Ledger-Enquirer from Columbus, Georgia • 14

The Saturday Enquirer and Ledger A 1 4 Columbus Ga August 11 1984 Religion Today Gallup inds Contradiction In Religiosity 9 Spiritual Ills By Michael McManus You may have read recently of the death of Dr George Gallup aged 82 He was the pioneer in polling the art of feeling the pulse of the country by interviewing only 1 500 people He established his reputation in 1936 by predicting that Presi dent Roosevelt would be re elected overwhelmingly when a then famous magazine called the Literary Digest predicted victorj for Alf Landon based on a large sample of its readers Since the bulk of its readers were Republicans the survey was meaningless But predictions for 24 national elec tions have been off by only 22 percent why you know the name Gallup and not the Liter ary Digest which folded But what millions of Ameri cans realize is that Gallup had two sons who took over the business one of whom has applied his analytical skills to studying religious issues George Gallup new' book in America 1984" has just been published Its opening words are these: in 1984 appears to be confronted with a giant para dox: Religion is growing in im portance among Americans but morality is losing ground "On the one hand levels of religious involvement remain high: Nine in 10 state a religious preference seven in 10 are church members and six in 10 attend religious services in a given month A majority fur thermore say they are' more interested in religious and spir itual matters today than they werefiveyearsago "On the other hand wide spread cheating is found at all levels of society and two thirds of Americans hold the view that the level of ethics in the US has declined during the last dec ade" said Gallup I think any serious Christian or Jew should find these twin trends profoundly disturbing As said in this column which is dedicated to helping people live the faith they proclaim if religion does not produce a more ethical loving society something is fundamental! wrong with the way that religion is being practiced While church and synagogue attendance has remained con stant over the last generation Crime rates have tripled One of five Americans has been mugged robbed assaulted or had his house burglarized at least once in the past year A new bike was taken from my garage last week Abortion has doubled snuff ing out the lives of 15 million babies a year less than one percent of which w'ere as the result of rape incest or threat a mother's life Illegitimate births have tri pled and are now over half of all black births Divorces have tripled ris ing from 390000 in 1960 to 12 million Alcohol abuse affects a third of families ad is a major factor in most suicides homi cides and traffic fatalities at a cost of $100 billion annually However Gallup 53 who ma jored in religion at Princeton and almost became an Episco palian priest has high hope that these trends can be re versed if churches a very practical approach to spiritual needs emphasis should not only be on the of religion helping people clarify what they believe and why but on Michael McManus 'I Ethics Religion Michael McManus will speak at 7:30 pm Aug 30 at Edgewood Baptist Church 3564 orrest Road His talk on his recent trip to Russia and the state of religion there is sponsored by Edge wood Church and The Co lumbus Ledger Enquirer the of religion helping people understand what it means to be a disciple how religious commitment can be deepened how to live faith" I could not agree more and will devote the rest of this column and the next two to offer specifics suggested by Gallup Recently I saw a column writ ten by a local clergyman in a paper that publishes this column whose essential message was: your life to Jesus and you will be saved" But millions have that and they still are lonely or know how to conquer a drinking problem etc One suggestion Gallup makes is that religious institutions learn to small that is build upon the new interest across the nation in small sup port groups The people I know who lead lives of such joy and transcendent holiness that they inspire others to come to faith are not in any particular denom ination But all are members of small groups who meet regu larly for fellowship Bible study and prayer for each needs It is not enough simply to attend church to have practical faith Let me be more blunt Every reader of this column and all the members of your church ought to be in a small family" with people in your congregation In my extended family a new person came to us recently who had suffered from clinical de pression for four years She even sit through a pleasant two hour meeting but escaped into another room to watch TV for a while But she returned and asked us to for me" We did Later she said so much power and love