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http://www.thepost.mindspring.com Cljarlottc 5B RELIGION THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1997 Emancipation service planned Rev. William Jones, former head of Progressive National Baptist Convention to speak Jan. 3 at First Baptist-West. See Church News, page 6B. Sunday School LESSON The Message of Christmas Who doesn’t like Christmas? As the song says, “It’s the most won derful time of the year!” The fes tive decorations, the music, the anticipation and excitement - these aU combine to make our hearts light and our attitudes cheerful, unless we’re tiying to find a parking place at the mall! Of course, we who know Christ ought to display more of this joy all through the year. It is not only at Christmas thatJesus lives in our hearts. But it may be only at Christmas that some of our neighbors will listen to us tell of him. This lesson will help your students to present a clear pic ture of the one who came so “that ;we might live through him!” Someone has said: “The mes sage of Easter is. Think of Heaven,’ the message of Thanksgiving is. Think of your blessings;’ the message of New Year’s Day is. Think of the pass ing of time,’ but the message of Christmas is. Think of Others.”’ :As God was thinking of us when he sent Jesus, all who have the true Christmas spirit think in terms of others. Mary and Joseph were neigh bors in the village of Nazareth in Galilee. They were both descen dants of King David. Joseph's genealogy from Abraham is I recorded in Matthew 1:2-16. Luke 3:23-38 records Maly’s genealogy back to Adam - though we must understand the last clause of verse 23 as “son-in-law” of HeU.) Joseph and Maiy were engaged, which was a binding agreement. Mad/ possibly a year before the actual wedding, the engagement was as binding as th actual mar- :riage vows. Dissolving this agree- ,ment required a legal divorce. I Sometime before the time of our "text, the angel Gabriel announced to Mary the coming virgin birth of Jesus (Luke 126-38). He also told her of the miraculous pregnancy of her relative Elizabeth, who was to bearjohn the Baptist. Mar hastdyleft left on a trip to visit Elizabeth, who lived in the hill coimtry of Judea He Jerusalem, some seventy miles away. Somehow, Joseph became aware of Mary’s condition. We do not know how he came to this knowledge, perhaps her condition was evident by the time she resumed from Elizabeth’s home. ; Maybe Mary told him of the 'angel's visit. If so, 1 evidently did ■not believe her story. We can imagine his feeling - of shock, of disappointment, of sor row. But he did love Mary, so he determined to save her embar rassment and pimishment be fore a court. He would make the sepa ration as private as possible. Our printed text begins at this point in Joseph’s considerations. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a After a study of this lesson the student ought to be able to: 1. TfeU how the life of Jesus demonstrates God’s love to us. 2. Explain how the Christian’s life can also be a demonstration of God’s love. 3. Plan some deliberate expres sion of God's love to be added to one’s traditional celebration of Christmas. For those who live in North America or Europe or anywhere else in the northern hemisphere, Christmas is only a few dajrs removed from the shortest day of the year (Dec. 21). But for those who live in the southern hemi sphere, in Australia, m New Zealand, and in South America, Dec. 21 is the longest day of the year. Since Christmas is always associated with lights, it seems to them appropriate that it should be celebrated when there is the most li^t of the whole year. They do not have to depend on artificial lights. For them the day is never brighter, the sun never shines longer, than at the season of cele brating Christ’s birth. Church of Christ holds ties to La Amistad THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CLEVELAND - Members of the United Church of Christ don’t need to see Steven Spielberg’s movie to learn the story of the slave ship La Amistad. Oil paintings of kidnapped Africans’ struggle to win their freedom hang on the walls of a conference room at the Cleveland- based denomination. That’s because a missionary group that sprang from the Missionary group which formed from Amistad case still exists within United Church of Christ Amistad case is stiU around today as part of the 1.5-million member UCC. The church held a news conference Monday to note its Amistad connection. “Although the issues today extend beyond race, the bottom line remains ironically the same,” said the Rev. Thomas Dipko. “If we say we love God and do not love oim neighbors as ourselves, as equals, all of them, then injus tice triumphs.” The Amistad story began in 1839 when Africans on a Spanish slave ship off the coast of Cuba rebelled and took control of the vessel. The slaves’ leader, Joseph Cinque, ordered the remaining members of the crew to steer the ship east toward Africa. Instead, the Spaniards hugged the American coast and were eventu ally captured off Long Island, N.Y. After a legal battle that cli maxed with arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Africans won passage back to their home land. Abolitionist New Englanders formed a group called the Amistad Committee to help the A century of service PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON Rev. Walter Howard greets new parishioners during recent 100th anniversary celebration at Greater Bethel AME Church, 201 Grandin Road in Charlotte. Howard was assigned to the church last month, replacing Rev. Conrad Pridgen, who has been assigned to the Bethel AME Church in Greensboro. Seminary opens Florida campus THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WILMORE, Ky. - Saying it is reaching enrollment capacity at its central Kentucky campus, Asbury Theological Seminary will open an extension campus in Florida which could begin offering classes as early as the fall of 1999. Asbury seminary, which marks its 75th anniversary next year as a separate institution fium Asbuiy College, has nearly reached its capacity of 1,200 students. “We’re simply responding to a need. Our enrollment has gone up over 60 percent in that last six years,” said Robert Bridges, vice president for seminaiy advance ment. Asbury officials think spending money to start a new campus in Orlando would be wiser than to embark on an expensive expan sion program in Wihnore. The Wilmore seminary and Orlando site will operate as one school with one president. School officials say relatively inexpensive air fares to Orlando could be help ful to potential commuter stu dents who are entering the min istry as a second career. The Orlando campus rrray offer courses that would last several weeks rather than several months. Bridges said. That way, “A person in Charlotte, N.C., may be able to keep their present job, keep their family