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Atlanta church choir named nation's best

DETROIT, Nov. 8 (UPI) --

How Sweet the Sound voters said the Atlanta West Pentecostal Church choir earned the title of America's Best Choir.

The Detroit News said the Atlanta choir earned the top choir position Saturday night at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, topping 10 other choirs from around the country.

The competition's 11 choirs, which comprise a total of 800 singers, included one Detroit-based choir.

The Detroit News said Saturday's event, which was sponsored by Verizon Wireless, also included performances from the Clark Singers and gospel singer Marvin Sapp.

Evangelist Haggard starting church at home

COLORADO SPRINGS, Nov. 5 (UPI) --

Evangelical preacher Ted Haggard said he is planning to start a new church at his home in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The New Life Church founder said he would hold a prayer meeting at his Colorado Springs home on Nov. 17 as part of his efforts to form a new church focused on helping others, The (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Gazette reported Wednesday.

For this prayer meeting, I have no goals, Haggard said. I have no secret hope that more people will come. I am not driven as I was.

Haggard, who formed New Life in his basement in 1985, once enjoyed a church membership of 14,000 people before a prostitution scandal forced his 2006 resignation.

This time, the former National Association of Evangelicals head expects 10 to 20 people to attend the formation of his new church.

Haggard, 53, told the Gazette both he and his faith have changed since the scandal.

I am much more compassionate, more kind, more patient, he said. I've learned that God is sovereign, and the number one thing we should do is trust him.

Church of Scientology convicted in France

PARIS, Oct. 27 (UPI) --

The Church of Scientology Tuesday was convicted of fraud and six of its members ordered to pay as much as $595,000 each, prosecutors in France said.

The two plaintiffs in the trial testified the church and its members defrauded them through the use of a so-called electropsychometer, or E-Meter, that allegedly measures spiritual well-being, CNN reported.

The plaintiffs said they were encouraged to pay thousands of dollars for unnecessary vitamins and books after the device was used on them.

The church, which is classified as a sect in France, had said it would appeal any judgment against it.

The Correctional Court judge overseeing the trial said the church must remain on the correct side of the law if it is to continue operating in France. Prosecutors had asked for the church and its bookstore to be permanently shut down.

Simple lifestyle tweaks key in climate change fight: study

WASHINGTON (AFP) --

The United States could cut greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of France's total annual emissions by getting Americans to make simple lifestyle changes, like regularly maintaining their cars or insulating their attics, a study showed Monday.

If US households took 17 easy-to-implement actions -- like switching to a fuel-efficient vehicle, drying laundry on a clothesline instead of in a dryer, or turning down the thermostat -- carbon emissions could be cut by 123 metric tons a year by the 10th year, the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found.

"This amounts to... 7.4 percent of total national emissions -- an amount slightly larger than the total national emissions of France," showed the study led by Thomas Dietz of Michigan State University's department of sociology and environmental science and policy.

"It is greater than reducing to zero all emissions in the United States from the petroleum-refining, iron and steel, and aluminum industries, each of which is among the largest emitters in the industrial sector," the study said.

But the lifestyle changes come with a much smaller price tag and no great change to the way Americans live.

At present, US direct household energy use accounts for 38 percent of the country's carbon emissions, or 626 million metric tons of carbon -- a whopping eight percent of global emissions "and larger than the emissions of any entire country except China."

To quickly bring down those numbers, the researchers suggested greater focus on consumer behavioral changes and less on efforts to develop new technologies and put in place so-called cap and trade regimes.

The researchers grouped 17 actions Americans could take to reduce carbon emissions into five groups: weatherization, switching to more efficient equipment, maintaining equipment, adjusting appliance setting -- such as the temperature on water heaters -- and modifying daily personal use.

The action with the greatest potential to reduce US carbon emissions was the switch to a fuel-efficient vehicle. That alone would, according to the study's model, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by just over five percent by year 10, or by more than 31 million metric tons.

Weatherizing homes by improving attic insulation, sealing or replacing drafty windows and doors, could cut carbon emissions by 21 million metric tons.

Installing energy-efficient appliances to replace those that have reached the end of their useful life would save nearly 12 million metric tons of carbon emissions.

Even seemingly minor steps like not speeding away from a stop sign when driving, regularly maintaining one's car, or turning down the heating at home in the winter to 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), could save between four and eight million metric tons in carbon emissions by year 10.

The lifestyle tweaks and positive results don't have to be limited to the United States, either.