here would you pray for me some We gathered around her chair put our hands on her shoulders or head and prayed to the Lord for heal ing I thought the situation was hopeless to be honest I told one of our church leaders problems are greater than what our family can handle She needs professional What I know was that she was already in counseling but simply needed to meet a group of people who would reach out to her and tell her she was loved There was no mira cle as the result of our prayers But she now feels hope and has become cheerful That has given us joy Jesus said and it shall be given unto Until that sermon becomes real ity for you your faith will re main tepid If you are fortunate enough to be in such a group what are you doing to help your church reach out to others by as Gallup puts it? Hungarian Bishop Elected President Of International Lutheran ederation BUDAPEST Hungary (AP) or the first time a church leader in Communist Eastern Europe Lutheran Bishop Zoltan Kaldy has become president of the Lutheran World ederation The assembly of the federation embracing 54 million of the 70 million Lutherans elected Kaldy in the face of claims by some critics that he has worked too closely with the state Kaldy who has repeatedly de clared that Marxist ideology is not compatible with the gospel said after his election he would forget and against him The federation also suspended two white African Lutheran de nominations for failing to reject apartheid unequivocally and for not attempting to reunite with predominantly black Lutheran bodies in the region Saying Know Can Cut Preacher Stress GLORIETA NM (AP) A Southern Baptist career guidance executive says some preachers bring unnecessary stress on them selves because they think they have to have an answer for every thing we give an answer even when we have says the Rev Brooks aulkner supervisor of the career guidance section of the Baptist Sunday School Board need to learn to say aulkner said deal with stress you have to learn to live with ambiguity" Church for Youngsters No Mere Play By Josiah Sumbry Stott Writer Clara Wigley stood and pre tended to straighten her choir robe in a make believe mirror Using a real hand mirror she smeared on make believe lipstick The sanctuary was quiet The youngsters were enthralled It was children's church time at Phenix irst Baptist Church where Ms Wigley is part time minister of youth and children Her subject that morning was Ms Wigley of 2329 Camille Drive Columbus wanted to impress upon the chil dren ages 3 to 9 the impor tance of pretty on the in many of you children know what this asked the 24 year old woman holding up the pink mir ror a they shouted many of your parents would allow you to leave the house without combing your hair or brushing your teeth?" Ms Wigley asked mother some re sponded Those questions paved the way for her point: That people need to look just as good on the inside as the outside In fact having a is more important she said makes a difference how well the day she said If an indi vidual feels well on the inside he or she can wear a cheerful smile re gardless of the circumstances she said That kind of joy however comes only from God she said (God) is the one who makes our in sides look and feel sermons like Ms Wigley's are becoming more com monplace in area churches a time when the pastor or a church leader devotes five to 10 minutes of worship time to teach children bib lical messages But not always the children New Christian Station to Have Local Segment By Pat Quinley Staff Writer Seven years ago Bob knew nothing about television but he did know something about being a Christian he says So when two acquaintances from opposite sides of the continent told him about a Los Angeles Christian television station in the same day he took it as a sign from the Lord Within two years the electrical contractor who has a degree in di vinity but has never pastored a church had begun a Christian sta tion in his hometown of Clear water la ive years and three stations later is ventur ing outside of lorida to open up Christian Television Corporation of Alabama The non profit first try at the Alabama market is at WSWS 66 in Opelika Ala which last week became this first Christian station The cor poration bought the station for iittle over $2 from RC Hilton of Tampa la said drea 46 WSWS will stand for Something Worth said But he cautions that sharing take the place of a church are not a church and we do not pretend to be a church" he said want to build up the church to be an arm of the WSWS is run by a non denomina tional board of directors most of whom are loridians Although the lineup has not been fina lized it will include syndicated shows such as 700 and shows produced by the Christian Television Network (CTN) a coali tion of