News from the North American Scene: May 16, 1994

CABLE TV WARS

Faith Networks Battle for Audience

Milwaukee’s cable TV system is the latest site of a market-by-market battle for programming slots between the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) and the Faith & Values Network (F&V). For now, the viewer response to a Milwaukee Time-Warner cable system survey has preserved EWTN’s spot as the lone religious channel on the system.

Birmingham-based EWTN features the conservative Catholic doctrine of Mother Angelica and is available in 38 million American homes. F&V, in 21 million homes, is based in New York and carries programming by Catholics, mainline Protestants, Southern Baptists, and others.

Conservative Milwaukee radio personality Mark Belling says Time-Warner considered canceling Mother Angelica because of pressure from liberal Catholic Archbishop Rembert Weakland. An archdiocesan spokesperson disagrees, but concedes Weakland has had differences of opinion with Mother Angelica. “She’d have you think that the issue of altar girls is right up there with the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.”

Broadcasters such as Belling and Charles Sykes have fanned the controversy by taking sides. “The tone of the calls we got was just vile,” says Robert Seater of the Wisconsin Conference of Churches in Madison, a major backer of F&V. But Tom Sharrard of Time-Warner’s Milwaukee division says the feedback produced “an extremely high likelihood” that EWTN will stay on the air.

By Dale Buss.

UPDATE

Retooled Warnke Tries Comeback

Christian comedian Mike Warnke, little seen since admitting autobiographical exaggerations (CT, May 17, 1993, p. 88), is testing the comeback trail at smaller churches. Crossroads Community Church of Rocklin, California, sponsored one such low-key appearance on March 23.

“He started off with Jesus and ended with an altar call,” says Crossroads pastor Harlyn Matson. Matson says Warnke avoided showmanship during his presentation to more than 600 people. “He had a very humble, sincere desire to lift up Jesus Christ.”

Warnke’s appearance caused a stir. “It was amazing the amount of flak I caught,” says Matson. “I had so many phone calls, it was incredible. People said, ‘You’re compromising the body of Christ.’ ”

Before his appearance, Warnke met with local ministers and discussed his sins and his restoration efforts, which include submission to a board of ministers for oversight. Warnke’s unethical behavior is the subject of a recent book, Selling Satan: The Tragic History of Mike Warnke (CT, March 7, 1994, p. 35).

PC WATCH

Use of Scripture Costs Editor Job

Winston L. Frost, editor of the Orange County (Calif.) Lawyer, resigned under pressure after he wrote a column that included a Scripture quotation. In his column for an issue devoted to diversity, Frost quoted John 3:16 as an explanation of true equality. This say he was asked to resign for other reasons—including friction with the magazine’s directors—Frost, an evangelical Christian, believes he is a victim of political correctness and says he was told his quotation of the Bible could offend some readers.

“I was trying to show that our equality comes from being made in the image of God,” Frost told CHRISTIANITY TODAY. “That’s why I wrote that column.” Bar officials have said the New Testament quotation gave the appearance of taking sides.

Though Frost remains on the board of directors of the Orange County Bar Association, he says he was not accorded the customary editor emeritus position on the Lawyer’s advisory board after he resigned.

BANK SWINDLE

NCC Investment Plan Goes Awry

The National Council of Churches (NCC) is seeking to recover $8 million invested in a Czech bank. The money, which came from future retiree health-insurance funds, was invested with Prague’s Banka Bohemia despite a warning last year from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that investors are unlikely ever to see their money again. The investment went awry when unidentified partners allegedly traded fake copies of the bank’s notes.

NCC general secretary Joan Brown Campbell, who visited Prague in March, has requested the assistance of Czech Republic president Václav Havel in the recovery of the funds.

The NCC admits that the investment did not follow normal council procedures. Two high-ranking NCC staff members—Robert Soong and Emilio Carrillo—were suspended March 25 until a special audit is completed, though Campbell said the suspension “does not imply wrongdoing.”

