Christians interested in environmental issues call the church to awareness, action.

An Amish proverb states, “We didn’t inherit the land from our fathers; we are borrowing it from our children.” In the spirit of this proverb, a group representing a small but growing Christian ecological movement met last month in Madison, Wisconsin, to discuss Christians’ responsibility to care for the environment.

The forum, called Reclaiming the Covenant, was sponsored by the North American Conference on Christianity and Ecology (NACCE) and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Fred Krueger, executive directer of NACCE, compared society’s regard for ecological issues today to its view of slavery 150 or so years ago.

“As long as slavery was discussed in economic terms,” said Krueger, “there was not much progress toward abolishing it. Abolition came after it reached the pulpits of this nation as a moral issue.” He added, “We need to see ecological issues in moral terms also, because most of the important forms of ecological healing are never going to be financially profitable.”

Calvin DeWitt, one of the conference organizers, said that interest in ecological issues has barely begun to take root among Christians in North America. “In the churches and Christian groups where I speak,” he said, “there is usally a handful of people who are practicing care for the Earth.”

DeWitt, a professor of ecology and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin, said last month’s forum marked the first time on this continent that Christians have convened to address justice, peace, and the integrity (wholeness) of creation as inseparable concerns.

Many of the 60 who attended were scholars, 10 of whom gave major addresses. Douglas John Hall, professor of theology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, laid a theological foundation for the forum’s focus. Hall asserted that various ancient and modern influences have given Western civilization “a hierarchic conception of being, in which the human is elevated and, ultimately, virtually abstracted from nature.”

In challenging this view, Hall said man’s possession of the image of God is not an “endowment.” Using the metaphor of someone standing before a mirror, Hall said human beings reflect the image of God only as they stand in proper relationship with him and, in turn, with other people and the rest of creation.

Grim Future?

One result of the conference was a statement on peace, justice, and the integrity of creation that will be sent to church groups and denominations for use as an educational tool. Also, James Van Hoeven, one of the conference organizers, will represent the conclusions of those who gathered in Madison to the World Council of Churches (WCC). In 1990, the WCC will hold a major convocation on ecological issues.

The four-page statement begins, “God’s earth faces a crisis. Without serious, immediate attention, the future of life as we know it is grim.” The statement affirms that Jesus Christ is the Lord of creation; it urges “reduced consumption and the living of technologically simple lives.”

Elsewhere it states, “At a time when oceans are dying, when forests are disappearing, when atmospheric conditions are deteriorating, when soil is being exhausted, and species are driven to extinction, we urge the churches to self-examination and confession.”

IRAQ

A Dallas Theological Seminary professor who recently returned from his second trip to Iraq reports a more upbeat mood among Iraqis due to the easing of tensions with Iran. “Last year it was pretty grim,” said Charles Dyer, dean of extensions and enrollment at Dallas. “But the end of hostilities between Iraq and Iran brought a noticeable sense of relief and excitement to Baghdad, Iraq’s capital.”

Last year, Dyer was invited by the Iraqi government to attend the first Babylon Festival, a four-week event showcasing the government’s efforts to rebuild the ancient city. When a representative from Iraq’s embassy in Washington, D.C., invited him back this year, Dyer, whose master’s thesis was on Babylon, said he “jumped at the chance.”

According to Dyer, the primary purpose of the Babylon Festival is to improve Iraq’s image internationally. In addition to performances by orchestras and ballet troupes, the festival included ceremonies to highlight the nation’s military victories over Iran.

Dyer was one of 11 Americans who joined larger delegations from the Arab world and Eastern and Western Europe. He said the Iraqi people greeted him warmly, but expressed frustration at trying to get American legislators to understand their role in the Persian Gulf. Specifically, they denied using chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels.

Dyer says Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar appear to be important symbols for the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein. The official seal for the festival was a portrait of Hussein beside the ancient Babylonian king. “The portraits are drawn so that Nebuchadnezzar bears a striking resemblance to Hussein,” noted Dyer. He also says that Babylon is important to Iraqis because it unites them against their two current enemies, Iran and Israel. It was the Persians (Iranians) who destroyed the Neo-Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar, while the Jews were once decisively defeated by inhabitants of the present-day Iraq.

“Saddam Hussein portrays himself as the new Nebuchadnezzar who will lead the Iraqi people to greatness, and the city of Babylon is his visible link to that past greatness,” said Dyer.

