Ten years ago, the U.S. Center for World Mission, headed by Ralph Winter, entered an agreement to purchase the Pasadena campus of Point Loma (Nazarene) College in San Diego, California. By all accounts, it was a daring move by both the missions group and the college.
Earlier this year, Jim Bond, president of the college, received a $6.5 million payment from the center. The payment culminated a ten-year effort by Winter to establish the missions study center. College officials were especially pleased to have the complex sale agreement completed. The final payment “will enable us to completely liquidate the mortgages on this fine campus we purchased in 1973 on virtually 100 percent financing.”
Winter is even happier. “It is clearly a miracle and a wonderful thing for us,” said Winter. “It reflects a new interest in missions and a groundswell of support for what we are doing.” About $700,000 in pledges must come in before the center is truly debt free.
TELEVISION
More Sex On Television
A recent Louis Harris & Associates study concluded that 65,000 sexual references a year are broadcast during prime afternoon and evening hours. And the sponsors of the study, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, notes that viewers are rarely reminded of the results of sex.
The study, based on videotapes of 129 programs broadcast at the beginning of the 1987–88 season, found more visual sexual explicitness and less verbally suggestive material. The researchers also found, for the first time, occasional portrayals of intercourse.
In spite of increased references to sexual activity, the study found no advertisements or public service announcements for contraceptives during the programming. Planned Parenthood’s Faye Wattleton called the network’s portrayal of sex “a tremendous disservice.”
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Adults Skip Sunday School
Since 1970, Sunday schools have lost nearly 14 million names from their enrollment lists, according to church-growth specialist Win Arn. And the 34 percent decline has him worried. “The prognosis for the Sunday school in America is not good,” he said.
Part of the problem is that fewer church members attend Sunday school. In 1970, 31 percent of the number of church members attended Sunday school. In 1986, that percentage slipped to 18.
Arn believes this trend also helps explain why larger numbers of American children are missing out on religious training. In 1970, “10 percent of the population said they received no religious training as a child,” said Arn. “In 1987, 27 percent responded the same way.”
Declining Sunday schools can reverse this trend, Arn noted, by operating with a mission. “The most important issue in moving a Sunday school forward in growth is a clear purpose that reflects the mission and priority of Christ.”
TRENDS
More One-Parent Homes
Nearly one American youngster in four lives with just one parent, according to a recent Census Bureau report. Moreover, the percentage of children living in one-parent homes has more than doubled since 1960.
According to Arlene Saluter of the bureau’s Marriage and Family Statistics Branch, as many as 60 percent of today’s children will spend at least some time in one-parent households. Divorce rates and the growing number of unmarried mothers have contributed to this change, added Saluter.
Most one-parent youngsters (89 percent) live with their mothers. And it is more likely for Hispanic (30 percent) and black children (53 percent) to live in one-parent households than it is for white children (18 percent).
MEDICAL ETHICS
Baby Kept Alive For Organs
Amidst a continuing ethical debate, a brain-absent (anencephalic) baby was kept on a respirator after being declared brain dead in order to preserve its organs for a possible transplant. This marks the first time such a procedure has been used in the United States.
According to officials at Loma Linda Medical Center where the baby was taken shortly after birth, the infant was given artificial life support and medication until his brain stem stopped functioning. At that point the baby was declared officially brain dead, though he was kept on the respirator. Without artifical support, anencephalic babies die slowly.
For ethical reasons, doctors at Loma Linda decided to remove artificial life support after seven days if a recipient could not be found. At press time, the infant was still on the respirator. In the meantime, ethicists continue to raise questions about keeping such infants alive solely for organ harvesting.
PEOPLE AND EVENTS
Briefly Noted
Recommended: As next president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, S.C., Lewis A. Drummond. Currently, Drummond, 61, is on sabbatical from his post as Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism and director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
Named: In a civil suit filed by his mother-in-law, Walker Railey, the former United Methodist minister under suspicion for attempted murder of his wife. The suit accuses Railey of “maliciously” and knowingly trying to choke his wife to death. Mrs. Railey has been comatose since the April 21, 1987, attack.
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