ZONING

RFRA Helps Keep Hungry Fed

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction April 14 allowing a Washington, D.C., church to operate a soup kitchen. John Wimberly, pastor of Western Presbyterian Church, which recently relocated to a new neighborhood, has fought with his church’s new neighbors, who do not want the soup kitchen in their upscale neighborhood.

“We just have to keep going to court to get our rights protected,” Wimberly says. “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act [RFRA] is a big boon in terms of being able to protect yourself.”

Judge Stanley Sporkin’s ruling stops the city from using zoning laws against the church, which feeds hundreds of homeless each day. When lawyers for the plaintiffs admitted that in their view a synagogue could be prevented from inviting guests to Friday night meals, Wimberly relates, “the judge said, ‘That’s it; preliminary injunction granted,’ He was furious.”

Wimberly credits RFRA for the temporary victory, but he also cites an interfaith coalition of Jews and Christians, including evangelicals, mainliners, and Catholics. “The whole religious community was absolutely united on this,” says Wimberly. “I thought it was appropriate that a Jewish judge made the decision.”

No court date has been set for a final ruling, though Western Presbyterian is expecting a permanent injunction to be handed down. “I don’t think there’s much doubt about what he’s going to do,” says Wimberly. “It took Sporkin about 15 minutes to throw the district out of court.” If RFRA is the basis of the final decision, the city could be forced to pay the church’s legal bills.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS

In Brief

Donald Wubs, 60, of Bartlett, Illinois, pleaded guilty April 20 to mail fraud in connection with Born Again Believers in Christ investment group. More than 600 investors lost a total of $13 million. Wubs, 60, who told investors the money would help build churches, was charged with using most of the money to finance two family-owned, nonchurch businesses.

• The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that Robert Tilton does not have to turn over church records sought by Norma Smith of Dallas (CT, Sept. 13, 1993, p. 78). Smith was seeking the records of Tilton’s church members in connection with her suit against him for fraud. In another court case, Tilton’s suit accusing ABC News and other media outlets of depriving his church members of civil rights has been dismissed by a federal judge in Dallas.

• Longtime Billy Graham associate Robert O. Ferm died March 26 in Asheville, North Carolina. Ferm, 82, was a pastor, educator, author, and Billy Graham Evangelistic Association team member who had been an editor for Decision magazine.

• Wayne W. Boyer has been named director of the Churches of God, General Conference, effective August 1. Boyer, pastor of Central Manor Church of God near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has been in ministry for more than 25 years.

• Sparrow Corporation is acquiring gospel music publisher Meadowgreen Music. Meadowgreen’s catalog includes works by Michael W. Smith, Andraé Crouch, and Ralph Carmichael.

• John H. Kromminga, 75, former president of Calvin Seminary, died March 3 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Kromminga served as the seminary’s president for 27 years before retiring in 1983. From 1984 to 1990, he served as president of International Theological Seminary in Los Angeles.

• The Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society, based in Wheaton, Illinois, has changed its name to CBInternational. The name change, says CBInternational executive director Hans Finzel, positions the organization “to capture the interest of a new generation of missionaries [and supporters] who share our commitment and passion.”

• Michael Pountney will become the eighth principal of Wycliffe College in Toronto, Canada, June 1. He has served as Ontario regional director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship since 1990.

• Kenneth T. Wessner, 71, former chairman of ServiceMaster Industries, Inc., died in Naples, Florida, March 29. Wessner, a former board member of Wheaton College, was selected as the Business and Professional Leader by the Religious Heritage of America in 1991.

• Gene M. Ellerbee is the new president of Bill Glass Ministries. Bill Glass, who founded the Dallas-based prison and evangelistic crusade ministry in 1969, will continue as chief executive officer.

• Promise Keepers and Strang Communications are launching a Christian men’s magazine, New Man, in early May. The magazine will address such topics as careers, evangelism, current events, and family life.

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