Similar percentage reductions are possible in Canada and Australia, which have carbon profiles comparable to that of the United States, while Europe and Japan could save around half of the US level in percentage terms by getting their citizens to make the same changes, the study s

Anglican bishop may join Catholics

CHICHESTER, England, Oct. 24 (UPI) --

A senior Anglican bishop says he is contemplating taking up Pope Benedict XVI's invitation to Anglican clergy to convert to the Roman Catholic Church.

The Right Rev. John Hind, bishop of Chichester, says divisions within Anglicanism have pushed him to consider becoming a Catholic, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.

This is a remarkable new step from the Vatican, he said. At long last there are some choices for Catholics in the Church of England. I'd be happy to be re-ordained into the Catholic Church.

If he makes the switch, observers say it could trigger an exodus of Anglican clergy to Catholicism, the British newspaper said. Gay clergy and marriage are lightning-rod issues in the Church of England and the rest of the Anglican communion.

The pope's recent announcement that a new structure would be created to allow disaffected Anglicans to enter full communion with Rome, while maintaining parts of their Protestant heritage, followed secret talks between the Vatican and a group of senior Anglican bishops, the Telegraph said.

Hind said his conversion would depend on his previous ministry being recognized.

Church janitor charged with killing priest

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Oct. 24 (UPI) --

A janitor at a Catholic church in New Jersey was charged Saturday with killing a priest whose body was found in the kitchen of the church rectory.

Jose Feliciano, 64, allegedly stabbed the Rev. Edward Hinds, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said at a news conference. Investigators said the priest had been stabbed 32 times and had defensive wounds on his hands, suggesting a struggle, The (Newark) Star-Ledger reported.

Hinds's body was discovered Friday morning after he failed to appear at 8 a.m. mass at St. Patrick's Church in Chatham, a well-to-do suburb of about 10,000 people 25 miles west of New York.

A mass honoring Hinds was held Saturday morning in the gymnasium of the church parochial school. While Bianchi talked to reporters in Morristown, parishioners were at the 5 p.m. mass in the church.

Hinds, who grew up in Chatham, was ordained as a young man after study in Rome. He spent his life as a priest in the diocese of Paterson, which includes all of northwestern New Jersey, and had been at St. Patrick's since 2003.

Catholic priest killed in church rectory

CHATHAM, N.J., Oct. 23 (UPI) --

The pastor of a Roman Catholic church in a New Jersey suburb was found slain in the rectory kitchen Friday morning.

A deacon went to search for the Rev. Edward Hinds, 61, when he failed to appear for the 8 a.m. mass at St. Patrick's Church in Chatham, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported. The priest's body was on the floor in the kitchen.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said at an afternoon news conference that the death was a homicide. He did not say how Hinds was killed.

Monsignor Kenneth Lasch, a retired priest, told the Star-Ledger he was called soon after the body was found. Hinds had left instructions that Lasch would give the eulogy at his funeral.

The parish called me and said they found him in the kitchen on the floor, Lasch said. He had his dog with him and apparently he was making a cup of coffee.

Hinds was born in Chatham and spent his life as a priest in the diocese of Paterson, including a stint as vice-chancellor and as secretary to former Bishop Frank Rodimer, Lasch said. Between 1991 and 2003, he was pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Boonton.

Historic church bell to toll again

BRIDGEWATER, Mass., Oct. 23 (UPI) --

A Massachusetts church bell will toll again after 20 years of silence, thanks to volunteers who restored it to its former glory, the church's pastor said.

Cast in 1862 in Boston, the bell rang in the tower of Bridgewater's Central Square Congregational Church for 120 years before the foundation structure became too weak for the bell to be struck.

So the bell went silent for five years, and a donated electronic carillon played recorded hymns and hourly chimes. When that stopped working in 2007, a used Dell computer with custom software took its place.

But two neighbors of the church, who were not parishioners, decided the original bell should be heard again, the Boston Globe reported. Asking to remain anonymous and accepting no payment, they brought the bell back to life, repairing its foundations and pulley system. They installed new ropes and added wire screens to keep birds out of the belfry.

They thought that if the church had a bell, especially such a historic one, everyone should be able to hear it, said the pastor, the Rev. Esther Rendon-Thompson.

Condolences sent to living soldier's wife

OTTAWA, Oct. 23 (UPI) --

The wife of a retired and healthy Canadian soldier said she's appalled at receiving a letter of condolence from an insurance company about his death.

Lisa Scott, 45, told the Ottawa Citizen she opened a letter from the insurance company soon after her husband set out on a city bus for a haircut this week and couldn't believe her eyes.

Her husband, Sgt. John Scott, 47, retired from the military in April after 27 years that most recently included two tours in Afghanistan.

