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Yeah, you laugh. But if God told you to be a vegetable, would you have a bell pepper costume made, get a job at the supermarket, and sing "I'm Peppy the Pepper, how do you do? Welcome to Super Fresh, we love you!" to everyone who walked in the door?

Faith-based initiative:

• Faith-based battle on Capitol Hill | When President Bush decided to build a T-ball field on the White House lawn, he handed the job to his office on faith-based programs. Not that T-ball has anything to do with religion, but aides figured that a staff battered by criticism could use a unifying diversion. (Associated Press)
• Religion battle fires up in Washington | Congress began wading through the tricky details of sending tax dollars to religious groups this week, as supporters and opponents of the plan stepped up their lobbying efforts. (Associated Press)
• Church-based projects lack data on results | There is little reliable research proving the effectiveness of religious programs, and scant evidence showing which religious programs show the best results and how they stack up against secular programs. (The New York Times)
• Bush faith initiative praised, criticized | Republicans in Congress Tuesday praised President Bush´s faith-based initiative as needed welfare reform while Democrats, in the first hearing on the plan, criticized it as a back-door effort to undermine civil rights. (The Washington Times)

Black church:

• Study: Black churches activism spotty | Study shows such activism more focused on voter registration and getting people to the polls than on shaping public policy (Associated Press and Baltimore Sun)
• Moon tries to connect with Black pastors | Controversy, theology keep some from Unification Church leader's D.C. appearance (The Washington Post)

Church life:

• Native Americans blend cultural ancestry, Christian beliefs | Along with the drum and flute music, the Tribe of Christ members connect to their claims of Native American ancestry through jewelry, such as turquoise bracelets, feathered earrings and beaded necklaces. (Religion News Service/Fort Worth Star- Telegram)
• Lutheran bishops 'reminded' of their responsibilities | As St. Paul church readies to ordain lesbian pastor, church officials tell active and retired bishops they are to act "in conformity" with church laws. (Religion News Service/Fort Worth Star- Telegram)

Peru missionaries:

• Missionaries' church casts net wide (The New York Times)
• Attack on missionaries called God's will | Friends, kin mourn loss, say divine hand guided incident. They are baffled by official accounts. (Los Angeles Times)
• Disaster unlikely to silence missionaries' message | Despite political unrest, disease and natural disasters, missionaries often disregard their own safety. (Knight Ridder. The Miami Herald)
• Baby was answered prayer for infertile mother | Peruvian missionary Veronica Bowers had long prayed for a daughter—but months after adopting her beloved baby girl, she and her infant were killed by the same bullet. (New York Post)
• A profession not for the faint of faith | It's hard enough for most Americans these days to understand why anyone would be a missionary. But when you bring children into the equation, as Jim Bowers and his late wife, Veronica, did in their Peruvian work, well, even sympathetic folks may scratch their heads. (Rod Dreher, New York Post)
• Stricken pilot's plea: 'Save us' (USA Today)
• Latest: Yahoo full coverage

Philadelphia minister shot:

• Preacher, 19, is mourned and praised | Nafes Johnson was honored during services at a S. Phila. church. He was killed Friday. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

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April (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45