Adventist News Round Up
On the Adventist News Network front:
Ansel Oliver writes a nice obit for James Chase, former General Conference Communication director.
And Let’s Talk revived for a fifth year with Jan Paulsen conversing with young Adventist professionals in the DC area.
A few highlights. . .
On race-segregated conferences:
One participant reminded Paulsen that when church leadership discussed the issue a decade ago, they promised a follow-up. “To my knowledge, that conversation hasn’t taken place,” he said, adding that any forthcoming discussion should involve young people who “may not be as entrenched in these old ideas.”
Other participants suggested that churches receive incentives for building diverse membership bases. “Like an affirmative membership policy?” discussion moderator Bryan Collick asked.
“You can’t rely on the conference or the churches to integrate themselves,” one participant said. “There has to be some reason for churches to say, ‘We can’t continue the status quo, we’re going to do things differently.'”
Once again, Paulsen urged the group not to wait for change. “Tell leaders you think the reasoning behind regional conferences is no longer valid. I also tell them, but it is good if they hear it from you as well.”
On women’s ordination:
When the issue of women’s ordination came up, Paulsen suggested that church regions should be responsible for involving more women in ministry where appropriate.
“I think as a church we must ask ourselves, ‘Can we resolve this issue so that what may be possible in one part of the world can be done there, even if it is not acceptable or possible in another region,'” he said.
In other media:
ADRA respond to the Ketsana tropical storm flooding in the Philippines.
Senator Diane Feinstein supports the construction of Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta as well as two other physician-owned hospitals in CA, and wrote a letter urging Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus to do so as well.
Loma Linda University Medical Center one of eleven hospitals fined for administrative errors.
Southern Adventist University is involved in a court case in which a former student has accused her former boyfriend of rape. In an interesting new media twist, she has posted a video: “To My Terrorist: on rape,” in order to bring attention to the issue.
Here’s a report from Cyprus on the Follow the Bible initiative.
The Cornell Daily Sun reflects on health and A Hundred Years of Loma Linda Life.
A twenty-nine year old former Adventist who converted to Islam has been arrested in connection to a plot to bomb a federal courthouse in Illinois.
And finally, a pastor has made headlines because he wants to baptize those who robbed and shot him.
