Crackdown on Church Bingo

A controversy over bingo in Roman Catholic churches in the Phoenix, Arizona, area produced a summons for a parishioner and a statement by Bishop Francis J. Green of Tucson.

The sudden crackdown on bingo in church auditoriums prompted the following from Green: “I am in agreement with police authorities, and I am sure the parish priests are, in asking discontinuance of organized bingo in Tucson and Phoenix, but I have not banned bingo and I don’t intend to do so.

“However, I am very happy our churches have discontinued weekly bingo games and hope it will not be necessary for them to resort to bingo for the support of the churches.”

Green declared that bingo is an attractive form of recreation for many and that he saw no more reason for banning bingo than for banning card parties.

Resumption of bingo at St. Mary’s High School gymnasium in Phoenix spurred police action. Bingo cards were seized as evidence, and police consulted with the city prosecutor to determine whether a summons should be issued. One was given to the head caller of the games, a parishioner of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, who claimed that, contrary to the charge of the summons, the bingo games are conducted to assist the church and not for any personal reason.

According to Police Chief Paul Blubaum, players at the St. Mary’s games could not receive cards unless they made donations. He claimed that the number of cards received by players was determined by the size of their donation.

“We’ll continue to keep under surveillance all operations we feel may be illegal and we will take action whenever we find that there has been a violation of the law,” he said.

An earlier statement from Mayor Milt Graham indicated that he saw no reason why Roman Catholic churches and other charitable institutions should not operate bingo under the donation procedure, as state law permits.

Police, however, insisted that the games in St. Mary’s school gymnasium violated state procedure by making donations a requirement for participation.

Father Ronald Colloty, pastor of St. Mary’s Church, said bingo games in the parish would be discontinued.

Protestant Panorama

American Baptist Convention President J. Lester Harnish called upon constituent churches and members to a period of repentance and prayer, November 1–6, “in the light of world conditions, the presidential campaign, racial strife, and the spiritual needs of our American Baptist family.”

Southern Baptists in New England are planning establishment of a new “state” convention. There are currently a dozen Southern Baptist-affiliated churches in New England, and four or five more will be constituted by the end of the year.

A joint statement drafted at a special meeting of United Presbyterian public school officials charged that millions of people have avoided the question of de facto segregation “by running to the suburbs or looking the other way.”

Deaths

THE RT. REV. WILLIAM F. LEWIS, 62, Episcopal bishop of Olympia, Washington; in Seattle.

DR. WILLIAM H. ROSSELL, 49, professor of Old Testament at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; in New York City.

DR. CARLTON J. H. HAYES, 82, historian, diplomat, and co-founder of the National Conference of Christians and Jews; in Afton, New York.

THE REV. MERRILL A. STEVENS, 43, Episcopal rector and a chaplain at the University of Maryland. Stevens was drowned in Chesapeake Bay while saving his seven-year-old son, who had fallen overboard from a sailboat.

Miscellany

The Spanish government announced this month the Roman Catholic hierarchy’s concurrence in a “bill of rights” upgrading the legal status of the country’s 30,000 Protestants. An intergovernmental commission must study the bill before it comes up for passage.

Australia’s Minister for Education announced postponement of the introduction of a new syllabus for state-operated primary schools in New South Wales which, in separating general and religious teaching, would require that Christian religious beliefs be discussed only as part of the study of general religious and philosophical beliefs.

The government of Zanzibar plans to nationalize all grant-aided schools on the island. Representatives of Anglican and Roman Catholic churches have begun consultations with government authorities over the possible effects of the decision.

Five million trading stamps, collected over a period of a year, helped to send a party of fifty-five staff and volunteer workers of the Child Evangelism Fellowship of Eastern Pennsylvania on a missionary tour of Puerto Rico.

Six Baptist ministers from three states assumed control of Jackson College in Honolulu. The school was founded in 1949 by Dr. Louie M. Barrett, who died earlier this year.

October 1 is the official opening date for two new transmitters designed by Trans World Radio to transmit missionary broadcasts from Bonaire in the Dutch Antilles.

Personalia

Dr. Ernest Marshall Howse was elected moderator of United Church of Canada.

Dr. Samuel D. Proctor, former associate director of the Peace Corps, was named general director of interpretation of the National Council of Churches.

Bishop A. W. Goodwin Hudson was named chairman of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in England.

The Rev. Malcolm Boyd, well-known Protestant Episcopal clergyman, resigned as chaplain of Wayne State University to assume an inter-racial ministry.

They Say

“I believe that the proclamation of Christ crucified is still the preacher’s task today, and that this is the only sure foundation for sound morality, for effective evangelism, and for social reform.”—Dr. Stuart Barton Babbage.

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