Considered the fastest growing church in the U.S., Without Walls International planned to finalize the $14 million deal in August
Three years after it first entertained the idea, a large charismatic church in Tampa, Fla., has purchased the property of what was once one of the largest church facilities in the world.

On June 14, Without Walls International Church (WWIC), a 22,000-member nondenominational congregation, signed a contract to buy Carpenter’s Home Church (CHC) in suburban Lakeland, which is about 45 minutes east of Tampa.

In the $14 million agreement, CHC would receive $8 million plus a 3,000-seat auditorium in Auburndale, Fla., which was used by Without Walls Central (WWC), a satellite of the Tampa congregation. The Auburndale church has been appraised at nearly $6 million, WWIC officials said. Auburndale is located about 25 minutes east of Lakeland.

“I think it’s a win-win for everyone,” said Randy White, who pastors WWIC with his wife, Paula. “Carpenter’s Home Church gets an almost brand-new sanctuary debt-free. We get a facility that we can grow into. It’s been our dream and ambition to impact the state of Florida.”

CHC’s spokesman Greg Gillman called the sale “a great win in the kingdom of God.” CHC is affiliated with the Assemblies of God (AG). “There are many wins in this arrangement,” said Gillman, CHC’s CFO and treasurer. “First and foremost, the grounds and buildings that pastor Karl Strader have ministered on for over 20 years will continue to be used to spread the gospel, which is the legacy of our pastor.”

Under Strader, the First Assembly of God of Lakeland built a 10,000-seat sanctuary in 1985 at a cost of $12 million, renaming the church Carpenter’s Home in the process. At the time, CHC had about 5,000 members, a TV ministry and a radio station. But in 1989 about 800 members split from CHC in a dispute over Strader’s leadership and formed Victory Church.

In the early 1990s, CHC was the site of services by Rodney Howard-Browne, the South African preacher who introduced the “laughing revival” to America. But Strader’s son, Daniel, was arrested in 1994 on fraud charges and convicted the following year of swindling investors, including some church members. The congregation of Strader, 76, who has served as CHC’s pastor for the last 38 years, now attracts only about 750 people on Sundays.

In contrast, Church Growth Today, a megachurch research center, recently named WWIC the nation’s fastest growing church. White said the ministry has 15,000 members in 240 satellite congregations across the U.S. and in Europe.

WWIC was close to an agreement to buy the CHC sanctuary in 2002, but in February 2003 CHC reportedly rejected a $10 million offer from WWIC because the board was asking $12.5 million, The Tampa Tribune reported. White said CHC contacted him in the spring to see if WWIC was still interested in the 75-acre property.

“We’re extremely excited to acquire this property,” said White, 47, noting that he expected to finalize the deal on the Aug. 1 closing date. “We believe this is part of God’s plan. Several years ago, prophet Kim Clement saw Carpenter’s Home filled to capacity. He said one day we would own the property.”

The agreement calls for a one-year transition period during which CHC would continue to hold worship services in a theater on the campus. Without Walls Central will worship at the massive CHC sanctuary starting this fall.

WWC pastor Scott Thomas, 38, will lead the Lakeland congregation, White said. Launched in January 2004, WWC started with 115 members, and it now has 1,500 people attending Sunday services.

Gillman said CHC owns the property, not the AG, adding that voting members approved the sale. “Pastor Strader has notified the Assemblies of God concerning the sale of our property,” he said. “We will continue to be Assemblies of God.”

Gillman added that the sale will enable CHC to move into a new era of ministry. “Prior to the congregation approving the sale of the property, pastor Strader cast a dynamic vision of raising up young pastors and planting them in multiple locations, providing them with the wisdom of his years and the resources necessary for them to be successful,” he said. “The sale of our property will provide Carpenter’s Home the unencumbered, debt-free resources that are critical to make this vision a reality, as well as provide a beautiful campus to a congregation of like faith.”
Eric Tiansay

Christian activists say they will work even harder to block similar legislation in the United States

The tempestuous six-month parliamentary debate over legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in Canada ended with its passage June 28. But Christian traditional marriage activists on both sides of the Canadian border say they’ll continue fighting the acceptance of gay marriage in mainstream culture.

Following a close vote of 158 to 133, marriage was redefined as “a union between two consenting adults,” rather than a union between one man and one woman. The legislation includes a provision that permits religious officials to refuse to marry gays and lesbians.

Canada is the third country in the world-following Holland and Belgium-to legalize same-sex marriage. Spain followed suit in approving gay marriage legislation just two days after Canada did. Seven of Canada’s 10 provinces and one of its three territories already allowed civil marriages for same-sex couples prior to the parliamentary vote. Ontario was the first province to do so, following an appeal by a gay couple in June 2003 to the Supreme Court of Ontario.

“June 28 was a sad day for Canada, a sad day for marriage and a sad day for children,” said Charles McVety, head of Defend Marriage, a coalition of Christian groups seeking to maintain traditional marriage in Canada. “I don’t know if traditional marriage will be the norm by the time my 7-year-old daughter grows up.”

The House of Commons sat for several days into its summer break to allow the Liberal minority government time to finish voting on the controversial legislation. A parliamentary drama unfolded, with some Liberal Members of Parliament becoming independents or joining other parties, and others losing their cabinet positions because they refused to follow Prime Minister Paul Martin’s orders and vote in favor of legalizing gay marriage.

Critics say rushing the legislation was a ploy to keep gay marriage from becoming an issue in the upcoming federal election, and they say a referendum should have been held for the Canadian people. Opinion polls show Canadians are as equally divided as their politicians over the issue.

Christian watchdog groups say the legislation has already caused a lot of problems for Christians working in the public sector. Two human rights complaints were filed in January against Catholic Bishop Fred Henry following a letter he wrote to his own diocese, in which he said homosexuality, prostitution and pornography should not be accepted and that the federal government should use coercive power to outlaw same-sex marriage.

Civil marriage commissioners in several provinces have been told in writing that they’ll lose their jobs if they refuse to marry same-sex couples. Some have resigned, and others have lodged complaints with their provincial human rights commissions. Chris Kempling, a guidance counselor and teacher in British Columbia, has been suspended from his job twice for statements he made about homosexuals.

The legal repercussions for Christian business owners affiliated with the wedding industry are tremendous, said Janet Epp-Buckingham, director of law and public policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. “Business owners who say they’re refusing service because the client wants a gay wedding can be charged with discrimination under the Human Rights Code,” Epp-Buckingham said.

