs officials, Okhotin is uniquely qualified to hold his own. Okhotin's father was a Soviet-era pastor in an underground Baptist church who was arrested for his faith and imprisoned for 2 1/2 years. The family–Okhotin's parents and his eight siblings–immigrated to the United States in 1989. After graduating from Harvard Divinity School, Okhotin wants to enroll in Harvard Law School and eventually specialize in defending the rights of religious minorities.

Okhotin's mother, Nadezhda Okhotin, who flew to Moscow from her home in San Diego for the legal proceedings, said the last time she had been in a Russian courtroom was in 1984 for her husband's trial on charges of anti-Soviet agitation.

“This is the persecution of a Christian doing good works,” she said after hearing the verdict. “I can't see it any other way.”

Okhotin's lawyer, Vladimir Ryakhovsky, said he would appeal the verdict to the Moscow City Court. He called the grounds for appeal strong because “the judge didn't take into account at all the fact that there is no limit how much money you can bring into the country.”

Ryakhovsky, whose own father was a Pentecostal preacher imprisoned for his faith by the Soviets, predicted Okhotin's case might reach Russia's Supreme Court before getting resolved. Ryakhovsky, one of the country's top religious freedom lawyers, won a victory earlier this year before the high court when it decided to allow Muslim women to wear headscarves in their passport photos.

Posted: 9/5/03

Website explains all about
unreached people groups

By Ashley Haygood

International Mission Board

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)–Ever wondered how far the gospel has advanced among a particular people group? Ever wondered which people groups are the least evangelized? Ever wondered what a “people group” is?

A new website will help answer those questions and many more.

Visitors to www.peoplegroups.org may search more than 11,000 people groups by name, country, religion, language or status of evangelization. The information provided on each people group includes alternate names, country, primary language, religion and population.

A list of all the world's people groups is available, as well as tables and charts on the status of global evangelization. Visitors even can add information about pockets of unreached people groups they have discovered in their own cities.

Information for the site is collected through a global network of evangelical missions researchers, then gathered and analyzed by the global research department of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. Much of the information reflects first-hand research conducted on the field among the people groups themselves.

The site is updated continually, thanks to the feedback link viewers can use to add a people group or update information already on the site. The number of people groups and details about them change constantly as researchers improve their information.

The site also offers answers to frequently asked questions and explains some of the frequently used missions acronyms that laypeople often find confusing.

Posted: 9/5/03

Texas voters to consider church taxation measure

By Ken Camp

Texas Baptist Communications

The tax exemption for church-owned property that is leased to a private school or held for future relocation could be extended if voters approve Proposition 3 on Sept. 13.

If approved, Proposition 3 would authorize the Texas Legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxes for six years any property owned by a religious organization that is leased for educational purposes or owned for future expansion.

The tax exemption would not extend to any church-owned property that produces revenue for the congregation. To curb potential abuses, a church would have to pay penalties and back taxes if it sold exempt property.

According to a voters' guide produced by the League of Women Voters, “Religious organizations are currently exempt from ad valorem taxes on their places of worship, adjoining parking lots and property owned for the purpose of housing clergy.”

Local tax districts may assess taxes on property that a church buys for expansion. Currently, the tax code allows only a three-year tax abatement for churches to develop unused land. Tax districts are empowered to decide how much of a church's land is unused and to assess tax value at a cost per square foot.

During the 78th Texas Legislature, Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Fort Worth, introduced a bill that would have exempted all church property contiguous to existing worship space.

The bill was filed in response to issues raised by Christ Lutheran Church of Fort Worth. The church bought 13 acres in the mid-1990s for expansion, but it was not able financially to develop the entire property in three years. Consequently, the small congregation paid more than $25,000 in ad valorem taxes in 1998, 1999 and 2000, according to Pastor Randy Bard.

Both the Texas House and Senate approved a conference committee substitute bill that expanded the tax abatement for church-owned property from three years to six years. Gov. Rick Perry signed the bill June 20, but it is contingent upon approval of Proposition 3 by voters statewide.

Proponents of the constitutional amendment argue the current system places an unfair burden on churches. Opponents say it would deprive cities, counties and school districts of property tax revenue and create an advantage for private schools over public education.

Both the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle took editorial positions in opposition to Proposition 3. The Dallas newspaper said the constitutional amendment “could lead to an ecclesiastical land rush,” and the Houston paper called the proposition “overly broad” and “unfair.”

But Suzii Paynter, director of citizenship and public policy with the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission, offered support for the proposition. “The property tax system in Texas is broken. Adding further burden to church property makes it more broken.”

