May 02, 2008 04:00 am
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Musician to give testimony at Mooers Methodist
MOOERS -- Dan Schall of Dan Schall Ministries will perform a concert of music and testimony at Mooers United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. Saturday. "Dan stutters when he speaks, but the Lord has blessed him with a singing voice of praise to share the Lord's words through music," says a press release from the church. "In his early years of his life, he was filled with anger, feeling that even if there was a God, he had forsaken him. ... Through his concerts, he is able to reach out in a simple way to help others realize what God has given them." Learn more at Http://DanSchall.org. A free covered-dish supper will precede the concert at 5:30 p.m.
Yom HaShoah service set for Sunday
LAKE PLACID -- The Lake Placid Synagogue will be observing Yom HaShoah, a memorial service for the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, at 1 p.m. Sunday at the synagogue, 2307 Saranac Ave., Lake Placid.
Cultural historian Dr. Kendall Taylor will discuss the research she has done for her upcoming book: "Nekomah: Survival in the Holocaust," about nine young Jewish girls who survived the Holocaust with partisan groups in the forests of Poland and White Russia. Taylor's recent publication for Random House was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in the area of biography.
The memorial service will be conducted by Rabbi Alec Friedmann. The program will end with a presentation of wood carvings by local physician Dr. Herbert Savel, who studied with a local German woodcarver for six years before he embarked on "Kaddish in Wood." To date, Savel has carved more than 800 faces and figures of Holocaust victims with the goal to "represent the Holocaust in terms the human mind can comprehend." For information, call Esther at 891-3458 or Jon at 891-5802.
Church Women luncheon May 9
TICONDEROGA -- Church Women United of the Ticonderoga Area will hold its May Friendship Luncheon at Ti Pi Restaurant on Friday, May 9. The meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by a program on the theme, "God's Wisdom Inspires Hospitality." A luncheon of soup, chicken Caesar salad, dessert and beverage will be served at noon. The cost is $12 per person, and reservations must be made in advance by calling 585-7015 or 585-7531 because space is limited.
Assembly of God to welcome evangelist as speaker
PLATTSBURGH -- Visiting pastor and evangelist the Rev. Phillip (Pastor Tony) Kemp from Quincy, Mo. will preach at First Assembly of God Church, 164 Prospect Ave., Plattsburgh, on Sunday, May 18, for both the 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. service, and on Monday, May 19, Tuesday, May 20, and Wednesday, May 21, all at 7 p.m. According to a press-release from the church, Kemp was a licensed clinical social worker and certified alcohol and drug counselor for 20 years. His 30 years of ministry also include: youth pastor for five years, 15 years as associate pastor, overseer of several churches and ministries in the United States and 200 pastors in Central America. He is also the senior pastor of Embassy Christian Center in Hannibal, Mo.
Grants available from Catholic Charities
OGDENSBURG -- Catholic Charities is now accepting applications for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development local grant process. Qualifying projects must: be aimed at alleviating the causes of poverty; be a new initiative or an enhancement of an established project; be a non-profit, 501 c3 organization; have the potential to be funded after the CCHD funds have been expended; be consistent with the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. (Applicants do not have to be Catholic.)
This year, two grants for $4,750 each are available. Applications can be requested from Catholic Charities by mail, phone or e-mail. For questions an application, write to Catholic Charities at 6866 State Highway, 37 Ogdensburg, N.Y., 13669, call (315) 393-2255 or e-mail your request and mailing address to: ccwinny@wadhams.edu. Applications are due back to Catholic Charities by June 13, and grants will be awarded by the end of June.
Birmingham mayor holds Christian rally to fight crime
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Struggling to confront a worsening homicide rate, the mayor here invited pastors and citizens to don burlap sacks and ashes in a sign of biblical repentance.
Mayor Larry Langford said his "sackcloth and ashes" rally April 25 was inspired by the Book of Jonah, where residents of the ancient city of Nineveh wore rough fabric and ashes as a sign of turning away from sin. More than 1,000 people attended at a local auditorium.
So far this year 27 people have been killed in Birmingham, compared to 19 at the same time last year.
