Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 33

1 -gp-, "-1y--1)---1r-----rij--l-tjyM-1i xiiLy nnimii-iy-m' in- mji y-iy imiiiii Tiny j-H fyrur iy wnyTgpT nf" i 'JJ iy If rfcgl Wf "HHJ -jy-'i)-y-y-n--i- i SATURDAY, AUGUST 30 1997 ST, TAR TRIBUNE After PFR, Andrew is eager to boost a new band kid. I knew there was a God, but I didn know him." As the afternoon fades, Andrew hands off the telephone to Lckberg, 27, who jokes about growing up among the "cake-eaters" of Ldina. This is the first major foray into the music industry for Lckberg, a graduate of St. Olaf College in North-field, Minn. As he talks about the endless travel and the long hours, his voice fills with excitement like that of a young man on a big adventure.

He doesn't even complain about the coffee or doughnuts. "We're at a great starting part for alt ot us," he says. "Patrick came from a great band and brought some great writing talent. Sure, people compare us to PLR. But pretty soon we'll be known for who we are and stand on our own music." pmz lO i Lh il The phone crackles.

Somewhere in San Erancisco, Patrick Andrew is inside a coffee and doughnut shop gripping the telephone receiver. After hitting it big in Christian music, the former PER bassist and Brainerd, native is starting over with a new band. It's tough, but nothing a shot of caffeine and sugar won't soothe. A year ago, Andrew was packing auditoriums on the last leg of PLR's farewell tour. Now he's playing in little churches and just about anywhere that will book his newly formed group, eager.

Next Saturday the band will perform at The New Union in Minneapolis. The Christian nightclub is where PLR got its start before graduating to bigger venues. Despite the grind of climbing musical ladders again, Andrew sounds cheerful. "We just played in a little tiny church in Oregon," he says. "They just had little speakers on stands, so all we could put through were vocals.

But they were so appreciative." Lager's self-titled debut album was released last week. And, as expected, comparisons to PL'R have followed, especially in the Twin Cities. "It has more of a rock feel than PLR," says Jeff Anderson, assistant manager at Northwestern Bookstore in Roseville. "The lyrics aren't watered-down. It's definitely ministry-oriented." Andrew says he doesn't mind the comparison because PLR's name recognition has given eager an edge over other new bands.

"We have more respect," he says. "I walk into a place now and people will say, 'Man, PL'R really ministered to There's a reaction you don't have to earn." After just four albums, Andrew and the other members of Minnesota-born PLR, Mark Nash and Joel Ilanso, went their separate ways last year. It marked the end of a popular Christian rock band that had earned a Grammy nomination and won top awards from the Gospel Music Associ- Former PFR bassist Patrick Andrew, center, Is starting over with a new band, eager. eager What: Christian rock concert When: 8 p.m. Sept.

6 Where: The New Union, 3 141 Central Av Minneapolis Cost: $10 Openers: Wee Little Kelly, Tinsel Spin Around the city Ace Troubleshooter and Citizen Kane, 8 p.m. I'riday, The New Union, 3141 NE. Central Minneapolis. Modern rock. Cost: $5.

eager, "meet and greet," 7-9 p.m. I'riday, Northwestern Bookstore, I Iar Mar Mall, Roseville. Rock. Lree.1 Avalon, 7:30 p.m. Sept.

5, Benson Great Hall, Bethel College and Seminary, Arden I fills. Adult contemporary. Cost: $4. Call 630-6333. Sixpence None the 8 p.m.

Sept. 12, Maranatha Hall, Northwestern College, 3003 Snelling Av. Roseville. Post-modern rock. Cost: $10-11.

Call 631-5151. Christian hit radio top singles 1. The Best Thing, Big Tent Revival 2. God Is Believable, Sunday Drive 3. Listen, Nouveaux 4.

Not a Chance, Out of the Grey 5. Moon Days, Cindy Morgan Otherworldly unplugged Susan lloganAlbach ation. Despite rumors of conflict, PLR members insisted the breakup was amicable, and necessary for spiritual growth. Andrew bounced back by forging the new four-man band, eager, which includes drummer Paul Lckberg from Edina. The group's premiere single, "Crimson for Downy Llake" is a rock anthem about the need for God's grace.