“I had a Christian caterer phone me in tears because her husband unknowingly told a gay client that she was available the day of the client’s wedding. At that point she couldn’t refuse service.”

Same-sex marriage also has caused rifts within the Canadian church. When an Anglican diocese in British Columbia added a service of blessing for same-sex unions in 2002, a group of Anglican clergy broke formal ties with the church and established The Anglican Communion of Canada. The communion, which acts as an international advocate for traditional biblical values for Anglicans, now has 12 Canadian parishes on board who report to archbishops in other parts of the world.

Epp-Buckingham says the problem is worse for United Church clergy who disapprove of same-sex marriage. “Their superiors won’t back them legally if they decline doing a same-sex ceremony because the United Church of Canada has already sanctioned the process,” she said.

Americans fighting same-sex marriage in the U.S. say its validation in Canada is making them gear down harder. “It’s alerted us that there’s a virus to the north, and we better not let it cross the border,” said Lou Sheldon, president of the Traditional Values Coalition based in Washington, D.C.

“I think federal passing of it in Canada will get us moving to tighten up on same-sex marriage here,” said Mathew Staver, president and general counsel for Florida-based Liberty Counsel. “I think what’s intended to tear down marriage will actually strengthen it because it’ll make us rethink the importance of marriage.”

Staver said the Defense of Marriage Act protects any state from validating a same-sex marriage license issued elsewhere. He said a same-sex couple who was married in Canada launched three lawsuits seeking to get Florida to recognize their marriage. All were rejected.

Same-sex marriage is now permitted in Massachusetts, and California and Vermont allow civil unions for gay couples.

Glen Lavy of the Alliance Defense Fund cautioned that the legalization of gay marriage in Canada and other nations could prompt courts that look at international law to use that as rationale to force same-sex marriage through U.S. courts.
Josie Newman in Toronto

China pastor on trial over Bibles

A leader in China’s underground church stood trial July 7 on charges of operating an illegal business. Last year, pastor Cai Zhouhua, who oversees six house churches, was detained with 200,000 copies of unauthorized Bibles, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Cai was arrested with his wife and two relatives in what Christian human rights groups say is an ongoing crackdown on underground churches. No verdict has been handed down, and Cai’s lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, said he is not optimistic about the outcome, BBC News reported. Though Gao said the Bibles were to be given away for free, the authorities “are always using economics as a pretext to deal with religious and political issues,” BBC News reported. Only the state-sanctioned church is authorized to publish Bibles in China, and they are produced in controlled numbers and cannot be sold in ordinary bookstores, the AP said.

Missionaries’ Killers Sentenced to Life in Prison

The death sentence of a Hindu extremist who killed Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons six years ago has been reduced to life in prison. In June, the high court of Orissa State ordered life imprisonment for Dara Singh, Reuters reported. The court also acquitted 11 people sentenced to a life term by a lower court for burning alive Staines and his sons in a remote village in the state in 1999. Staines’ widow, Gladys, and her daughter, Esther, stayed in India after the deaths and opened the Graham Staines Memorial Hospital for lepers in 2004, but have since returned to Australia. Gladys Staines said she had forgiven the killers.

Pastors forced to Apologize for Statements About Islam

Australian pastors Daniel Scott and Daniel Nalliah, both of Catch the Fire Ministries Inc., were ordered June 22 to apologize for comments they made last year that a Muslim group said disparaged Islam. Last December the two were found guilty of breaching the Victorian Racial and Religious Tolerance Act after the Islamic Council of Victoria accused the pair of making derogatory comments about Islam on their Web site and in a seminar, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported. They were then ordered in June to apologize to the council, place a notice on their Web site giving the judges’ verdict and take out a newspaper ad for two weeks stating that they have been found guilty of inciting religious hatred. They were also banned from speaking about Islam anywhere in Australia. The pastors have taken out a “staying order” against the verdict and are appealing to the Supreme Court, CSW said. They also have launched a fundraising campaign to help cover their legal fees, arguing that the case is a fight to preserve religious freedom in Australia.

Lakewood Church, the nation’s largest congregation, now meets in a renovated sports arena that seats 16,000 people
Mercedes Garces remembers when Lakewood Church pastor John Osteen predicted that the ministry he founded would one day occupy Houston’s Compaq Center.

“Everything is possible with God,” said Garces, who has attended the church with her husband, Abel, for 14 years. “We believed it. At least I did.”

Osteen passed away in 1999, but on July 16 his bold claim became a reality when 16,000 people crammed into the former sports and entertainment venue for the grand opening of the nation’s largest church facility. Another 3,000 watched from an overflow area.

“How do you like our new home?” asked John’s son, current pastor Joel Osteen, who in the last five years has seen the church grow from 8,000 to 30,000, making it the nation’s largest. The crowd responded with one of many thunderous ovations.

Even before the doors opened two hours prior to the event, hundreds of people gathered outside waiting to get a closer look at the renovated facility. Once inside, church members and guests saw little resemblance to the arena that hosted NBA and WNBA championship games and rock concerts featuring the likes of U2, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley.

The floor has been replaced by additional seating, and the stage, designed by four-time Emmy Award-winner Rene Lagler, features a hydraulically operated orchestra pit, elaborate choir lofts, a pair of cascading waterfalls and a large golden globe that spins.

Throughout the evening, the congregation heard from dignitaries such as Joel Osteen’s mother, Dodie; his brother, Paul; and Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Other notable attendees included evangelists R.W. Schambach and Norvel Hayes, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Houston Texans quarterback David Carr and about 30 members from the original Lakewood church.

“The growth of this church has been nothing less than phenomenal,” Perry said. “It’s been that way because there was a big welcome mat out. … And why shouldn’t it be that way? When you strip away all that makes us different, we’re all very much one in a great sense. We’re all made in the image of God.”

Osteen used the grand opening as an opportunity to encourage those in the crowd or watching live on Trinity Broadcasting Network and Daystar Television Network. “If you have a dream in your heart, my prayer tonight is that that dream is going to really take root,” Osteen said. “And you’re going to know that you know that you can be all that God’s created you to be. You can accomplish everything God’s put in your heart.”