Scott said she called her husband on his cell phone and his first response was a laugh and the question Where are we going to spend the money?

The insurance company has a Department of Defense contract for the military. Scott said calls to the company this week didn't yield any clues as to why she got the letter.

Meanwhile, her husband told the newspaper his alleged death wasn't much of a concern.

I feel good, he said. There are no ill-effects from my death, anyways.

Lifestyle changes key to treating PAD

DUBLIN, Ireland, Oct. 23 (UPI) --

Irish and British researchers say risk-reducing lifestyle changes are still key to treating peripheral arterial disease.

PAD occurs when plaque accumulates in arteries that supply blood to areas of the body other than the heart and brain.

The study, published in the Journal of Vascular and Intervention Radiology, found there is, as yet, not enough evidence to advocate minimally invasive surgery to open a narrowed or blocked leg artery in a person who does not have leg symptoms.

In the retrospective study conducted in Dublin, Ireland, 918 people had X-ray exams to check for arterial blockage in the leg. The 122 patients found with arterial narrowing of 50 percent or blockage, but no leg pain were followed for as long as nine years. One-third of the 122 developed symptoms of pain or ulceration and 13.9 percent required treatment.

Dr. Aoife Keeling of Beaumont Hospital in Dublin and an interventional radiologist at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago suggests the majority of PAD patients may have remained asymptomatic due to intense risk factor modification they underwent or other factors as yet unidentified.

Prevention of PAD progression is vital and can be achieved with risk factor modification, for example, if individuals stop smoking, watch their diets, lower their cholesterol and have their blood pressure monitored, Keeling said in a statement.

Church of Sweden to conduct gay weddings

UPPSALA, Sweden, Oct. 22 (UPI) --

The Lutheran Church of Sweden, of which 74 percent of Swedes are members, announced Thursday it will conduct wedding ceremonies for homosexuals.

The governing board of the Synod of the Lutheran Church of Sweden in Uppsala, Sweden, passed the gay wedding proposal 176-73, the Swedish News Agency TT reported.

The decision came three days after the 30th anniversary of the date homosexuality stopped being classified a disease in Sweden.

The Synod's decision takes a stance in favor of an inclusive view of people. Regardless of whether one is religious or not, this affects the entire social climate and the view of people's equal value, said Asa Regner, the head of the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education. The association is Sweden's largest gay-rights group.

Individual pastors will still be permitted to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples.

Representatives of the Catholic and Orthodox churches in Sweden expressed their disapproval of the decision in a joint letter to Swedish Archbishop Anders Wejryd.

Church of England spokesman Steve Jenkins said relations between his church and the Church of Sweden may become strained because of the decision.

Catholic scholar: Marx worth studying

VATICAN CITY, Oct. 22 (UPI) --

Karl Marx, known for his hostility to religion, had relevant theories on social alienation, a Catholic scholar said in the Vatican newspaper.

Georg Sans, a professor of contemporary philosophy at Gregorian University, the pontifical university in Rome, said Marxian thought may help guide people at a time of search for a new harmony between human needs and the natural world, The Times of London reported. He said Marx described the social alienation felt by those who have been excluded.

We have to ask ourselves, with Marx, whether the forms of alienation of which he spoke have their origin in the capitalist system, Sans wrote in L'Osservatore Romano. If money as such does not multiply on its own, how are we to explain the accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few?

Pope Benedict XVI gave a more traditional appraisal of Marx's legacy two years ago, saying Marxism left a sad heritage of economic and ecological destruction, but also a painful destruction of the human spirit. But the pope has also been critical of capitalism.

Beer-friendly church meets at bar

JANESVILLE, Wis., Oct. 20 (UPI) --

A Wisconsin woman who leads weekly church services at a pub said t is perfect for preaching to the wounded.

Kathy Price of Beloit said The Red Door ministry holds services at 10:30 a.m. every Sunday at the Willowdale Saloon in Janesville and the dozen or so parishioners are allowed alcoholic drinks and cigarettes during the service, the Beloit (Wis.) Daily News reported Tuesday.

I want the people who don't want to go to church, those who are wounded and broken, especially from religion, Price said.

She said the idea behind her congregation is acceptance of people as they are.

I love them where they are at rather than where they are supposed to be, Price said. There's nobody I refuse to fellowship with. I'd much rather hang out with someone who is broken, than someone who thinks they don't have any need.

Lifestyle, not alcohol, may stem decline

FERRARA, Italy, Oct. 19 (UPI) --

Italian researchers say lifestyle related characteristics -- rather than alcohol -- may affect functional decline in drinkers.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, finds participants consuming moderate levels of alcohol had the lowest incidence of mobility limitation and disability.

