Los Angeles officials recently decided to name an intersection after prominent pastor Fred Price, but then they refused to pick up the tab for the ceremony because of his stance against same-sex marriage.

City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who is openly gay, pressed his colleagues July 22 not to waive the fees for the official dedication of “Dr. Frederick K.C. Price Square” after he was alerted to Price’s views on homosexuality, The Los Angeles Times reported.

“I’ll vote against this … to show that homophobia will not be supported by the city of Los Angeles,” said Rosendahl, who took office earlier in July.

Price, 73, leads 21,000-member Crenshaw Christian Center and has been in ministry for more than 50 years. He is a major spokesperson for the Word-Faith movement. In February, the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) and Price hosted a summit at Crenshaw Christian Center on the dangers of homosexual marriage.

The 70 black pastors who attended were urged to pressure lawmakers to oppose gay marriage. Price took a key leadership role in encouraging pastors to actively defend marriage from criticism by gay activists, TVC said.

The council was expected to sign off on waiving the city’s $1,000 cost for the dedication ceremony, which was held July 23. But Rosendahl heard from a gay activist that Price is despised in some circles for his views on homosexuality.

Councilman Bernard Parks, who initiated renaming the intersection after Price in May, defended the decision to honor the pastor. “I don’t know of many pastors in the … district that I represent that do support gay marriage,” Parks told the newspaper. “It’s not like he’s alone.”

The street-renaming ceremony was part of a weeklong celebration honoring Price’s many years in ministry and the 15th year of the founding of the Fellowship of Inner City Word of Faith Ministries. Los Angeles County officials declared Sunday, July 24 “Frederick K.C. Price Day.”

Gay marriage has been hotly debated in California since 2004 when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Though the state Supreme Court determined that Newsome overstepped his authority, several groups have challenged the constitutionality of California’s marriage law, claiming it violates the constitution’s equal protection clause. California lawmakers also have made several attempts to pass a gay marriage bill.

In response, has initiated a petition drive that would allow voters to decide during the 2006 election whether the state constitution should be amended to permit only traditional marriage. In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22, which amended a state statute to prohibit gay marriage. Observers say only a marriage amendment will prevent challenges to the statute’s constitutionality. Marriage amendments have passed in all 18 states that put the issue before voters.
Eric Tiansay

Participants wait in line for hours to get into the 5 a.m. meetings led by preacher Juanita Bynum
More than 2,000 people from across the U.S. are gathering at World Revival Church in Kansas City, Mo., for prayer at 5 a.m. Led by popular preacher Juanita Bynum, the Tuesday morning services have caused traffic jams at 3:30 a.m. with lines of people who wait more than 10 hours to get into the meetings.

Bynum said she received a vision for the prayer services in June while she was preaching at World Revival Church. “I saw myself standing in the middle of the aisle wearing a white dress and white head wrap,” said Bynum, noting that the attire symbolized her coming before God in sackcloth and ashes. “I knew God had called me to lead prayer at 5 a.m. in Kansas City.”

Host pastors Steve and Kathy Gray were jubilant when Bynum announced that she would start leading prayer in the next few weeks. “This was the second biggest surprise in ministry,” Steve Gray said. “The first surprise is when the power of God hit me in 1996, which led to the Smithton Outpouring. I was taken completely by surprise, but we grabbed it because we were ready for God to do anything.”

“This is a different kind of revival, a prayer revival,” Gray added. “We’re pretty excited and grateful that God picked this place out of all the places in the world.”

Bynum said the services, which began July 5, are in line with her passion to teach Christians about intercession and strategic spiritual warfare. For seven years she led a prayer meeting in New York City that grew from 25 people to more than 800 at its peak. Since those meetings, Bynum led prayer services briefly in Dallas.

“I felt lost after I finished leading prayer in New York City,” she said. “God sent us to World Revival Church. It’s multicultural and [reflects] people from different walks of life. There’s something about this prayer meeting in Kansas City that’s going to affect the world.”

People stand in line for hours to get into the services. Evangelist Diane Lee of It Is Written Worship Center said she waited 11 hours to get into the service because she was hungry for an outpouring. “There’s a great need for prayer in Kansas City,” she said. “I’m thirsty for God and have a hunger for the Word.”