Irvine Team, a leading design and construction strategy team based in Houston, oversaw the 2-1/2-year renovation process that cost $95 million. “This is a superb sanctuary,” said Team President Dennis Irvine. “It’s a state-of-the-art, television-friendly environment. … It has been painstakingly thought-out and very well executed.”

The facility houses an interactive children’s ministry area that seats another 3,500 people. Adjacent to the church is a new five-story building that houses the church offices, media services, broadcast production suites and youth ministries.

Osteen said the new facility has several advantages, including a more centralized location, better access to parking and a more complete setup for its television broadcasts that reach an estimated 7 million people worldwide. “At our other place we were limited because of the street sizes and things,” Osteen said. “So just having a place that’s designed for 16,000 or 20,000 … will let our base grow so that we can touch the city and touch the world even more.”

He also said the record-setting facility could inspire other ministries to think big. “I think God’s helped us to be an example,” he said. “When I grew up, it was a big deal to have a church of a thousand. But I believe we can have churches where 20,000 people come, like this.”
Chad Bonham in Houston

Christian Groups Applaud President’s Supreme Court Nominee

Christian organizations praised President Bush’s choice of John Roberts Jr. to fill the Supreme Court seat being vacated by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Described as a “strict constructionist,” Roberts, 50, has served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for the last two years and has argued conservative positions on abortion and public school prayer at graduation ceremonies before the high court during his years as a lawyer. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, said Roberts “is exceptionally well qualified … and has a judicial temperament that is respected by all who deal with him.” Ohio pastor Rod Parsley, founder of the Center for Moral Clarity, said Bush’s choice “sends a clarion call to return our country to the principles of its Founding Fathers.” He also encouraged Christians to pray that Roberts “would be on the bench on Oct. 3, when the court is back in session.” Roberts’ confirmation hearings were to begin in August.

Oklahoma Zoo Nixes Creationism Exhibit

A Tulsa, Okla., city board rejected plans July 7 to add a creationism exhibit to the Tulsa Zoo, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The 3-1 vote, made during a special board meeting, reversed a June 7 decision to add a Genesis story to the zoo. Tulsa resident Dan Hicks, who lobbied for the exhibit, said the creationism display would balance other religious items at the zoo, which he said include a globe sculpture that promotes pantheism and a Maasai display that contains the equivalent of posting Scripture. Dale McNamara, who voted against the exhibit, said the zoo should develop displays that explain the cultural significance of animals. She said an elephant-like stone statue near the elephant exhibit, which Hicks said depicts a Hindu god, fit within that mission, the AP said. Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune was the only board member to support the creation exhibit.

Christians decry high court decision

Christian groups say the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in favor of using eminent domain for development that would increase a city’s tax base may make churches and other tax-exempt organizations vulnerable to land seizures. Several legal experts say various state and federal laws, as well as the First Amendment, make it almost impossible for churches to be targeted for condemnation, the New York Times reported. But the American Family Association, Focus on the Family and the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) all warned that the ruling puts churches at risk. In June, the ACLJ announced a petition campaign in support of the Protection of Homes, Small Businesses, and Private Property Act of 2005.

Through the Justice House of Prayer, young intercessors are staging silent protests on behalf of the unborn
Teens and young adults are praying for an end to abortion in what prayer leader Lou Engle says is a continuation of the movement that began in 2000 when The Call D.C. drew 400,000 youth to Washington, D.C., for a day of prayer and fasting.

“The call to fast, pray and change the history of a nation is as strong as it was five
years ago,” said Engle, founder of The Call prayer events and The Cause USA. The latter effort began in July 2004, after Engle convened thousands of youth for a prayer gathering in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“After 50 days and 50 nights of prayer, it was clear our assignment wasn’t finished,” Engle told Charisma. “Through a series of dreams and visions, God showed us [that we needed] to travel across country and plant the burning torch of intercession in Washington, D.C.”

That torch has been named the Justice House of Prayer (JHOP), where intercessors pray 24/7 in a building on Capital Hill overlooking the Supreme Court. “As soon as we walked in, we knew it was the place,” Engle said. “The room was literally shaped like an arrowhead. One could stretch a measuring line down Pennsylvania Avenue, through the Capitol building and straight toward the White House.”

Currently 66 interns, or “prayer activists” as they prefer to be called, are affiliated
with JHOP. Determined to “reverse the decree of Roe vs. Wade” through prayer,
JHOP interns arrived in Washington in October with a plan they said they received
through a dream.

Each member covered his mouth with a piece of duct tape that had the word
“life” written on it and began a “silent siege” in front of the Supreme Court
building. For five hours each day they stood silently, identifying with the silent
screams of the unborn and repenting for the silence of the church.

“We’re actually out there fighting for the very life of a generation,” said intern
Heather Harris, 32. “The Lord wants to bring forth the Deborahs … Joshuas … [and] Davids of the next generation. And right now they’re being killed in the womb.”

Just days into the siege, which is an ongoing effort, one intern suggested to
Engle that they take the “life tape” and turn it into wrist bands and start a justice
movement like that of Martin Luther King Jr. Today more than 30,000 of the
free bands have been distributed through the Web site www.bound4life.com.

“Our vision is that 10 million people will wear these bands, and every time they look at it they will pray, ‘God end abortion in America,'” Engle said.

In conjunction with its efforts to end abortion, JHOP is raising funds to help women and children in need. “There’s got to be more than just praying for the end to
abortion,” Harris said. “There’s got to be action-works added to our faith.”

In addition to praying at strategic sites in the capital, the interns plan to travel
across the country to call others to take up the Cause and launch day and night
intercession for revival and justice.

“We need to subpoena the conscience of the nation,” Engle told Charisma. “I believe a great confession season is coming in America-a season of coming clean.
There’s going to be great joy and great pain mixed together, but I believe God
wants to visit us in this nation.”
SANDRA CHAMBERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Observers say religious tension has replaced the unity forged between Christians and Buddhists after December’s tsunami
In the months following the tsunami that claimed thousands of lives in south Asia, Christians in Sri Lanka again faced violent attacks by Buddhist mobs and the renewed threat of legislation that would criminalize conversion.

Evangelical pastors and converts from Buddhism were the most frequent targets
of beatings and terrorism, with several churches and homes attacked and burned
in recent months. The perpetrators were often Buddhist mobs, frequently led or instigated by radical Buddhist monks.