"The mission of our band is to evangelize," says Andrew, 26, who now lives in Nashville. "I believe that God gave me this platform and I'm not going to waste Andrew wrote six of the 1 1 songs on the album. One of the most poignant, "Don't Let Go," is about the "hell" Andrew says he lived before becoming a Christian as a young adult. "Living without God is hell," he says. "When I was growing up, I was looking for acceptance and love.

I was kind of a dorky kid. I was a moral kid. I was a good Baptists prepare to convene amid leadership scandals President Lyontf problems will be high on the agenda Associated Press The Rev. Henry Lyons, president of the Nation Baptist Convention, USA, was surrounded by supporters during a news conference In July. Allegations of Infidelity and questionable financial dealings have prompted some convention members to call for Lyons' resignation.

Workers need time off for spirit, experts say By Pythla Peay Religion News Service On Labor Day, millions of Americans will take a break from the daily grind: They will sleep in, catch a matinee, hike the outdoors or join family and friends at the last barbecue of summer. A national holiday that began in 1882, Labor Day celebrates the efforts of the country's unheralded workers. But, according to an unlikely consortium of medical doctors and business consultants, American workers need much more than the occasional day off they need time off every day, perhaps even every hour. "The recent phenomenon in Japan of death from overwork is becoming more predominant throughout our society," said Dr. Stephan Rechtschaffen, author of "Timeshifting" (Doubleday).

Sleep-deprived from working longer hours, disoriented by fast-paced changes in the workplace, and jangled by the rapid electronic pulse of beepers, fax machines and cell phones, employees are suffering an epidemic of what Rechtschaffen calls "hurry the feeling of being constantly rushed. Indeed, just as new guidelines on religious expression in the federal workplace have been announced allowing, among other things, employees to take off for religious holidays and to keep their scriptures on their desks experts are pointing to the need to recover the healthy "bodymind" wisdom embodied in the rituals, prayers and customs that once served to gracefully separate the sacred from the profane. "There is considerable evidence to indicate that we benefit from a period of quiet relaxation or contemplation at least once each day," said Dr. Leo Galland, author of "The Lour Pillars of Healing" (Random House). "When people are given the opportunity for this, their blood pressure is lower and stress reactivity levels of hormones is less." Management consultant Krista Kurth agrees.

"Not enough attention is being paid in the workplace to the need which is answered by prayer," she said. "The Muslim call to prayer five times a day, for instance, is a wonderful way to take a break and reconnect." Kurth, a George Washington University alumna who is one of the first in the country to receive a graduate degree in the area of spirituality in the workplace, said she finds most employees are overwhelmed by the changes companies are instituting to stay competitive. As a consultant, Kurth says, her challenge "is to help people maintain their center in the midst of all the craziness going on around them." Among other things, Kurth implements spiritual principles in the workplace by teaching employees the value of a moment of silence. She herself begins each meeting and lecture with a deep pause, she said, but more secular forms fun breaks, creative breaks and humor breaks ease tension, as well. Galland said companies would do well to implement longer lunch breaks for employees, during which they can exercise, meditate or socialize.

He said such a period of quiet relaxation was an integral part of older cultures and is still a custom in southern Europe, "where people go home at midday to rest and have a sit-down meal with their family. That's never been a part of the American work ethic." Taking breaks especially long ones may seem dramatically unproductive to employers. But Kurth says that such entrenched attitudes toward time are changing. "There's much more of a move toward companies wanting their employees to be innovative. They are starting to realize that people can't just punch a clock and turn on the creativity," she said.