“This prayer service was mandated by God,” said Elder Mike Beasely of Place of Peace Family Worship Center. “The city has been focused on killings and violence. We can’t do anything to pull down the strongholds of the enemy except call on the power of God.”

Bynum said she’s teaching principles on intercession that she has never taught anywhere else. “I’ve never taught on this level on strategic prayer,” she said. “[My book] Matters of the Heart represented the levels of purification. My new book coming out in September, The Threshing Floor, is who I am. This book is Juanita Bynum.”

She added that she wanted to be remembered as someone who provoked the nation to prayer. “In my last hour, my mantle is to provoke a people to prayer to take responsibility for the nation,” she said. “We’ve been given the power to alter and change the course of history.”

At press time, Bynum planned to continue the Kansas City prayer services indefinitely. “We’re going to other cities all around the nation,” Bynum said. “Next year, we may be going to Atlanta.”
Leilani Haywood

in Kansas City, Mo.

Bishop T.D. Jakes’ giant conference in Atlanta drew 100,000 faithful-and a handful of protesters
More than 100,000 people from the U.S. and abroad converged on Atlanta to attend the second annual MegaFest event in early August.

Bishop T.D. Jakes, pastor of The Potterís House in Dallas and creator of the huge four-day gathering, fused his popular Woman Thou Art Loosed and Manpower conferences with Mega Youth Experience and MegaKidz to offer a smorgasbord of preaching, teaching and entertainment.

Participation this year was shy of the 140,000 who attended in 2004, but Jakes said meeting attendees’ needs was the event’s priority. “We quantify success in how we provide them with services, and the tools to help families leave MegaFest stronger than when they arrived,” he said.

His strategy seemed to work. With general sessions and workshops held in the Georgia Dome, Georgia World Congress Center, Philips Arena and International Plaza, conference-goers scurried from one venue to the next to participate in festivities geared toward faith and family.

“My faith isn’t what I believe God for,” preacher Juanita Bynum told thousands of people who attended her Morning Glory session. “It’s who I believe God is.”

The list of speakers read like a who’s who of famous preachers, musicians and authors. Festivities included a family expo, an Xtreme Sports event hosted by actor Stephen Baldwin, a parade, a fashion show, puppetry and much more.

But not everyone agreed with Mega-Fest’s blending of sacred with secular. One protester, Orlando Bethel of Loxley, Ala., held a sign outside an arena and distributed literature condemning MegaFest. Bethel, 38, said he believes it is wrong for Jakes to put on such a big show for Christians while ignoring the unchurched.

“How can we market to as many people as possible without standing on godly principles,” Bethel said, just as a police officer arrived.

Bethel was particularly upset that well-known mainstream singers and speakers participated in MegaFest. Last year, R&B singer Patti LaBelle and neo-soul artist India Arie were among the performers. This year financial guru Suze Orman; comedian Steve Harvey; Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki; and Gladys Knight topped the list of participants.

“Gladys Knight is not saved,” Bethel told Charisma. “The Word of God says don’t be unequally yoked!”

Knight, who is a Mormon, sang her popular 1970s hit “Midnight Train to Georgia” during MegaFest’s Women of Purpose Concert. Billed as a tribute to Coretta Scott King, the event also featured gospel artists Martha Munizzi, Vickie Winans and the Clark Sisters, along with R&B artists Stephanie Mills and Chaka Khan—who is now a Christian.

Concertgoers arrived at the arena early and waited in line for hours to get inside. They responded to Knight’s performance with rousing applause, shouts and cheers.

MegaFest manager Derrick Williams defended Jakes’ decision to feature Knight’s performance, saying that she was not there to promote her Mormonism. “The purpose of the Woman of Purpose concert was to honor Coretta Scott King,” Williams said. “Gladys Knight and the others were there for that reason. We wouldn’t put [Knight] on the platform to preach.”

Although some believers question the need to include secular entertainers in religious events, big-name sponsors are taking note of the growing Christian market. Noticeable at MegaFest were well-known corporations such as the Coca-Cola Company, Bank of America and American Airlines.
Valerie G. Lowe in Atlanta

The ruling protects Orlando’s Holy Land Experience from owing more than $1 million in property taxes
Concluding a four-year legal battle, a circuit judge has granted a religious-themed Florida attraction the same tax-exempt status that is afforded to churches and museums.