Though 70 percent of Sri Lankans are Buddhists, according to theU.S. State Department, in recent years growing numbers have converted to Christianity. A sharp increase in religious violence has followed, and proposed “anti-conversion” bills and a possible 18th amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution have worsened the situation.

Sri Lankan pastor Jebamoney Ratnam of Holy Trinity Church in Colombo said
in addition to Buddhists, some Catholic and mainstream Protestant leaders support the proposed legislation as a means of combating alleged” unethical conversions” at the hands of “fundamentalist sects.”

“This label targets evangelicals as ‘extremist crusaders funded by Western colonists,’ and we are falsely accused of preying on poor Buddhists by offering financial inducements in exchange for conversion,” he said.” Although proponents speak often of unethical conversions, not a single case has been documented.”

In April 2004, the Buddhist-led Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party won nine seats
in Sri Lanka’s Parliament after promising to pass an anti-conversion bill. The following July, the JHU introduced the Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion bill.

“Under the language of the JHU bill, simply sharing with a Buddhist the
benefits of a relationship with Christ could be construed as ‘allurement,’ and the very assertion of such relationship as ‘fraudulent,” said Sam Thevabalasingham, president of the South Asia Institute of Theology.

Violators of the proposed bill could face up to five years in prison and a fine of
roughly $1,500. If the “victim” is a minor, woman, student, welfare recipient, prison
inmate or member of another protected group, the sentence may be increased to
seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Last August, the Supreme Court ruled that though the JHU bill is constitutional,
it would be struck down on the basis of two minor provisions deemed unconstitutional.

In September, the JHU proposed an 18th amendment to Sri Lanka’s
constitution, which would make Buddhism the official state religion and prohibit
attempts to “convert Buddhists into other forms of worship or to spread other
forms of worship among the Buddhist.”

The government also introduced its own bill called the Act for the Protection
of Religious Freedom, which would make any religious conversion illegal. That bill,
which is the most restrictive of all the proposed legislation, had not been formally
considered when the killer tsunami hit.

Christians hoped the unity forged after the disaster would end the dispute, but
the government’s bill was reintroduced in a March 16 Cabinet meeting and was
scheduled for a vote in Parliament in April. The vote has again been postponed, but its threat looms heavily over the country.

“This law would jeopardize faith-based aid exactly when it’s needed most,” said
Roger Severino, an attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “Unfortunately, the campaign of threats and attacks against religious minorities has survived the tsunami, and the proposed anticonversion law would only encourage the religious persecution we’ve already seen.”

Observers say passage of any of the legislation also could jeopardize the assistance Sri Lanka receives from the newly created Millennium Challenge Account, as recipient nations are required to respect their citizens’ civil and human rights.
MICHELE LOMBARDO IN COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

PASTORS MURDERED IN INDIA

Officials in southern India have ordered an official investigation into the recent murders of two pastors in southern India, BBC News reported. K. Isaac Raju and K. Daniel, were found dead within days of going missing in Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh state. Raju went missing on May 24. Just days earlier, on May 21, the body of pastor Daniel was found with marks suggesting he had been the victim of an acid attack, Compass Direct reported. Both men led churches on the outskirts of Hyderabad. A letter sent to a local newspaper claimed the killings were the work of an organization called the Anti-Christian Forum, Compass said. Police later questioned 150 members of Hindu nationalist organizations but at press time authorities had no suspects. The All India United Christians Movement for Equal Rights is putting pressure on the
state officials to speed up its search into the pastors’ deaths, New India Press reported. A reward also is being offered for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the deaths, Compass said.

PENTECOSTAL PASTOR RELEASED IN IRAN

An Islamic court has acquitted an Assemblies of God (AG) lay pastor
on apostasy and proselytizing charges. During a court hearing May
28 in Bandar-i Bushehr, a judge reportedly declared he was acquitting Hamid Pourmand because he had “done nothing wrong” based on Islamic law, Compass Direct reported. Pourmand had faced execution by hanging under Muslim law for leaving Islam for Christianity 25 years ago. Despite the acquittal, the pastor remains imprisoned, serving out a three-year jail sentence for a separate military court conviction also linked to his religious conversion. Pourmand, 47, was arrested last September by the Iranian security police while attending a church conference near Tehran. An army colonel, Pourmand led an AG congregation in the southern port city of Bandar-i Bushehr.

NIGERIAN CHURCH DESTROYED IN FIRE
Arsonists recently set fi re to a church in Kaduna state, destroying the
sanctuary for the fourth time in fi ve years. Conquerors Chapel pastor
Ndubuisi Chiazor was holding an elders meeting at the church on April
10 when it was torched, Compass Direct reported. Chiazor suspects Muslim
extremists living in the area were responsible for the attack. “From the
comments we hear from Muslims in this area, we know that they have resolved
to force us out of the area through terrorist acts,” he said. “We hear
them all the time say, ‘You must leave this place. We shall build a mosque
on this land where your church is standing.’ ” The Word of Faith Ministries’
congregation has rebuilt their meeting place after each attack. Chiazor
said he is prepared to die rather than move, but many church members
have left. Word of Faith Ministries counted 500 members at the onset of
the arson attacks, but today less than 150 remain. Chiazor said the arsons
began with the introduction of Shariah law in Kaduna state in 2000.

Duke University Medical Researcher
Says Faith Is Good Medicine

Dr. Harold Koenig says the key to good health is
having a deep, personal relationship with God

Duke University researcher is changing the heart of the medical community with a
simple, yet profound message that faith is good for your health.

Dr. Harold G. Koenig has found a clear relationship between faith and health, one
that he has dubbed “the healing connection.” Koenig, founder and director of the Duke University Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health in Durham, N.C., and editor-in-chief of Science & Theology News, has published 25 books and more than 200 professional journal
articles detailing his findings.

“The pile of evidence is growing and showing that spiritual faith has a very real,
scientifically measurable, and positive association with mental and physical wellbeing,”
Koenig writes in his book The Healing Connection. According to Koenig,
the key to the healing connection is “having a deep, personal relationship
with God and loving your neighbor.”

“The combination of those two things, at least the research seems to show, is one of
the most powerful combinations of things that predict a person’s health,” he said.

Koenig has extensively studied the healing connection in the mentally and
physically ill, and in the elderly. “Our research
has found a simple behavior that
might save more lives than buckling seat
belts or quitting smoking,” Koenig reported
after studying 4,000 randomly selected
people over the age of 65 in North Carolina.
“People who attend church regularly
live longer,” he concluded.