"Taking a break and stopping the mind can actually give a person more energy and inspiration." I lowever, Kurth said she thinks it would be sacrilegious to harness spiritual techniques of centering and relaxation to achieve financial and professional success. "Then you're using what I think is the highest purpose in life to achieve a material end," she said. "This is especially true in the management field, where there arc so many quick fixes and fads." 1 The 200-member board of directors of the church heard the adultery charges in July and voted to keep Lyons as president, Belle noted. "It's been dealt with it's a dead issue." But the financial allegations, Belle acknowledged, arc a "concern." At a meeting of the National Baptist evangelism board in Minneapolis earlier this month, Lyons asked forgiveness and 1 acknowledged he "made some'mis-takes along the way," Belle said. "My last visible impression of him was of a very contrite servant who was in a lot of pain because of all the allegations that have swirled around him," Belle said.

Lyons asked the group to' forgive him for "any harm thai! you believe I've done to this convention," Belle reported. 1 Several NBCUSA ministers have called for Lyons' resignation as leader of the 8.5 million-member denomination. in an interview last week. Belle said he is one of 18 investigators appointed by the board chairman to examine reports of infidelity and questionable financial practices by the 55-year-old Lyons. But the St.

Petersburg Times has reported that Belle is not on the panel. The pastor could not be reached for clarification. Lyons' troubles will be high on the agenda official and otherwise when the nation's largest predominantly African-American Baptist denomination gathers in Denver on Monday for its annual convention. Belle, a Lyons supporter, said that the panel's deliberations are secret and that details wouldn't emerge before the convention begins. According to news accounts, Lyons, 55, bought a pricey home By Jean Lakeman Helms Religion News Service MOBILE, Ala.

The Rev. Henry Lyons' financial dealings are a "concern," but the embattled National Baptist Convention, USA, president should be able to hold onto his office, according to a Mobile minister who says he is on the church-appointed panel investigating allegations about Lyons. "We found that some of the allegations have no substance, some are outright fabrications, and others do not at this time merit the president's being removed," said the Rev. Elect Belle, pastor of the 750-membcr Rock of Eaith Missionary Baptist Church. Lyons "should survive all the allegations that have been brought to light so far," Belle said She later claimed the fire began by accident and backed off her accusations of adultery.

She still faces an arson charge. Adding to Lyons' woes, his first wife, Patricia Triggler, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week that she left Lyons in 1968 because he beat her. Lyons' lawyer calls the claim "just in St. Petersburg, with Ber-nice Edwards, former public-relations director of corporate affairs for the church. Lyons also is accused of buying Edwards a five-carat diamond ring using $36,000 of church funds.

The allegations surfaced after Lyons' wife, Deborah, told police on July 6 that she tried to burn down the house in a jealous rage. In brief Elvism: Evidence suggests Elvis worship is 'embryonic' religion The Elvism structure is there, and the creed seems to be emerging. Jeff Dinkel, manager of the foe Hardware Store, that his Ca'tho-lic faith prevented him from working on Easter. He asked to be reassigned to another Sunday, and asked Dinkel to assign someone else to Easter. Dinkel refused, according to the court Ryan was fired for reiterating tliat he would not work on 'Easter.

Ryan is a member of St. Mary's of Mount Carmcl Catholic Church in Long Prairie. The defense argued that Dinkel is also a Roman Catholic! and attends the same church as Ryan, but that Dinkel feh he could work on Easter Sunday, meaning Ryan had no religious reason for not working on Easter. Judge Sally Ireland Robertson agreed with Ryan, and on Aug. 15 awarded him $15,000 in damages.

She ruled that ordering him to work on Easter did violate Ryan's religious beliefs, which is against state law. On the move Tony Hawthorne Jones, grandson of Bower and Jane Hawthorne, a charter member of Colonial Church in Edina, will be ordained Sept. 7. at the church. A graduate of Fuller Seminaiy in California, Jones will be ordained in the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches at 7 p.m.

in the meeting house, with a reception1 following. Jones is a graduate of Edina High School and Dartmouth College, and has bern at Colonial since Jan. 15 as youth director. Compiled by Martha Sawyer Men I I Quie, Gibson dialogue Sunday former Minnesota Governor Al Quie and the Rev. Joel Gibson, dean of the Episcopal Cathedral of St.

