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By Niko Koppel
CHICAGO — Having grown up in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Capers C. Funnye Jr. was encouraged by his pastor to follow in his footsteps. Instead, he became a rabbi.
His congregation on the Far Southwest Side of Chicago is predominantly black, and while services include prayers and biblical passages in Hebrew, the worshipers sometimes break into song, swaying back and forth like a gospel choir.
 Services at Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago, which has more than 200 members. Photo by: Sally Ryan |
As the first African-American member of the Chicago Board of Rabbis and of numerous mainstream Jewish organizations, Rabbi Funnye (pronounced fun-AY) is on a mission to bridge racial and religious divisions by encouraging Chicago’s wider Jewish community to embrace his followers — the more than 200 members of Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation.
“I am a Jew,” said Rabbi Funnye, “and that breaks through all color and ethnic barriers.”
As a teenager, Rabbi Funnye said he felt disconnected and dissatisfied with his Methodist faith. He embarked on a spiritual journey, investigating other religions, including Islam, before turning to Judaism. He said he found a sense of intellectual and spiritual liberation in Judaism because it encourages constant examination. “The Jew has always questioned,” he said.
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All Things Considered, March 18, 2008
Presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) defended his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, on Tuesday, even as he repudiated some of the pastor's inflammatory sermons. But Wright's comments likely come as no surprise to those familiar with black liberation theology, a religious philosophy that emerged during the 1960s.
Black liberation theology originated on July 31, 1966, when 51 black pastors bought a full page ad in the New York Times and demanded a more aggressive approach to eradicating racism. They echoed the demands of the black power movement, but the new crusade found its source of inspiration in the Bible.
"God's presence in the world is best depicted through God's involvement in the struggle for justice," says Anthony Pinn, who teaches philosophy and religion at Rice University in Houston. "God is so intimately connected to the community that suffers, that God becomes a part of that community."
Freedom and Liberation
Dwight Hopkins, a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School, says black liberation theology often portrays Jesus as a brown-skinned revolutionary. He cites the words of Mary in the Magnificat — also known as the "Song of Mary" — in which she says God intends to bring down the mighty and raise the lowly. Hopkins also notes that in the book of Matthew, Jesus says the path to heaven is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the prisoners. And the central text for black liberation theology can be found in Chapter 4 of Luke's gospel, where Jesus outlines the purpose of his ministry.
"Jesus says my mission is to eradicate poverty and to bring about freedom and liberation for the oppressed," Hopkins says. "And most Christian pastors in America skip over that part of the book."
Hopkins attends Trinity United Church of Christ, where Rev. Wright just retired as pastor. In the now-famous sermon from 2003, Wright said black people's troubles are a result of racism that still exists in America, crying out, "No, no, no, not God bless America! God damn America — that's in the Bible — for killing innocent people."
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Listen to NPR radio reports below:
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Chicagoans: Reports Misrepresent Obama's Church
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A Closer Look at Black Liberation Theology
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Unitarian Universalist congregations in Tennessee, Utah, and Maryland affirm LGBTQ youth.
By Donald E. Skinner
The ministry that goes on at Spectrum Café at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday nights is as important as anything that happens on Sunday morning.
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The same goes for OUTreach Resource Center in Ogden, Utah, a program of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ogden, and the Rainbow Youth Alliance sponsored by the UU Church of Rockville, Maryland.
All three venues welcome high school–aged lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, and queer youth as well as youth who support them. All provide food, music, games, movies, and conversation.
David Massey is one of the coordinators of Spectrum Café, also known as “Spectrum Diversi-Tea and Coffee House,” which will begin its eighth year this spring. “We advertise it as a safe harbor for teens who identify as LBGTQ and their straight friends and allies, plus any other youth who are being harassed for religious beliefs, appearance, or abilities,” Massey said.
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Effort part of larger, pre-Easter ad-buy on Sirius Satellite Network
Cleveland, OH- Utilizing its edgy and humorous approach to advertising, the UCC will launch a two-week, pre-Easter advertising blitz on Sirius Satellite Radio, beginning March 10.
