September, 1998 (Vol. 13, No. 11)

Marian devotion is increasingly dividing the Catholic charismatic movement, especially in Europe, according to Charisma magazine (August).

Charismatic Catholics both in the U.S. and Europe have in recent years adopted a strong interest in the Virgin Mary, as evidenced by their involvement and leadership in the Marian apparition movement in Medjugorje in the former Yugoslavia. Tomas Dixon writes that in the “Catholic heartlands of south and central Europe, a significant number of charismatic Catholics — who 10 years ago partnered with Protestant charismatics — are now devout Marianists.

Their spirituality is a mixture of the traditional and the charismatic. They attend Mass and pray the rosary many times a week, but they also sing Vineyard worship choruses [from the independent charismatic Vineyard Fellowship]  and pray for the sick.”

The issue of Marian apparitions and devotions is also stirring divisions in Catholic charismatic ranks. The Community of the Beatitudes, a fast-growing Marian movement in south and central Europe, has become an “unofficial headquarters” for Marianism. The community recently left the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal because of differences with charismatic leaders over how much emphasis should be placed on Mary.

The charismatic Marianists often speak of having a personal relationship with both Jesus and Mary. The more “traditional” Catholic charismatics strongly emphasize the role of Jesus, although they would claim that Mary leads one to such a Christ-centered relationship.

(Charisma, 600 Rinehart Road, Lake Mary, FL 32746)

Messianic Jews are increasingly building their own institutions apart from Gentile Christians and also suffering disaffection from younger generations, according to several reports.

Jews who have adopted faith in Christ and yet retain their Jewish traditions are growing in numbers, particularly in the U.S., according to Christianity Today magazine (Sept. 7). Today there are over 350 Messianic Jewish congregations around the world.  Increasingly, the tendency for these congregations, or synagogues, is to de-emphasize Christian symbols and identity — for instance, not displaying a cross or celebrating Christmas or even calling themselves Christian — and stressing the role of Jewish traditions and practices, writes Gary Thomas. Some of these Messianic Jews also follow the strict practices of Orthodox Judaism,  including kosher food preparation.

There are sharp differences among the Messianic Jews in regard to their identity. The largest Messianic “denomination,” the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA), with 90 congregations, pushes the envelope the furthest in adopting Jewish practices, while the smaller Federation of Messianic Congregations (FMC) and such missionary organizations as Jews for Jesus take a more assimilationist approach and have strong ties with Gentile churches. Nevertheless, Gentile Christian leaders criticize the growing tendency of Messianic Jews to discard mainstream Christian practices.

While a conference is in the works that would seek to repair the breach between the two groups,  the trend seems to be toward more separation. The first seminary for Messianic Jewish rabbis is opening this Fall in Tampa, Florida, reports the Tampa Tribune (July 18). Although it will be sponsored by the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, the school will be independent. Students will take courses such as Messianic Apologetics, Zionism, and the Gospels in Their Jewish Context and, upon completion, will be eligible for ordination in one of the approved Messianic Jewish organizations.

Although a young movement, Messianic Judaism is also having problems keeping the young in the fold, according to a report from the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, another denomination with 70 congregations. Marty Waldman, president of the group, says the small number of Messianic Jews combined with the antagonism from Christians and Jews are  causing increasing number of young Messianic Jews to leave the movement, reports the National Catholic Register (Aug. 9-15).

(Christianity Today, 456 Gundersen Dr., Carol Stream, IL 60188; National Catholic Register, 33 Rossotto Drive, Hamden, CT 06514).

Mormon fundamentalists are receiving renewed scrutiny from law enforcement officials, mainly for their practice of polygamy.

The Washington Post (Aug. 9) reports that a publicized case of a teenager’s “escape” from a polymagmous Mormon fundamentalist group where she claims that she was abused by her father, has put the spotlight on polygamy — illegal in Utah, although still unofficially tolerated. While the Mormons banned polygamous marriages over 100 years ago, breakaway fundamentalist groups have kept the practice alive, often establishing self-sustaining enclaves that critics view as authoritarian cults.

In the firestorm of controversy, even officials have stated that polygamy in Utah has not often been prosecuted because of religious freedom concerns and the difficulty of proving sexual crimes. But the case has spurred Utah officials to vow to move more aggressively against crimes in the polygamous community.

