Various Christian News Stories...

(from FotF's Pastor's Weekly Briefing)

Bishop Doubts Jesus Is the Only Way

Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori, the first female presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, doesn't consider Jesus Christ as the only way to God, reports the Associated Press. "If we insist that we know the one way to God, we've put God in a very small box," said Jefferts-Schori. The Bible declares that "in Christ, all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" and Schori doesn't believe that "one person can have the fullness of truth in him or herself." Instead, she says, "Truth is, like God, more than any one person can encompass."

Eight Episcopal dioceses have asked Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who heads the world Anglican Communion, to put them under a leader other than Bishop Jefferts-Schori.

Cross Removed from College Chapel

Melissa Engimann, an administrator at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., has elected to remove a cross from the altar area of their chapel "in order to make the Wren Chapel less of a faith-specific space and to make it more welcoming to students, faculty, staff and visitors of all faiths." Engimann wants to ensure the space is seen as a nondenominational area.

The cross was in place because of the school's former association with the Anglican Church. Though the college is now nondenominational and became publicly supported in 1906, school officials said the room will still be considered a chapel and the cross can be returned for those who want to use it for their events.

Over $1.3M for Church-Planting Misused

Over $1.3 million designated for church-planting was misused by three pastors in the Baptist General Convention of Texas, according to the Associated Baptist Press. The results of the investigation conducted by a Brownsville attorney revealed that between 1999 and 2005, funds that were designated for starting new churches were used instead for book printing and other general church ministry. Some funds were also deposited into a personal account, but no evidence was found that any BGCT staff received any money for personal gain.

The three pastors had reported that 258 new churches were started but the investigation discovered that about 98 percent of those churches no longer exist or never existed. Last week, a day before the findings were revealed, the former director, and the associate director of the BGCT Church Starting Center resigned their positions.

Virginia Man Rehired (10/27/06):

Luis Padilla — who was fired from his job for having painted on his pickup a sign that read, "Please vote for marriage on Nov. 7" — was rehired and is expected to be back at work on Monday.

"This was all a big misunderstanding," said Wesley Carter, general manager of Cargill Foods' Timberville, Va., plant, where 40-year-old Luis Padilla is employed as a human resources clerk.


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