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Missouri monks mourn; police find no motive in killings
The bells of Missouri's Conception Abbey rang 80 times yesterday, one for each year that two slain monks had given to their faith. The monks did not gather for group prayer but privately meditated while police continued to canvass the crime scene where Lloyd Robert Jeffress, 71, killed Brother Damian Larson and the Rev. Philip Schuster on Monday. Two others were seriously wounded.

Investigators still do not know why Jeffress, a former Catholic who recently attended a Methodist church, would open fire in the monastery before taking his own life. In fact, they can figure out little of anything about the man.

"It's very unusual to find a person this private, where their family doesn't even have contact with him," Sgt. Sheldon A. Lyon, a Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman, told The New York Times. "It makes it difficult to say why this man would do this. Usually there are some red flags that indicate why a gunman like this will have acted the way he did. But that's not the case here."

New York kindergartner can pray at snack time
In January five-year-old Kayla Broadus held hands with classmates and prayed over their cupcakes and milk, "God is good. God is great. Thank you, God, for my food." Her teacher stopped her, citing separation of church and state; the principal agreed.

In response, Broadus' mother filed a lawsuit that was settled last night by a school board vote. In the settlement, which the board approved unanimously, no payments will be made, the lawsuit is dropped, and Kayla can pray. The New York school district also does not have to admit any wrongdoing.

The school board says nothing has changed. After the suit was filed, the Saratoga Springs Board of Education passed a resolution confirming that it never had a policy restricting audible prayer. Board of Education President Sandra Lewis told the local Saratogian: "Kayla was able to pray before the lawsuit and it will continue to remain the same."

Southern Baptist convention:

• Southern Baptists skip convention | Local churches don't send many to meetings. (The News & Observer)
  
  
• Southern Baptists take their message to strip clubs | Their mission was part of the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting. But the big story could be the Baptists who do not show up. (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Baptists' strong words spark protest | The head of the Southern Baptists condemned homosexuality from the podium yesterday as angry homosexual-rights protesters and a Muslim group marched through the convention hall. (The Washington Times)
  
  
• Also: Gay rights protesters disrupt Baptist meeting | 50 arrested at St. Louis convention. (The Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• Also: Protesters interrupt Baptist meeting (Associated Press)
  
  
• Muslims angered by Southern Baptist on Islam | A leading Islamic group demanded Tuesday that the Southern Baptist Convention condemn "bigoted" and "hate-filled" statements made by one of its pastors. (CNN)
  
  
• Also: Pastors back Vines' comments on Islam (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Politics and law:

• Church leaders want judge to okay settlement | Lawsuit accused Cincinnati police of harassing blacks (Associated Press)
  
  
• The last pro-life democrat? | Robert Casey Jr's crushing defeat raises a question with national political implications (Robert Novak)

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June (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46