CHURCH AND STATE

Robert L. Thoburn thinks his struggle to open a private school in Fairfax County, Virginia, represents a “creeping antichurch mindset” on the part of local government officials around the nation. This fall, Thoburn’s eight-year-long dispute with zoning officials came to a head when the county refused to grant him a permit to operate his school on a 42-acre site because of “environmental concerns.”

Disputed Land

Late this summer, a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge barred Thoburn and his family from opening Fairfax Christian School in a residential area. Fairfax officials said the 300-student school was “unauthorized” because it was built during the summer on property zoned for residential use. Thoburn, a former state delegate and patriarch of one of the county’s most prominent conservative Christian families, was charged with violating an earlier permit allowing only 49 students to attend the school, as well as county health and safety codes.

Some in the county have concerns about development and traffic congestion, while others fear Thoburn, a millionaire, has a hidden agenda to commercialize the area.

Thoburn says his First Amendment rights are at stake. He is planning to file a lawsuit charging Fairfax County with “patterns of discrimination” against the church and church-related schools. “I can see some objective land-use requirements, … but when the criteria become subjective, then you have a real problem,” he said.

County spokesperson Marty Machowsky placed little significance on Thoburn’s discrimination charge. “Fairfax recently wanted to purchase land in [the disputed area], and we backed off because of neighborhood opposition,” Machowsky said. “Our own plans were opposed as well.”

For now, Thoburn has received permission to house his school temporarily in the Fairfax city of Vienna. He said he is “pleased,” but added it will in no way affect his plans to fight county “bias” in the courts.

What Is A Church?

At issue in this and similar zoning cases is how local authorities view the mission of church. “Beyond worship and education functions, the church has begun to branch out into other areas [such as] day care, and shelter for the homeless,” said church/state attorney, Lee Boothby. “These functions require space, but churches have been running into zoning officials who have their own view of what legitimately constitutes a church function.”

Recently, several church zoning cases have become more visible, including incidents in California, Missouri, and Washington. In Seattle, Carl Beals, assistant pastor of First Church of the Nazarene, said his church has tentatively won a zoning battle for expansion, after spending $16,000 in legal fees. Beals said the cost is a concern for the church, but the local “mindset” is costlier still. “We’re seeing people [in government] who think they have unrestrained authority,” he said.

As in Thoburn’s case, Seattle officials deny any bias on the part of the city. And back in Fairfax, Thoburn takes a strong stand against government intervention in his plans for a Christian school. “… The issue is the land, and the land belongs to God.”

By Reggie Terrell.

World Scene

FILM CONTROVERSY

Israel Bans Temptation

The Israeli Film Censorship Board has voted to ban distribution of the controversial movie The Last Temptation of Christ. The board decided the film would violate an Israeli law that prohibits offending the religious feelings and faiths of others.

“What is in the film deals with the very fundamental tenets of the Christian faith,” said board chairman Joshua Justman. “This is no small matter.”

The film, produced by Universal Pictures, has caused outrage among Christians around the world since its release in August. “The board felt that showing it would be offensive to the religious feeling of the Christian community,” Justman said.

Supporters of the film can now petition the board to reconsider its decision. If the ruling is affirmed, the matter can then be appealed to Israel’s High Court of Justice.

SINGAPORE

Heal, But Don’T Convert

The government of Singapore is apparently cracking down on Christian physicians who attempt to convert their patients. Reports coming out of Singapore indicate a new directive issued by the nation’s health minister that orders doctors not to proselytize patients facing death, even when all medical options have been exhausted. Those doctors who do prosyletize will face penalties, according to the reports.

Christians make up a high percentage of Singapore’s academic and medical communities. It is estimated that in population breakdowns, most people in Singapore are Buddhist, with only about 10 percent being Christian. Yet, an estimated 25 percent of university graduates and about 50 percent of the medical profession are Christian.

World Evangelical Fellowship communications director Harry Genet said this directive could be a reaction to this “skewing” of percentages in Singapore’s medical and academic communities. “Singapore is nervous about groups that are overtly trying to change the religious population,” said Genet.

KOREA

Slight Thaw In The North?

Tensions between North and South Korea reached a high point prior to the Olympic Games hosted in Seoul this summer. But overtures from South Korean President Roh Tae Woo aimed at reunification talks with the North, and reports of two new churches, could be a good omen, some observers say.

Roh, addressing the United Nations General Assembly last month, called for an international conference to end the division of the Korean peninsula. He asked the Soviet Union, China, Japan, and the United States to join the two Koreas in hammering out a reunification agreement.

