MISSIONARY ACTIVITY COULD BE RESTRICTED IN RUSSIA BY THE NEW LEGISLATION : PRAY & MAKE A DIFFERENCE

MOSCOW --New legislation being considered by Russian lawmakers could drastically restrict missions activity if made into law.

Restrictions could include requiring missionaries and Russian Christians to obtain permission to engage in missionary activity and limiting its locations and participants, such as tourists and minors.While the proposals are currently in the draft stages, language introduced by the Russian Ministry of Justice Oct. 12 indicates that if these laws are enacted they will greatly restrict religious freedom.

Russian Baptist officials say they believe the new language primarily targets Roman Catholics and Protestants and believe it has already found favor with leaders of Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism -- Russia's four most prominent religions."Of course, when measures like this are talked about, we are always concerned and we should look at them with a measure of seriousness," said Ed Tarleton, a leader of IMB work in Russia.

"Evangelicals have enjoyed days of openness and freedom, so when lawmakers start talking about language that is contrary to that, we become concerned."The proposed changes include allowing only religious groups who have been registered in Russia for at least 15 years to apply for permission to engage in missionary activity. Foreigners in Russia on a temporary visa, such as a tourist visa, would be excluded from engaging in missionary work.Russian Baptist leaders add that wording in the proposed legislation makes no distinction between professional missionaries and average believers.

"Practically all believers will become susceptible to penal sanction," says Yuri Sipko, president of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.In addition, the new language indicates that missions activity will not be allowed in hospitals, orphanages or homes for invalids and the aging without the approval of government officials. Missionary activity would be prohibited on the grounds of government buildings. The proposed measures also take aim at minors, saying that Russian minors may not be present at religious activities or be given media materials without their parents' consent.

Over the past decade, Baptists in Russia, as well as other Protestants, have been involved with social work -- addressing the issues of drug and alcohol abuse. Sipko recently wrote, "Without missionary activities, drunkenness and the abuse of narcotics will only increase. If the state begins to destroy the social ministry of churches, it will be forced to build more prisons.

"IMB missionary Andy Leiniger has been working with Russian Baptists in Siberia as they develop social ministry programs. "If these laws were to pass and be enforced, they would officially shut them [the ministry centers] down," Leiniger said. "But I think it would be very hard to unofficially stop the work that is being done when it comes to helping people get away from their addictions."Baptist leaders are most concerned about the ambiguity of the language in the proposals. "Right now, it is like we are driving down the road and have speed limit and stop signs to tell us what we can and cannot do and police to enforce those specific rules," Tarleton said.

"If these new proposals remain as ambiguous as they appear to be at this stage, it would be like changing everything to caution signs, and religious groups would constantly be evaluated by officials making judgment calls based on their interpretation of the new laws.

"Tarleton and Russian Baptist leaders have urged the worldwide religious community to join them in prayer as Russian lawmakers consider the proposals, praying that language restricting missionary activity in Russia be excluded from new legislation, for Russian Baptist churches and leaders as they work with government officials, and for IMB missionaries serving in Russia as they continue to minister in these uncertain times.