The ruling spares Zion’s Hope, owner of The Holy Land Experience, from paying a delinquent property-tax bill that would have exceeded $1 million by the end of the year. Modeled after ancient Jerusalem, the Orlando-based theme park, which opened in 2001, includes recreations of Herod’s Temple and courtyard, Jesus’ garden tomb and the Qumran Dead Sea Caves. It also houses a scriptorium, which boasts the largest private collection of biblical texts and artifacts in the country.

“From beginning to end we are a missionary organization,” said Marvin J. Rosenthal, who stepped down as CEO of The Holy Land Experience in July.

But after pointing to the $30 admission fee, $5 parking fee and a slew of souvenir shops, Orange County Property Appraiser Bill Donegan denied the park’s tax-exempt status in 2001 when he cited that the park behaved more like a business than a religious ministry.

“When you look at The Holy Land, although it has a religious theme to it, it is a business that charges admission, charges for parking, has restaurants, has shops,” he said. “Now, if that constitutes a religious exemption, the court will tell me.”

But the court has already spoken, said Frank Manion, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represented Holy Land.

“In this case, the judge has already said there are no disputes about the facts,” Manion said. “The only question is: Is this entity entitled to a tax exemption under the law? And the judge has already ruled that in fact we are and that the property appraiser was wrong.”

In her July 5 ruling, Circuit Judge Cynthia MacKinnon sided with Zion’s Hope. “The property appraiser has failed to direct the court’s attention to any evidence that Plaintiff is using The Holy Land Experience to make money or for some other purpose than evangelizing and worshipping,” MacKinnon wrote in her decision.

MacKinnon also said Donegan violated the park’s due process rights by refusing to explain why the tax exemption was rejected. “The law requires that if an entity that has applied for property exemption has been denied that exemption, they’re supposed to be told why,” Rosenthal said. “We weren’t told for over four years.”

Donegan responded to the ruling by filing a motion for reconsideration, Manion said, adding that those are rarely granted.

The ACLJ partnered with the Orlando-based Liberty Counsel in representing The Holy Land in its suit against Orange County. Counsel President Mathew D. Staver said the ruling sends a clear message.

“I think what it means for others is that the government cannot determine what’s orthodox regarding your church outreach,” he said. “There are a lot of things that are taking place today that may not look and act like the typical Sunday morning service … and I think that doesn’t make [them] any less Christian or any less biblical.”

Scott Pierre, chairman of the board of the Holy Land, said the ruling will affect scores of ministries. “This is something that sets a precedent to protect other ministries that have the same goal that we have and that is sharing the truth,” he said.
Suzy Richardson

Richard Rossi says his biopic about evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson reflects his own brokenness
When filmmaker Richard Rossi stood before 500 members of the influential Screen Actors Guild in July after a showing of his film, Aimee Semple McPherson, he told them about the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s ability to work through a “wounded healer.”

Rossi says he was talking as much about himself as he was his film, a biopic about the famed healing evangelist who founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. “Sister Aimee’s story is a story of faith that the Holy Spirit can anoint things, and that anointing makes a difference,” said Rossi, whose film is to release this fall.

“I really identify with her because she prayed for healing for thousands, but could not seem to get healing for herself and her own personal relationships. When I was in the healing ministry, the more I was up on a pedestal the more isolated and depressed I became.”

Rossi, 42, grew up in Pittsburgh. The son of a jazz guitarist and an artist, he was playing guitar on stage at age 7. At 14, after watching the Christian movie A Distant Thunder, he walked the church’s aisle during the altar call. But two years later he nearly died from a drug overdose and in desperation called The 700 Club prayer line. They referred him to a Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship meeting, where he says he was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

He formed a Christian rock group and began playing at high schools. But wanting to preach, he enrolled in Liberty University and earned a master’s degree in biblical studies. There, he met Sherrie Plauger, and they soon married. After graduation, they returned to Pittsburgh to plant churches, minister in song and preach.

Rossi, who had a flair for the theatrical, appeared on The 700 Club and produced a Christian album. A Pittsburgh newspaper called his congregation “a church where hippies are hailed and people are healed.” The healing services grew from 200 to 2,000. He even filmed the healings and exorcisms and produced a Fox TV documentary. The Rossis’ marriage and ministry seemed on fire. But the flames soon died.

