November 22, 1999 Preaching the Gospel in Israel would be a crime under a proposed law. The Knesset Internal Affairs Committee held a hearing Nov. 10 on a bill that would impose prison sentences for any kind of direct or indirect evangelistic activity. It was proposed by Rabbi Porush of the National Religious Party, Newsroom said.
...The bill calls for a five-year sentence for those convicted of trying to persuade an Israeli citizen to change faiths, 10 years for tying to convert a minor or "needy" person, 3 years for using advertising to encourage people to change faiths, and 1 year for bringing a minor or "needy" person to an event sponsored by a religious group other than their own. It also calls for a 10-year sentence for someone convicted of persuading someone to change faiths, even if the conversion occurs outside of Israel.

Porush said he believes the bill will pass the first of four votes in the legislature. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet approved a similar measure that was ultimately withdrawn in 1998 (see link #1 below). The Israeli government has received a flood of mail and faxes opposing anti-missionary legislation, Newsroom said. Read on at:

God is described as a mother in a new prayer used by the Church of England. Bishops, who rejected a similar prayer in 1996, overwhelmingly approved the prayer at the church's General Synod Nov. 18, The Times of London said. The prayer reads: "As a mother tenderly gathers her children, you embraced a people as your own."

Bishops denied a feminist influence. "Is it not vital to have, in at least one Eucharistic prayer today, some image of motherhood of feminine imagery," Rt. Rev. Richard Harris, who proposed the prayer, said. Old Testament and New Testament writers used the image of motherhood to refer to God, advocates of the prayer said. Jesus said he longed to gather his people "even as a hen gathereth her chicken under her wings," in the book of Matthew, they noted. In Isaiah, the image of a mother suckling her child is used to describe God's compassion for His people.

The prayer is one of eight to be included in the church's new book, Common Worship, a collection to be used on lap-top and palm-held computers. Church members can buy the book on software disks or download it off of the World Wide Web, and scroll along through the service from their pews. Read on:

The federal government is giving churches money to strengthen fathers and their families. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Fathers Count Act Nov. 10. It gives churches, synagogues, and other houses of worship federal funding to support non-religious ministries to fathers and families, Associated Baptist Press said. An amendment to require houses of worship to establish separate entities before they perform secular work was defeated.

Allowing churches access to federal funds threatens their independence, some religious groups say. It inevitably will lead "to government control and oversight of religion," Melissa Rogers of the Baptist Joint Committee said. Legislators acknowledge that groups that accept the money will be regulated. "If it's federal dollars, you are accountable," Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) said. Many religious organizations have not applied for federal funds made available to them under a 1996 welfare reform law because they don't want the government interfering in their work, ABP said.

Aside from questions of government intrusion, the programs are a good idea, supporters say. At the grass-roots level "the organizations that are by far the most effective are faith-based," Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) said. ["Moza" moza7@netzero.net - RELATED LINK 1: http://www.religiontoday.com/Archive/NewsSummary/
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