During the two weeks before Easter, one of the UCC's newest radio ads - "Telephone Tree - National" - will air more than 165 times on Sirius. The 60-second spot can be heard on at least four channels: Sirius OutQ, CNN, Fox News, and Sirius Left. Sirius radio has 4.7 million subscribers.
The Rev. J. Bennett Guess, the UCC's director of communications, describes the UCC's new radio spots as "laugh-out-loud funny," something that, he hopes, will capture the attention and imagination of Sirius listeners. Like past TV and radio advertisements used by the UCC over the past five years, the message is tailored specifically to reach those who may have experienced alienation from institutional religion for a variety of reasons.
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By Riazat Butt
The Anglican church in Uganda yesterday threatened to leave the worldwide communion unless the US Episcopal church condemned homosexuality.
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The ultimatum came from the Rev Aaron Mwesigye, provincial secretary and spokesman for the Ugandan church, who warned that the attitude of some American clergy could trigger the disintegration of the world's third biggest Christian denomination.
He said: "If they don't change and continue to support homosexual practices and same-sex marriage, our relationship with them will be completely broken. Anglicanism is just an identity and if they abuse it, we shall secede. Yes, we shall remain Christians, but not in the same communion."
African provinces have been at loggerheads with American Anglicans following the 2003 ordination of a gay man, Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire. The tension increased in 2006 with the appointment of Katharine Jefferts Schori, a liberal, as presiding bishop of the Episcopal church.
She defended her ministry in an interview with the BBC last month, claiming her church was paying the price for being honest about sexuality.
"He [Robinson] is certainly not alone in being a gay bishop, he's certainly not alone in being a gay partnered bishop. He is alone in being the only gay partnered bishop who's open about that status."
This openness has, however, alarmed conservatives who are unable to accept the liberal attitudes of the small but influential American wing of the communion and the latest twist makes the prospect of a schism increasingly likely as more African provinces reject the authority and leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Last week the Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Orombi, was one of five primates to sign an open letter explaining their decision to snub the 10-yearly gathering of the world's Anglican bishops that will prove to be a crucial display of unity for Williams. The other signatories on the letter were the archbishops of Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and South America.
By Ken Pennings and Heather Rittenhouse
Baptists from around the nation came together across lines of difference to take part in the recent New Baptist Covenant celebration in Atlanta. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton headlined the event, which stressed the importance of unity and harmony as well as the amelioration of suffering around the world.
When we learned about the encouraging plans for the New Baptist Covenant celebration last year, our gay-affirming organization, the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, applied to be listed as an official participating organization. However, the event's leaders notified us that they could not list AWAB as an official participating organization because they didn't think they could hold together the large coalition of Baptists needed to create a new Baptist voice in North America while addressing the issue of sexual orientation at the same time.
The organizers of the New Baptist Covenant clearly agonized over the decision, but in the end they decided that it was too soon to make inclusion of gay people a part of their vision of unification.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Leaders from five Anglican provinces said Friday they will boycott a once-a-decade world Anglican summit because the U.S. Episcopal Church ordained a gay bishop.
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The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the U.S.
Friday's announcement came from Archbishops Peter Akinola of Nigeria, Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda, Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya, Henry Orombi of Uganda and Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone, which is in South America.
"There is no serious space for those of an orthodox persuasion ... to be themselves or to be taken seriously," the archbishops said in a statement. They lead some of the largest or fastest-growing Anglican provinces in the world.
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COPENHAGEN (AFP) — Danish police arrested three people Tuesday suspected of plotting to kill one of the cartoonists who sparked angry protests from Muslims worldwide in 2006 by drawing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
 Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard |
Operatives "conducted a police operation at 4:30 am (0330 GMT) in the Aarhus region, in cooperation with local police, to prevent a murder linked to terrorism", said Jakob Scharf, head of Denmark's intelligence agency PET.