Suffering from depression that Rossi said stemmed from childhood abuse, he preached on Sunday mornings, frequented bars in the afternoon, then preached and prayed for healing that evening.

Then on June 24, 1994, Rossi was arrested for assaulting Sherri. Pleading no contest, he spent 101 days in jail. The story of the fallen healer appeared on A Current Affair, Hard Copy and Inside Edition.

While in jail he enrolled in a 12-step program and later underwent restoration at Healing for the Nations ministry in Atlanta. Now, more than 10 years later, Rossi still attends a recovery group four days each week and speaks with his Alcoholics Anonymous mentor nearly every day.

“Our faith and family are stronger now than ever,” said Sherrie Rossi. “Our marriage is proof that a born-again family can overcome media scrutiny, incarceration and even friends telling me to give up on Richard when he was at the lowest point of suffering.”

In 2001 Rossi finished the documentary Saving Sister Aimee. Though some considered it a sensationalized depiction, it won the Motion Picture Council’s Angel Award for best documentary. Last year, with only a few months and $50,000, he wrote, directed and produced Aimee Semple McPherson. In February, a rough cut attracted a record crowd to Hollywood’s Beverly Cinema.

“The film came out of my brokenness, and had I not been broken, I could not have made this movie,” he said. “Her story is a story of total grace, and so is mine. As I made this story about a wounded healer, I received healing for my own wounds. I was able to tell my story by telling Sister Aimee’s story.”
Ed Donnally in Hollywood

SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS ACCUSED OF PROSELYTZING CHILDREN
Three Indonesian women have been accused of trying to convert Muslim children, Compass Direct reported. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun were questioned about activities and materials used in their Christian education program for elementary-school children. Bangun said the children prayed, read the Bible, sang and sometimes colored pictures. Judge Hasby J. Tholib responded by telling the women they never should have allowed Muslim children to participate in the program. Bangun and Zakaria said they had no hidden agenda, adding that the childrenís parents gave full consent to the program ó though none would say so during the trial. Before the hearing ended, the prosecuting attorney announced that the case would be transferred to the High Court, which observers say could lengthen the trial considerably.

STREET PREACHING BANNED IN KENYAN TOWN
Street preaching has been banned in Malindi town, located on Kenyaís north coast, unless it is sanctioned by police, said the Daily Nation, Kenyaís largest-circulation newspaper. Imposed at a meeting of Muslim and Christian religious leaders, the ban was intended to end religious confrontations, said District Commissioner Jan Ireri. ìThe globalization of religious concepts and faiths and the freedom of worship enshrined in the constitution should not be allowed to cause a breach of peace,î Ireri said. He told religious leaders that he was concerned that night prayers were infringing on the rights of citizens by disturbing their sleep. He also said there had been complaints that ministers who used the public address systems were a nuisance. An interfaith committee was formed to find a permanent solution to the religious conflicts and promote peace, the Daily Nation said.

STAINES KILLER INSPIRES DOUBLE MURDER
Kokala Govardhan, 25, has confessed to killing pastor K. Daniel and pastor Isaac Raju in Hyderabad, southern India, Compass Direct reported. Both murders occurred in May; in late June police arrested Kokala Govardhan, who told reporters he was inspired by Dara Singh, the man who orchestrated the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons. Though Dara Singhís death sentence had been commuted to life in prison, Christian groups are now calling for the death penalty to be reinstated as a warning to extremists. Stainesí widow, however, has maintained her stand of total forgiveness. “If we don’t forgive men of the wrong that they do, then how can we be forgiven?” Gladys Staines told the BBC.

Illusionist Lawrence Khong says the real pulpits of the world are not found in churches but in the entertainment field
The art of illusion has opened new doors for Lawrence Khong, senior pastor of the 10,000-member Faith Community Baptist Church in Singapore and executive producer of the Magic of Love musical. Khong and his crew of 40 wrapped up their eight-city U.S. tour in June and will travel to Japan and China for performances this fall.

0
Although U.S. ticket sales were disappointing, the feedback has been encouraging. “It is an outstanding show by any standardóbut trying to make a dent in the commercial sector is very challenging,” said Khong, who has been performing magic since the age of 10.