in North Carolina, and commute to take courses in Orlando, and it will be cheaper than uprooting their family and moving someplace and going to school,” Bridges said. Bridges, a Florida native, and other Asbuiy administrators and board members looked closely at the experience of Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss., which put an extension campus in Orlando in 1989. Reformed’s Orlando enrollment is now 700 students, 100 more than the parent campus in Jeickson, said Lyn Perez, executive vice president at Orlando. Reformed also opened a third campus in Charlotte in 1992. It has 300 students. Perez said seminaries, like col- See SEMINAR Page 6B Spirited Full Gospel groups thriving The Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas - The Rev. Tyrone Lister swayed behind the pulpit as an organ ist played a rhythmic gospel song. Then he began to clap his hands with the beat and dance, urging others to join in. “I could have danced, danced, danced all night,” the black- suited minister from Lewisville chanted as congregation mem bers jumped to their feet, clap ping and moving to the music. That spirited style of worship is the trademark of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, which has burst onto the American religious scene in the past three years and already has ties with about 3,000 congregations. Lister was master of cere monies recently when the Rev. James Brown of Fort Worth was installed as new district overseer of the fellowship. There were formal moments during the installation, but people also shouted and prayed, and one young man began vigorously jerking and jumping as he danced between pews. Fellowship members pray, shout, jump, dance and run in the church as the spirit moves them “It has brought excitement to our churches,” said Brown, pas tor of the New Hope Christian Center in the Woodhaven sec tion of Fort Worth, who was a traditional Baptist until he received what many refer to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The fellowship blends tradi tional Baptist beliefs such as “once saved, always saved” and a strict reliance on the Bible. Court refuses to hear religious bias case By Laurie Asseo THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court refused last week to revive a workplace-bias lawsuit by a Massachusetts woman who says her boss demoted her because she refused to attend a religious sem inar. The court, without comment, turned away the woman’s argu ment that she should have the right to refuse to attend the semi nar even if it did not conflict with her own religious beliefs. Ruth V. Kolodziej of Springfield, Mass., was hired in 1987 as a management-level employee of Electro-Term, a self-described “Christian company” that manu factures and sells electrical con nectors. The company’s president, Warren Smith, required manage- menHevel workers to attend a week-long seminar each year on resolving conflicts and responding to authority. The seminar was non-denominational, but its workbook included about 1,000 references to Bible verses partici pants were urged to study. Kolodziej, a Roman Catholic, began attending the seminar but she objected to a section that por trayed God's “plan” for the family with God on the top, man below God and woman below man. Kolodziej refused to finish the seminar, and Smith demoted her to a non-management job. She quit and sued, saying the require ment to attend the seminar amoimted to religious discrimina tion in violation of a federal law. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. A jury ruled that Kolodziej had been required to attend a devo tional service, but that the semi nar did not conflict with her reli gious beliefs. As a resrdt, a verdict was entered for Smith. Kolodziej appealed, but the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against her last July, lb prove discrimination, the state court said, she must show she was punished for refusing to com ply with a requirement that con flicted with her religious vifws. - Lyons Africans get home. After the fight was won, the committee helped form the American Missionary Association, which opened schools for blacks, Indians and other groups that suffered from dis crimination. The original association is now part of the United Church Board of Homeland Ministries, which still performs social justice work today, said Dipko, its executive vice president. NBC can’t pay mortgage Asks members for two dollars each THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The nation’s largest black church, hurt by investigations into its president's finances, needs $371,000 to make a mortgage payment on its headquarters. The Rev. Henry J. Lyons told a conference of educators Wednesday night that the denom ination r eeds to raise a total of $1 million to pay bills and help its stn'ggling col lege in Nashville. The embat tled president of the National Baptist Convention USA received a polite reception at his first pub lic appearance in Nashville since accormts of his lavish lifestyle and ambitious business deals stufaced last sum mer. He did not comment directly about allegations ageiinst him but asked church members for their prayers. In a news conference last week, he apologized for “serious mistakes in judgment” but vowed to complete his term. His supporters told the crowd that Lyons needs their support. “I don’t care if Mickey Mouse is president, that note’s coming due,” said John Rouse, who heads the convention’s Srmday School Publishing Board. In addition to paying the mort gage on the $12 milhon World Baptist Center in Nashville, Lyons said the church needs to replace a crumbling dormitory at the city’s American Baptist College, where the predominEmtly black denomination trains pas tors and church leaders. “We do the best we can with what you give us,” he said. Authorities are investigating allegations that Lyons, 55, mis used chtrrch funds and bought costly cars, clothes and jewelry as gifts for several women other than his wife. He also is accused of diverting money intended for the restora tion of Southern churches dam aged by arson to other convention expenses and accepting $350,000 in secret payments from Nigeria’s military rulers. A federal grand jury took testi mony related to Lyons’ finances from three witnesses Thursday in Tampa. The Rev. Roscoe Cooper of Richmond, Va., convention gener al chairman, refused comment after spending about two hours before the panel. Cooper signs authorization papers for convention business and has said his name was forged on four documents. His attorney, Anthony LaSpada, said his client is not a target of the probe. Investigators have asked the convention to turn over “all finan cial records” for the past several years, everything from bank statements to check stubs.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 18, 1997, edition 1
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