Also last month, several news agencies reported the opening of two new churches—the only dedicated church structures in North Korea since the peninsula was divided in 1945. A 300-seat Protestant church and a 150-seat Roman Catholic church have reportedly been built. An estimated 10,000 Christians have been meeting in house churches since the split.

WORLD PEACE

Graham Commends Un

Speaking last month to a group of McMaster University students in Hamilton, Ontario, evangelist Billy Graham praised the United Nations for its work in helping solve some of the world’s problems, notably in the Middle East. He credited the UN for “helping bring about at least a cessation of warfare in Iraq and Iran.”

Graham also raised the issue of militarism. “We’re spending billions and billions on bombs that will never be used, and yet millions of people are on the verge of starvation or are actually starving,” he said. He reminded the students that “we are not living in a Christian world,” but told them ordinary people can have an influence on world peace. “Be sure you have the peace of God in your own heart,” he urged, adding that such peace comes from Jesus Christ.

UPDATE

Shroud Verdict Questioned

Last month, the Roman Catholic Church announced it had accepted new scientific test results that suggest the Shroud of Turin could not be the burial cloth of Jesus. The shroud’s custodian, Anastasio Cardinal Ballestero, revealed that radiocarbon tests indicate the shroud cloth was created between 1260 and 1390.

Evangelical scholar Gary Habermas, who coauthored Verdict on the Shroud (Servant, 1981), admits the new evidence has made him “more skeptical” about the authenticity of the shroud. “I have been on the side of those saying it was authentic, though I do not hang my faith on it,” said Habermas, chairman of Liberty University’s philosophy department. “However, there is still some concern in the scientific community regarding several specific problems in the testing procedures.” Habermas would like to see more testing done because “if the shroud is authentic, it offers incredible further proof of the Crucifixion, and possibly the Resurrection.”

UPDATE

White House director of policy development Gary Bauer is leaving the Reagan administration this month to head a new Washington, D.C., office created by the merging of Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council. The Washington-based Family Research Council, a nonprofit resource network begun in 1980, has always had a close relationship with Focus founder James Dobson, and it will now formally join forces with his ministry.

Dobson will continue his activities from the Focus on the Family headquarters in California, while Bauer and the Washington office will concentrate more on public policy matters. Bauer told CHRISTIANITY TODAY that the main purpose of the new office will be to “have a more effective and long-term impact on the public policy process” as it relates to the family. He said the new office will work with members of Congress on a regular basis, “to help them understand our concerns about the American family,” support various public policy research on family issues, and provide information to the grassroots public “so they can have an impact on public policy.”

It is still unclear how much direct congressional lobbying the new office will engage in, but Bauer said they will be very much involved with “educational” efforts, such as providing members of Congress with position papers on family issues.

Bauer, a member of Fairfax Baptist Church in Northern Virginia, has been an outspoken voice within the administration in support of conservative social policy. Disagreeing with those who say Reagan has accomplished little for the profamily movement, Bauer argues that “the President laid the foundation” for significant changes to come. Citing judicial appointees and an executive order that mandates all government policy be evaluated in terms of its effect on the family (CT, Oct. 16, 1987, p. 52), Bauer said he believes Reagan’s impact on family issues will continue “years down the road.”

North American Scene

HEALTH

Dislike For Aids Victims?

Most Americans have sympathy for AIDS victims, but less for patients who are homosexuals or intravenous drug users, according to a recent poll conducted jointly by the New York Times and CBS News.

Seventy-five percent of those polled said they had “a lot” or “some” sympathy for people who had AIDS. But only 36 percent said they had a lot or some sympathy for “people who get AIDS from homosexual activity.” For “people who get AIDS from sharing needles while using illegal drugs,” only 26 percent said they had a lot or some sympathy.

Intravenous drug users and homosexuals make up the overwhelming majority of individuals with AIDS.

WELLNESS

The Gospel Of Health

Two psychologists say the way Christians view their relationship with God may affect their health. Daniel McIntosh of the University of Michigan and Bernard Spilka of the University of Denver divide Christians into three categories: active, passive, and questors (still seeking truth). From their interviews with 69 Christian college students, they found that active Christians were generally healthier than the others.

McIntosh and Spilka contend that passive Christians view health as largely a matter of chance or God’s will, while active Christians—those who see God as a partner to work with—feel they have a responsibility to develop healthy habits. They also pray more, the psychologists noted, adding that prayer has been found to reduce tension.

