Religion Today Summaries - Aug. 2, 2006

Conservative Episcopalians Insist on Alternate Leadership

Episcopal Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh says his diocese and six others cannot accept the leadership of presiding bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori, AgapePress reports. Schori was among those who voted to confirm V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the Episcopal Church's first openly homosexual bishop. Duncan heads the Anglican Communion Network, a group of conservative Episcopal dioceses and parishes which is holding its annual meeting in Pittsburgh. He says it is essential that the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Archbishop Rowan Williams, place conservative Episcopalians under someone other than Schori. Otherwise, Duncan says "any hope for a Communion-unifying solution slips away."

Catholic Leaders Question Moral Integrity of Joining Inheritance Tax Cut with Minimum Wage Increase

This week, the U.S. Senate will take up a bill tying a much-needed minimum wage increase for our nation’s working poor to controversial tax cuts for heirs to large inheritances. A release from Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good says Catholic leaders are prepared to speak to members of the media about the morality of this legislation, which flies in the face of Church teaching on fairness, opportunity, andthe common good. The bill went to the Senate after the House leadership — which initially balked at the idea of a minimum wage hike — saw an opportunity to shift the tax burden away from well-off Americans. The proposed tax cuts call for an estimated $268 million giveback to the richest estates while raising the pay rate for the poorest Ameican's to only $7.25 per hour, which represents an annual salary of about $15,000 for a full-time worker.

Imprisoned Christians in Bhutan Released from Prison

Two Christians who had been imprisoned in Bhutan on charges of proselytism have been released, according to an ASSIST News Service report. The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has been told by Christians inside the country on Saturday, July 29, that the two men had been released and reunited with their families. “Benjamin” (Budhu Mani Dungana) and “John” (Purna Bahadhur Tamang) were arrested on January 7, 2006, in the small town of Paro after sharing the gospel with a non-Christian family. A media release says that ICC was informed of their situation earlier in the year but was asked to keep quiet while Christians inside the country exhausted all avenues of appeal. After ICC heard that their prison sentences had been decided, ICC sent out a press release and worked behind the scenes in conjunction with The Jubilee Campaign to put pressure on the government of Bhutan to free these men.

Alice Cooper's Christian Non-Profit Building Teen Center

AgapePress reports shock rocker Alice Cooper's Christian nonprofit, the Solid Rock Foundation, is building a teen recreation center in Phoenix. A free haven for at-risk kids was a goal of Cooper's when he and a pastor at his church started the foundation 11 years ago. The 58-year-old Cooper says, "We're not going to beat them over the head with a Bible, but we're certainly going to be available to tell them that that's available to them." The 20,000-square-foot facility, to be christened The Rock, is to open early next year at Grand Canyon University, a private Christian college where Cooper has funded scholarships for years. The Rock will include a recording studio, indoor basketball courts, a rock climbing wall, coffee house, game room and a concert hall.