European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 6, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                School prayer measures introduced in Congress from wire reports Washington a measures have been introduced again in Congress to restore prayer to Public Schoy classrooms. Such measures have been routinely introduced for several years without Success. The supreme court in 1962 barred school sponsored prayer. At least four of the new measures propose a voluntary prayer a saying the Constitution should allow school prayer As Long As to one is forced to participate and the state does not prescribe the prayer. Rep. Bill Emerson rmo., said his amendment would allow communities to decide the matter for themselves and would protect rights of students not wishing to participate in  stations a show new York two mormon owned to stations have dropped cd so eccentric Small town drama picket fences objecting to prime time depiction of mercy killing polygamy and teen age orgasms. Some critics say the stations unusual action a a pre Empting a prime time series because of Content a sets a dangerous precedent. A Many people arc concerned about what seems to them to be undue influence on the part of the mormon Church a said John Engstrom to critic for the Seattle Post intelligencer. A and a number of people Are concerned about the very Large Issue of what they consider to be  picket fences stars Tom Skerritt and Kathy Baker As a married couple sheriff and physician of fictional Rome wis., Midway Between twin peaks and Lake Wobegon. It debuted in september to critical Praise. It was voted Best new drama by viewers for Quality television but ranked 63rd of 114 shows in last weeks ratings. On Jan. 22, isl to of Salt Lake City said it was dropping the show until further notice. It cited episodes in which a nurse hummed killing me softly during euthanasia and a Man who dance with his wife a Corpse. On Jan. 28, a sly a sister station Kiro to of Seattle dropped the  s Way to serve Washington a evangelist Billy Graham says he a used his friendships with a Long line of presidents and other powerful men to speak gods word to them. A always in the Back of my mind i said a this is a Way to serve god not Only to influence them spiritually and religiously but to influence the people that they influence a a he told pcs interviewer David Frost. A and second that this is a voice that they done to hear. Very few people will Tell the president about spiritual tilings and religious things or have prayer with him Ana i Felt that this was a Way that god used me and i Felt i was a servant of god when i was with these  talks completed Indianapolis a with its 15th meeting the disciples of Christ roman Catholic International dialogue has completed 10 years of talks geared toward Church Unity and results will be published in june. The Rev. Paul a. Crow jr., president of the disciples Council on Christian Unity said convergences on various matters a make possible important and irreversible Steps in our Road toward the full Unity god  a new round of talks Are to begin later this year in  criticizes Clinton Washington a president Clinton in lifting restrictions on Federal abortion counselling and fetal research hastened a a american a Drift toward Neo paganism a says the head of the Southern Baptist social concerns Agency. The Rev. Richard land said the Steps will be viewed in history As when the american government began its descent into a grotesque and obscene exploitation of human life in the name of a medical Progress unlike the world has known since the barbarism of hitlers  resist imagining feminine aspects of a by Colin Mcenroe the Hartford courant when . Winter a professor at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut lectures on the female representations of god in the Bible when she mentions the biblical images of god As a nurturing Mother or a Mother Bear when she explains that Shaddai a recurring term in the old testament relates to gods feminine Side she sometimes sees the women in the audience shed tears of gratitude. A women say a in be Felt this Way All my life a a says Winter author of a trilogy of books on. The representation of women in the Bible. For Many women and some men says Winter the idea of a feminine Side of god still seems a Little seditious. They May believe it they May Pray it but they done to know if its of to talk about it. Winter a nun says she herself no longer thinks of god As having any gender. R a when in a praying a or in my own experience a in a really beyond that a she says. In teaching and lecturing though she emphasizes the importance of confronting the gender Issue and of acknowledging that the centuries old exclusively male image of god is not the Only legitimate one. When the feminine aspect of god is denied or suppressed she says the result is spiritual impoverishment. In an Era when women ministers rabbis and episcopal priests Are no longer considered oddities and when denominations have adjusted their hymns and Liturgy to make them less reliant on male imagery one might reasonably conclude that the old notion of a personified male god has been banished from most quarters of Liberal theology. But As feminist theologian Mary Daly wrote in her 1973 Book beyond god the father even among people who have made a conscious intellectual adjustment to an abstract gender less god a images survive in the imagination in such a Way that a person can function on two different and. Even apparently contradictory Levels at the same time. Thus one can speak of god As spirit and at the same time imagine a him As belonging to the male sex. So even in congregations where women serve in the clergy and where the language of worship is rigorously a inclusive Quot its possible even probable that the adults in the pews and the children in the sunday schools Harbor persistent images of a male god. There s work to be done sunday no longer a Day of rest for some churches by David Briggs the associated press the Day of rest christians once set aside for a nation is being turned into a Day of labor within some churches. Barely a year after Maine and North Dakota became the last two states to scrap a Blue Laws outlawing sunday shopping the National association of evangelicals and the presbyterian Church . Have decided to alter their annual meeting schedule to work on sundays. The reasons Are financial. The evangelical group changed its traditional tuesday to thursday meeting schedule to sunday to tuesday this year to allow members to use cheaper air fares for saturday night stay overs. The 3.8 million member presbyterian Church decided it could save More than $100,000 by working on sunday and shortening its general Assembly by a Day. The change May have been inevitable in a culture that has slowly succumbed to the secular appeals of football games and shopping mall outings on sunday but it is a Milestone in american religious history. A when you look at the Long sweep of history you say a my god that a a tremendous change a a a said sociologist Benton Johnson of the University of Oregon at Eugene. A remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy a is gods fourth commandment according to the Book of exodus. Jews and seventh Day adventists observe sabbaths on saturday and the Muslim Sabbath is Friday. Some european jewish leaders turned Down an invitation from Pope John Paul ii to Pray for peace at Assisi last month because the inter Faith gathering began saturday making travel difficult. Beginning with the puritans christians have had a profound Impact on How sundays Are observed in America. Committees on Sabbath observances and lords Day alliances at one time frowned even on Reading the newspaper on sunday and Laws curtailing sunday shopping persist in some communities throughout the country. Most major Christian groups had avoided working on sundays. A when you have one of the 10 commandments saying Honor the lords Day and keep it holy right along with a thou Shalt not kill a the sixth commandment there san enormous psychological and social pressure to conform to this a said the Rev. Kenneth Ross of the presbyterian churches department of history. Gays in military need ministry reverend says by the new York times with president Clinton making the first moves to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military the Rev. Troy Perry says that openly Gay chaplains Are sure to follow. A there Are already thousands of Gays and lesbians in the military and they need our ministry a said Perry the head of a largely Gay Christian denomination the Universal Fellowship of metropolitan Community churches. The denomination is based in los Angeles and has 270 congregations worldwide. Others would also Benefit from the services of the Gay chaplains Perry said. A just As a Catholic priest can counsel married couples we Are qualified to Deal with All the emotional and spiritual problems of human beings Gay or  the denominations application to Send a Gay min ister to serve in the military was turned Down last year by the armed forces chaplains Board on the ground that the candidate the Church presented the Rev. Carolyn d. Pruitt was not eligible for service because of her declared homosexuality. Pruitt who was discharged from the army in 1986 for being a lesbian is challenging in court the military policy against homosexuals. Perry praised the new president for standing by his Campaign pledge to end discrimination against homosexuals in the military despite opposition from Congress the joint chiefs of staff and the Public. A we Are now confident that this discrimination is going to be reversed a Perry said. A at the minute it takes effect we will resubmit our application and we expect to see Rev. Pruitt As a chaplain in the .