CHARITY

Giving When It Hurts

A new survey on charitable giving in America says low to moderate-income people are “more generous than upper-income individuals in their contribution of volunteer time and money.” The survey was conducted by the Gallup Organization and commissioned by Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofit groups.

According to the findings, seven out of ten households in America contributed an average of $790 to charitable organizations, and almost half volunteered in charitable causes an average of 4.7 hours per week in 1987.

Yet in an income breakdown, households with incomes below $ 10,000 contributed an average of 2.8 percent of their incomes, while those with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 contributed 1.5 percent, and those earning $75,000 to $100,000 contributed 1.7 percent. Those earning more than $100,000 gave an average of 2.1 percent.

The study found that religious causes received more contributions than any other charitable causes, with more than half of the respondents giving to religious groups. Religious groups also received the largest percentage of volunteers. In addition, the survey documented that “active involvement in religious organizations has a direct relationship to giving and volunteering.”

Independent Sector is launching a “Give Five” campaign to encourage Americans to give at least 5 percent of their income and five or more hours a week to charitable causes.

LITIGATION

Court Says “Moonies” Liable

The California Supreme Court has ruled that former members may sue religious organizations for fraud and false recruiting practices. In a 6-to-1 decision, the California justices allowed two former “Moonies” to continue with their lawsuit against Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church. The two claim they were tricked into visiting Unification communities and “brainwashed” into becoming members of the group.

In its opinion, the court said that “while religious belief is absolutely protected [by the Constitution], religiously motivated conduct is not.” The court also ruled that the two former members could sue to recover financial donations made while involved with the Unification Church.

Meanwhile, in Denver, Colorado, a case is under way against two men accused of kidnapping a woman from the Unification Church. The two are charged with kidnapping the 29-year-old woman at the request of her parents, who want to see her “deprogrammed.” Attorneys are using a “choice of evils” defense, saying the act was justified because it was done to prevent a greater evil.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Briefly Noted

Inaugurated: As the first full-time president of the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri, H. Glynn Hall. Missouri Governor John Ashcroft delivered the inaugural address, emphasizing the necessity of passing Christian values to the next generation.

As president of Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, New York, Rexford A. Boda. Both the college and seminary are sponsored by the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

Resigned: As periodicals director of Moody Bible Institute, Bob Flood, effective at the end of this month. Jerry Jenkins, vice-president for periodicals at the organization, said Flood’s resignation was “totally unrelated” to a recent controversial report in Moody Monthly about Chuck Swindoll.

Organized: The Four Winds Christian Track Club, an outgrowth of Lay Witness for Christ in Ft. Worth, Texas. Steve McConkey, a successful track coach, will serve as president of the club, which hopes to address the steroid problem in track and field.

UPDATE

Many people were surprised when a $115 million bid to purchase Heritage Ministries (formerly PTL) by Canadian businessman and Orthodox Jew Stephen Mernick was accepted for consideration by PTL’s bankruptcy trustee, W. C. Benton.

But Mernick himself appears to be more surprised at the media hoopla that surrounded his offer.

“He keeps asking me, ‘Why is this deal so important?’,” Tom Reid, recently appointed to handle public relations for Mernick, told CHRISTIANITY TODAY.

Mernick, who reports control of land and investment holdings totaling $700 million (Canadian), is currently involved in a suit against a former business associate for breaching a partnership made in 1985, according to articles in the Toronto Star. Benton says he had not heard about Mernick’s ongoing suit in New York, but added that if Mernick has the $115 million, his purchase bid qualifies for consideration.

The multimillionaire made an initial down payment of $100,000 for the Christian retreat and network (all figures for the PTL deal are U.S.). If approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Rufus Reynolds on November 16, he would add $400,000 to that amount. Mernick would owe another $50 million by December 31, spreading the remaining payments over a five-year period.

Friends describe the 34-year-old real estate magnate as “100 percent entrepreneur” and a deeply committed Jew who attended rabbinical school.

In a prepared statement, Mernick stressed that his motivation for bidding on the ministry was “strictly business,” and until the deal is sealed December 31, he will not consider any plans to change the present administration or Christian emphasis of the defunct Bakker empire.

“I have a great deal of respect for the depth of the religious feeling of the many thousands of Christians who have supported the Heritage Ministries over the years,” Mernick said in a statement issued earlier at a Charlotte, South Carolina, press conference.

However, in his only public appearance over the issue, on October 7, he announced plans for a “major, major” shopping and office complex on the former PTL site.

