FULLER IN THE NEWS
Media Summary – January-December, 2005

(Fuller Theological Seminary was mentioned in the following news stories. The complete articles are available. If there are any questions or comments, please contact Dan Ohlson, 626-584-5471 or dohlson@fuller.edu 

Television

ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, "Theological Reflections on the Tsunami Crisis," 1/10/05
     Doug McConnell, dean of Fuller's School of Intercultural Studies, appeared on World News Tonight and offered theological reflections on the tsunami crisis. McConnell maintained that while Christians do not know why this happened, it is important to reach out with God's love to those who have been affected by this tragedy.

PBS, The Tavis Smiley Show, "Morality in America," 1/7/05
     Richard Mouw appeared on this program with Rabbi Michael Lerner, Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, and Rev. Cecil Murray. They discussed the role of morality in the United States.

CNN, Paula Zahn Now, “Religion and Hollywood,” 3/27/05
     Fuller professors Rob Johnston and Craig Detweiler were featured on this one-hour special discussing the growing relationship between Hollywood and religion. Johnston is a professor of theology and culture at Fuller, and Detweiler is an adjunct professor of theology and culture. He is also a PhD student in theology and culture at Fuller. Both stated that the success of “The Passion of the Christ” has led to new opportunities for faith-based films.

KCBS-Channel 2, “The Legacy of John Paul II,” 3/31/05
     Cecil Robeck, professor of church history and ecumenics at Fuller, was in studio for the 5 p.m. newscast. He discussed the legacy of Pope John Paul II.

KNBC-Channel 4, "Comments Regarding the Pope's Legacy," 2/1/05
     Cecil Robeck, professor of church history and ecumenics, discussed the Pope's failing health and his contributions to the global church.

KNBC-Channel 4, “John Paul II and Interfaith Dialogue,” 4/1/05
     KNBC reporter Gordon Tokumatsu interviewed Fuller professor Cecil Robeck regarding Pope John Paul II’s efforts to reach out to members of various faith traditions. Professor Robeck has participated in several dialogues at the Vatican.

KCBS--Channel 2, "Churches Cancelling Christmas Services," 12/9/05
Doug McConnell, dean of the School of Intercultural Studies, spoke about the growing number of churches who are canceling their Christmas Sunday services.

KCAL--Channel 9, "Churches Cancelling Christmas Services," 12/9/05
Doug McConnell, dean of the School of Intercultural Studies, discussed the growing number of churches who are canceling their Christmas Sunday services.



Radio

KPCC, AirTalk with Larry Mantle, “The Role of Evangelicals in Contemporary Culture,” 3/31/05
     Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at Fuller, and Winston Gooden, dean of Fuller’s School of Psychology, discussed the influence that evangelicals are having in contemporary American culture. Diane Winston, the Knight Chair of Media and Religion at the University of Southern California, was also a guest on the program.
     The prevailing theme of the show was that evangelicals do not care only about one or two hot-button issues, but many are also deeply committed to issues of social justice and the protection of the environment.

Magazines

U.S. News & World Report, “A New Kind of Ministry,” by Ulrich Boser, America’s Best Graduate Schools, 2006 edition
     Ulrich Boser writes how many of today’s seminary students are pursuing degrees not normally associated with divinity school.
     Before coming to Fuller, Chris Min was a television producer. He experienced a religious awakening watching the biblical finale of the film Magnolia. Soon afterward, he enrolled in a master’s program in worship, theology, and the arts at Fuller.
     “I want to realize a synergy between my faith and my creative process,” says Min, who plans to graduate this year and produce Christian films.

Christianity Today, "Love in the Land of Enmity," by Deann Alford, 7/05
     In the current edition of Christianity Today, Deann Alford highlights the work of Hanna Massad, who is a graduate of Fuller's School of Intercultural Studies. Alford writes, "The 9,600 Christians represent less than 1 percent of Gaza's 1.3 million residents. But Massad, who returned to the Gaza Strip from Fuller in 1999, sees his mission as not only to feed Gaza's hungry, but also to empower its embattled Christians to spread a table of God's grace in a land of enmity."

Christian Century, "Seminary Enrollment Trends Upward," by Staff Reports, 5/31/05
This article discussed the enrollment trends at American theological schools. Fuller continues to be the largest seminary with a reported head count of over 4,100 students.