Magic of Love has attracted more than 160,000 people throughout Asia since it made its debut in 2001.

Khong said his goal was to produce a show containing good Christian values that can compete with some of the best shows in the world. Magic of Love tells the story of a father and daughter who are bonded together by their love for magic and eventually are torn apart by their greed for fame and fortune. The show stars Khong and his daughter, Priscilla Khong, who also is a magician.

About five years ago, Khong said God showed him that “the real pulpits of the world are not found in churches.” His church launched an entertainment company called Gateway Entertainment that has produced several movies and TV serials, and has underwritten Khongís magic shows.

“God has called me to get into the entertainment world and take it back for the Lord,” he said. “I don’t think I can take it back for the Lord completely, but at least I contribute my share.”

Khong has long been criticized for using magicówhile attending Dallas Theological Seminary in the 1970s and in recent years as the pastor of a charismatic megachurch.

“Magic takes you into a fantasy world, where the audience tends to momentarily suspend their unbelief,” he said. “The danger is, you can tell them whatever you want, and they will believe you.”

Though not easily offended, Khong said he hasnít received any negative comments from U.S. believers who saw the show. “You canít get too upset when people donít understand you,” he said. “Otherwise, you’ll never get going.”

C. Peter Wagner, presiding apostle of the International Coalition of Apostles (ICA), of which Khong is a member, attended a Magic of Love performance in Dallas with his wife, Doris. Afterward, he sent an e-mail of his thoughts to ICA members.

“One of the things that Doris and I wanted to check out was the spiritual cleanliness of this show,” Wagner wrote. “When demonic forces are present, [Doris] usually discerns it. Magic of Love, much to our delight, reflected nothing of the occult. It was good, clean fun, with Lawrence and Priscilla demonstrating incredible skills that are fascinating to watch.”

These days, Khong is away from Faith Community nearly six months out of the year; however, the church continues to grow. “I’m teaching my people not to see what I do as two different things,” he said. “They are praying for this tour just as they would pray for an evangelistic outreach.”

Khong was awarded the Master Magician Award in Las Vegas in 2002. His wife, Nina Khong, serves as producer of Magic of Love. She is a medical doctor and deputy senior pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church.
Carol Chapman Stertzer in Dallas

Iran-born pastor Donald Fareed says democracy will prevent new Christians from being killed in Muslim nations
Donald Fareed, a former Muslim, is used to receiving death threats during the call-in segment of his satellite TV show. But attempts at intimidation, illness and meager funding have not stopped the Iranian-born pastor from preaching the gospel to Muslims.

From his base in San Jose, Calif., Fareed reaches millions of Muslims in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and parts of Iraq each week through his broadcasts. If his salvation message wounds radical Islam, his calls for democracy adds salt. “Without democracy, new Christians are killed,” Fareed said.

Born in Iran during the Shahís reign, Fareed said the secret police arrested him at the age of 12 for complaining about government corruption. Though raised as a devout Muslim he fled a few years after the Iranian revolution in 1978-79, arriving in the U.S. with $23.

After launching a successful janitorial business, Fareed drifted into Sulfism, an Islamic cult, and embraced several New Age religions, including Scientology. But when three ministers wound up in his home in 1990 he came to Christ.

A few months later he said Jesus appeared to him in a vision, explaining the meaning of the cross. Soon his wife, Rima, accepted Christ and both were baptized in a local Iranian church. Recognizing his zeal, church leaders sent him to Istanbul, Turkey, in 1993 to do street evangelism. There, he met Bishop Heik Hovsepian, head of the Iranian Assemblies of God. They became friends, and Fareed began helping him get Christians, endangered by the new regime, out of Iran.

Then in January 1994 Hovsepian was killed in Tehran. “They carved his heart from his chest,” Fareed said. “Before that I was afraid to speak out about the oppression. But right then and there I made a commitment to follow in his footsteps.”

He soon planted two Persian churches in the Bay Area that have since brought more than 500 American Muslims to Christ. In 2000, he started the nonprofit Persian Ministries International and was soon struck by a sometimes-fatal muscle condition called Fibromyalgia Syndrome. Yet instead of slowing him, the thought that he might soon die intensified his efforts. So when longtime Muslim friend Sattar Deldar offered to sell him airtime on Deldarís Appadana International, Fareed started his broadcast.