After following the subjects for six
years, Koenig said he found that the likelihood
of dying during that six-year period
was 41 percent lower among those who
regularly attended religious services.

His most current research involves
chronically ill patients. In April, Koenig
and his colleagues reported in The Journal
of Nervous and Mental Disease that among
patients with sickle cell anemia, those
who go to church at least once a week
had the lowest pain scores.

Bottom line, Koenig says, is “as long
as you are here on this earth, God has a
purpose for your life. That purpose is not
sitting around just existing. That purpose
involves ministry to others. It’s when people
do that, that people get healthier.”

“I can speak with authority about these
issues because I experience them myself,”
stressed Koenig, who was diagnosed in his
late 20s with psoriatic inflammatory arthritis,
a progressive disease that inflames
the tendons and makes even the most ordinary
movements painful. Once athletic,
Koenig now relies on a wheelchair when the pain is heightened and must carefully
plot his every movement.

But Koenig says God is using his
background in some extraordinary ways,
giving him an open door to many secular
audiences, including the mainstream media
and some of the world’s most prestigious
medical schools. To date, Koenig’s
research has been featured on every major
U.S. news outlet, and has been included
in cover stories for Reader’s Digest, Parade
magazine and Newsweek.

While his research has amassed international
attention, Koenig points to his life’s
testimony as his most powerful witnessing
tool. While a third-year medical student,
Koenig says he experimented with a slew
of Eastern religions in an effort to overcome
shyness. But his attempts to speak
up in class became increasingly disruptive,
and he eventually was expelled.

After his expulsion, Koenig battled
mental illness as a homeless person on the
streets of San Francisco for almost four
months. Later, a devastating divorce after
2-1/2 years of marriage changed everything
for Koenig. The breakup led to a
“spiritual rebirth that brought him back
from an emotional brink.”

At the age of 33, Koenig gave his life
to Christ, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Today Koenig celebrates almost 19 years of
marriage with his wife, Charmin. The two
attend King’s Park International Church,
a charismatic ministry in Durham.

Koenig credits God for giving him a
second chance, particularly when he was
accepted back into medical school as a
third-year student. “When I read the living
Bible, it explained just about everything
about my life to me,” he said. “That helped
to organize my life and gave it direction.
Turning to Christ helped to really bring it
together; it has for almost 20 years now.”

This fall, Koenig will release Simple
Health, a book he co-wrote with Today’s
Christian Doctor editor David Biebel. It
explains 20 easy and inexpensive changes
people can make to improve their health.
-SUZY RICHARDSON IN GAINESVILLE, FLA.

Liberty Watch

CHRISTIAN GROUP ENDS DISNEY BOYCOTT
The American Family Association (AFA) has ended its nine-year boycott of
the Walt Disney Co., citing new challenges in the culture wars and some
positive signs of change at Disney, including the resignation of CEO Michael
Eisner. The Tupelo, Miss.-based group was instrumental in initiating
the boycott in 1996 to protest Disney’s extension of benefits to domestic
partners of homosexual employees, promotion of gay-related events at
its theme parks, and violent and sex-filled content of movies made by
its Miramax subsidiary. In June, the Southern Baptist Convention announced
that it also is ending its boycott of Disney. Earlier this year, representatives
from Focus on the Family and other Christian groups that had
participated in the boycott agreed to meet with Disney to discuss its production
of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, set to release
in December. The Orlando Sentinel reported that Disney has launched a
10-month marketing campaign to get Christian support for the film.

8-YEAR-OLD’S CHRISTIAN SONG BANNED AT TALENT SHOW
A federal judge declined to overturn a New Jersey school’s ban on a
second-grader singing “Awesome God” at a talent show, but said he
would consider the case later. On May 20, Stanley Chesler declined an
emergency request to compel Frenchtown Elementary School to let Olivia
Turton sing the pop song by the late Rich Mullins at Frenchtown Idol,
which was held that night, the Associated Press (AP) reported. School
officials claimed that such a performance would be inappropriate at a school
event. A lawsuit filed May 27 on behalf of the 8-year-old claimed the
school violated her constitutional rights. The suit, brought with the support
of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Christian legal advocacy group
based in Scottsdale, Ariz., argued that the constitutional separation of
church and state does not restrict an individual’s religious speech.

CHRISTIAN ATTORNEYS APPLAUD SUPREME COURT DECISION
Religious liberty attorneys are applauding a June 1 Supreme Court decision
that upheld the constitutionality of a federal law requiring prisons
to accommodate inmates’ religious beliefs, AgapePress reported. Cutter
v. Wilkinson involved two Ohio prison inmates-a witch and a Satanist-
who claimed they were improperly denied access to religious literature
and other ceremonial religious items. The high court overturned a lower
court ruling that a 2000 law called the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized
Persons Act prohibited the access because it would violate
the separation of church and state, the news service said. Attorney Brian
Fahling of the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy said
the decision will benefit Christians, “but the oddity about this, again, is
the fact that we have religious freedom being protected through the
agency of a Satanist and a witch.” Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute
called the decision “an outstanding victory for prison ministries and
people of faith,” and he expected it to enhance his group’s work.

Minister Translates Bible Into Remote Languages

Syvelle Phillips has spent the last 30 years working to make
the Scriptures available in every language

In an effort to make the gospel accessible to the more than 500 million
people who don’t have a Bible in their mother tongue, a former
Assemblies of God pastor has taken up the task of translating the Scriptures into
little-known languages spoken in remote regions around the world.

During the early 1970s, while he was pastoring an Assemblies of God church in
Southern California, Syvelle Phillips says he felt God calling him to translate the
Bible. Through relationships with church members who worked for Wycliff e Bible
Translators, Phillips learned the importance of their unique ministry.

“I had never been aware of the need for
Bible translation,” Phillips said. “I thought
the entire world had the King James Bible,
and it was good enough for everyone.”

After much prayer and research, Phillips
founded Evangel Bible Translators,
which is based in Rockwall, Texas. Since
1976, he and his team have devoted millions
of hours to studying and recording
the nearly 7,000 languages spoken
worldwide. “When I said goodbye to
my church, I had no missionaries and no
money,” Phillips said, “but I attacked the
project with great zeal, and there was tremendous
response.”