Newspapers

The New York Times, "One More Moral Value: Fighting Poverty," by John Leland, 1/30/05
     In the January 30 edition of The New York Times, John Leland writes that many religious leaders, including some evangelicals, think the current focus on moral values has created a platform to talk about other issues, especially poverty, as both political and moral concerns.
     Glen Stassen, professor of Christian ethics at Fuller, said his students, who are largely conservative, agreed that poverty should be part of the moral values discussion.
     "A lot of Christians who are worried about abortion see poverty as a pro-life issue, because if you undermine the safety net for poor mothers, you'll increase the abortion rate and infant mortality rate," Stassen said. "We've seen that happen since welfare reform, just as the Catholic bishops predicted."
     Stassen, who describes himself as pro-life, added that many evangelicals, including his students, want to change the current moral values rhetoric because they think it drives people from, rather than to, the church. "They're both offended and worried that it will persuade people concerned about justice that they should not be Christians," he said.

The New York Times Magazine, “With Jesus as Our Connector,” by Jonathan Mahler, 3/27/05
     In America’s fast-growing “exurbs,” second-generation megachurches are the new social centers and town squares, writes Jonathan Mahler in the March 27 edition of The New York Times Magazine.
     In this article Mahler addresses how far churches should go as they seek to be relevant to contemporary society. He states that Rick Warren and the Saddleback Church of Mission Viejo, California, are often the model for churches seeking to reach today’s culture. Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life has sold more than 20 million copies.
     “There’s a healthy reaction here against a legalistic religion of dos and don’ts,” says Eddie Gibbs, professor church growth at Fuller, referring to the purpose-driven approach. “The danger, though, is that you end up with a Gospel that endeavors to meet your needs without challenging your priorities.”

The Washington Post, “Fostering Communal Spaces Where Ministries Can Bloom: Christian Leaders Embrace New Urbanist Planning To Combat Isolation In Spiritual Life,” by Marshall Allen, 8/20/05
     Eric Jacobsen is an ordained Presbyterian pastor who says city planning can have an important influence on religious experience. He is an advocate for New Urbanism, the movement that calls for interdependence among residents by promoting pedestrian-friendly streets, parks, and town squares in neighborhoods where shops and homes coexist. Jacobsen is a doctoral student in theology and culture, and taught Fuller’s first class on the Theology of the Built Environment. (Summer 2005)

The Washington Post, "Feeling God's Spirit Through The Arts: Music, Dance, And Mime Help Churches Broaden Reach," by Connie Kang and Bill Broadway, 2/5/05
     To examine how various Christian groups have used the visual arts in the worship experience, Fuller hosted a colloquium February 4 featuring liturgical consultants from Protestant, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions.
     Forty other participants, including theologians, gallery owners and clergy, then discussed how the use of the arts has evolved within those traditions and been adopted by others--or "broken down in the American multicultural experience," said Bill Dyrness, professor of theology and culture at Fuller.
      Over the next year, Fuller students will visit churches throughout southern California, interviewing pastors and worship leaders and videotaping services. Dyrness and other research directors will analyze and collate the material, with the goal of publishing it in a book in 2007.
     According to Dyrness, some trends are evident. One is the increased use of the visual arts in Protestant churches, which unlike Catholic and Orthodox churches, historically have shunned images and other art forms lest they detract from the preaching of God's word.
     Icons, for example, are central to the worship experience in the Orthodox church and are considered "windows to heaven," Dyrness said. Now, some Protestant churches, including nondenominational megachurches, are bringing icons into the sanctuary along with candles and other ritual elements.
     Mime is another art form increasingly used in worship and ministry.
"The art of mime has no language barrier," said Todd Farley, a Christian mime, and an artist in residence at Fuller's Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts. Farley is also a doctoral candidate in theology and culture at Fuller.
     Experts say the arts must be well-grounded in theology to be used in church services and should not overwhelm the worship. Dyrness noted that for many, the arts have become a substitute religion. But he warned that beauty should not become "an alternate worship experience. That's the danger."
     J. Frederick Davison, executive director of the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts, said the arts "art not just window dressing on a service."
Many today may not be able to relate to passages from the King James version of the Bible. But they might relate to them if the story is reset in a hip-hop setting, for example, he said.
     "That's what it is all about," Davison said. "The arts give us many ways."

The Washington Post,"A Glimpse of 21'st Century Christianity," by Richard Ostling, 10/13/05
(This also appeared as a feature story in the Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, and over 50 other newspapers across the United States and Canada.)
     There are few better places to get a glimpse of what 21st century Christianity looks like than Fuller Theological Seminary, writes Richard Ostling of the Associated Press.
     "We are seeing the internationalization of theology, and thehe shifting of boundaries and blurring of boundaries." said Richard Mouw
     "Fuller was a pacesetter. We all owe Fuller a lot," says professor Terry Muck of the newer mission school at Kentucky's Asbury Theological Seminary. "They took what was staring them in the face, being on the West Coast in multicultural Los Angeles, and did something with it."
     Doug McConnell, dean of Fuller's School of Intercultural Studies says students will work in developing nations where large numbers migrate, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is devastating populations, catastrophes put severe pressures on church leaders, average ages are declining and huge numbers of children are exploited for labor, combat and sex trafficking.
     Ostling writes that the founding mantra of Fuller's School of Intercultural Studies was "church growth," meaning mostly numbers. Today it's "church health," emphasizing social impact and deeper Christian devotion. But one aspect of the founders' concept remains: sophisticated analysis of social groups, rather than simply seeking converts one by one.
     McConnell stresses another constant. He says zeal for spreading the message to everyone everywhere remains central "for any Christian who has a firm commitment to the uniqueness and amazing offer of salvation in Christ."
 

Los Angeles Times, "New Urban Model Becomes Article of Faith," by Connie Kang, 6/25/05
     In the June 25 edition of the Los Angeles Times, Connie Kang discusses the growing connections between New Urbanism and Christianity.
     "Christians can applaud the fact that New Urbanists are advocating a return to human scale in the built environment," said Eric Jacobsen, author of Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith. Jacobsen is studying for his Ph.D. in theology of the built environment at Fuller. He recently taught the seminary's first class on the subject.
     "I'll be the first to admit that Christians in this country have failed to live up to the standard set by their own Scriptures," Jacobsen said. "Rather than taking the Bible seriously, we have allowed the American idols of individualism, conspicuous consumption and privatism to influence our approach to church building as well as our impulses toward the urban landscape."
     He added that in contrast, a church that is embedded in the neighborhood with doors that come right up to the sidewalk reflects Christ's approach to ministry.
"Jesus Christ literally tabernacled or pitched his tent among us. He did not remain distant and wait for people to come to him but sought out the hurting to touch them with his love," said Jacobsen.

Los Angeles Times, "Living With Cancer, A Scholar Inspires Students," by Connie Kang, 11/5/05
     In this feature story, Connie Kang highlights David Scholer's inspirational story about living with cancer. Scholer is associate dean for the Center for Advanced Theological Studies and professor of New Testament in Fuller's School of Theology. In this piece, Scholer offers the following thoughts about living with cancer: "In life's ups and downs, what's important to realize is that God's ways are well above our ways. Maturity in faith is the ability to accept mystery and ambiguity."
     "I really do trust in God. I believe in God's comfort and love,” he emphasized. “I believe that God is the giver of life, and that means to affirm this life, as well as to have faith in the life to come. God has given me life. I feel I have a calling in life." But for the terminally ill, a time comes when the will to live doesn't work anymore, he said.
     "So, as an incurable-cancer patient, I give myself to God," Scholer said. "My life is in God's hands."

Los Angeles Times, "Deadly Tsunami Resurrects the Old Question of Why," by Larry Stammer and Teresa Watanabe, 1/8/05
     This article discusses the tsunami crisis and why such human suffering can occur under a benevolent God.
     "It is natural to question God--even Jesus did so in his suffering on the cross," said Doug McConnell. But believing that God deliberately caused the destruction is a difficult leap for those who believe God was revealed in the compassionate Jesus."

Los Angeles Times, "More Churches Incorporating Arts Into Worship," by Connie Kang, 1/22/05
     This article discusses the growing number of church services employing dance, music, and mime to boost the emotional impact for those used to TV and movies.
"Most people have emotional memories that are connected with an aesthetic dimension," said Bill Dyrness, professor of theology and culture at Fuller.
     J. Frederick Davison, executive director of the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts, said the arts "are not just window dressing on a service."
Many today may not be able to relate to passages from the King James version of the Bible. But they might relate to them if the story is reset in a hip-hop setting, for example, he said.
     "That's what it is all about," Davison said. "The arts give us many ways."

Los Angeles Times, “More Worshippers Pulling the Shades on Sunrise Services,” by Natasha Lee, 3/26/05
     While some Christian churches still faithfully hold sunrise services on Easter, the popularity of such events has waned among younger people and families with children who are reluctant to get out of bed that early, writes Natasha Lee in the March 26 edition of the Los Angeles Times.
     Many Southern California churches prefer to hold outdoor services because darkness turning into daylight is symbolic of Christ shedding his physical body to take on a spiritual form. The image of dawn is significant in Christian theology because it signals the end of the dark days surrounding the crucifixion, said Fuller professor Eddie Gibbs.
     “It’s got nothing to do with sun worship,” he said. “The resurrection represents the dawn of a new day and a hope for the world.”

Los Angeles Times, "For the Young, Hip and Christian, These Stores Rock," by Claudia Zequeira, 5/28/05
     This article discusses the growing number of Christian bookstores that combine religious themes with the quest for commercial success.
Craig Detweiler, adjunct professor of theology and culture at Fuller, said Christian retailers can be a wonderful addition to the community but should seek to strike an ethical balance between religion and commerce.
     "Jesus had a marketplace theology," he said. "At the same time, there was a moment when he threw the moneylenders out of the temple. He had very little patience for selling salvation or for those who were cornering the market on spiritual matters."

Los Angeles Times, “Gospel for Both Sides of the Aisle,” by Teresa Watanabe, 3/28/05
     Jim Wallis, author of the new book God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, recently spoke in Pasadena to a crowd of about 900.
Wallis maintained that evangelicals need to pay more attention to poverty, the environment, and peacemaking. To Wallis, such issues are dominant biblical mandates that deserve as much attention as abortion, gay marriage, and other hot-button issues.
     After his lecture, several students stayed behind to discuss whether Wallis will be successful in uniting conservatives and liberals behind his cause.
     “I don’t think Wallis’ movement will succeed,” said Aaron Collins, a youth pastor and student at Fuller. “It will alienate both sides. The right won’t want to raise taxes and the left won’t outlaw abortion.”

Los Angeles Times, “If Muslims Called Allah 'God', Would the U.S. Be More Respectful?" by Michael McGough
     Dudley Woodberry, professor of Islamic Studies at Fuller, was mentioned in this editorial regarding his work in fostering dialog between Christian and Muslim scholars.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Belief in the Power of Collaboration Guide’s One Couple’s Giving, by Nicole Wallace, 3/3/05
     In the March 3 edition of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Nicole Wallace profiles Bill Brehm, who has been a Fuller trustee since 1983, and his wife, Dee. Wallace highlights the Brehms’ passion for the arts, as well as their shared desire to connect artists and members of the clergy who are trying to integrate the arts into worship.
     Last year, the Brehms gave $15 million to Fuller for projects aimed at bringing together worship and the arts.
     Richard Mouw says the Brehms represent “an interesting alternative” to previous generations of donors who waited to give the bulk of their fortunes at the end of their lives, out of loyalty and with a generic trust that the institution would use their money well. He contrasted this with the approach embraced by many of today’s donors, who are much more likely to give when they are younger and know exactly what they want to support.
     “The Brehms are people who want to be very involved in the process, but they don’t want to trump everybody else’s ideas,” said Mouw.
Fuller started the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts in 2001. The Brehms said they discerned the need for such a program after spending over a decade helping their pastor and his wife put on marriage retreats in churches around the country. The retreats would usually wrap up during the Sunday worship service.
     “We had the opportunity to go to many different churches,” said Dee Brehm, “and we began to wonder if the music directors and the pastors really knew each other, and if they were coordinating their worship.”
     In some cases, says Mr. Brehm, “there was downright hostility between the music director and the pastor. They just didn’t understand each other. They didn’t understand what they were supposed to be doing.”
     Initially, the Brehms offered to endow a professorship in worship and the arts at Fuller. However, the seminary was not sure what kind of candidate to look for: a theologian who knew about the arts, or an artist who knew a lot about theology.        Instead, Fuller began hosting workshops and lectures by visiting artists, film series, and an annual arts festival.
     Those programs led to the creation of the Brehm Center, to which the couple pledged $15 million for an endowment in 2003.
     As Fuller’s involvement with the arts grew, there also emerged a greater understanding of the need for the seminary to have its own chapel. That led the Brehms to agree last year to make a gift of $15 million to build a new worship center on campus, and this year they have pledged another $4 million for a new library.

Associated Press, "Christian Aid Flows to Tsunami Victims," by Brian Murphy, 1/21/05
    For decades, most U.S. faith-based relief agencies have followed a pact: access to government funds in exchange for promises not to seek converts or upset local customs. The tsunami disaster, however, has given a high-profile stage for other Christian groups outside the established framework, writes Brian Murphy of the Associated Press.
     "Nowadays, most people are thinking that Christian witness involves both word and deed so they are seeing this as a holistic ministry," said Dudley Woodberry, professor of Islamic studies at Fuller. Woodberry noted that "in many cases, they are not allowed to proselytize so it basically has to be the ministry of deed." But "certainly some people are using it as an entry strategy" for missionary work, he added.

Associated Press, "Experts Say There Won't Be Another Graham," by Rachel Zoll, 6/30/05
There are evangelical pastors who fill American megachurches each Sunday and others who sell millions of books. But none is likely to fill the singular role played by the Rev. Billy Graham, writes Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press.
"I think Billy Graham came into public awareness at a time when it was still possible for a single individual to initiate something new and become a leading spokesperson," said Richard Mouw, president of Fuller. "I don't think we'll see a person like that come along again."