VATICAN KEEPS CELIBACY IN RULES ON ANGLICANS

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican said on Monday that its new rules facilitating the conversion of Anglicans, including married Anglican priests, did not “signify any change” in its rules for priestly celibacy.
The announcement seemed aimed at dampening recent debate about whether in creating a new Anglican rite within the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican had brought in a kind of Trojan horse — married former Anglican clergy — a practice that might someday normalize the acceptance of married Catholic priests.
In a watershed in Catholic-Anglican relations, Pope Benedict XVI announced three weeks ago the creation of a new structure in which Anglicans could convert to Catholicism yet keep certain parts of the Anglican ritual, including liturgy. The move was widely seen as an effort to attract traditionalist Anglicans uncomfortable with the ordination of women and gay clergy members.
On Monday, the Vatican released the rules governing the new structures. They uphold current practice; the rules say married Anglican priests can become Catholic priests only on “a case-by-case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See.”
The new norm “does not signify any change in the church’s discipline of clerical celibacy,” the Vatican press office said in a statement.
It added that the new structure was “consistent” with the church’s “commitment to ecumenical dialogue.”
The Vatican has emphasized that the new norms were not aimed at poaching Anglicans but were created in response to requests by traditionalist Anglicans. In its statement on Monday, the Vatican said the new structure was “a generous response from the Holy Father to the legitimate aspirations of these Anglican groups.”
Nevertheless, the creation of an Anglican rite within the Catholic Church has been widely perceived as a bold and even aggressive act capitalizing on the weaknesses of the Church of England, which in recent years has been increasingly divided over the issue of female and gay clergy members.
A recent headline in The Times of London read, “Rome Parks Tanks on Rowan’s Lawn,” referring to the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury and the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion. Archbishop Williams, who jointly announced the new norms with the Vatican at a news conference on Oct. 20 in London, is expected to meet the pope in Rome next week.
The new rules stipulate that men who were baptized as Catholics and subsequently became Anglicans cannot become priests. They also say that Anglican bishops who convert to Catholicism will remain priests but will lose the rank of bishop.
Called Personal Ordinariates, the new structures are akin to dioceses but without geographic bounds. They are to be overseen by bishops or priests chosen by the pope. The ordinariates will work in conjunction with local dioceses but will not answer to them, and will belong to the local bishops conference.
It remains to be seen how many Anglicans will take the Vatican up on the offer.

HUNDREDS OF CHRISTIAN TEENS GOING TO VISIT COSHOCTON FOR THE PURPOSE OF HELPING CITIZENS THEY DON'T KNOW

COSHOCTON -- Some 400 teens will descend on Coshocton next summer from across the country for the purpose of helping citizens they don't know.
"You can go to band camp, you go to soccer camp, you can go to football camp and you can go to a work camp. And they've chosen not to go to another country or to a big city, inner city, but to go to places throughout the United States and work," said project co-chair Mayor Steve Mercer.
The work camps program started in 1975 in Colorado when a storm caused a flood that wiped out a small town and church. Locals from around the area, particularly youth, pitched in to help with the rebuilding of the city and the program grew from that.
Project co-chair Brad Fuller recently spent a week in Colorado where he learned more about the program and its workings. Fuller is in charge of home selection and assembling the needed materials.
"It's a well oiled machine," Fuller said. "They're teenagers, they're not skilled laborers, but they're all coming to this camp because they have some degree of skill."
The program will see 400 youths and 100 adult supervisors stay in Coshocton from June 13 to 19. They will do light repair and painting on 70 to 80 homes. When staying in Coshocton for the week, they will sleep and eat at Coshocton High School.
The youths ages 12 to 18 pay $424 to take part in the program, which pays for transportation, food and other needs. Those who wish to have their house worked on pay nothing.
"I see it as something that will be such a tremendous help to our community and to people in need. It's geared toward low to moderate income, the elderly or disabled, and certainly the economy the way it is it is difficult for that demographic to do much maintenance. So to have a group like this to come in at a time like this is just a perfect fit to give our community a real shine," Mercer said.
The program is Christian-based and provides more than physical repairs and work to the teens taking part and the communities they go to.
"It's not just home repair. That's a nice by-product. What happens is, it's a spirit that happens in the community and people really get on board with it and see this community spirit and take more pride in their homes," Fuller said. "Spiritually what happens (with the teens taking part) is a great thing. It's building them up personally. They know they have the ability to help their fellow man. The by-product is we get out town looking a little better."
Locally, $19,000 needs to be raised to pay for materials and supplies for the work. Paint, tools, ladders and other equipment also can be donated.
"I'm confident that we'll be able to raise the dollar amount that we need without city funds," Mercer said. "That money stays right here, it goes nowhere else."
The Coshocton Baptist Church is acting as fiscal agent for the project. Checks can be made to Coshocton Work Camps and mailed to the Coshocton Baptist Church, 1631 Denman Ave., Coshocton, OH 43812.
Applications for the project soon will be available at City Hall and those who wish to donate materials or some how aide the project can call the mayor's office at 622-1373 or Brad Fuller at 623-8027.