ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 1997 TAG: 9701280114
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
Controversial bishop visits former church
NASHUA, N.H. - A retired Episcopal bishop thrust into the national spotlight by heresy charges returned to his old church recently.
Walter Righter led services and fielded questions from more than 40 parishioners at the Church of the Good Shepherd, where he served from 1954 to 1971.
Righter was charged with ordaining a sexually active homosexual man in Ohio, a violation of church policy. Heresy charges against him attracted international attention before they were dismissed by a church panel last year.
Righter, 73, said he wanted to be tried because he felt he had a good case and because he thought the trial would help counter a push for control by conservatives in the church's governing House of Bishops.
``They were fussing and arguing and I finally stood up and said, ``The only way we're going to see if a trial works is to have a trial, so let's have a trial and get it over with,' '' he said. ``It was an attempted coup d'etat to control the church, and it didn't work. It was a battle for the soul of the church.''
The decision to drop charges against Righter was condemned by church conservatives, who said it could result in many lay people abandoning a nationwide flock that has dropped to 2.5 million from a high of 3.6 million in the 1960s.
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
Church not going after the mainliners
CHARLOTTE - The Rev. David Motte doesn't expect his Living Images Community Church to draw the typical worshiper.
After all, how many staid Presbyterians or conservative Baptists are going to show up for a service that features film clips from ``The Nutty Professor'' or ``Mission Impossible''?
And how many are going to be attracted by a church that places ads in the local newspaper reading ``Church Sucks!,'' then adding in the fine print: ``It doesn't have to!''
``We don't appeal and don't want to appeal to the average churchgoer,'' Motte said recently after services in the cafeteria of South Charlotte Middle School. ``A lot of people who will respond to what we're doing think church is a crock ... that it's made up of a bunch of hypocrites.''
Motte, 38, opened his independent, nondenominational church in October 1995. He isn't discouraged that worship attendance has averaged around 65. He's raised $150,000 through tithing and other donations, established five weekly discussion groups in members' homes and is determined to continue promoting a different path to salvation through Christ.
``I underestimated the presence of the (mainstream) church,'' said Motte, a native of Greenville, S.C., and an ordained Southern Baptist minister. ``It's taken us longer than we thought to build relationships with people who have lost trust in church.''
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB