Three graduates of Seminex, the St. Louis theological seminary run by moderates who split from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, will become pastors in United Methodist churches. Such a move would have been unthinkable in the parent group, which has few ecumenical ties and only limited dealings with fellow Lutheran bodies.
"This is the first official opportunity for our Lutheran confessional witness to be welcomed beyond the borders of Lutheranism," declared Seminex placement director, the Rev. Karl Reko, in announcing the appointment of the three graduates to United Methodist churches in New York state.
Stephen Rosendahl, one of the three graduates, acknowledged that at first he had some questions about serving a Methodist congregation but ultimately, he said, "I decided I'm a Christian first and a Lutheran second."
In a separate development, the LC-MS formally expelled the Rev. Dr. Alfred P. Klaysler, widely known religious journalist and former editor of LC-MS publications. He refused to give up membership in the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, the body formed by moderates who disagreed with the conservative LC-MS interpretation of the Bible.
The Unification Church and an evangelical Protestant television syndicate are partners in a challenge to a new North Carolina law requiring licensing and financial reporting by groups that solicit money from nonmembers.
The challenge originally was filed by the PTL (Praise The Lord) television network, based in Charlotte. The Unification Church subsequently secured court permission to join the suit.
Vice President of PTL Robert Manzano complained that PTL was not confortable in the alliance and charged that court action permitting the Unification Church to join the suit "only muddies the waters" and could affect the credibility of PTL's suit.
Leaders of Pax Christ USA, a Roman Catholic peace movement, have criticized President Carter for his failure to attend the recent special United Nations General Assembly session on disarmament and for sending Vice President Mondale instead.
Bishop Carroll T.Dozier of Memphis, Tenn., one of several American bishops active in the movement, told Carter in a telegram that "although we hold our Vice President Mondale in high esteem, we also know that his attendance at the U.N. General Assembly . . . must be regarded as a 'second-best' effort on the part of the United States."
The churchmen asked Carter to "demonstrate for all the world to see the high priority you and our country place on disarmament by attending one of the meetings of this special general session."
The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church has rejected requests from Episcopal churchwomen of the Washington diocese and the Episcopal Women's Caucus to join the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights.
The rejection was based on a position taken by the church's general convention that holds that abortion is permissible only under sharply restricted conditions. The Religious Coalition upholds the unrestricted right of a woman to make her own decisionabout abortion.