Reid emphasized that Mernick keeps his public, business ventures separate from his very private religious beliefs. And Memick’s philosophical or religious intents “had nothing to do with” considering his offer to buy PTL, according to Benton.

“He hasn’t indicated to me what he intends to do with the property … maybe a good part of it would still be developed as a Christian retreat. Some of it may be used as a nursing home or retirement home,” said Benton.

Benton also stressed that the many promises made earlier by the Bakkers to shareholders are waived by the bankruptcy proceedings. “It wipes out all obligations,” he said. “They will have nothing to say about the use of the property.”

By Joe Maxwell.

RELIGIOUS BROADCASTING

Canada’s first multifaith religious television network began broadcasting in September to generally positive reaction from viewers and the media.

“Right from the beginning, we’ve had to fight negative stereotypes about religious broadcasting,” says Vision TV president Ron Kearst, a veteran Canadian broadcaster. “But once people found out we weren’t going to be wall-to-wall American TV evangelists, there’s been a terrific response.”

Vision TV, not affiliated with VISN, the Vision Interfaith Satellite Network in the United States that also debuted in September (CT, Nov. 4, 1988), is entering a highly competitive media marketplace. Viewers in Toronto, for example, can choose from among 36 different channels.

However, until now only the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has had the resources to buy nationwide prime-time programming on commercial stations. Other religious broadcasters have generally been relegated to the “religious ghetto” of weekday and Sunday mornings. With Vision TV, faith groups now have low-cost access to four million households (via satellite) during the prime-time evening hours. The nonprofit network’s revenue comes from selling air time and a limited number of commercials. Fund raising is limited to 90 seconds per half-hour.

Vision, previously known as the Canadian Interfaith Network, has been trying to get on the air for over five years. But Canada’s broadcasting regulatory body had refused to grant broadcasting licenses to any religious organization that would represent only one viewpoint.

Vision now meets that requirement, with programming generated by groups ranging from minority non-Christian traditions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Baha’i, to the largest mainline Protestant denomination, the United Church of Canada. Other denominations include Evangelical Lutheran, Christian Reformed, Seventh-day Adventist, and General Conference Mennonites.

“Like others in the evangelical community, I was a little hesitant, wondering what a potpourri of world religions would be like,” said popular Christian broadcaster Terry Winter. “But I agree that availability to all faith groups is fair, and I’m pleased with the type of programming Vision is providing.” Winter, whose program has the largest audience of any Christian broadcaster on commercial television, has added a Sunday evening time slot on Vision to his broadcast schedule, as has John Wesley White, Canadian associate evangelist of Billy Graham.

By Wendy Elaine Nelles in Toronto

CONTROVERSY

Fans of the late Christian author C. S. Lewis were thrilled in 1977 at the publication of The Dark Tower and Other Stories. According to the book’s introduction, Lewis, who died in 1963, intended The Dark Tower to be another in his popular series of science fiction novels.

But many Lewis scholars and enthusiasts were disappointed in the book, believing generally that The Dark Tower did not represent what they had come to expect from Lewis. Now a book scheduled for publication later this month offers a reason: Lewis may not have written it.

In The C.S. Lewis Hoax (Multnomah Press), Lewis scholar Kathryn Lindskoog maintains several writings published since Lewis’s death and attributed to him (most notably The Dark Tower) may actually be products of a hoax. The man behind the hoax, she believes, is Walter Hooper, who has controlled the Lewis literary estate for more than two decades.

In addition to implied allegations of forgery, the book contains evidence that Hooper has overstated the extent of his association with both C. S. Lewis and Warren Lewis, the author’s brother, who died in 1973.

At the core of Lindskoog’s case is her challenge to Hooper’s story of how he came to possess The Dark Tower and two trunkloads (Hooper’s claim) of additional C. S. Lewis writings. In the introduction to The Dark Tower, Hooper tells of a three-day bonfire not long after Lewis’s death, in which Warren Lewis, on a house-cleaning binge, burned many of his brother’s papers.

As Hooper tells it, the gardener who oversaw the fire urged Warren Lewis to save some of the materials. The gardener, Fred Paxford, then turned them over to Hooper, who, on impulse, had visited Warren Lewis on the last day of the fire. Hooper waited until after Warren Lewis died to reveal the story, he says, in order to save Warren embarrassment.

Before Paxford died, however, Lindskoog received a letter from him stating that the bonfire described by Hooper seemed “phoney.” Lindskoog also maintains that Warren Lewis, despite personal problems (including alcoholism), would never have destroyed any of his brother’s writings.