Paynter maintained the value churches bring to communities in terms of services provided exceeds the value of tax exemption. She noted a study by Ram Cnaan, director of the Program for Organized Religion and Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania, supporting that view.

Voters on Sept. 13 also will rule on Proposition 12, authorizing the legislature to set limits on non-economic damages in lawsuits against doctors and health-care providers.

A “yes” vote would validate HB 4 from the 78th legislative session, which set non-economic damage caps of $250,000 per health-care provider and $500,000 per facility in any single medical malpractice suit.

Advocates of Proposition 12–including leaders of Baylor Health Care System–maintain the constitutional amendment will help reduce health costs and allow doctors, hospitals and nursing homes to continue serving patients. They argue that failure to place reasonable limits on non-economic damages has caused liability insurance premiums to escalate and forced health-care providers to reduce or eliminate services.

Opponents of Proposition 12 say placing a cap on non-economic damages would unfairly limit a patient's right to legal redress, particularly in the case of non-wage earners such as children, homemakers, the elderly and the disabled.

Posted: 9/5/03

Quanah women find prayer really changes things

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

QUANAH–Prayer changes the way Christians view their communities, according to members at First Baptist Church of Quanah. It helped folks at this North Texas farming community see a multitude of people who need Jesus.

About 15 church members, mostly women, started gathering in several small groups several years ago to pray for non-Christians in their community. Through the groups' efforts, more members began to realize how many people in the town of 3,000 were not believers.

That helped them see the people they encountered on the street corner or grocery store as people needing a relationship with Jesus Christ, said Charlotte Young, the pastor's wife, who started the first prayer group. “It made us aware that there are people all around us … that may be good people, but they don't have a relationship with Jesus.”

This keener awareness motivated members to share their faith with people they interact with on a regular basis, said Pastor Clint Young. “Praying for lost people changes the way you act.”

Ultimately, the women of the church became focused on reaching their town for Christ through relationships. They engaged people regularly in spiritual conversations and followed up on needs, as they learned to do through the Women Reaching Texas materials produced by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

“We're relational, so we don't want to upset anybody,” Mrs. Young said. “Most women look at evangelism as confrontational, that you're putting someone on the spot.”

But the Women Reaching Texas curriculum “equipped me and many other women to share without confronting,” she added.

The combination of prayer and intentional evangelism proved effective. After praying for more than a year, the women noticed people for whom they had been praying entering the church. Those newcomers soon were baptized and became involved in ministry.

Amy Butts, a member of the first prayer group, vividly recalls when her sister-in-law committed her life to Christ, calling it an “amazing experience.” She said she believes the conversion was the direct result of persistent prayer.

“I believe completely in praying for the lost,” she said. “It works.”

The process of prayer and building relationships works better in a small town than quick bursts of evangelism not built around relationships, the pastor reported. “It has changed the focus to a relational approach rather than a salesman approach.”

Mrs. Young said she continues to be amazed as the prayer groups carry on and people come to know Christ.

“People are open if we're willing to share our faith,” she emphasized. “We've seen such answers to prayer. It's been awesome.”

Posted: 9/5/03

World harbors 35 million refugees

WASHINGTON (RNS)–Almost 35 million displaced people were living in refugee camps or other temporary shelters last year, including a growing number who were unable to leave their countries, according to the 2003 World Refugee Survey.

The number of those uprooted from their homes but still living in their countries rose from 17 million in 1998 to 21.8 million in 2002, while the number of those seeking protection outside their countries has steadily dropped from 16.3 million in 1994 to 13 million last year.

The increase in the internally displaced stems from a growing inhospitality to refugees and a large number of internal conflicts, such as civil wars, said Roberta Cohen, co-director of the Brookings Institution and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Project on Internal Displacement.

In addition, more than 4 million people were newly uprooted in 2002, although some returned home by the end of the year.

The situation for these refugees and the internally displaced is dire, advocates say.

“Increasingly, refugees are not offered any options but are warehoused around the world so that generations of refugees are growing up in camps, their life in limbo, no hope for the future, many of them hungry,” said Lavinia Limon, executive director of the U.S. Committee for Refugees, a program of the Immigration and Refugee Services of America.

“These are very human tragedies,” Limon said. “These are individuals suffering what most of us can't imagine.”

The 258-page annual survey revealed trouble spots on almost every continent.

The survey did contain some bright spots.

The fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan allowed 1.8 million uprooted Afghans to return to their homes. The death of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in Angola prompted 800,000 displaced individuals and 80,000 refugees to venture back.