More than 30 translators and their
families, located primarily in Africa and
India, currently direct Evangel projects.
Most work in their native countries. They
receive both biblical and linguistic training
before journeying to the mission field, and
they are equipped with laptop computers
to aid in their translation work.

“One of our first translators was a
Quechua Indian who took up a project
Wycliff e had abandoned and returned to
his native people,” Phillips said. “After we
trained him, he completed an entire Bible
before he was killed by guerillas in Peru.”

Evangel also encourages missionaries
to plant local churches and lead the
congregations in worship and Bible study.
“I’m highly committed to the church,”
he said. “I tell our people when Sunday
comes to get their guitars, go sing and tell
someone about Jesus. It will be therapy for
your souls.”

Evangel trained 15 translators last year
and expects another 30 to complete their
preparation this year. Although the ministry
is grateful for the increased interest,
the growing demand also requires more
financial resources. To fund these needs,
the 76-year-old Phillips preaches more
than 200 times annually in local churches
and at conferences.

“God called me from the start to challenge
the charismatic, Full Gospel churches
into involvement with Bible translation,”
he said. “He began us at a point we
could comprehend and moved us into
an area we had never known. We’ve seen
God raise up our mother-tongue speakers
and connect us with them.”
-JOHN HILLMAN
IN ROCKWALL, TEXAS

Couple Reach At-Risk Youth in Hollywood

Through their Oasis of Hollywood outreach, Ron and Judy
Radachy are sharing the love of Jesus with needy families

Nestled in Hollywood’s inner
city, a Christian outreach
and drop-in center is shining
a different kind of light in a
city filled with stars.

Oasis of Hollywood, founded in its
current location by pastors Ron and
Judy Radachy in 1993, is located a half
dozen blocks away from the famous Walk
of Fame sidewalk and the Kodak Theater,
site of the Academy Awards and the
crowning episodes of American Idol.

But within another 10 minutes’ walk is
Santa Monica and Highland, a haven for
male, female or transsexual prostitutes of
almost any age and drugs of all kinds. Two
blocks farther is Panpipes Magickal Marketplace,
a supermarket for occult shoppers
and spiritual home to local Satanists.

“This is a very oppressive area,” Ron
Radachy said. “It’s like someone handed
you a 10-pound weight to carry around
and you carry it easily for a while, but
then it starts to wear you down. There’s
obviously a spiritual influence on the
kids here.”

Judy Radachy recounts the details of
their ministry in her book, Walk of Faith
on the Walk of Fame. Included in its short
chapters are accounts of their Jesus Night
Patrol, a fistfight at the center’s front door
and a 9-year-old who overdosed on drugs
during a suicide attempt.

But the most poignant moment in the
book-and perhaps in Judy Radachy’s
life-came in 1982. Three years after she
and husband Charles McPheeters arrived
in Hollywood, he suddenly died, leaving
her with two young children and a leaderless
ministry. A talented speaker and musician,
McPheeters had found Christ after a
nearly fatal drug overdose and became one
of the best-known ministers and anti-drug
advocates of the 1970s’ Jesus Revolution.

After Charles’ death, Judy Radachy’s
family wanted her to move home to Texas.
“Charles was the source of all my financial
support, and I just couldn’t see how I could
go on,” she said. “I opened my Bible and
out popped Joshua 1: ‘Moses my servant is
dead. Now arise and take his place.'”

She started another nearby drop in
center for teens and continued their
House of Magdalene, a residential facility
for local street prostitutes. During a midnight
outreach to nearby Pasadena Rose
Parade revelers four years later, she met the
Rev. Ron Radachy. Both now licensed
Foursquare ministers, the two married in
1986 and six years later made an offer on
their current facility, $300,000 below an
already reduced price.

In an area where few outreach ministries
survive, Oasis has flourished. Reaching
gangbangers, prostitutes, homeless
alcoholics, single moms and “good” kids
with abusive parents, the center offers after-
school programs, tutoring, emergency
food and shelter for families, and a Sunday
evening youth service.

Yet the Radachys believe their most
vital program is the Urban School of
Evangelism, a one-week mission trip for
youth and college-age groups from across
the nation. They stay in the center and
minister in Hollywood streets, on skid
row and on the Santa Monica beach.

“Both of our hearts are not just in
sitting in a pew in a blessing club,” Judy
Radachy said. “But a world where God
is real and people see it because we meet
them where they are.”
-ED DONNALLY IN HOLLYWOOD

Hundreds Convene for Reconciliation Meeting Aimed at Praying for Europe

Organizers believe God is positioning the church for’ a new Europe’
by restoring the continent’s’ apostolic and prophetic foundations’

A Channel Islander-whose homeland was the only part
of the British Isles to be occupied by Nazi forces-found
himself praying with a German. He conferred a “blessing” on a nation that his own
people had despised as a wartime enemy.

That was just one of the moving scenes at Target Europe-a recent event that drew
nearly 400 people from 20 nations to the strategic naval port of Portsmouth, England.
“The last thing I expected was to be praying with a German church leader,” said attendee
Ray Tostevin, who was born on Guernsey.

Now an idyllic island retreat, Guernsey
once was part of Hitler’s frontier. Back
in the 1940s, swastikas were draped from
civic buildings, Jewish businesses had to
display a yellow notice and listening to
the BBC on a clandestine radio set was
punishable by imprisonment.

“My father and grandparents lived
through fi ve years of that,” Tostevin explained.
“My father might be forgiven for
feeling a sense of harshness toward the
German people. Far from it.

“It’s a real irony that, 60 years on, my
father recently found himself in a German
hospital being operated on for a serious
spinal condition by a German surgeon.
The operation was a complete success.”

Tostevin, who runs an independent
TV company called GRACE Productions,
said he participated in the event because
he wanted to express his thanks for
the way German people cared for his father.
He ended up praying with Michael
Schiff man, a leading German pastor.

“I didn’t realize who this guy was-
only that his lapel badge said he was from
Germany,” Tostevin said. “I prayed that God
would bless the German people, thanking
Michael, as their representative, for the
kindness they’d shown toward my dad.”

Tostevin’s personal story summed up the
Target Europe event-which was officially
opened by the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth
Jason Fazakerley. Uniting former enemies
and praying blessings on one another’s nations
was high on the agenda at this conference.
“This event is for those following
the Spirit,” said speaker and writer Roger
Mitchell, who was one of the key facilitators
for Target Europe, “as He positions the
church for a new Europe.”

