Briefs: North America

MIKE TROUT, a top executive and well-known radio personality with Focus on the Family, has resigned after admitting to an inappropriate extramarital relationship. Trout, 53, cohost of Focus President James Dobson’s popular radio program, said in an interview that his behavior violated the moral standards of the Colorado Springs, Colorado–based ministry. Trout has been married for 31 years and has three grown daughters. “I didn’t work at Focus on the Family for 19 years because of the paycheck or the benefits or the positive environment,” Trout said. “I worked at Focus on the Family because I believed in what we were doing. I know that might sound strange, because I violated it.” Though best known as Dobson’s on-air sidekick, Trout spent most of his time managing the Focus on the Family broadcast division as a senior vice president.

–Religion News Service

BILL BRIGHT, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, has been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis of the lung. Bright, 79, spent three days undergoing tests at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to learn that he has a lung condition with no known cure. Pulmonary fibrosis is a buildup of scar tissue in the lung that destroys the tissue’s ability to transport oxygen. “I’m here to do what God still has for me to do on this earth,” Bright told his staff. Steven Douglass, president designate of Campus Crusade for Christ, was scheduled to assume Bright’s duties in August 2001.