Posted: 9/5/03

New Testament as fashion magazine a hit with teen girls

By Alexandra Alter

Religion News Service

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS)–Where are teenage girls turning for advice about fashion, dating and getting along with their parents? Would you believe, the New Testament?

After years of trying to sell Bibles to one of the nation's savviest, most cynical consumer groups, Bible publishers at Thomas Nelson have developed a new way to snare adolescents' interest–turning the sacred book into a magazine.

Revolve, the new Bible for girls between the ages of 12 and 17, offers the complete New Testament in a fashion magazine format, replete with images of stylish, smiling young women, quizzes and celebrity birthdays.

Gushing effusively over Revolve, Brooke Nichols, 15, of Nashville, Tenn., could only think of one flaw–the omission of the Old Testament.

“When I have to use the Old Testament in Bible study, I have to pull out my other Bible,” she said.

Nonetheless, Nichols said Revolve has been a big hit with her friends at public school.

“My friends, they don't like to read the Bible, but once they saw it they were like, 'I'm going to have to get me one of those,'” she said.

The idea for Revolve developed after market researchers discovered a shocking truth about teenagers–they don't spend a lot of time reading the Bible, said Laurie Whaley of Thomas Nelson publishers.

“We've made a great industry out of selling Bibles to teenagers, and they're not reading them,” Whaley said. “The intent is to both make the Bible more interesting and to attract girls who would never pick up a leather-bound Bible but who would certainly pick up Revolve.”

The magazine format was intended to appeal to media-saturated teenagers, said Kate Etue, managing editor of Revolve.

“A lot of times, we've put the word 'teen' on something and thought that would be enough,” she said. “Even kids who come from a Christian subculture are very media-savvy.”

To meet discriminating adolescents' standards, Thomas Nelson brought in Thor 5 One, an Irish firm that designs the album covers for the rock band U2. The result–a glossy cover photo of three smiling teenage girls with glistening teeth and glowing skin, under florescent pink and blue headlines promising beauty secrets, quizzes and Q&As.

“They're great because they don't make things look churchy or Christiany,” Etue said of the designers. “They have a real fresh perspective on Christian products.”

When the product suits them, adolescents prove to be avid Bible buyers. The Extreme Teen Bible, which Thomas Nelson published in 1999, sold more than 800,000 copies in four years. The average Bible sells 40,000 copies a year.

Study Bibles and other Bibles directed at teens account for 25 percent of all sales at Family Christian Stores, a chain with over 315 outlets nationwide that recently started selling Revolve.

Mark Beyer, Bible buyer for Family Christian Stores, said he has seen mixed reactions to Revolve.”There are some people who look at it and go, 'What's that?' and other people look at it and get it,” said Beyer, adding that he was sure the product would be a hit when it was deemed “cool” by his 15-year-old daughter. Since its release, Revolve has already exceeded sales expectations, said Whaley, who would not provide exact sales numbers.

While some applaud efforts to make the Bible more attractive to teenagers, others have voiced concerns that tailoring the Bible to appeal to a particular group might send the wrong message.

Russell Dalton, author of “Video, Kids and Christian Education” and director of the Religious Communications program at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, said he worried “niche Bibles like Revolve might encourage kids to look at the Bible in a myopic way.”

While discussing issues like pregnancy, relationships and tattoos in the context of Christianity might be helpful for adolescents, sidebars such as “Are You Dating a Godly Guy?” might “make it seem as though the Bible is just talking about their concerns,” Dalton said.

“The danger there is that they're not reading the Scripture for itself,” he said.

Parents who ask their teenagers what part of the Bible engaged them most might be surprised to hear them cite the sections where “guys say what they like about girls.” Would that be Peter's letter advising women not to braid their hair, decorate themselves with gold or wear expensive robes? No, it's “Guys Speak Out,” a serial sidebar in Revolve featuring teenage boys' thoughts on how girls should dress and behave.

Posted: 9/5/03

Student FISH club allowable

PHILADELPHIA (ABP)–A student Bible club was wrongly barred from meeting at a Pennsylvania high school, according to a federal appellate court.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made the decision after Melissa Donovan, a senior at Punxsutawney Area High School, claimed the school district would not let her Bible study group, FISH, meet during an activity period after school began.

“FISH is a group that discusses current issues from a biblical perspective, and school officials denied the club equal access to meet on school premises during the activity period solely because of the club's religious nature,” Judge Ruggero Aldisert wrote.

The school district had argued that permitting the group to meet during the school day would amount to a government endorsement of religion.

Aldisert disagreed, noting the meetings were voluntary and did not involve teachers.

