ATLANTA (AP) – A Christian group has asked a judge to block a suburban Atlanta school district from charging religious organizations for the after-hours use of classrooms made available for free to other groups.

Child Evangelism Fellowship has accused the Cobb County school system of violating the First Amendment because it is charging the group to hold after-school meetings in classrooms.

Mathew Staver of Orlando, the group’s attorney, said the school system should treat faith-based groups the same as other organizations – such as the Boy Scouts – that can use the space free of charge.

The group sponsors the Good News Club, which focuses on creating after-school Bible study groups for children ages 5 through 12.

School board attorney Glenn Brock declined to comment on the case. The district’s policy on use of school facilities distinguishes between two types of groups that may use schools after hours. Groups such as parent-teacher associations, scouts or sports feeder programs do not have to pay fees. Other nonprofit groups must complete an application and pay fees to use the buildings, according to the school system’s Web site.

In a similar lawsuit in New York state, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that Child Evangelism Fellowship must be given equal rights to public school facilities

Catholic initiative at U.S.-Mexico border aids deported immigrants

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Six Roman Catholic organizations from the U.S. and Mexico have teamed up for a new initiative providing aid and other services for illegal immigrants deported from the United States.

The Kino Border Initiative also will provide education through parish presentations and community workshops about the realities of the border and immigration policies, and research and advocacy on immigration and the U.S-Mexico border, organizers said.

An outreach center in Nogales, Mexico, near a commercial port of entry, will provide deported people with food, clothing, hospital care and information, and will offer an eight-bed shelter for unaccompanied women and children, said the Rev. Sean Carroll, executive director of the border initiative.

“Our intention is to serve and accompany” people who have been caught by Border Patrol officials and returned to Mexico. “Certainly we’re not telling them to cross again,” he said.

Six Catholic organizations are collaborating on the project: the Diocese of Tucson and Archdiocese of Hermosillo in the Mexican state of Sonora; Jesuit organizations from California and Mexico; Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist, a religious congregation in Colima, Mexico, and the Jesuit Refugee Service U.S.A.

Property skirmish breaks out in Nebraska Episcopal rift

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A rift in the U.S. Episcopal Church is playing out in court in Nebraska.

The Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska is suing leaders of a breakaway Omaha parish, asking the Douglas County District Court to declare the diocese the rightful owner of the parish’s buildings and property. It argues that the parish exists to carry out the mission of the diocese and national church and when that stops, it is obligated to surrender the property’s ownership.

“There’s not any ambiguity at all,” said diocese chancellor and attorney D.C. “Woody” Bradford, of that agreement.

But St. Barnabas Parish leaders argue the diocese has no right to the property and the court doesn’t have the authority to interpret ecclesiastical matters. They’ve asked that the lawsuit be thrown out.

In 2007, St. Barnabas’ members voted to break away from the national church to join the Anglican Church of America, another province of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It remains the only Nebraska parish to break from the national church but is among dozens of others across the country that have done so. The Nebraska diocese includes more than 50 parishes.

Similar fights over Episcopal property have arisen elsewhere.

Episcopalians have been divided for decades over topics ranging from salvation to whether the Bible condemns gay relationships. But tensions heightened in 2003 when the Episcopal Church consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Grandson of Billy Graham tapped to lead high-profile Fla. megachurch

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – A search committee charged with filling the vacant pulpit at a high-profile South Florida megachurch has chosen a 36-year-old grandson of Billy Graham.

If approved by a congregational vote, Tullian Tchividjian will assume the seat at Fort Lauderdale’s Coral Ridge Presbyterian previously held by church founder D. James Kennedy.

Kennedy, who died in September 2007 at age 76, was an architect of the Christian right. His image on Christian broadcasting was beamed around the globe.

Tchividjian’s image cuts a striking difference. He has spiky hair and a scruffy beard, and acknowledges youthful forays into drugs and sex.

He is one of seven children of Gigi Tchividjian, the eldest daughter of Billy and Ruth Graham. His grandfather preached the dedication sermon for the Coral Ridge sanctuary in 1974.

“This will be an exciting legacy for both Dr. Kennedy and Billy Graham,” said Dan Westphal, head of Coral Ridge’s search committee. “I’ve come to know Tullian well, and he is a godly man.”

Born in Jacksonville and raised in South Florida, Tchividjian was named after Tertullian, a theologian of the second and third centuries. He earned degrees in philosophy at Columbia International University in South Carolina, and in divinity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando.

Burglars targeting easy-to-enter Ohio churches

WARREN, Ohio (AP) – Thieves looking for an easy way to grab donated food and clothing have broken into more than a dozen Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran and nondenominational churches in recent months.

Some clergy and parishioners have been reluctant to report the break-ins or to pursue charges out of sympathy for suspects, many of whom are drug addicts who look to sell the stolen food and clothing for quick cash, Warren police Chief John Mandopoulos said.

“They’re trying to be Christian about this and turn the other cheek,” Mandopoulos said of the churches. “But on the other hand, you have to be accountable for the money.”

In some cases, televisions, computers and digital cameras have been taken from the Youngstown-area churches. Money from collection plates also has been stolen, and some churches were targeted around major holidays when collections were larger, according to police reports.

Churches are viewed as soft targets because many don’t have alarm systems, said Jeff Hawkins, executive director of the Cincinnati-based consultants the Christian Security Network.