Free the Potluck! Cry Minnesotans

Potlucks illegal in Minnesota

Technically, if a public gathering has food, it must be prepared in or served from a state-approved kitchen. Minnesota’s health department says it rarely enforces the ban against organizations’ potlucks, but it has happened—at a state representative’s gathering, no less. A “hotdish bill” allowing potlucks is now before the state legislature.

Supreme Court bars Clinton administration from abortion case

Solicitor General Seth Waxman asked the court for permission for a government lawyer to participate during upcoming arguments over Nebraska’s ban on partial-birth abortion. The Supreme Court said no despite its usual approval of such requests.

Amid sex, sun, and suds, Christian college students go evangelizing

The Chicago Tribune tells the tale of a dozen Judson College students who went to Panama City Beach, Florida, to spread the Gospel among their drunken cohorts. “Most of us have never seen anything like this before,” 20-year-old Beth Bernard tells the Tribune. “People chugging beer from funnels and everything. The other night a guy flashed us, which was interesting.” Ah, the terrors of crosscultural ministry.

Easter Bunny is no Santa Claus

A nationwide survey sponsored by Lutheran Brotherhood says 55 percent of Americans associate Christ on the cross as their primary image of Easter. Family gatherings came in at 16 percent, springtime had 12 percent of the responses, and the Easter Bunny, eggs, or jellybeans split 11 percent of total responses. But was it multiple choice? If not, did the empty tomb not even make the grade?

Seventh-day Adventist pastor pleads not guilty to genocide

Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 76, rejected the 13 charges of genocide against him. He is in Arusha, Tanzania, after losing a three-year extradition battle.

Priest’s trial for murder of bishop to go forward

“We found basis to the prosecutor’s theory that the priest, Mario Orantes, participated in the murder of Bishop Gerardi, along with members of the state security forces,” said Guatemalan Judge Flor de Maria Garcia in ruling against the defense’s motion to dismiss Orantes’s arrest warrant. (See more coverage by The Associated Press.)

Christian Peacemakers enter Canadian fishing dispute

Last October, Canadians rampaged, destroying buildings, vehicles, and lobster traps when the country’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of native tribes in a fishing dispute between the tribes and non-natives. Concerned that violence will flare again this season, Christian Peacemaker Corps (a Mennonite and Quaker organization) is sending in a “violence-reduction team.”

Assembly of God’s Skating Sabbath works

Only about 10 percent of the 400 or so skaters and bikers who attend Skating Sabbath Tuesday nights at Ventura, California’s Skate Street are “really, really committed” to Christ, says youth pastor Ryan Delamater. But many more say Delamater is the only one in their lives who talks about God. Some of the attendance boom at Skating Sabbath may be attributed to the free admission (Skate Street normally charges $12), but the skaters actually seem to like the sermon, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Clergy walk out of NYPD meeting

Police Commissioner Howard Safir asked 11 clergy from the city to discuss the shooting of Patrick Dorismond and the department’s relations with minority communities. But the clergy walked out when Safir refused to apologize for the shooting.