Mark in Minneapolis, will hold a dialogue about the recent conflict over Lutheran-Episcopal agreements. The dialogue will be during the 10:30 a.m. service. Quie, a life-long Lutheran, was one of the leaders of the opposition to the proposed Concordat of Agreement between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church. Although the Episcopal Church approved it in July, the ELCA national assembly failed Aug.

18 to give it the two-thirds vote necessary for passage. Opponents had objected that Lutherans would be accepting the E.piscopal system of governance, including its way of ordaining clergy. The ELCA assembly eventually passed a resolution promising further study of the concordat during the coining two years. National officials said they are confident additional explanations can be added to the document to make it palatable to Lutherans. A question-and-answer period with Quie and Gibson will follow the service.

Religious freedom suit A Todd County District Court judge has ruled that a man was wrongly fired for refusing to work on Easter Sunday. In 1993 James Ryan, of Long Prairie, was told that he was scheduled to work on Easter Sunday of that year six weeks in tht future. He told his boss sand religious books, and one, about the Turin Shroud, was found beneath his body. A particular interest was the pre-Christian, Persian religious founder Zoroaster, or Zarathu-stra, whose adherents believe that a permanent war exists between the spirits of light and darkness. Elvis saw visions and believed he could heal.

Above all, he thought God had sent him to Earth with a mission to bring happiness to those in pain. The faithful forecast Elvis' return in 2001. The timing is based on numerology, another Elvis interest, with contributions from Zarathustra. The 1970s concerts began with the inspirational fanfare most people know as the theme from the 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey." The first few notes come instantly to mind. Its original title is "Thus Spake Zarathustra" by German composer Richard Strauss (1864-1949).

Elvis knew this, and it might have been a private joke. Or was it a signal, only to become manifest after his death? Elvis died in the eighth month on the 16th day in 1977. Eight 16 1977 2001. Or add his birth year, 1935, his age at death, 42, and eight and 16, and again it's 2001. Or add the number of his hit singles to the number of his films to the size of his bank balance to his immeasurable sex appeal and his age at his death and you get a fantastically charismatic singer who still means a lot to many.

By Christopher Reed London Observer Service Candlelight processions, devotees on crutches, votive offerings at the Wall of Love: The 20th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death celebrated earlier this month at Graceland was more like a pilgrimage than a memorial to a rock 'n' roll star. 1 There may be a good reason for that. Accumulating evidence suggests that Elvis worship is an embryonic religion that could last into the next century or beyond. According to anthropologists and religious historians, it already has passed a crucial test in converting a new generation to its fold. Elvis "sightings" seem to have diminished but what endures, and strengthens, so they say, is the metaphysical notion that "Elvis Lives" note, the second word is an anagram of the first.

Spooky. Thousands of people, perhaps hundreds of thousands, actually pray to Elvis. His generosity while alive he gave away half his fortune is talked of by his followers as "miraculous." They cite the time when he thanked a man who had stopped to help him fix his car by settling his entire mortgage. The undignified death of the idol on his bathroom floor, silk pajamas around his ankles and 13 different drug traces in his bloodstream doesn't matter. He is immortalized in a million images as beautiful being permanently in his early 30s.

In his book, Reflections on the Birth of the Elvis Eaith," au-1 thor John Strausbaugh points out that early Christianity took 300 years to become fully established. Elvism is moving a little quicker, probably because of modern communications technology. Strausbaugh even discerns an ecclesiastical hierarchy. The 150 registered Elvis impersonators fulfill the function of a priesthood. They even have a liturgy, the singer's words taken verbatim from 12 concerts filmed live out of the thousands he gave.

The Elvism structure is there, and the creed seems to be emerging. Elvis was a deeply religious man, attending the Pentecostal Church of the Assembly of God, where worshippers "speak in tongues." Although Elvis made 32 Hollywood films and his records have topped one billion, many forget that his three Grammy awards were for sacred music "How Great Thou Art" (LP and single) and "He Touched Me," of which Presley said: "This album is ordained by God Himself. This is God's message and I am His channel." Presley became fascinated with mysticism, from esoteric medieval mysteries to the whimsical wonders of New Age. He reportedly read around a thou -n -S ip T. -V 1..