Associated Press, “Billy Graham-Style Crusades May Be On Their Way Out,” by Rachel Zoll, 9/8/05
Evangelist Billy Graham has left the unique stage he built and many Christians are wondering whether the style of crusade that he popularized will end with him, writes Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press. “The bigger-is-better form of evangelism may have passed,” said Craig Detweiler, who teaches theology and popular culture at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. “The emerging generation has been so advertised, media-tised and oversold that the smaller, quieter and more authentic is the growing edge of their experience.”

Associated Press, "Evangelicals' Political Views Differ Sharply," by Richard Ostling, 1/29/05
     As George W. Bush began his second term, his words and actions seemed to reinforce the image of a president whose straightforward piety helped him win re-election and earned him lockstep loyalty from white evangelicals, writes Richard Ostling of the Associated Press.
     Ostling notes that things might become more complicated in March as a National Association of Evangelicals conference discusses a lengthy political platform, titled "For the Health of the Nation," that the organization's board unanimously approved last October.
     Richard Mouw says the document provides a reminder that "evangelicalism is a very diverse movement." Although almost all evangelicals are conservative on family and moral issues, Mouw says, a significant segment questions Bush's foreign and economic policies.

Reuters, "Braveheart Becomes Role Model for Christian Men," by Nigel Hunt, 1/22/05
     John Eldredge's Wild at Heart has already sold 1.5 million copies in English and been translated into 16 languages, most recently Korean.
Eldredge believes many Christian men have become bored, "really nice guys" and invites them to rediscover passion by viewing their life's mission as having a battle to fight, an adventure to live and a beauty to rescue, writes Nigel Hunt of the Reuters News Service.
     "The basic premise that men need a princess to rescue has set back male female relationships in the church by 30 years. Eldredge sanctifies a mythological view of 1950's malehood," said Chap Clark, professor of youth, family, and culture at Fuller.
     "It's destructive to marriages in the long-term," Clark said, adding that treating women as a figurine rather than as the personal image of God will hurt relationships over time.
     Clark said Eldredge had tapped into an angst among middle-aged white men who are dissatisfied with their lives and for whom depression had become a very serious problem.

Philadelphia Inquirer, “The Surprising Spectrum of Evangelicals," by Paul Nussbaum, 6/19/05
     Evangelicals are interested in far more than the hot-button issues of abortion and homosexual marriage often used to define them, writes Paul Nussbaum in the June 19 edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
     Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at Fuller, said the popularity of right-wing politics is overstated.
     "Many of us who consider ourselves to be evangelical Christians would want to distance ourselves from that kind of alignment," said Gibbs, an Episcopalian. "And it is very much an American thing; most evangelicals in Europe would distance themselves from the politics associated with evangelicals in the United States."

The Seattle Times Magazine, “A Critic Finds God and Common Ground on the Secular Screen,” by Richard Seven, 2/27/05
     In the February 27 edition of The Seattle Times Magazine, Richard Seven discussed the growing relationship between faith and film.
     Seven writes that there are signs of momentum for Christians who want to become more involved in movie making. He mentions the influence of the annual City of the Angels Film Festival, which is cosponsored by Fuller’s Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts.
     “Interest in spirituality is at an all-time high,” says Barry Taylor, professor of theology and culture at Fuller. “This doesn’t necessarily translate into Christian communities, because I think our culture has, for the most part, chosen to look beyond Christian faith in its search for spirituality and meaning to life.” He points to recent films such as In America, Lost in Translation, and In the Bedroom as examples of what he calls “this new exhaustion with the legacy of unbelief.”

The Boston Globe, "Greater Boston In Midst of Quiet Religious Revival, " by Jay Lindsay, 1/15/05
     Boston is experiencing a so-called "quiet revival," a largely overlooked period of church expansion that's happened amid the decline of the region's historically prominent Protestant denominations.
     Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at Fuller, said growth similar to Boston's has been seen in other urban areas where changing demographics have brought populations with "a more dynamic understanding of faith and church."
     Gibbs added that such churches won't become visible without risking a loss of the energy they've found outside the mainstream. The question, he said, is "How do you remain cross-culturally engaged, without being culturally subverted?"

The Boston Globe, “On Roads Less Traveled, Spirituality Takes Flight,” by Christine McConville, 8/14/05
     Christine McConville discusses the spiritual revival that is taking place in many parts of New England.
     Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at Fuller, says similar revivals are occurring in pockets across the country. In his travels over the past year interviewing religious leaders in the United States and United Kingdom, Gibbs says he found that growing churches focus more on human relationships and less on rituals.
     ''They are more relational. They have more of a folk Mass atmosphere," he said.'' This is representative of a search for an authentic community and relationships," said Gibbs. ''The younger generation especially sees their life in a world of uncertainty, and their spiritual search is a search for security, and authenticity.