The raid was carried out "after lengthy surveillance," he said, but added that PET did not have enough evidence to hold the suspects.
The agency "didn't want to take any unnecessary risks" and chose to "intervene at a very early phase to put an end to these plans to carry out the murder," he explained in a statement.
PET said the three suspects were a Dane of Moroccan origin and two Tunisian nationals. The Dane was due to be released after questioning and the Tunisians, deemed a threat to national security, were to be expelled from the country.
The intelligence agency did not disclose their identities.
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "deeply concerned by these suspicions of a very serious crime, which unfortunately demonstrates that there are extremist groups in Denmark that do not recognise or respect the basic principles of society."
"In Denmark, we are free not only to think and speak as we please, but also to draw what we want. And the government will protect this freedom of expression," he stressed.
The online edition of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which published the cartoons in its print edition in September 2005, identified the cartoonist who was targeted by the plot as Kurt Westergaard.
Westergaard was one of 12 cartoonists who drew caricatures for the newspaper. His was considered the most controversial, featuring the prophet's head with a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse.
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By Jonathan Katz
Elizabeth Martenia used to cry as she walked out of her Joliet church in the early '90s.
The congregation had become her support system, but she feared losing them all if she revealed the secret that consumed her.
So she buried her reality. She stopped going to the doctors, stopped taking care of her body and her mind. She pretended the HIV wasn’t there.
“I was so beat down in this church, not being able to be honest about it,” said Martenia, who now makes the weekly 40-mile trip from Joliet to a small Englewood church. “You don’t get the help, you don’t get the guidance. These were people who were supposed to know how to deal with this. And I thought I shouldn’t say anything.”
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After establishing first website, religious gays appeal in letter written to religious leadership, ‘Accept us as a living, viable part of Orthodox society’
By Kobi Nahshoni
Not 10 days after its inception, the HOD website, catering to the religious gay community, has broadened its operations. In a letter distributed to Orthodox community leaders Saturday night, site operators appealed to the Orthodox community to recognize them as “a living, viable part of its rank and file.”
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The letter was sent to a wide array of rabbis, religious Knesset members, mayors, community leaders, and organization heads, including Conversion Authority head Rabbi Haim Druckman and Rabbi Yuval Sherlo, and notes that it is only ignorance and lack of awareness that lead to the senseless hatred against homosexuals within the Orthodox community.
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In one depressed town, 3 percent of black residents turn to Judaism
By Tim Townsend
CAIRO, ILL. — For a block or two in every direction from Arbell Matthews' home, 50 or so African-Americans could be heard belting out the Shema, an ancient Hebrew prayer, gospel-style.
They had spent a year and a half traveling almost weekly to Rabbi Lynn Goldstein's home in Maryland Heights, Mo., a journey that would bring them back to this cramped white house in this dying city and to their new lives as Jews.
 The name of God, or Yahweh, is inscribed in Hebrew on the ring of Phillip Matthews, who is a spiritual leader of Cairo's new Jewish black community. Photo: Robert Cohen |
Former drug dealers, infants, factory workers, old ladies, former gang leaders, lawyers, gunshot victims, high school football players, barge workers, crack addicts, nurses and musicians — a reflection of the diverse, decaying place they call home — had packed into two vans and eight cars for each 350-mile trip.
They all were raised as Christians, most of them Baptists. One day last month, each was immersed in a ritual bath, or mikvah, in Memphis, Tenn. When the last of them emerged from the water, almost 3 percent of Cairo's black population had converted to Judaism.
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By Sheri Shefa
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TORONTO — Rabbi Steve Greenberg, left, the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, was in Toronto last week to discuss the conflict between homosexuality and Judaism and to offer a “poetic” way to interpret the biblical texts that are understood to condemn same-sex relationships. His lecture, titled “Gayness and God,” at the Wolfond Centre for Jewish Campus Life, sponsored by groups including Hillel and Kulanu Toronto, was attended by more than 100 people on Jan. 22. He is a senior teaching fellow at a think-tank called the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership,
Before delving into the different ways the verse in Leviticus – which states: “a man shall not lie with another man as with a woman; it is an abomination” – can be interpreted, Rabbi Greenberg shared his story about his introduction to Orthodoxy.
