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Toledo Diocese spokesman Sally Oberski said the unprecedented murder conviction of a priest has left her and the Diocese at a loss. The Vatican will most likely get involved, she said, but she could not say exactly what the process would be for dealing with the future of Robinson in the church.

"I'm sure [the Vatican] will be involved, yes. And I can't say beyond that," she said. "As of today, his status has not changed from his current status as being barred from public ministry. He's still a priest. We don't know [what's next]. We've never had to deal with this."

3. Encourage charitable giving? No thanks, says Congress
"As members of the House and Senate worked out a compromise tax measure this week, they dropped nearly every provision that charities and lawmakers had sought to cut down on abuses of charity tax laws and encourage charitable giving," the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports today. "The tax bill now contains just a single nonprofit provision: a measure to tighten rules on corporate tax-shelter abuses that involve charities."

Among the items passed by the Senate now dropped in the joint bill was a provision allowing taxpayers who don't itemize deductions to deduct a portion of their charitable donations. That was one of the very few surviving legislative proposals in Bush's faith-based initiative.

4. Seminary's commencement speaker prompts protest
While theology professors at Boston College are protesting the school's decision to award an honorary degree to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a more interesting commencement debate is occurring down at Atlanta's Interdenominational Theological Center. Theologian James H. Cone, scheduled to receive an honorary degree by the school, is now refusing to attend. So is a former chairman of the school's board. A third of the graduating class signed a letter saying they'll take their diplomas, but they're not happy about it. The reason for the hubbub? Saturday's commencement speaker: ITC alumnus Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia.

"The controversy revolves around three emotionally charged issues: the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the future of the black church, and — a deeper issue — how a Christian lives out his or her faith," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Key issues include Long's preaching of prosperity gospel messages, "Long's ethics, his remarks about women and black pastors, and a 2003 sermon that Long gave at ITC that [students] said denigrated the value of seminary training."

5. God is still speaking, and he says he doesn't like you around here
The United Church of Christ kicks out people for reasons other than advocating fidelity to biblical orthodoxy. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that some UCC churches aren't too keen on those who want to see financial responsibility, too:

TV commercials and monthly tidings of the Venice United Church of Christ tout an open-door policy that welcomes everyone and declares that no one will ever be kicked out of the church's membership.

But Bill Walker … learned he was the exception.

As a member of the church's auditing committee, a position the church asked Walker to fill, he raised questions about church spending and an $80,000 deficit in its operating fund.

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May (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50