Hooper told CHRISTIANITY TODAY he still had a clear recollection of the bonfire, adding, “It took place exactly as I have described.” Hooper noted that Paxford was not asked about the bonfire until several years later and may simply not have remembered it.

Mixed Reviews

Opinions of Lewis scholars about Lindskoog’s book (a review of which will appear in the Dec. 9 issue of CT) appear divided. Paul Ford, founding director of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society, said he has not read the book. But he noted that many of the questions raised by Lindskoog are several years old.

Ford said he is convinced there was a bonfire, though he allowed it may not have happened exactly as Hooper has told it. “If there’s nothing new in [Lindskoog’s] book,” said Ford, “my view won’t change.” Ford said that, given Warren Lewis’s problems, it would not have been beyond him to burn important papers.

Lewis scholar Joe Christopher, however, maintains the book “springs from serious scholarship.” In the foreword to The C. S. Lewis Hoax, he writes, “If even half of the argued conjectures in [the book] are correct—and I suspect that more than half of them are—there will have to be major revisions in the background of our understanding of Lewis.” Christopher notes that major works published during Lewis’s lifetime are not affected.

Ford said he respected Christopher’s call to take the book seriously. But he added that, had he been consulted, he would have advised Multnomah (as he did other publishers) against publishing it. Ford said he is convinced C. S. Lewis wrote The Dark Tower, but called nevertheless for a forensic study of the original manuscript to determine its authenticity. “Now that Kate’s laid down the gauntlet,” he said, “it’s got to be done.” According to Hooper, the manuscript in question is available for such inspection at the Bodleian Library in England.

Ford said he regretted the controversy, adding that he had great respect for both Lindskoog and Hooper. He credited Lindskoog with asking “questions that needed to be asked” to establish the truth of Hooper’s association with the Lewis brothers.

“These are two people who derive a great sense of self-worth from their connection to C. S. Lewis,” Ford said. “A lot of us see [the controversy] as a struggle to determine who was more important to Lewis.… The same weakness that causes Walter to exaggerate his personal closeness to Lewis causes Kate to see a conspiracy in what Walter has done.”

Lindskoog said she did not enjoy writing the book, but felt constrained to do so. “C. S. Lewis is the mentor of my life,” she said. “I think he would be very happy to have this straightened out.”

Hooper expressed regret that the controversy has surfaced. “It’s a curious way to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Lewis’s death,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to celebrating his great legacy. Our attention should be on him, not me.”

URBAN MINISTRY

As homeless men and women attract national attention, urban missions look for help.

Earlier this fall, members of a panel appointed by the National Academy of Sciences to study homelessness called the plight of Americans without shelter “an inexcusable disgrace.” Estimates put the number of homeless Americans anywhere from 500,000 to three million (at least 100,000 of those are children). And up to two million people will be homeless one night or more this year.

Many of those without a place to spend the night will seek shelter in urban rescue missions. “We are the ones who do the most with the homeless, because our missions have always been located in the areas where the problem is the worst,” said Stephen E. Burger, director of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission and president of the International Union of Gospel Missions (IUGM).

According to Burger, the profile of the typical homeless person is changing. “Twenty years ago, missions worked with older male alcoholics,” Burger said, “but today, the average age of clients served by rescue missions is 31. Seventy-five percent of all who come in are under 40, and 40 percent are women.” Burger also noted that a majority of the homeless visiting shelters are local, as opposed to the transients that frequented shelters in previous years.

Increasingly, said Burger, families are seeking help at shelters. In fact, a study by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that one-third of all homeless were families with young children. Moreover, the fastest-growing group of homeless are children under six years of age. “A plant closes in the Midwest, so the family packs up with a couple of thousand dollars and heads west. Within a few weeks, the money is gone, they’re evicted from the apartment, the kids are hungry, and they show up at our mission.”

Lonely Ministry

In spite of increased media attention to homelessness, many evangelical rescue mission leaders say they receive minimal support from churches. “The church is running to the suburbs,” said Burger. “It is becoming more affluent and more removed.” In Denver, where Del Maxfield runs the Denver Rescue Mission, only 40 churches on his 890-church mailing list give more than $100 annually. And at the Olive Branch Mission, a Free Methodist Church-affiliated ministry in Chicago, lack of funds is a perennial problem.

But Larry Davis, director of the Olive Branch Mission, says churches are not as insensitive to the needs of the homeless as their lack of financial support implies. “Most evangelicals do not really understand this is a reality,” said Davis. “It is possible to live one block away and never be confronted with the magnitude of the problem. But once a church visits our mission, they generally become enthusiastic supporters.”