Through his Bridging the Gap Ministries, he also teaches churches how to evangelize Muslims. His ìWhy I am Not a Muslimî sermon announcement on a church sign created a Bay Area controversy that put him on several TV stations.

“His ministry has had an incredbile effect in Iran and the U.S.,” said Kyle Windson, global ministries pastor at San Jose’s South Valley Christian Church, which oversees Fareed’s ministry. “The attack in London shows us how important it is to reach Muslims for Christ.”
Ed Donnally

Ted haggard considers Senate Run
Ted Haggard, senior pastor of 11,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., and president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said he would consider a run for Congress in 2006 if Republican Rep. Joel Hefley retired and he couldn’t comfortably support another candidate, the Associated Press (AP) reported. “I love this region of the country, and the people here need to be represented the way Joel has represented us,” Haggard, 49, said. But he said he is not itching for a new job. “Colorado Springs is used to me being a pastor, and I am very comfortable in the role I currently fill,” he told the AP. “I am not restless.”

Christian Films Win Awards
George W. Bush: Faith in the White House received three of the highest awards offered by the International Christian Visual Media Association, which recognizes TV shows and films that present family values. The documentary, produced by Grizzly Adams Productions, received Crown Gold Awards for Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Documentary over $50,000. Meanwhile, a seven-minute documentary about Rachel Scott, who was murdered during the Columbine High School shootings, received the grand prize in the Tribeca Film Festival’s Short Film Competition. Jon Lindgren, who runs ViaMedia in Midland, Texas, was awarded the $50,000 prize for Rachel’s Challenge based on an Internet audience vote. Lindgren’s upcoming projects include a documentary about contemporary Christian martyrs.

Taizé founder stabbed at prayer service
Brother Roger, the 90-year-old founder of the French religious TaizÈ Community, was stabbed and killed by a mentally disturbed person during evening prayers Aug. 16, members of his community told Agence France Presse (AFP). At press time, police had detained a 36-year-old Romanian woman as a suspect. The TaizÈ movement started during World War II, when Swiss-born monk Roger Schutz, living in TaizÈ, located near Cluny, in the eastern Burgundy region, provided a refuge for those fleeing the conflict, regardless of their religion, AFP said. Roger, a Protestant with a degree in theology, was committed to seeing reconciliation between Christian groups.

Florida pastor settles Lawsuits
Pastor Clint Brown and his 6,000-member FaithWorld church in Orlando, Fla., have settled two lawsuits filed by a former member and a prominent Denver pastor, the Orlando Sentinel reported. On June 15 the ministry reached an agreement with former member Deborah Mitchell, who claimed the 42-year-old pastor refused to repay a $200,000 loan. On June 22, church attorneys “amicably resolved” a similar lawsuit in which Bishop Dennis Leonard charged that Brown hadn’t repaid a $100,000 loan from his Heritage Christian Center. Meanwhile, Florida minister Clark Whitten has resigned as senior pastor of Calvary Assembly in suburban Orlando. During his 10-year tenure, Whitten, 55, helped the 2,200-member church eliminate an $11 million debt on its facility, which is one of the largest structures in the Assemblies of God. Whitten plans to write and speak, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Lutheran Church Votes Down Gay Clergy Proposal
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ECLA) rejected a proposal Aug. 12 that would have allowed homosexuals to serve as clergy in certain situations, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The proposal, which was rejected in a 503-490 vote, would have retained the churchís ban on ordaining sexually active homosexuals but allowed exceptions for candidates in long-term relationships. The ECLA, which represents some 4.9 million members, also upheld a 1993 statement that bans blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. Despite the statementís prohibitions, it is generally acknowledged that some Lutheran pastors have been presiding at such ceremonies without consequence for years, the AP said.

Chinese House Church Pioneer Dies
Chinese house-church leader Allen Yuan died Aug. 16 in a Beijing hospital. He was 91. Yuan was one of 11 preachers, including Watchman Nee and Wang Ming Dao, who refused to join the Three Self Patriotic Movement after Mao Tse-Tungís communist rule began in 1949, Open Doors reported. In 1958, Yuan was arrested because of his “counter-revolutionary” faith and sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole. But due to policy changes over the next few decades, Yuan was released in 1979. As recently as 2003 Yuan was baptizing 300 new converts each year. He is survived by his wife and six children. His second son, Yuan Fu Sing, continues to lead his church.