Since he took office last year, Langford has held three prayer rallies to fight crime and violence. Bibles were handed out at one of the events.
"This city needs to humble itself," Langford said.
Olivia Turner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Alabama, said the group has received complaints about the events and has been discussing them.
"The worry I have is that there's a government endorsement of religion," said lawyer Bill Messer, a state ACLU board member. "Certainly, the mayor has a right like anyone else to express his personal religious beliefs. As mayor, acting on behalf of the city, religion should not become part of the government itself. If it's an official government event, that's troubling."
Police Chief A.C. Roper, who is also a minister, supports the repentance rally, but said law enforcement cannot stop there.
Islamic body rejects proposed conversion rule
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Islamic authorities rejected a proposal by Malaysia's prime minister that would have required non-Muslims to tell their families before converting to Islam.
The decision, announced Tuesday, was made at a meeting of Islamic authorities, according to Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, director-general of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department.
The failure by many converts to inform their families of their conversion has led to many disputes. Islamic officials have sometimes seized bodies for Muslim funerals, while non-Muslim relatives insisted the deceased never converted.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the government would soon require Muslim converts to produce documents showing they had told their family members.
The move was considered an attempt to calm ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities over perceived religious discrimination, which led to heavy losses for Abdullah's ruling National Front coalition in general elections last month.
Ethnic Chinese and Indians make up more than 30 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people and are mainly Buddhist, Christian and Hindu. They complain that court decisions in religious disputes favor Muslims -- who account for more than 60 percent and are mainly ethnic Malay.
Islam is the official Malaysian religion. Non-Muslims can practice their religion, but often lose out in interfaith disputes involving Islam.
Professor at evangelical college resigns over divorce
WHEATON, Ill. (AP) -- An English professor is leaving his job at Wheaton College, a prominent evangelical school, because he is getting divorced.
Kent Gramm, who has worked at Wheaton for 20 years, said he knew that when divorce proceedings started he might have to resign.
Wheaton students and teachers sign a Statement of Faith and Community Covenant that sets standards of conduct, including for marriage. The policy requires Gramm to discuss the cause of the divorce with college administrators. He won't do so and is resigning to avoid being fired.
"I think it's wrong to have to discuss your personal life with your employer," he said, "and I also don't want to be in a position of accusing my spouse, so I declined to appeal or discuss the matter in any way with my employer."
Theological conservatives generally believe that the New Testament permits divorce only in cases of adultery or desertion. The school says it has evaluated several cases of applicants or staff who have been divorced.
A.M.E. Church to hold convention despite boycott calls
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The African Methodist Episcopal Church will hold its convention in St. Louis this summer despite boycott pleas by local blacks unhappy with the city's white mayor.
More than 40,000 delegates, church leaders and other A.M.E. visitors from around the world will meet July 3 to 11. The U.S. church, which has roots dating back to 1787, claims 2 million members in three dozen countries.
Mayor Francis Slay joined a dozen A.M.E. leaders at a news conference Tuesday to announce the convention. Slay is the target of a recall effort by a group of black city residents who also have waged a campaign to have conventions boycott the city.
They object to last year's dismissal of the city's first black fire chief, Sherman George.
Court hears case of Muslim who says veil cost her claim
DETROIT (AP) -- A federal court is taking up the lawsuit of a Muslim woman who refused to remove her veil during a small-claims hearing, prompting a judge to dismiss her case.
U.S. District Judge John Feikens said Tuesday that he will issue a written opinion in the suit filed by Ginnnah Muhammad against Judge Paul Paruk in Hamtramck, a city surrounded by Detroit.
Muhammad, 44, of Detroit, said her religious freedom was violated when Paruk asked her to remove the veil that covered all but her eyes, then dismissed her case last year.
Muhammad was contesting a $3,000 rental-car company charge to repair a vehicle that she said thieves had damaged.
Margaret Nelson, an assistant state attorney general who is representing Paruk, said Muhammad's lawsuit has no merit.
She said Paruk needed to "fully observe" Muhammad and that his ruling wasn't based on religion.
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