Maxfield agrees. “It’s not a case of churches not wanting to help,” he said. “In spite of the national attention, they just don’t see it as being much of a problem.”

Davis also blames the very nature of urban ministry for the lack of response from churches: “You can’t validate this kind of ministry on the basis of results, because our success stories are so few. While we indeed see lives being changed, we see a lot of our people returning to their problems. It’s not the kind of ministry people get excited about.”

Building Bridges

Given the level of funding from churches, most rescue missions require government assistance in order to provide services to the homeless. For example, at the Olive Branch Mission, government aid accounts for half the cost of their emergency services. “But the government can’t solve the problem,” said Davis. He would like to see more partnerships with area churches because he feels Christians would better understand the spiritual nature of urban ministry.

In Denver, Maxfield is trying to match projects with the interests of individual churches. He discovered some churches are more likely to be interested in senior citizens, so he began a food program for older people virtually trapped in low-income, urban high rises. “Once they are willing to do this, they are more likely to help us with other urban problems like homelessness,” Maxfield said.

Earlier this year, Gifford Claiborne, a vice-president of the Russ Reid advertising agency, met with IUGM’s Burger to plan a national media campaign soliciting donations to 32 missions. Using direct mail and display advertising in major newspapers, they hope to increase the donor lists of the participating missions. The program was piloted at the Los Angeles Mission where the annual budget grew from $125,000 to $8 million in six years.

With winter weather approaching, however, mission workers say the source of funds takes a back seat to ministry concerns. “For Christians, working with the homeless is more than merely providing a meal and a warm place to sleep,” says Davis. “We try to see Jesus in the faces of our clients. That makes it easier to help them catch a vision for what they can become.”

By Lyn Cryderman.

LEGISLATION

The 100th session of the U.S. Congress came to a close last month amid a flurry of last-minute activity. While several important pieces of legislation were passed, many key issues were left to the next session of Congress, which will convene in January.

The last order of business for this session was enactment of a $2.8 billion Omnibus Drug Bill, which authorizes new education, treatment, and rehabilitation efforts and puts into place tough new penalties for drug users and traffickers. Included in the package is the death penalty for drug traffickers who kill civilians or law enforcement officers. A move by Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-Oreg.) to substitute a mandatory life prison sentence for the death penalty was overwhelmingly voted down.

Antipomography Measure

Due to eleventh-hour lobbying efforts by conservative profamily activists, the drug bill also includes stiff anti-child pornography and obscenity provisions. The provisions were originally part of the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act introduced in 1987. That bill became stalled in the committee process, but in a last-ditch maneuver, Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) proposed that the entire act be attached as an amendment to the drug bill.

The obscenity provisions of the act generated strong opposition by the Democratic House leadership. However, a compromise settlement kept many of the provisions—including a ban on the buying or selling of minors to produce child pornography—and a measure against the use of computers for network trafficking of child pornography. Also, the bill expands federal power to prosecute traffickers of child pornography, to confiscate child pornography and the profits of its sale, and to restrict the production and distribution of obscenity.

The National Association of Evangelicals, Moral Majority, Evangelicals for Social Action, and the American Family Association were among the groups supporting the act.

Child Care And Churches

Two family-oriented measures, the Act for Better Child Care (ABC) and the Parental Leave Act, were effectively killed when Congress put them aside to work on other legislation in the final days of the session. Both had been controversial within the business and religious communities.

The ABC bill, which would have established a comprehensive federal child-care policy, had strong support from mainline religious groups. However, because of complicated regulations for church-run day-care centers, the bill was opposed by conservative religious groups and groups advocating strict separation between church and state (CT, May 13, 1988, p. 46).

Likewise, a parental-leave bill that would have required federal and private employers to grant workers unpaid parental and medical leave related to the birth or serious illness of their children fell victim to election-year controversies. Business groups argued against the measure, saying it would be too costly for many companies. And conservative profamily activists said it would benefit “yuppie parents” rather than poor families who could not afford to take unpaid leaves. Both issues will likely be taken up again during the 101st session of Congress.

Many religious groups were disappointed when Congress, at the last minute, dropped a measure that would have exempted religious schools not operated by churches from state unemployment tax laws. Currently, church-controlled schools have such an exemption.