The Baltimore Sun, "Christmas Comes on Sunday, but Some Churches Are Closed," by Matthew Hay Brown, 12/22/05
     This Christmas season, a growing number of churches are canceling their Sunday services so congregants can spend more time with their families.
     Robert K. Johnston, a professor of theology and culture at Fuller cherishes childhood memories of Christmas morning services, followed by pancake breakfasts and caroling.
     "Christmas has increasingly become a day of family gathering," said Johnston, a minister of the Evangelical Covenant Church. "Rather than seeing the church as a larger family to which you can bring your individual families to increase the celebration as together we remember our lord and savior, the church has become more an entertainment venue.
     "We are losing one important dimension of what the church should be: namely, a community."


Tampa Tribune, "Organized Faiths Benefit From Celebrity Spirituality," by Michelle Bearden, 6/28/05
     Organized faiths benefit from celebrity spirituality, but the association can be a double-edged sword, writes Michelle Bearden in the June 28 edition of the Tampa Tribune.
     "Every organized religion is looking for a celebrity spokesperson," said Craig Detweiler, adjunct professor of theology and culture at Fuller. "But that can be a dangerous game. They can end up being your best--or worst--advertising."
Detweiler, author of A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture, says he isn't surprised by the recent influx of celebrity spirituality. The trend mirrors what's happening in our society as a whole.
     "Spirituality is cool and trendy these days. It's ok to talk about it. Now it is the atheist who is the exception in Hollywood.
Detweiler said that he doesn't have a problem with superstars speaking about their newfound faith. It can be a risk, particularly with a religion that doesn't resonate with fans. But if stars are sincere about it, they can use this high-profile platform to show the positive changes faith has made in their lives.
     "It's as if they're saying, 'Know me for my actions, rather than just my acting.' And that's not a bad thing." he said. "Fame should be earned by deeds, rather than being famous for famous' sake."

Tampa Tribune, "Tampa Church is the Nation's Fastest Grower," by Michelle Bearden, 7/1/05
     Without Walls International Church in Tampa FL. is the fastest growing and second largest church in the nation.
     Kurt Fredrickson says that megachurches like Without Walls influence not only their local communities, but the political process as well.
     "If you can only invite so many people to the White House, who will you ask: The pastor with 20,000 members, or the pastor with 500?" he said. "It's no secret that Karl Rove specifically went after the evangelical vote in the last election. So you can't discount a church's influence."

Arkansas Democrat Gazette "Heading for the Hills," by Christie Storm, 7/2/05
     Churches often experience a decline in attendance during the summer months, according to Christie Storm of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
Kurt Fredrickson, director of Fuller's doctor of ministry program, agrees with this observation, and maintains that churches and pastors should use this time to prepare for the busy months of the year.
     "School is out and people think of summer as vacation time, and people start to check out," he says. "From my perspective I don't know if it's that bad of a thing." He adds that the expectation of a down time is worth exploring.
     "We operate on this business model when it comes to church--every quarter has to be bigger. And I don't think humans are built that way," he said. "If we got into a rhythmic understanding of life it might be better."
     Fredrickson says individuals experience burnout and need vacation time to relax and refresh, and churches could benefit from following that example.
"If churches embraced the summer slump and saw it as a time to kind of lay low a little more, it might not be bad," he says. "Most churches know there is a summer slump, and so churches and pastors plan their year differently."

Pasadena Star News, “ For The One They Call Master G: Fuller Professor Brings Hip-Hop Culture To Theology,” by Marshall Allen, 7/31/05
A Denon 3000 DJ mixer two turntables, a microphone and a headset is on a stand near a window. And Watkins knows how to use it, writes Marshall Allen of the Pasadena Star News.
Watkins, a former urban pastor, recently arrived as the new assistant dean of African American Church Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. He also moonlights as a party and club DJ. When Watkins DJs at a club, he sees things that no other pastor is ever going to see, he said.
He believes hip-hop is a window to a culture that should be studied by church leaders. Religious leaders should also adopt elements of hip-hop, so they can more effectively communicate the Bible to their congregations, he said.
Black churches are traditionally conservative, and Watkins said incorporating hip-hop can be controversial. But churches must find a way to talk to the hip-hop generation.
"If we condemn their culture, then the question becomes, 'Are we condemning them?' ' he said.