Posted: 9/5/03

One-fourth of sexually active teens report abuse, study finds

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Among teenagers who have had sex, one-quarter of those relationships included some form of abuse, with nearly one in 10 teens reporting physical abuse within their relationships, according to a study by Child Trends.

The study also found that one-fourth of teens who have had sex reported having sex with their first partner only once.

Richard Ross, founder of the abstinence program True Love Waits and professor of youth and student ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, drew a link to the entertainment business' inaccurate portrayal of sexual encounters.

“In order to titillate bored adults and hormonally raging teens into buying $8 movie tickets, the movie industry usually portrays teen sex as a grand adventure without consequences,” Ross said. “This study suggests otherwise. For any number of reasons, one-fourth find their first sexual encounter with a partner so negative that they never repeat the mistake. Even more alarming, one-quarter find that what they thought would be magical is instead filled with shoving, insults, disrespect and even violence.”

One-fourth of teenagers who have had sex reported that verbal abuse such as name-calling, insults, threats of violence and disrespectful treatment occurred within their first sexual relationship, the Child Trends study noted. Nine percent reported physical abuse, and 7 percent reported both physical and verbal abuse.

In other findings, Child Trends reported that a majority of teens viewed their first sexual relationship as more than a casual fling, with 85 percent of teens defining their first sexual relationships as romantic involvements and 61 percent having begun sex within three months of the start of a romantic relationship.

Teen girls were more likely to have older partners, the study found. Among sexually active teens, half of girls reported their first sexual partner was at least two years older. Nearly one in five girls had a partner who was four or more years older.

Founded in 1979, Child Trends is a non-profit research organization based in Washington, D.C., and dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing science-based information to improve the decisions, programs and policies that affect children.

The Child Trends study found that among teens who had sex, 59 percent discussed contraception with their partners before they had sex for the first time. Twenty-two percent reported never using contraception with their first sexual partner.

Concerning ethnicity, 17 percent of sexually active Hispanic teens experienced physical violence in their first sexual encounter, compared with 6 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 12 percent of non-Hispanic blacks. Also, Hispanic teens were less vigilant when it came to using contraception, the study found, with 36 percent reporting they did not use contraception during their first sexual relationships.

“Though this study is filled with troubling news, we must not miss the best news,” Ross said. “The study reaffirms that now less than half of teenagers have had intercourse before 18.”

Posted: 9/5/03

Temple Mount open for visits by non-Muslims

JERUSALEM (RNS)–For only the second time in three years, the Temple Mount, revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians, is open to visits by non-Muslims.

Since Aug. 20, hundreds of Jews and Christians have visited and prayed on the Mount, which Muslims call Haram al-Sharif. Currently, non-Muslims may visit between 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, but not on Friday, the Muslim sabbath.

Once the home of the first and second biblical temples, the Temple Mount stands above the Western Wall and contains the Holy of Holies, Judaism's most sacred site. It also is the site of the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest place in Islam.

The Wakf, the Muslim religious body that controls the mount, closed the site's gates to non-Muslims in the fall of 2000 after Ariel Sharon, then the head of Israel's opposition Likud Party and now prime minister, visited the shrine to underscore Jewish rights to it.

Sharon's provocative visit sparked the current intifada.

The renewed access to non-Muslims is the result of months of behind-the-scenes negotiations between officials from the Wakf and Israel, as well as input from Palestinian and Jordanian sources.

In May, with little fanfare, Israel and the Wakf quietly began admitting non-Muslims to the mount, a fact that did not arouse wide-scale demonstrations. Three weeks ago, the Israeli government stopped the visits, citing unspecified security concerns. With the tacit agreement of the Wakf, Israel reinstated access Aug. 20.

Historically, non-Muslims have been able to visit the mount on-and-off since the 1920s. However, Jordan prohibited Jews from reaching the mount and other eastern Jerusalem holy sites during its reign over that part of the city from 1948 to 1967.

While many Jews hailed the latest development, saying that Jewish worshippers must never again be denied access to its holiest shrine, some from the most Orthodox stream said Jews should not visit the mount out of fear that they might inadvertently tread on ground considered too sacred to touch.

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, told the daily newspaper Ha'aretz he feared a Muslim backlash and even more bloodshed. He made his remarks the day after a Palestinian bomber blew up a commuter bus full of Jewish worshippers returning from prayers at the Western Wall.

Ruediger Scholz, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension, a German-speaking congregation on the Mount of Olives, voiced similar concerns.

“We need to see the political implications, and whether they outweigh opening the site,” Scholz said. “If the situation worsens, then it wasn't worth it.”