WSWS and its sister stations in lorida repertoire includes pro grams for senior adults singles pre schoolers and school aged chil dren The pre schooler program has been so suc cessful that the company is plan ning a spinoff yet to be named In addition WSWS will have some local segments such as a talk show hosted by Anne Gidley Grady and a show called Good a compos ite of segments from all the sister stations A sports show possibly hosted by an Auburn University football player is being contem plated A Columbus native who has just returned home Dr Ron Cottle will do a Columbus segment said Cottle is the past execu tive vice president of the Assemb lies of God Graduate School in Springfield Mo He has returned to Columbus to direct Calvary who get the most out of it Church pastors have noted the attentive ness of their adult congregations during these minutes meant for children The Rev JH lakes pastor of the ourth Street Baptist Church started his sermons about three years ago although he has wondered what more could be done to include children in church initial impulse was to or ganize a separate church school for children during worship Under such an arrangement youngsters receive Bible training in an area of the church other than the sanc tuary that kind of arrangement tends to lead to division within the lakes said after giving the idea some thought fam ilies come to church together they ought to remain The Rev David Howie pastor of the Edgewood Baptist Church Co lumbus shares lakes' philoso phy most churches (and other in stitutions) family members are di vided Howie said Peo ple are graded by sex and age as in schools and churches Howie said he want to imply that division is necessarily an evil Sometimes people have to be divided based on their needs and interests However church wor ship can provide at least one op portunity for families to stay to gether he said Children's sermons give him a chance to develop rapport between the and himself Howie said get on the floor with them and we talk eyeball to eye ball I probably enjoy it (the expe rience) better than they Howie who has done sermons all 30 of his years in the ministry said these moments are worthwhile for a practical reason They offer children a break" from having to sit quietly through an hour long service he said DR RON COTTLE Does Columbus Segment Bfc a JB Christian Life Ministries Horizons which he founded two years ago Calvary Christian Life Ministries will produce a show called zons" as well as the Columbus seg ment of "The Good The station is looking for a studio in Columbus to the Opelika said Cottle The Columbus studio will also be head quarters for the trucks which can go on location where" he says The station will sponsor a for distributing food and clothing to needy people and a 24 hour a day telephone counseling service he said Announcements of coming church and choral events will be run free but the station will sell time to churches for longer adver tisements said In addition to Christian oriented advertising the station may have secular" advertising around its NN news he said would screen the commercials" he said want alcohol or some used car guy screaming while pounding on a The purchase of the Opelika sta tion came after almost a year of praying and pondering he said even want to come this far north" said the man who owned the station lived just a few miles from me and he called me up last year I told him I interested At the time he was going to go ahead and sell it to someone else But every deal he had go The owner asked again and terms were such that we turn it down no money down and quite a while to pay it off I really felt God wanted us to take Scott Kathy Netherland Sunday 11 am 7 pm Christian ellowship Church 3303 Crawford Road Phenix City Alabama Staff Photo by Michael Mercier afwfW Mr I Ms Wigley Has a Young Audience at irst Baptist sermons are a nice break for them particularly when the sermons are toward the middle of the service Their attention spans are so Howie said And because Jesus frequently told to his adult listeners Howie said grown ups probably get more from the ser mons than the children At Midway United Methodist Church in Columbus pastor Dennis Stalvey said adult members enjoy time" so much that they come expecting the messages The messages there are given by Brenda Maynard church organist and worship chairperson has a creative way of in volving everybody in the congrega tion" he said Once to impress upon them the importance of shar ing Ms Maynard asked the chil dren to move into the audience and bring a grownup to the front of the church Then she talked about how important it is to share no matter how old or young you are She reached into a brown paper bag and pulled out a donut for each child The children stood uncer