Coming from a Conservative family in Columbus, Ohio, it wasn’t until he went to a Shabbat service at an Orthodox shul and met an elderly rabbi that he realized Judaism was so important to him.
The rabbi offered Rabbi Greenberg, who was 15 at the time, and three of his friends, the opportunity to study Torah with him each Shabbat morning. He later began to go to shul each morning to daven.
“I became Orthodox because this world was so precious to me,” he said.
Two years later, he enrolled in a yeshiva in Gush Etzion, near Jerusalem.
While in school, he found himself attracted to a fellow yeshiva student. Struggling internally with his feelings, he sought the advice of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, a posek in Jerusalem, one of the most respected arbiters of Jewish law in Israel.
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ATLANTA (BP)--Former President Jimmy Carter, during the opening session of the "New Baptist Covenant Celebration" in Atlanta Jan. 30, called for Baptists of all races, political leanings and theological stances to unite around a common belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to set aside the differences that have caused divisions.
 Jimmy Carter and other organizers of the "New Baptist Covenant Celebration" enjoy some of the music on the Jan. 30-Feb. 1 event's opening night in Atlanta. Photo by Cat Norman. |
"My wife Rosalynn and I have visited more than 125 different nations since we left the White House, and we and our hosts have had many discussions about religion," Carter, co-chair of the event, said. "Among the unsaved people on earth, what is the prevailing image of Christians today?
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By Alex Beam
Elbows are being thrown in the presidential campaign: some name-calling, some vague allegations of skulduggery and double-dealing. But this is not the Main Event. The real dirty tricks, a la Swift-boating, will kick in around Labor Day, after the two parties have chosen their candidates for the general election.
Should Barack Obama win the Democratic nomination, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright will become much more famous than he is now, and much more famous than he would ever want to be.
Wright, the pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side of Chicago, is already a little bit famous. Former Illinois state senator Obama has worshiped at Trinity for many years and borrowed the title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope," from one of Wright's sermons. As "Obama's minister," Wright has been profiled by several newspapers, and the forward shock troops of the right-wing hate machine, i.e. Fox News, have already lobbed a few shells in his direction. But in a competitive national election, Wright can expect the fire to double, redouble, and redouble again. Obama will end up wishing he was Mormon.
The first accusation against Wright, and by extension against Obama, is that Trinity is a "separatist" church. In its mission statements, Trinity proclaims its commitment to God and to the African-American community that surrounds the church. "We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian," its website proclaims. "Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent."
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By Neela Banerjee
For more than 150 years, Baptists in the United States have splintered along political, theological and racial lines. But this week, some of the country’s largest Baptist groups — representing about 20 million believers — will meet to try to mend the old fractures and, some leaders say, present a more diverse and moderate image of their faith than the one offered by the conservative Southern Baptist Convention.
Damon Winter/The New York Times Jimmy Carter is pushing for a more liberal Baptist agenda. The three-day meeting of more than 30 groups — known as the New Baptist Covenant Celebration, which begins on Wednesday in Atlanta — is a result of efforts by former President Jimmy Carter to draw together long-divided Baptists.
The meeting’s statement of shared purpose, known as its covenant, calls for Baptists to focus on their traditional values, like “sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ,” and to work together on social issues like fighting poverty. It does not create a new denomination.
“I would like to see a demonstration that Christians who have different backgrounds and different political and theological orientations and geographical locations can come together in the spirit of unity,” Mr. Carter said, “not just for Baptists, but for Christians all over the world.”
But for other Baptists and experts on the faith, a central aim of the gathering seems to be to create a theological and political counterweight to the Southern Baptist Convention, which many of the groups that plan to attend have left.
