Key 73: No Violation
United Church of Canada officials have replied to Jewish criticism of Key 73 by affirming that their church dissociates itself from “any tendency within the Key 73 program to single out any group as a particular ‘target’ for our evangelistic thrust.” The statement was in response to barbed comments from sources within the church and outside it. In commenting on the move, the Reverend W. Clarke MacDonald, deputy secretary of the Division of Mission in Canada, explained that some rabbis and United Church ministers felt there was an anti-Semitic bias in the North American Key 73 document used as a handbook for organizers.”
Dr. N. Bruce McLeod, moderator of the United Church, had earlier affirmed that his denomination “should have no part in any campaign that implies we want Jews to be converted.”
The statement went on to affirm that “we will continue to support those aspects of Key 73 which declare the good news of God’s love for all people, and to encourage their response as persons without violation of their own integrity.”
LESLIE K. TARR
Cash On The Road
Off camera Johnny Cash sings and narrates. His wife, June Carter, plays Mary Magdalene, and director Robert Elfstrom stars as Christ. The Gospel Road, Cash’s new movie on the life of Christ, which cost him over $500,000 to film on location in Jerusalem, purports to take Jesus to the people. As Cash told reporters, “A lot of people are doing films and plays on Christ, but I don’t think they have the results in mind I do. Our goal was based on the last great commission.”
The film premiered late last month in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a benefit for Baptist-related Gardner-Webb College, located nearby. (The school in 1971 awarded Cash an honorary degree.) Through the publicity the film generated, the school has already received a $25,000 gift. The premiere netted nearly $4,000 for the school.
Cash was not left in the cold. Twentieth Century Fox bought the film for an undisclosed sum.
MIGHTY MAN OF CLOTH
When Charles Chandler, a mild-mannered pastor, finishes preaching at First Baptist Church in Metropolis, Illinois, he ducks into a nearby phone booth and emerges as … Superman! The pastor, clad in the familiar blue and red costume of the man of steel, is part of a promotion by the southern Illinois community to put Metropolis on the map. Chandler is a look-alike for George Reeves, who played the comicbook hero in the early days of television. With the local newspaper changing its name to the Daily Planet, local church members are afraid Chandler will take up leaping the spire in a single bound.
Hotline
The first nationwide Christian hotline for drug users who need immediate counsel was opened by the church-related Melodyland Drug Prevention Center in Anaheim, California. The toll free number outside of the state is 800-854-3234.