tainly for a moment with the donuts in hand what are you going to do with the donuts" she asked Each child then broke the donut and gave a half to the adult part ner The sermon brings out the best in a creativity lakes once used Superman as an example of a force which triumphed over evil In the pres ence of Kryptomte Superman was weak and it seemed his enemies would defeat him lakes said But he regained his strength defeated his enemies and mankind was saved Similarly Christ appeared to have been defeated on the cross but he arose from the dead to offer hope and salvation io mankind The children being children are apt to say and do the funniest and sometime most embarrassing things pastors say One pastor was entertaining his pint sized congregation with the story of the The Three Little Pigs one Sunday morning using as his scriptural basis ihe story of the houses built on the sand and on the rock He was at the climax of the story when the wolf drops down the chimney of the last lntle's brick house and he asked the chil dren: "And what do you think hap pened to the wolf?" You could have heard a pm drop in the sanctuary as a small hoy yelled "He burnt his butt" The congregation roared The minister never finished ihe story He decided on a prayer instead Ex Rocker Leevre Brings Gospel Music to Columbus By Josiah Sumbry Staff Writer Mylon Leevre who gave up life the fast lanes of rock roll to travel the highway" spreading the gospel via Christian rock music will give a concert in Columbus later this month Leevre and his seven piece band Broken Heart will perform at 7 pm Tuesday Aug 28 at the Columbus Iron Works Convention Trade Center Advance tickets are $6 per per son or $5 for each person who at tends the concert with a group that has 15 or more people Tickets at the door will cost $8 Tickets are available at the Mus tard Seed Christian Book Store in Columbus The Ark in Newnan Ga The Lighthouse in LaGrange Ga and Accents in Macon Ga Lefevre who was 17 years old when he wrote his first million seller Him" which as sung by Elvis Presley perhaps is best known for his rock roll music He has worked with such supergroups as The Rolling Stones The Who Pink loyd Black Sab bath and Jethro Tull He also has worked with the likes of Eric Clapton Emerson Lake Palmer Lynyrd Skynyrd Alvin Lee Ten Years After Ron Wood and George Harrison Leevre a member of the gos pel singing family known as the Gospel Singing Leevres of At lanta Ga vacillated between being a rock roll singer and a successful gospel songwriter most ol his music Career or vears he was considered the "black sheep" of his family which is known for its gospel singing throughout the South Leevre admits using drugs during those years as a rock roll singer It wasn't until 1980 that he com pletely focused his attention on Christian rock music called me out of the world April 1980" Leevre said in the July 1982 issue of Contemporary Christian Music magazine needed to slop my ca reer and follow Jesus" After being ordained as a youth minister in November 1981 Le evre went to work as a counselor at the Mount Parin amily Life Center in Atlanta where he directs the youth outreach ministry Leevre and his band perform Christian rOck concerts when he is not fulfilling his obligations at the Atlanta center Leevre's concerts are a "great way to reach young people" said Ed Wheeler president of Crossfire Ministries Inc Columbus Cross fire Ministries is the concert spon sor and will use the concert pro ceeds to sponsor more gospel concerts and produce religious lit erature spread the word about Jesus" Wheeler said concerts may be enter taining bin more importantly they are pari of his ministry" Wheeler said irebombed Church Is Kebuilt Hededieated The educational wing of the Gethsemane Baptist Church which was damaged in a July 2 firebomb ing last year has been rebuilt The rededication cermony will be 3:30 pm Sunday at the Co lumbus church at 242 Kendrick Ave The ceremony also will com memorate deacons Charlie Gam ble and George Robert Turner Columbus Mayor Pro Tern A McClung will preside over the rib bon cutting ceremony A dinner will in the fellow shiphall GOSPEL SING Saturday 7:30 pm Temple Baptist Church 4311 2nd Avenue eaturing The Calvary Quartet The Kings Trio The Oakes amily The Jordan amily Rev Harden Pastor 1 1 Schedule of Services SUNDAY Sunday School 10:00 AM Exciting Bible Study for every age! Morning Worship 11:00 AM Evening Worship 7:00 PM Beautiful Music Inspirational Preaching Sincere Worship! WEDNESDAY amily Night Activities 7:00 PM (amily Night Supper 6:00 PM) Adult Worship and Bible Study Alpha Chi (Youth) Royal Rangers (Boys ages 5 12 yrs Missionettes (Girls ages 5 12 yrs Children Slory Hour (age 4) BEALLWOOD CONNECTOR AT AIRPORT THRUWAY usuuucwSZ TELEPHONE 404323 1876.