Looking Back

During the past two years, the 100th Congress addressed many issues of interest to churches and religious groups, including:

• Abortion. Congress reaffirmed the Hyde Amendment banning federal funding of abortions except to save the life of the mother, and the Mexico City Policy, which refuses to fund international organizations promoting abortion. Congress also prohibited the District of Columbia from using federal or local funds for abortions, and stopped several efforts to expand federal funding of abortions.

• AIDS. The first comprehensive Congressional AIDS package was passed to provide $1 billion for research, education, and treatment of the disease. The measure was passed without all of the testing confidentiality provisions sought by gay-rights groups.

• Arms control. The Senate ratified the Reagan/Gorbachev Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty eliminating ground-based missiles with ranges of 300 to 3,400 miles.

• Civil rights. Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act, or Grove City Bill, which expanded the scope of federal antidiscrimination coverage. While the measure included an exception for institutions “controlled” by a religious entity, it did not provide for institutions affiliated with, but not controlled by, religious bodies (CT, April 22, 1988, p. 42).

• Health Care. The Catastrophic Health Care Bill was approved to provide the elderly with protection from massive hospital, doctor, and prescription bills. The measure guarantees Medicare benefits after a $564 deductible, and expands Medicare coverage for low-income women and children.

• The homeless. More than $ 1.3 billion was authorized over a two-year period for shelter, health, food, and other care programs for the homeless.

• Welfare. Congress passed the welfare reforming Family Support Act of 1988, which requires job training and education for welfare recipients, expands child-support enforcement, and offers child-care and medical benefits for a year to low-income families that have worked themselves off the welfare system.

By Kim A. Lawton.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

One of the defining characteristics of evangelical Christianity is the conviction that the Bible is not merely a good book, but that it is the authoritative Word of God. This conviction has led evangelicals to wide-ranging agreement on issues of theology and personal morality.

In the foreign policy arena, however, a high view of the Bible has led many of the same Christians to widely divergent fundamental postures, resulting in disagreement on such specific issues as divestment in South Africa and military aid to insurgents in Nicaragua. And political positions taken by mainline Prostestant denominations have caused division and contributed significantly, many believe, to membership decline in recent years.

Some 200 people met in Seattle last month in part to test the extent to which genuine spiritual unity can coexist in the evangelical community with fervent political diversity.

Competing Loyalties

The conference was cosponsored by Seattle Pacific University and the Portland, Oregon-based Institute for Christian Leadership. Plenary speakers, by design, set forth competing theological frameworks through which to interpret foreign policy issues.

Duane Friesen, professor of Bible and religion at Bethel College (Kan.) and a pacifist, advanced a view of the church as the “primary locus where the reality of peacemaking must, first of all, find expression.” Friesen emphasized following the example of Christ, regardless of the consequences.

In contrast, Alberto Coll, professor of strategy and international law at the U.S. Naval War College, outlined a philosophy of Christian realism, which entails the “thoughtful weighing of competing goods and lesser evils.” Said Coll, “Sometimes, less than morally good means may be used to accomplish worthwhile ends.”

Despite general agreement in the essential goodness of democratic ideals, a fundamental point of tension surfaced throughout the conference. It revolved around the question of competing loyalties: to the United States and to the kingdom of God. While some emphasized the degree to which U.S. policies have hurt the international body of Christ, others stressed that the U.S., despite its faults, is nevertheless the world’s most successful democratic experiment.

Richard John Neuhaus, director of the Rockford Institute Center on Religion and Society, said that the church “ought not to be subject to polarizations and divisions,” but, bonded by the power of the Holy Spirit and the gospel of Jesus Christ, should “exemplify the possibility of maintaining community in our differences.”

Getting Together

It was in the spirit of Neuhaus’s remarks that author Tom Sine, a board member of Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA), invited representatives of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) and the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) to participate with ESA on a day-long retreat. “I think it would be a good thing if we just got to know each other,” said Sine. NAE and IRD are often at odds with ESA over issues of U.S. foreign policy.

The two-day event produced no reports of radical transformation in anyone’s political views. But conference moderator Robert Pickus, founder and president of the World Without War Council, said he measured the conference’s success not in terms of agreement on political issues, but in terms of the discussion itself.

Pickus, a Jewish pacifist, said evangelicals could make an important contribution to the foreign policy debate. He noted that, unlike other religious communities, “evangelicals have not been highly politicized,” and therefore might provide a perspective independent of brash ideology. Said Pickus, “Evangelicals have a strong sense of the lordship of God, but also of loyalty to America.”

By Randy Frame in Seattle.