Carding For Communion Wine - Christianity Today

Today’s Top Five

1. Nebraska considers bill barring underage Communion wine Nebraska’s current law allows for “the possession and dispensation of alcoholic liquor by an authorized representative of any religion on the premises of a place of worship, for the purpose of conducting any bona fide religious rite, ritual, or ceremony.” A new bill, LB 261, would specifically strip that provision. It’s not an oversight. That’s the point of the bill—to strip that wording and thus ban houses of worship from dispensing alcohol, like Communion wine—to minors. Oddly enough, the sponsor of the bill, Lowen Kruse, is a retired minister in the United Methodist Church, and his website’s home page lists churches in his district. Five other members of the Nebraska legislature signed on as cosponsors. One earlier cosponsor, Annette Dubas, has pulled her support. Now Kruse has, too. Or rather, he’ll offer an amendment to his bill, allowing minors to consume up to two ounces of alcohol as part of a religious ceremony. Still, don’t expect even such an amended bill to pass. It’s shocking that it’s under consideration at all.

2. British Airways allows employees’ religious wear Check-in worker Nadia Eweida can now wear her cross.

3. McCain drops support for lobbying reform bill Recent news items:

“Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances.” —Focus on the Family president James Dobson, speaking January 11 on Dallas radio station KCBI.

“McCain to make amends with Dobson” —Associated Press headline, Jan. 16.

“McCain Does About-Face on Grassroots Reform Bill: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has told conservative activists that he will vote to strip a key provision on grassroots lobbying from the reform package he previously supported. … While grassroots groups on both sides of the political spectrum oppose the proposal, social conservative leaders such as Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, who broadcasts a radio program to hundreds of thousands of evangelical Christians, have been its most vehement critics.” —From The Hill, Thursday.

4. Brazilian Pentecostal leaders arrested in Miami Ever hear of Sonia Moraes Hernandes and Estevam Hernades-Filho, or their Reborn in Christ Church? It’s Brazil’s second-largest neo-Pentecostal body (after the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God), according to The Miami Herald. The Herald‘s Casey Woods reports that they’re under arrest, and that their followers are claiming religious persecution. But the charges aren’t religious:

The couple was arrested at Miami International Airport last week on charges of currency smuggling and lying to customs officers after U.S. Immigration and Customs agents found they were carrying thousands of dollars more than the $10,000 they declared, investigators allege.

Agents found the first extra bundle of cash, $9,000, tucked into the cover of Sonia’s Bible. They found other bundles of money squirreled away in various places, including inside a CD case, in a folded jacket packed in a suitcase and in the backpack of their young son, Gabriel, according to the arrest affidavit.

The grand total: $56,000.

The couple—already under investigation by Brazil’s federal organized crime unit for charges including tax evasion and money laundering —preside over an empire of about 1,200 churches in Brazil, as well as television and radio stations.

5. Meet the new Christianity, same as the old Christianity The discussion about how different Christianity is in the Global South may be overblown. Or perhaps not—perhaps Global South Christianity really is different and on the move, but its evangelistic thrust is overtaking local syncretistic sects. Or perhaps something different altogether. In any case, a report from the Associated Press yesterday is fascinating:

African initiated churches … share much with Pentecostal Christianity, emphasizing the Holy Spirit, healing through prayer and speaking in tongues. But they also freely adopt what they consider important in African culture — veneration of ancestors, belief in witchcraft, faith in the power of magic, called muti, and the ability of prophets or sangomas to harness that power. … Once a predominant form of Christianity throughout the continent, the churches are losing their popularity in most of Africa. A younger generation is seeking out the more modern congregations that emerged starting in the 1970s that are still uniquely African in worship style but closer theologically to Pentecostal or mainline Protestant groups in the West.

Bottom line: Don’t confuse AICs with “Global South”/”Majority World” Christianity, or with Pentecostalism.

Almost a top story: Here come the lawsuits? Well, at least that’s what everyone’s saying about the next steps in the fight between the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and the 11 parishes that recently chose to align themselves with Anglican Communion bodies other than the Episcopal Church. But Weblog has found that one should take threats in the Anglican Communion somewhat lightly. There are always threats: to sue, to discipline, to apologize, to dissociate, etc. We’re not putting this in the “top five” because, frankly, while there’s little reason to doubt that the diocese will really sue, we’ll believe it when we see it.

Quote of the day “I believe in the culture war. And you know what? If I have to take a side in the culture war I’ll take [the conservative Christian] side. Because if you give me the choice of Paris Hilton or Jesus, I’ll take Jesus.”

—Alexandra Pelosi, creator of the new HBO documentary “Friends of God” and daughter of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. She was quoted by The New York Times.

Church and state | Politics | Barack Obama | Oaths | Bush library protest | Education | Environment | Kenya politics | Margaret Wanjiru | Aberrant religions | Crime | Va. priest embezzlement case | Catholicism | Church life | Abuse | Anglican fight | Sexual ethics | Life ethics | Vaccinations | Iraq | Missions and ministry | Money and business | Media and entertainment | Other stories of interest

Church and state:

Kids could drink communion wine, after all | Sen. Lowen Kruse has decided to sidestep a controversy created by his proposal to eliminate all instances where teens can legally drink. Kruse will offer an amendment to assure teens can drink wine at communion (Lincoln Journal Star, Neb.)
Earlier: Bill offers tighter restrictions on underage drinking | In an effort to eliminate all excuses kids give police when they get caught drinking, Sen. Lowen Kruse of Omaha is proposing to ban all drinking by minors, anywhere (Lincoln Journal Star, Neb.)
Pastor wants pre-inaugural prayer service open to all | Governor’s staff says tickets for event help security (The Tennessean, Nashville)
Chaput surprised by Ritter’s Mass | Archbishop Charles Chaput didn’t learn about Gov. Bill Ritter’s inaugural day Mass at a prominent downtown church until last week when an uproar developed on the Internet (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
Vatican to hold special meeting on China strategy | The Vatican this weekend is to hold a special strategy meeting on how to deal with communist China, where the Beijing government does not allow Roman Catholics to recognise the Pope’s authority (Reuters)
Church of Ireland head wants end to ban on Catholic monarchs | The new head of the Church of Ireland has described the ban on any monarch becoming or marrying a Catholic as antiquated (The Guardian, London)
Prayer still OK at council meetings | After three hours of impassioned—and unopposed—pleas from Durham Region residents to continue the tradition of reciting the Lord’s Prayer at regional council meetings, the finance committee decided last week to do just that (Simcoe.com)
Fake fir flies | All groups — from Christians to Muslims — were united in blasting judge’s decision to yank plastic Christmas tree from Ontario court’s lobby (Calgary Sun)

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