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By George Conger
 Conference in Jeruselum call by African Anglicans is anticipated to split the church |
Arab Anglican leaders have called for the cancellation of a June gathering of Anglicans in Jerusalem, claiming it could exacerbate Christian-Muslim tensions in the Palestinian territories.
On Wednesday, the Anglican bishop in Jerusalem, Suheil Darwani, released a statement saying the presence of hundreds of conservative Anglican bishops in the Holy Land would inject the Anglican Communion's political disputes into the diocese of Jerusalem, and could also have "serious consequences for our ongoing ministry of reconciliation in this divided land."
It could "inflame tensions here" between Christians and Muslims, Darwani wrote, adding that he was also perturbed that the organizers had not consulted him before announcing the meeting of conservative bishops, meant to chart the future course of the 80-million member Anglican Communion.
The head of the Anglican Church in the Middle East, Bishop Mouneer Anis of Egypt, has also urged caution about the date and venue of the Jerusalem meeting. In correspondence with the meeting's chief organizer, Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, Anis cited internal Anglican political considerations in opposing a June gathering.
He also questioned meeting in Jerusalem, saying it was unlikely Palestinian Anglicans would support the meeting "for various reasons."
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CLEVELAND -- Alysa Stanton spent years trying on different roles in life. It wasn't until she converted to Judaism at the age of 24 that she found her calling. "I was studying Judaism and knew I found home," Stanton said.
She tells her story from convert, to student, to impending rabbi, in a one woman show. Her stories of racial and religious barriers at times painful to hear.
"It brought tears to my eyes," said one woman.
"It was provocative," said another.
"My mission is to break barriers and provide hope and build bridges to all races," Stanton said after the show.
After the performance, the audience met to discuss racial and religious tolerance.
Stanton will be ordained in another year. She is currently in school at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
The worldwide Anglican communion has deplored the continued stubbornness of Bishop Norbert Kunonga of Harare whose priest's licence the church hasrevoked.
On Monday, the communion described the situation in Harare Diocese as "a matter of grave concern."
The secretary general of the communion, Rev Kenneth Kearon, said in statement that "Bishop Kunonga's close ties with President Robert Mugabe is of deep concern to many and the resort to violent disruption has been widely deplored."
The London-based SW Radio reported that at least three priests and an unknown number of parishioners were arrested on Sunday when police disrupted several church services held by the newly nominated Anglican head of Harare Diocese, Bishop Sebastian Bakare.
By Patience Rusere
Police detained dozens of supporters of Anglican Bishop Sebastian Bakare at various churches in Harare during services on Sunday, sources said, among them Secretary General Gertrude Hambira of the General Agricultural Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe. Many of them were released within hours of being arrested.
Sources said riot police seized Anglican Church members worshiping in the Harare districts of Mufakose, Greendale, Warren Park and Mabelreign.
Hambira, alleged to have taken photos of the police operation, was detained for about six hours then released without charge, though she was instructed to report back to the Harare Central police station at a later time. Sources said about 20 other people arrested at the Mufakose church were also released Sunday evening.
Bakare is locked in a struggle for control of the local Anglican Church with Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, who has close ties with president Robert Mugabe and the ruling party. Kunonga has refused to leave office though he was sacked by the church.
By Paul Majendie
LONDON (Reuters) - Conservative Anglican leaders are to stage a breakaway summit in Jerusalem that could irretrievably fracture the 400-year-old church over a dispute with liberal clergy about homosexuality.
The timing could not be worse for Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who is struggling to maintain unity among the world's 77 million Anglicans over the issue.
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The clergy, headed by Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, are due to meet in Jerusalem six weeks before July's Lambeth Conference -- the 10-yearly gathering of all Anglican leaders.
"It does look like a mess. It is another nail in poor old Rowan's cross," said religious commentator and broadcaster Clifford Longley.
"I do see it breaking up," he said, contemplating the future of a church which, unlike the regimented hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, is run by broad consensus with Williams as first-among-equals.