Pasadena Star News, " A World of Compassion: Tsunami Is Interpreted Differently by Five Faiths," by Marshall Allen, 1/22/05
     Unspeakable calamity, such as the recent tsunami that killed more than 250,000 people in South Asia, often causes people to reflect on their beliefs about God and suffering, writes Marshall Allen in the January 22 edition of the Pasadena Star News.
     Doug McConnell said that when he first heard about the tsunami disaster, as a Christian, his heart was broken for the suffering people.
     "Your first response is to see the human suffering and identify with that," he said. "That's very much in keeping with what we know of our faith."
God also motivates Christians to respond with a generous outpouring of care, McConnell said.
     The question of whether God caused the disaster is relevant, and the answer would vary among Christians, McConnell said. Some would say God is trying to get people's attention; others would focus on the fact that God's hand is seen in the response, he said.
     McConnell said he avoids affixing blame for the disaster, because his understanding of God's justice takes into account his mercy and grace.
"I can see evidence that God can do this, but I equally see evidence that God shows immeasurable kindness and perseverance with people," McConnell said.

Pasadena Star News, "Church Coalition Taps Goals For Blacks," by Marshall Allen, 2/2/05
     Nationally known African-American pastor Bishop Harry Jackson recently launched a coalition that will strive to redefine the politics of African-American churches, shifting loyalty from liberal to biblical values.
     Bill Pannell, former director of the African-American Church Studies Program at Fuller, said a growing number of African-American leaders feel the liberal agenda is not consistent with traditional African-American family values.
     "It seems were on the cusp of some important changes of the allegiances in the African-American community," he said of the multiple conservative coalitions.
Pannell said people have to get beyond the "loaded meanings" of the terms liberal and conservative to understand the movement.
     "You start with the assumption that black people see a choice between a known devil and a suspected witch," he said.
Political allegiances are temporary, and defined in terms of what's best for black marriages, family, and other central institutions, he said.

Pasadena Star News, “Schiavo Case Spurs Debate of Issues,” by Marshall Allen, 3/26/05
     As the Terri Schiavo case was playing out in Florida, its ramifications were being felt in Southern California. Ethicists, scholars, and doctors found themselves caught up in the debate over end-of-life issues, living wills, politics, and religion, writes Marshall Allen in the March 26 edition of the Pasadena Star News.
     Glen Stassen, the Lewis B. Smedes professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller, said the Schaivo case has led him and his wife to discuss writing living wills.
Stassen said he trusts that the court’s diagnosis of Schiavo is correct. Thus, there is no ethical obligation to do extraordinary medical treatment that carries a financial cost or will not benefit the patient, he said
     “In this case, after 15 years of persistent vegetative state, it looks like it’s not going to benefit the patient,” said Stassen.
Erin Dufault Hunter, who teaches bioethics at Fuller, said the Schiavo case shows how terms like “right to life” or “death with dignity” can confuse the issues.
     “Part of what saddens me, as a Christian, is that Christians are participating in the blaming, the sensationalizing of a very tragic, personal suffering of both the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo,” she said.
     Politicians should never get involved in end-of-life decisions as they did in the Schiavo case, Dufault-Hunter said.
     “Do people really want the U.S. government, people who do not know you, who didn’t spend five years at your bedside, making decisions for you at the end of your life? I find that absurd,” she said.

Pasadena Star News, “Pope Built Bridges Between Religions,” by Marshall Allen, 4/3/05
     Pope John Paul II was a charismatic leader who made the papacy personal, stood up for life, and built bridges the crossed denominational and religious lines, writes Marshall Allen in the Sunday, April 3 edition of the Pasadena Star News.
     Cecil M. Robeck, professor of church history and ecumenics at Fuller, knew the pope personally and described him as a “wonderful, charismatic figure.”
Robeck warmly remembered a family visit with him in 1989. Robeck and his wife brought their 14- and 16-year-old sons to a meeting with the pope, and he “talked to them like they were real people,” Robeck said. “It was an extraordinary time.”
     Robeck, who met with the pope in a series of Roman Catholic-Pentecostal dialogues, said that in meetings the pope could be serious or laid back, joking with people.
     Robeck said the pope will be remembered as one who pointed people to the giver of life in a world that thrives on death. The pope advocated for life in a culture where there is a declining moral certainty about when life and death occur, Robeck said.
     He also pressured international governments to provide “greater freedom for the human community,” said Robeck. The pope was strongly opposed to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, just as he was critical of the policies of other governments, Robeck said.
     Even in his own death, the pope has been a “powerful reminder that God continues to work through people with limited ability,” said Robeck.

Pasadena Star News, " Tel Aviv Professor to Lecture on Holy Wars, " Briefs Section, 2/1/05
     There was a notice in the February 2 edition of the Pasadena Star News regarding a lecture at Fuller by Ithamar Gruenwald, professor of religious studies at Tel Aviv University.