Delegates packed out a meeting suite
overlooking the English Channel, a narrow
stretch of water that separates Great
Britain from the rest of Europe. But people
were also crossing more symbolic gulfs as
they prayed and worshiped together.
The event was jointly hosted by a
French mission group called Cibler
L’Europe, which is translated Target Europe,
and an English network dubbed
Building Together. The aim was to play
their part in “restoring the apostolic and
prophetic foundations of our continent.”

That included praying for reconciliation
between Europe and Africa-and
sending a representative group to attend
the Make Poverty History protest event
that happened to be under way at the
same time in central London.

Among the intercessors at Portsmouth
were Dutch intercessory leader Pieter
Bos, national coordinator for Holland’s
City Prayer Movements; and Martin
Scott, author of Gaining Ground, which
discusses prophetic intercession. “We
lift up the cross this day into the very
heavens above,” Scott cried out, “and we
thank You that the cross speaks of justice.
It speaks for an end-and it speaks for a
new beginning.”

Mitchell described the effort as “a kind
of rallying cry-not an organization.” The
initiative had resulted from various groups
and networks working together. “I see
some incredibly exciting new expressions
of the body of Christ happening across
Europe, with the help of the faith of Africa,
South America and Asia,” he said. “I see
seeds that make me incredibly hopeful.”
In particular, he believes the spiritual
landscape of France has been changing, an
observation other Christian leaders have
been making recently.

“There is a lot of encouragement in
France now, but we sense that the Lord
is making a shift,” said French Christian
leader Samuel Rhein, another Target Europe
facilitator. “There’s a lot of disappointment
at the same time because it’s
not the breakthrough that we were waiting
for. But still we see a lot of changes.”

Rhein cited one example as the fact
that he had brought 70 French people to
the conference. “That’s a major thing,” he
said with a smile. “I thought I was the
only Frenchman in love with England.”
CLIVE PRICE IN PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND

News Briefs

C H A R L E S CO L S O N ‘S H O C K E D ‘ BY
D E E P T H R OAT R E V E L AT I O N
Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson said he was “shocked” to
discover that W. Mark Felt, 91, former deputy director of
the FBI, was the notorious informant who helped expose
the Watergate scandal. In a statement on his ministry’s
Web site, the former senior Nixon adviser said he knew
Felt well and considered him trustworthy. “No matter
how Felt may justify his actions, it is not honorable to leak
classified information to the press,” Colson said of the man
who became known as Deep Throat. Ironically, the crime that led to Colson’s
seven-month imprisonment was leaking a secret FBI report to the media.
He believes going to prison was good for him, and he said he realizes that
the end doesn’t justify the means. That’s why he says Felt is no hero. “I am
disappointed in Mark for choosing the media as the way to expose the corruption,” Colson said. “If he felt that the wrongs of the Nixon administration
had to be remedied, he should have walked into the FBI director’s office and
told him so, and if necessary walked in to the president.”

JUDGE OFFERS OFFENDERS ‘WORSHIP SER VICES’ OPTION INSTEAD OF JAIL
A Kentucky judge has been offering
some drug and alcohol off enders the option of going to God’s house
instead of going to the “Big House” or rehab. District Judge Michael Caperton,
50, a devout Christian, believes church attendance could help some of
those convicted find spiritual guidance, the Associated Press reported. But
critics say the practice violates the separation of church and state. “The goal
is to help people and their families,” said Caperton, who requires defendants
who choose the church option to get a signed affi davit from a pastor
or spiritual leader after attending 10 services. “I don’t think there’s a churchstate
issue because it’s not mandatory and I say worship services instead of
church.” A district judge since 1994, Caperton has offered the option about
50 times to repeat drug and alcohol off enders in Laurel and Knox counties
since early spring.

PASTO RS MEET WITH WH I T E H O U S E TO D I S C U S S
A F R I C A I N I T I AT I V E
More than two dozen African-American ministers met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and senior White House offi cials in May to discuss how the faith-based initiative could be expanded to fight AIDS in Africa and care for orphaned children, the Los Angeles Times reported. Attendees at the private meeting included Bishop T.D. Jakes, Bishop Eddie Long, Bishop Charles Blake, the Rev. Eugene Rivers, the Rev. Frank Reid and pastor Donnie McClurkin, as well as civil rights veteran Andrew Young and the Rev. William Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention. Observers say the meeting was an attempt to
woo African-American voters to the Republican Party by expanding black
church participation in the faith-based initiative. The meeting was held the
same day as a Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) summit with 200 black
clergy. Some saw the timing as an attempt to upstage the CBC’s eff ort to
strengthen ties between Democrats and religious leaders. Several of the
delegates at the Rice meeting also attended the CBC event.

PASTOR PLANS TO RETURN TO PULPIT AFTER
REHAB.
An Arlington, Texas, pastor is expected
to return to the pulpit of his church after his
June release from a second drug-treatment facility.
Charged in March with drug possession
and sexually assaulting three church members,
Bishop Terry Hornbuckle was reinstated as pastor
of Agape Christian Fellowship in April after
a six-week suspension, the Fort Worth Star Telegram
reported. After being rearrested in May for
failing to pass a drug test, Hornbuckle checked
himself into a drug-treatment facility May 16.
On June 1 he checked himself into another “after-
care” center, his attorney, Mike Heiskell, told
the newspaper. Hornbuckle maintains his innocence
and says he is a victim of extortion. His
wife, Renee, has been leading the church since
his arrest and suspension.

M I N N E S O TA C H U R C H H I R E S T R A N S –
G E N D E R M I N I S T E R .
A Minneapolis church has hired a minister who had surgery to change
sexes from a woman to a man, the Associated
Press (AP) reported. The Rev. Malcolm Himschoot,
27, is to serve as an outreach minister
at 1,800-member Plymouth Congregational
Church. Himschoot, who is married to a woman,
is the subject of a documentary titled Call Me
Malcolm, which was produced by the United
Church of Christ, the denomination that ordained
Himschoot, the AP said.