Habitat for Humanity Names New CEO
Jonathan T. Reckford has been named head of Habitat for Humanity. The 42-year-old is a former executive pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minn., and previously served as president of stores for the Musicland division of Best Buy. Reckfordís appointment comes six months after the nonprofit home-building organization’s founder and CEO, Millard Fuller, was fired in the wake of a sexual harassment investigation. The board found “insufficient proof of inappropriate conduct,” according to a January statement from the organization, but fired Fuller because he made comments the board considered critical despite an agreement he made to keep quiet.

Investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell says he saw God’s hand at work when 1960s murder cases were reopened

The reporter whose work has led to convictions in several civil rights killings said his main motivation is a biblical sense of justice.

Jerry Mitchell of the Jackson, Miss., Clarion-Ledger has been credited with reviving a string of civil rights-era cases, prompting lawmen and prosecutors to bring them back to trial.

Those trials have resulted in the conviction this year of Edgar Ray Killen in connection with the 1964 murders of civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner; the 1998 conviction of Sam Bowers for the 1966 killing of Vernon Dahmer; and the 1994 conviction of Byron de la Beckwith for the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers.

“As a matter of faith I feel like God’s hand has been involved in these cases,” said Mitchell, 46, who has written a number of devotionals in addition to his award-winning newspaper articles.

The son of a former preacher, Mitchell was born in Missouri, raised in Texarkana, Texas, and was working as a reporter in Mississippi when he saw the movie Mississippi Burning in 1989. It opened his eyes to the South’s legacy of racism.

That same year he got to look at files from Mississippi’s long-secret Sovereignty Commission that documented state complicity in racist acts. And he reported on the 25th anniversary of the Goodman-Chaney-Schwerner murders. “It was kind of a perfect storm that took place in 1989,” Mitchell said.

He has no doubt that God brought it all together. “We don’t begin to understand how God works. His ways are so far above ours. What we have to do is try to get in tune with His will,” Mitchell said.

Some suspects in civil rights killings went to trial but got off with acquittals or hung juries even when guilt seemed apparent. Mitchell found evidence that the state secretly assisted in defending such suspects and that some lawmen lied under oath. Wanting to help redress such injustices, Mitchell began to investigate the Medgar Evers slaying in 1989. But there was little left to go on.

“There was no murder weapon, there was no transcript, no evidence, only a few pages in the court file,” Mitchell said. “But [widow] Myrlie Evers prayed, and amazing things happened.”

A few months after Mitchell began investigating, police ran across a bag of crime scene photos, including a fingerprint. Then Myrlie Evers found a transcript of the original trial. And prosecutor Bobby DeLaughter discovered the murder weapon among some old evidence. “If you wrote a novel and you put that in there, people would say, ‘No, that would never happen,'” Mitchell marvels.

He doesn’t mention his own dogged reporting—work that has been lauded by Newsweek, American Journalism Review and a host of other publications, and has brought him several distinguished awards and a Pulitzer nomination. An actor even played his part in the movie Ghosts of Mississippi, which is based on the Evers case.

Seldom explored in articles about Mitchell are his religious beliefs. “The way I view myself is [as] a disciple of Jesus,” he says simply.

His literary aspirations lean toward writing a discipleship manual and other Christian books. In recent years he’s even felt drawn to the ministry.

Mitchell has caught flak, even been threatened, for his work. The main charge is that he’s digging up a past that’s better left alone.

Mitchell doesn’t mind listening to—and answering—such critics. “As it says in the Psalms, God loves justice,” he said. “Justice is part of the nature of God. He’s a just God. He’s a merciful God, yes, but He’s a just God.”

Especially chilling are people like Beckwith and Killen, who call themselves Christian ministers. Mitchell recalls the night Beckwith told him that if he wrote negatively about white Christians, either God would punish him or “several individuals will do it for Him.”

Although Mitchell believes in the importance of securing justice, he also believes in the possibility of redemption. One of his favorite Psalms is chapter 51, “the idea of recognition of sin and being made white as snow,” he said.

“Some people have called these atonement cases,” Mitchell said. “I view these trials not only as atonement but as kind of redemptive.”
Ernest Herndon