Polygamy is a common practice of most Mormon fundamentalists, but several concerns drive this fragmented subculture, writes D. Michael Quinn in the independent Mormon journal Dialogue (Summer). In a 68-page article, he writes that the approximately 21,000-strong fundamentalist community in the Western U.S.,  Canada and Northern Mexico (although the estimate has been as high as 60,000) includes long-standing groups, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Colorado City, Ariz., as well as independent practitioners. Quinn found that the few converts to the movement (most are born into these groups) are drawn more by the strict and “deep” Mormon teachings and community of these groups rather than by their polygamous practices.

On the issue of polygamy, Quinn found that fundamentalist marriages are less likely to end in divorce than marriages within the LDS church, and that “plural wives” run the gamut from strictly subservient to feminist. Quinn is optimistic about the fundamentalist future. With their high birth rates, they are “growing exponentially.”

The possibility of the LDS revising its opposition to polygamy in African countries to minister to its many polygamous converts may convince a “significant number” of fundamentalists to return to the LDS church.

(Dialogue, P.O. Box 658, Salt Lake City, UT 84110-0658)

Female-led communion services are becoming more public and widespread in the face of a hardening Vatican line against the  possibility of women priests in the Catholic Church, reports the Washington Post (July 28).

The practice of holding women-based communions has usually taken place in small groups and private homes and it has been debated by participants whether such ceremonies are actual Christian eucharists. But the Vatican’s elevation of the prohibition on the ordination of women to near-infallible status (with a recent document amending  church law to facilitate a “just penalty” on teachers and theologians supporting the practice) has drawn more women to such ad hoc gatherings.

Sheila Dierks, author of “WomenEucharist”, says that she “found 100 groups before. I can find a thousand groups now.” These women, mostly in their 40s and 50s, no longer accept the institutional position that only ordained men can ask Jesus to be present in the eucharist. Dierks found in a survey that 57 of 102 women participating in these services “indicated a positive belief that the bread and wine became the body of Christ.” Women church Convergence, a coalition of 35 liberal Catholic groups, has recently brought these groups out of the closet, holding services in such public places as Protestant churches and a women’s shelter.

“We’re taking this on the road” in order to protest “gender discrimination” in the Catholic church, says Sr. Donna Quinn, the spokeswomen for the group.

The annual preview of religious titles by Publishers Weekly (July 13) for the fall book season suggests that many recent fads in religious reading and practice are receding.

Author Lynn Garrett suggests that once-popular books on angelology, everyday spirituality, and 12-step therapies, are in  low demand for the first time in recent years. What seems to be the new trend is “stability and maturity” among religious book readers. While the general market demand remains high, publishers and sellers are responding to buyer requests for a return to such long-standing favorites as Biblical biographies.

Several houses have titles on Moses ready for this fall. Female heroes of the Bible, another genre with a long past, is being offered in titles from at least six publishers. And one of the most venerable of subject matters, religion and science, has “surged” back for Fall reading. Finally, the highly popular religion “celebrity bio” has clearly fallen upon hard times among potential readers.

In sum, the trend that there is no new trend, may portend a shift among seekers towards issues and direction from more traditional sources than have been popular in the 1990s.

— By Erling Jorstad.

Ministries shaped for the sensibilities of Generation X are growing and becoming more distinct from their origins in the megachurch movement.

Mother Jones magazine (July/August) reports that at least 150 religious congregations across the nation are mixing “fundamentalist ethics,” experimental liturgy and personal renewal to target Generation Xers. These congregations, located mostly near urban universities, emphasize community and a sense of family — especially tailored to the many young adults from broken homes. A major Generation X leader, Mark Driscoll of the Mars Hill Fellowship in Seattle, says that this “postmodern” movement is synthesizing the best parts of several traditions — evangelical ethics, Catholicism’s love of art, and mainline Protestants’ openness to cultural pluralism.

This new movement is popular because it doesn’t demonize youth culture, as do traditional fundamentalists; congregants aren’t challenged to renounce the outside world. These outreach ministries are finding significant support from Leadership Network of Dallas, an umbrella group for many megachurches.

From here comes direct financial help to Gen X churches. The Network also sponsors national conferences on this new ministry. The first gathering in 1996 attracted 300 participants, while last year’s drew 500, and this year’s is expected to draw over 1,000. Despite outreach to racial minorities, the movement consists largely of white middle-class young adults.