The Riverside Press Enterprise, "Spirituality Fills King's Message," by Bettye Miller, 1/18/05
     The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a prophet whose call to social action evolved from his belief that Jesus Christ called people to love each other, writes Bettye Miller in the January 18 edition of the The Riverside Press Enterprise. But some African-American leaders believe the country has moved away from King’s prophetic call to action in the decades since the civil rights leader was killed in 1968.
     “Even though he raised our consciousness, it is so much easier to celebrate the Dr. King who marched, but not to understand that something is required of us," said the Rev. Candace Shields, director of the African-American Church Studies Program at Fuller.
     King embraced a theology of love rooted in the concept of justice implicit in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, found in the book of Matthew, said Shields.
     "He understood that the doctrine of love entailed bringing correction when it needed to be brought," she said. "Love also means embracing your brother and sister and doing things the way the Bible says. It's not just loving people and allowing them to die in the same circumstances....I cannot say I love you and do nothing. I am required and obligated to make every human being my equal."
     "The best way to honor King's memory is to pick up where he left off," said Shields.

The Riverside Press Enterprise, "Faith And Film: Two Evangelical Schools Seek Learning At Hollywood's Utah Outing," by Bettye Miller, 1/29/05
     Hollywood and evangelical Christians have often been on opposite sides in America's so-called culture war, writes Bettye Miller in the January 29 edition of The Riverside Press Enterprise. However, students from Fuller recently attended the inaugural Windrider Forum, held at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. The forum’s purpose was to study the connections between film and theology.
     "For a long time, Christians have viewed culture and film and critiqued it rather than engaged in it," said Will Stoller-Lee, director of Fuller's Colorado campus.
"A lot of people in our culture who are interested in spiritual matters would never set foot in a church, but they'll go to a movie on Friday night and be deeply touched," he said. "It's important for seminary students to know how to "read" a film and develop a theological response to be effective ministers, he said.
     "It's one thing to sit in a classroom and talk about theology and culture," said Stoller-Lee. "It's a whole different experience...being in the culture as it unfolds.

The Riverside Press Enterprise, “Peace, War through a Religious Lens,” by Bettye Miller, 3/18/05
     Religious belief is the lens through which many view the war in Iraq as either immoral or as a necessary response to evil personified in Saddam Hussein, writes Bettye Miller in the March 18 edition of The Riverside Press Enterprise.
In the wake of the Vietnam War, many mainline Protestant churches in the U.S. called for a theology of peace beginning in the 1980s.
     Glen Stassen, professor of Christian ethics at Fuller, leads a group of 23 Christian scholars advancing a new theory of just peacemaking, and wrote the book Just Peacemaking: Ten Practices for Abolishing War in 1998.
     “There is widespread agreement that simply to debate whether to make a war leaves out the question: Are there initiatives to take to solve injustice and take preventive action, short of war?” he said.
     “Americans are caught in a culture that allows only two options—make war or do nothing,” Stassen said.

The Riverside Press Enterprise, “Inland Empire Catholics Identify Concerns,” by Bettye Miller, 4/8/05
     Pope John Paul II’s successor will face many challenges, particularly in his relationship to the American church, writes Bettye Miller in the April 8 edition of The Riverside Press Enterprise.
     “The United States has been problematic for the Roman Catholic Church in part because of the desire by immigrant Catholics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to be accepted as Americans,” said Cecil Robeck, professor of church history and ecumenics at Fuller.
     “This was a Protestant country. They needed to fit in,” said Robeck, who has co-chaired the International Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue since 1992.
     The 33-year ecumenical project addresses points of theological similarities and differences between Catholics and Pentecostal Christians.
     American Catholics “wanted to own their own property and appoint their own bishops,” said Robeck. “There are a lot of areas where to fit into the dominant culture there has been a tendency to want more flexibility.”

The Colorado Springs Gazette, "Seminary Pupils Do Sundance," by Paul Asay, 1/22/05
     The Sundance Film Festival is many things, but it's never safe--especially not for a bunch of Christian seminary students, writes Paul Asay in the January 22 edition of The Colorado Springs Gazette.
     Fuller recently sent 30 students to Sundance to participate in the inaugural Windrider Forum, with the goal of studying the connections between film and theology.
"We really do want to participate in Sundance on Sundance's own terms," said Will Stoller-Lee.
     "It's safe to say that many films are going to be critical of the church," said Stoller-Lee. "And yet I feel like it's important for us to be there at that dialogue, because there are people who have genuine gripes or concerns, and this is an opportunity to wrestle with those."