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* For the first time, a federal judge on August 7 struck down Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement payments to Christian Science health practitioners. A federal judge in Saint Paul, Minnesota, said the practice violates separation of church and state because it "too strongly favors the convictions of one particular sect." For three decades, government health insurance programs have been paying for room and board, supplies, and nursing services at 23 nonprofit First Church of Christ, Scientist, nursing centers, including $7.5 million last year.

* The American Bar Association voted August 6 to grant full accreditation to Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach. The 10-year-old law school, founded by Pat Robertson, has its largest incoming class this fall, 150 students.

* International evangelist Floyd Ankerberg, 78, of Arlington Heights, Illinois, died August 16. The father of television evangelist and author John Ankerberg, he had been an early and important leader in Youth for Christ International along with Billy Graham and Torrey Johnson. Ankerberg conducted crusades worldwide and established more than 300 churches in India.

* Paul A. Cedar, who served as president of the Evangelical Free Church of America (efca) for six years, has become chief executive officer for Mission America, a nondenominational ministry that coordinates prayer and evangelism efforts. Bill Hamel has been elected acting president of the EFCA.

* Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing branch of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has filed suit against former president Gary J. N. Aamodt. Augsburg claims that Aamodt received nearly $500,000 in unauthorized annuity, life insurance, and tax compensation before being forced to resign last year. Aamodt earlier had sued Augsburg, accusing it of fraud, defamation, and breach of contract.

* Janet and Robert Fenholt of Columbus, Ohio, filed a $12 million suit in August against their son, Christian singer Robert Fenholt of Upland, California. In his autobiography, From Darkness to Light, Fenholt, 45, claims his parents kicked, slapped, and threw him down stairs. Codefendants in the suit include Harrison House, which published the book; Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship (International), which published Fenholt's testimony in its Voice magazine; and Trinity Broadcasting Network, on whose broadcasts Fenholt has appeared.

* National & International Religion Report (NIRR), an eight-page biweekly newsletter, ceased publication with its August 5 issue due to financial constraints. nirr, which started publishing in 1987, had about 5,300 paid subscribers.

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Last Updated: October 4, 1996

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October 7 1996, Vol. 40, No. 11