Canadian revivalist resigns from ministry over “unhealthy relationship’ with woman

ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia (AP) – Todd Bentley, the Canadian revivalist whose tactics drew protest from some fellow Pentecostals, has resigned from public ministry after acknowledging an “unhealthy relationship on an emotional level” with a female staff member.

The board of Bentley’s Fresh Fire Ministries announced the resignation last Friday, saying the pastor has agreed to “receive counsel in his personal life.” Days earlier, the board of directors had said that Bentley, 32, and his wife Shonnah had separated.

Bentley, tattooed on the fingers and neck, has drawn international attention for leading his raucous revival meeting in Lakeland, Fla. It has continued for more than three months.

He claims to have performed mass healings.

But opponents noted that his approach has sometimes been violent. In a YouTube video clip circulated by critics, Bentley knees a supposed terminal stomach cancer patient in the abdomen saying God told him to.

Critics say Bentley rarely opens a Bible or sermonizes about Jesus Christ. They worry he is too little about conversion, too heavy on his own hype and too focused on self-proclaimed miracles.

The board of Fresh Fires Ministries, based in Abbotsford, said its work would continue without Bentley.

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http://www.freshfire.ca/

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Fort Leavenworth breaks ground on new chapel

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) – Army officials and members of Congress broke ground Monday on a $15.5 million religious complex at Fort Leavenworth.

It will replace a historic church that stood 112 years before burning in 2001.

The complex will have a chapel with a main sanctuary that can seat 600 and could be expanded to hold 1,200. It also will have classrooms and be connected to a smaller chapel.

Soldiers have used smaller chapels since the former St. Ignatius building burned.

Fort Leavenworth is the Army’s oldest post west of the Mississippi River. Worship services began there in 1828.

St. Ignatius was built as a Roman Catholic Church in 1889 and given to the Army in 1967. Parts of its foundation remain, and the site is now a park.

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http://www.leavenworth.army.mil/

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Appeals court says Bible in jury room was wrong but won’t overturn death sentence

HOUSTON (AP) – East Texas jurors wrongly used a Bible during deliberations in a capital murder case, but there isn’t enough evidence to show they were prejudiced when they decided to send the perpetrator to death row, a federal appeals court said.

The ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes in the case of Khristian Oliver, who was condemned by a Nacogdoches County jury in 1999, a year after he and three companions were involved in a break-in in which Joe Collins, 64, was fatally shot and bludgeoned.

Oliver’s three accomplices received prison terms ranging from five to 99 years. He got the death penalty. In his appeals, his lawyers contended that jurors improperly consulted Bible verses that called for death as punishment for murder.

In its ruling posted Aug. 14, the New Orleans-based appeals court said that using the Bible “amounts to a type of private communication, contact or tampering that is outside the evidence and law.”

But the court said it didn’t see enough evidence to overturn decisions from the trial court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that upheld the jury verdict.

At a state district court hearing after the trial, jurors gave varying accounts about the use of Bibles in deliberations. One juror said the Bibles were carried so they could be taken to Bible study after the day’s court proceedings. Another said any reading from Scripture came after the jury had reached a verdict. A third said Bible reading was intended to make people feel better about their decision.

At issue was a passage in Chapter 35 of Numbers which, in the New American Standard Bible, reads: “But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.”

Oliver does not have an execution date.

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http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/

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Virginia Beach monks seek to keep temple location

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) – A group of Buddhist monks could lose permission to use a $1 million brick ranch home as their temple.

In a 6-4 vote last week, Virginia Beach Planning Commissioners recommended that the monks shut down the Buddhist Education Center of America Inc. in rural Virginia Beach.

The City Council will take up the issue next.

The monks had requested a two-year extension to a permit that was issued last August that allowed worship services in the house. The master Buddhist monk lives there, along with some younger monks, and worshippers come there on Sundays and for three celebrations during the year.

The monks have tried to find a new location for the master’s house and temple, but say they could not find anything suitable. Selling the home in the current real estate market is almost impossible, said Morris Fine, an attorney representing the monks.

Most residents said they had no problem with the monks, but some said the traffic that the worship services brings to the neighborhood is a problem.

Monk Thich Chuc Thanh said he and the others are happy at their current location.

After moving from the Kempsville area two years ago because of a road project, Thanh said they dread having to move again.

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Churches and other houses of worship looking for ways to ease heating pinch this winter

BOSTON (AP) – Churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are searching for ways to deal with soaring heating costs this winter.

With tiny budgets and cathedral ceilings, some congregations are having to choose between staying warm or funding religious missions.

Some churches are sealing off sanctuaries, trimming staff and paying for more fuel efficient energy systems to keep congregants warm this winter.

The Rev. Clare Yarborough of Trinity Episcopal Church in Weymouth said the parish is spending $30,000 to convert from oil to natural gas heat.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is recommending that priests use smaller chapels for weekday services because they are easier to heat.

AP-ES-08-20-08 1119EDT