Although postmodern church leaders claim that they  are turned off by the marketing and consumerism of megachurches, they use the “tenets of Generation X — ennui and skepticism,” as a way to draw members. If anything, there has been an increase in marketing and advertising among churches trying to attract the young, reports the Washington Post (July 18). The trend of selling religion as “something relevant and fun” is driving much of the growth in religious ads targeted to young adults — whether through billboard campaigns or on MTV.

The clientele of  Impact Productions, a nonprofit ministry creating such ads, has grown from 150 pastors five years ago to 1,300 today. The article finds that not only independent megachurches are starting  and supporting these new Generation X ministries. New Horizon United Methodist Church in Champaign, Ill was planned by denominational leaders as a new kind of youth-based church, based on contemporary worship and an interactive small group structure.

— Erling Jorstad contributed to this report.

The Y2K computer bug has become an obsession of conspiracy-buffs, but the possible economic crisis resulting from a computer breakdown in 2000 has even mainstream evangelicals gearing up for the end-times, reports the evangelical newsweekly World (Aug. 22).

Since many evangelicals believe that Christ’s second coming will be preceded by world crises and disasters (a position known as premillennialism), the emerging alarm over Y2K among these Christians is not unexpected. Mark Andrews, founder of Prep 2000 and a leader in the Y2K prophesy movement, says the “scenario that’s unfolding as we approach the new millennium matches perfectly with Scripture’s prophesy of global economic collapse and a one-world government.” Andrews adds that many evangelical families are already storing food and making other preparations for the year 2000 disaster.

For instance, in Mexico, Ron Meadows, a Church of the Nazarene student of biblical prophesy is erecting a straw-bale-and-stucco dwelling in Mexico for his and other families as a place of refuge. [The YK2-survivalist themes are not only pursued by premillennialists, as postmillennialist Reconstructionist leader Gary North–holding to an American theocracy– is the leading writer on the subject.] Even moderate evangelical financial planners such as Larry Burkett, who is the financial guru for many evangelical leaders, recommend keeping food reserves, although they may not tie such activity to the end-times.

Luder Whitlock, president of Reformed Theological Seminary, says that evangelicals may be creating self-fulfilling prophesies due to their tendency to react strongly to “doomsday-type scenarios.”

(World, P.O. Box 2330,, Asheville, NC 28805)

The recent linking of the terrorist bombings of the U.S. embassies in Africa with radical Islamic groups has reignited fears about the growth of religious terrorism.

In the past several years, specialists have noted that there is a significant change in the nature and purposes of terrorism. The Economist magazine (Aug. 15) notes that the older terrorism had an explicit agenda, such as the overthrow of a colonial power, and was often sponsored by radical governments or parties. The new terrorists, by contrast, “have no realistic program for taking power themselves.” Even if the recent Islamic terrorists allegedly involved in the bombings, such as Osama Bin Ladin, had some connections to foreign governments, the ties are  often murky and hard to pin down.

The Economist article cites terrorism expert Bruce Hoffmann as saying that the hallmarks of the “new terror” include “amorphous religious and millennarian aims” and “vehemently anti-government forms of populism, reflecting far-fetched conspiracy notions.”  But to what degree these millennial stirrings are tied to violence and terrorism is far from clear. While many new religious movements that become involved in violent actions have millennial theologies, not all of these end-times theologies lead to violence, writes Catherine Wessinger in a forthcoming book she has edited, Millennialism, Persecution, and Violence: Historical Cases (Syracuse University Press, 1999).

She and other contributors to the volume note that most millennial groups await divine intervention and are peaceful. There are important distinctions to keep in mind even among those groups associated with violence. What she calls “assaulted millennial groups,” such as the Branch Davidians or the Mormons in the past, would not have committed violence if they were not first assaulted or attacked.

“Fragile millennial groups,” may initiate violence to preserve their ultimate concerns. Yet a whole complex of causes can stimulate and intensify such violent tendencies, such as opposition by the wider society and weaknesses internal to the group. Jonestown, Heaven’s Gate, and the Solar Temple are cited as such examples.

Then there are “revolutionary millennial groups,” with theologies or ideologies that sanction violence to build a new order. The neo-Nazis, some far-right Identity Christians and radical militia members are in this camp. Because these movements are not culturally dominant they may resort to acts of terrorism instead of full-scale warfare or revolution.

Wessinger adds that the  three categories are not exclusive and a group can shift from one mindset to another or combine these different characteristics.