Prelates issue porn alert NEW YORK — The heads of nine U. S. Eastern Orthodox denominations issued an unusual joint warning to priests and parishes recently about the wide availability of pornography through the Internet and hand-held video cell phones, iPods and PDAs. “This could spell disaster for your children and grandchildren” and cause “immeasurable moral, social and spiritual damage,” the nine prelates stated. With the hand-held devices, they said, there are no filtering or monitoring systems for sexually explicit material. “This means many children and teens will be able to access such material, unless their parents are aware of this threat and take action to prevent it.” The statement said the Religious Alliance Against Pornography is working to develop educational materials to accompany purchases of cell phones and service contracts. The nine-member Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas is chaired by Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Archdiocese.
— The Associated Press ‘Ejector Pew’ ad rejected The United Church of Christ has another television commercial about its inclusiveness. And as with the last commercial, networks will not air it.
The new one, titled “Ejector Pew,” shows a white, prosperous family looking askance at various folks around them in church, where springy seats eject the offenders up and out of view: a crying baby, an apparently gay male couple, a man who might be Hispanic or Middle Eastern, an old man with a walker. The commercial ends with the words, “God doesn’t reject people. Neither do we.” CBS and NBC have declined to air the ads, saying they don’t accept “advocacy” advertising. The cable networks BET, CNN, the History Channel, Nick at Night, TNT and others have said they will run the ad.
A 2005 commercial showed bouncers barring some people from entering a church and admitting others. The same two networks declined to show it. In November, the ad won the Association of National Advertisers award for multicultural excellence, beating out commercials by MasterCard and Microsoft.
The commercials are part of a five-year “God is still speaking” campaign by the United Church of Christ, which was formed in 1957 when several denominations merged. It claims 1. 3 million members in 5, 725 congregations in the United States and Puerto Rico.
The ads can be seen at www. stillspeaking. com. — Democrat-Gazette press services Clergy ranks are aging WASHINGTON — United Methodist Church clergy under age 35 were 15 percent of the total in 1985 but only 4. 7 percent two decades later, according to a Wesley Theological Seminary survey. The data on “elders” (including those commissioned but not fully ordained ) also showed that those age 55 and above increased from 27 percent to 41 percent during the same two decades. The report included these figures for under-35 clergy in other “mainline” Protestant denominations: American Baptist Churches (5. 5 percent ), Christian Church — Disciples (5. 5 percent ), Episcopal Church (4. 1 percent ), Evangelical Lutheran Church (4. 9 percent ) and Presbyterian Church (7. 1 percent ). For Roman Catholic priests, the total as of 2001 was even lower, 3. 1 percent. By contrast, the conservative Church of the Nazarene reported 12. 7 percent of its clergy are under 35. Wesley Seminary’s Lovett Weems Jr., the project director, said organizations decline as they “fail to attract quality young leaders,” which affects the “vitality of the church.” — The Associated Press
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