Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 4, 1992 TAG: 9201040158
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BRIEFS
Abortion condemnedWATERLOO, Iowa - The presidents of three relatively small, conservative Lutheran denominations have issued a joint pastoral letter condemning abortion as "murder of the most innocent."
The teaching letter by heads of The American Association of Lutheran Churches, The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations and The Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America says:
"We understand that in many cases women contemplating abortion face difficult and sometimes tragic circumstances. On the basis of God's word, however, we declare that the murder of the most innocent and helpless party involved is not the solution.
"Also on the basis of God's word, we acknowledge our responsibility . . . to reach out to these women - as well as to the fathers and all others involved - with compassion, love, assistance and especially with the Gospel of forgiveness and healing in Christ."
`Table tithe' urged
NEW YORK - A "table tithe" by which people cut their own food budgets to help feed the hungry around the world is urged by the general secretary of the National Council of Churches.
The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell asked the NCC staff to begin a movement between Christmas and Easter to provide "one-tenth of what we spend on food for our families to help feed hungry people."
The World Bank estimates that more than a billion people worldwide suffer from hunger.
Descent debate
NEW YORK - Reform Judaism has rejected a proposal by leaders of Conservative Judaism that the Reform branch reconsider its position on patrilineal descent - recognizing children of Jewish fathers as Jews.
Conservative and Orthodox Judaism hold that matrilineal descent - having a Jewish mother - is necessary to be a born Jew.
Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of Reform's Union of American Hebrew Congregations, responding to the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism, said it should adopt the Reform practice "for the greater good of the Jewish people" in view of the high intermarriage rate.
He said the principle of patrilineal descent is rooted in Jewish tradition and was dominant in biblical times.
"The genealogical tables of the Torah [first five books of the Bible] are exclusively patrilineal," he said, adding that "all the children of Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers are deemed Jewish by the Torah."
Difficulties take toll
LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. - A recent meeting of the United Methodist Council of Bishops was told that clergy families are having increased financial difficulties, sometimes driving clergy out of the ministry.
The Rev. Robert Kohler of the denomination's Division of Ordained Ministry said seminary tuition and other indebtedness add to the problem. He said that in one statewide study of those out of seminary for five years, about a third had left the ministry.
Reconciliation urged
WASHINGTON - The nation's Roman Catholic bishops urge greater efforts for "genuine reconciliation between the essential traditions of the Catholic faith and the best of Native American life," each enriching the other.
Noting the exploitation of Indians under white expansion following Columbus' arrival in America, the statement said the events also brought the Christian faith with its message of salvation, dignity, justice and love.
On the 500th anniversary of that time, the bishops said the need is "not simply to look back but to look around at the current situation of Native peoples and to look ahead" to responding to their aspirations.
That "requires greater awareness, understanding, dialogue, interaction and commitment to mutual respect and justice among diverse peoples" and must reflect "the realities of Native American life today," the bishops said.
Evangelization defended
NEW YORK - A noted Roman Catholic theologian, the Rev. Avery Dulles, says evangelization previously was not prominent in Catholic thinking, but has become so partly through the influence of Protestants.
That change "offers great possibility for the revitalization of the church and for rapprochement with evangelical Christians in this country," he said.
He said the second Vatican Council of 1962-65 taught that the "church is missionary by its very nature and evangelization is the responsibility not only of the pope and bishops but of every Christian."
In a recent lecture at Fordham University, he said teachings of Pope John Paul II have continued that trend, making it a "major evangelical turn in Catholicism."
The shift, while welcomed in the Third World, "still encounters resistance, even among Catholics, in countries such as the United States where religion is seen as a private matter and where the church is seen as a service agency for its own members."