RONALD WINANS DIES. Gospel recording artist
Ronald Winans died June 17 of heart complications.
He was 48. The second oldest of 10 siblings,
Winans was part of the fi ve-time Grammy-
winning quartet The Winans and a member
of a famed musical family. He had suffered a
massive heart attack in 1997, but experienced
a miraculous recovery. In recent weeks, he had been admitted to a Detroit
hospital for observation because he was
retaining an unusual amount of fluid, the family
said. In addition to recording with his brothers,
Winans released solo projects, the most recent
of which, Ron Winans Family & Friends V: A Celebration,
came out in January. A musical tribute
was to be held June 23 at Perfecting Church in
Detroit. Funeral services were to be held June
24 at Straight Gate Church, also in Detroit.

Dr. Harold Koenig says the key to good health is having a deep, personal relationship with God
Duke University researcher is changing the heart of the medical community with a
simple, yet profound message that faith is good for your health.

Dr. Harold G. Koenig has found a clear relationship between faith and health, one
that he has dubbed “the healing connection.” Koenig, founder and director of the Duke University Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health in Durham, N.C., and editor-in-chief of Science & Theology News, has published 25 books and more than 200 professional journal articles detailing his findings.

“The pile of evidence is growing and showing that spiritual faith has a very real,
scientifically measurable, and positive association with mental and physical wellbeing,” Koenig writes in his book The Healing Connection. According to Koenig, the key to the healing connection is “having a deep, personal relationship
with God and loving your neighbor.”

“The combination of those two things, at least the research seems to show, is one of the most powerful combinations of things that predict a person’s health,” he said.

Koenig has extensively studied the healing connection in the mentally and
physically ill, and in the elderly. “Our research has found a simple behavior that
might save more lives than buckling seat belts or quitting smoking,” Koenig reported after studying 4,000 randomly selected people over the age of 65 in North Carolina. “People who attend church regularly live longer,” he concluded.

After following the subjects for six years, Koenig said he found that the likelihood
of dying during that six-year period was 41 percent lower among those who
regularly attended religious services.

His most current research involves chronically ill patients. In April, Koenig and his colleagues reported in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease that among
patients with sickle cell anemia, those who go to church at least once a week
had the lowest pain scores.

Bottom line, Koenig says, is “as long as you are here on this earth, God has a
purpose for your life. That purpose is not sitting around just existing. That purpose
involves ministry to others. It’s when people do that, that people get healthier.”

“I can speak with authority about these issues because I experience them myself,” stressed Koenig, who was diagnosed in his late 20s with psoriatic inflammatory arthritis, a progressive disease that inflames the tendons and makes even the most ordinary movements painful. Once athletic, Koenig now relies on a wheelchair when the pain is heightened and must carefully plot his every movement.

But Koenig says God is using his background in some extraordinary ways, giving him an open door to many secular audiences, including the mainstream media
and some of the world’s most prestigious medical schools. To date, Koenig’s
research has been featured on every major U.S. news outlet, and has been included in cover stories for Reader’s Digest, Parade magazine and Newsweek.

While his research has amassed international attention, Koenig points to his life’s
testimony as his most powerful witnessing tool. While a third-year medical student, Koenig says he experimented with a slew of Eastern religions in an effort to overcome shyness. But his attempts to speak up in class became increasingly disruptive, and he eventually was expelled.

After his expulsion, Koenig battled mental illness as a homeless person on the
streets of San Francisco for almost four months. Later, a devastating divorce after
2-1/2 years of marriage changed everything for Koenig. The breakup led to a
“spiritual rebirth that brought him back from an emotional brink.”

At the age of 33, Koenig gave his life to Christ, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Today Koenig celebrates almost 19 years of marriage with his wife, Charmin. The two attend King’s Park International Church, a charismatic ministry in Durham.

Koenig credits God for giving him a second chance, particularly when he was
accepted back into medical school as a third-year student. “When I read the living
Bible, it explained just about everything about my life to me,” he said. “That helped
to organize my life and gave it direction. Turning to Christ helped to really bring it
together; it has for almost 20 years now.”

This fall, Koenig will release Simple Health, a book he co-wrote with Today’s
Christian Doctor editor David Biebel. It explains 20 easy and inexpensive changes
people can make to improve their health.
SUZY RICHARDSON IN GAINESVILLE, FLA.

CHRISTIAN GROUP ENDS DISNEY BOYCOTT

The American Family Association (AFA) has ended its nine-year boycott of the Walt Disney Co., citing new challenges in the culture wars and some positive signs of change at Disney, including the resignation of CEO Michael Eisner. The Tupelo, Miss.-based group was instrumental in initiating the boycott in 1996 to protest Disney’s extension of benefits to domestic partners of homosexual employees, promotion of gay-related events at its theme parks, and violent and sex-filled content of movies made by its Miramax subsidiary. In June, the Southern Baptist Convention announced that it also is ending its boycott of Disney. Earlier this year, representatives from Focus on the Family and other Christian groups that had participated in the boycott agreed to meet with Disney to discuss its production of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, set to release in December. The Orlando Sentinel reported that Disney has launched a 10-month marketing campaign to get Christian support for the film.

8-YEAR-OLD’S CHRISTIAN SONG BANNED AT TALENT SHOW

A federal judge declined to overturn a New Jersey school’s ban on a
second-grader singing “Awesome God” at a talent show, but said he
would consider the case later. On May 20, Stanley Chesler declined an emergency request to compel Frenchtown Elementary School to let Olivia Turton sing the pop song by the late Rich Mullins at Frenchtown Idol, which was held that night, the Associated Press (AP) reported. School officials claimed that such a performance would be inappropriate at a school event. A lawsuit filed May 27 on behalf of the 8-year-old claimed the school violated her constitutional rights. The suit, brought with the support of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Christian legal advocacy group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., argued that the constitutional separation of church and state does not restrict an individual’s religious speech.

CHRISTIAN ATTORNEYS APPLAUD SUPREME COURT DECISION

Religious liberty attorneys are applauding a June 1 Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of a federal law requiring prisons to accommodate inmates’ religious beliefs, AgapePress reported. Cutter v. Wilkinson involved two Ohio prison inmates-a witch and a Satanist- who claimed they were improperly denied access to religious literature and other ceremonial religious items. The high court overturned a lower court ruling that a 2000 law called the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act prohibited the access because it would violate the separation of church and state, the news service said. Attorney Brian Fahling of the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy said the decision will benefit Christians, “but the oddity about this, again, is the fact that we have religious freedom being protected through the agency of a Satanist and a witch.” Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute
called the decision “an outstanding victory for prison ministries and
people of faith,” and he expected it to enhance his group’s work.