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France bans religious expression in schools:

• Chirac Wants Religious Attire Banned in Public Schools | President Jacques Chirac called today for a new law banning the wearing of religious symbols in French public schools — large crosses for Christians, head scarves for Muslim girls, or skullcaps for Jewish boys. (New York Times)
  
  
• Chirac Backs Law to Keep Signs of Faith Out of School | Ignoring opposition from Muslim leaders within France and beyond, President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday called for a new law banning the wearing of head scarves for Muslim girls, large crosses for Christians and skullcaps for Jewish boys in public schools. (New York Times)
  
  
• France to Move Swiftly on Muslim Headscarf Ban | French Education Minister Luc Ferry said Thursday he planned to submit to parliament early next year a draft law banning religious symbols such as Islamic headscarves in state schools. (Reuters)
  
  
• French President Urges Ban On Head Scarves in Schools | Chirac Confronts Spread of Islam (Washington Post)
  
  
• Chirac Proposes Ban on Head Scarves | France must reaffirm its secularism, president says. Law would limit religious garb in schools. (Los Angeles Times)
  
  

Ministry:

• Gift-wrapping available free | Christmas shoppers at The Harlequin shopping centre, Watford, can have their presents gift-wrapped by local Christians, specially trained in the art. (Watford Observer, UK)
  
  
• Administering God's dominion requires respect for all life | Dick Austin began his ministry hoping society could make substantial progress toward environmental change in the last part of the 20th century. But Christians and churches have been slow to come to the realization that caring for the environment is part of faith and ministry, he says. (Coalfield Progress, Virginia)
  
  
• Symphony Not Members Only | Church group reaches out to young musicians (The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer)
  
  
• Serving God is now his top priority | It was as an entertainer that Gary Davis, a gifted and talented native of Bimini, attained a degree of fame in the 1970s and early 1980s before giving it all up after being saved and accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. (Nassau Guardian, Bahamas)
  
  
• 'Angel on earth' donates kidney to friend | Maryjo Parker, a Houston County native who now lives in Cunningham, said she just did what "many good Christians" would also do when she became Rhone's kidney donor July 16. (Clarksville Leaf Chronicle, Tennessee)
  
  
• City honors local musician, pastor | In 1975, Meekins, now 56, had a recording contract with the biggest record company of the time, Warner Bros. He was one of the original members of local legends The Coastliners, a rock band most associated with the 1960s. He had traveled with stage icon Liza Minelli. He gave it all up and moved from Palm Springs back to the Baytown area the next year after converting to Christianity, taking his gifts back to his hometown, especially its Christian community. (Baytown Sun, Texas)
  
  
• Church gets grant to aid its pastors | The Evangelical Covenant Church, a national denomination with headquarters on the Northwest Side, got a huge grant from the Lilly Endowment that, church officials said, will revolutionize continuing education for their pastors. (Chicago Tribune)
  
  

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December (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47