However, after adjusting for demographic characteristics, moderate alcohol intake was still associated with reduced risk compared to never or occasional consumption, but adjusting for lifestyle related variables substantially reduced the strength of the associations.

The study of more than 3,000 adults ages 70-79 found the association between light-to-moderate alcohol consumption and reduced risk of functional decline over time did not hold up after adjustments were made for characteristics related to lifestyle -- in particular physical activity, body weight, education and income.

Given the risk of alcohol-dependence and the health hazards associated with excessive alcohol consumption, the researchers advise caution.

From this point of view, in our opinion, lifestyle recommendations for the prevention of disability should be based on interventions proven to be safe and effective, such as weight control and physical exercise, study author Dr. Cinzia Maraldi, of the University of Ferrara in Italy said in a statement.

Church settles abuse case

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (UPI) --

The Washington Archdiocese has settled a lawsuit brought by a man who says he was molested by a priest who later broke with the Catholic church.

Church officials said the victim would be paid $125,000.

The man said he was molested at the age of 14 by two men, the Rev. George Stallings Jr., then at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Washington, and a seminarian.

Stallings left the church in 1989 and was excommunicated the next year. He founded the Imani Temple, which blends Roman Catholic and African practices, and married in 2001 in a ceremony presided over the the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

The victim, George Awad, said he was first molested by the seminarian in 1984 and then, when he reported the abuse to Stallings, by the priest.

The Post reported soon after Stallings left the church that former altar boys said he had molested them and that his former pastoral assistant, who was in his early 20s, said he had had a two-year sexual relationship with him. Stallings denied any molestation.

Churches and parishioners adapt to flu

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 12 (UPI) --

Churches in the Pittsburgh area are taking steps to keep parishioners healthy in the face of a possible swine flu pandemic, church officials said.

In Catholic churches, parishioners are dispensing with the traditional passing of the peace through a handshake and opting instead for a nod or a bow. At St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Carnegie, Pa., pews hold small bottles of hand sanitizer along with Bibles and hymnals, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Monday.

Someone suggested we eliminate the (sign of) peace, but a lot of people look forward to it, especially the young people, said the Rev. Bruce Nordeen, pastor at St. John's.

Hand sanitizer stations, usually found only outside classrooms and child care areas at Congregation Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill, are now all around the synagogue now.

Some churches stopped offering communion during flu season, but Bishop David A. Zubik left that decision up to parishioners. He reminded diocesan priests to be vigilant.

Those uncomfortable receiving from the cup during the flu season should not feel obligated to do so, he wrote.

Scientists grow living 'heart patch'

DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 12 (UPI) --

U.S. bioengineers say they have successfully mimicked the way embryonic stem cells develop into heart muscle in a lab study.

Duke University researchers say their achievement using mouse embryonic stem cells is a important first step toward growing a living heart patch to repair heart tissue damaged by disease.

The scientists said they used a novel mold of their own design to fashion a three-dimensional patch made up of heart muscle cells, known as cardiomyocytes. The new tissue exhibited the two most important attributes of heart muscle cells -- the ability to contract and to conduct electrical impulses.

Researchers said they also found cardiomyocytes flourished only in the presence of a class of helper cells known as cardiac fibroblasts, which comprise as much as 60 percent of all cells present in a human heart.

When we tested the patch, we found that because the cells aligned themselves in the same direction, they were able to contract like native cells, said Brian Liau, a graduate student who presented the study in Pittsburgh last week during a meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society. They were also able to carry the electrical signals that make cardiomyocytes function in a coordinated fashion.

Professor Nenad Bursac, who led the research, said he believes the experiments represent a proof-of-principle advance, but said there are still many hurdles that must be overcome before such patches could be implanted into humans with heart disease.

LDS churches in Utah targeted by vandals

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah, Oct. 12 (UPI) --

Vandals threw rocks laden with antagonistic messages through the glass doors of Five Latter Day Saints churches in Utah, police said.

Police in South Jordan, Utah, said the typewritten messages attached to the thrown rocks last weekend read Stop spreading your lies, pagans, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday.

Police said the acts of vandalism in South Jordan and Riverton, Utah, appear to have occurred overnight Saturday as the rocks were found by church members preparing for church activities Sunday morning.

South Jordan police Officer B.J. Smith said while police have no suspects to date, the details of the crimes could result in possible hate crime charges.

It's leaning that way, toward more like a hate crime, but we wouldn't know until we made suspect contact and interviewed them to determine exactly what their intent was, Smith told the Tribune.

If the incidents are officially deemed hate crimes, those arrested in connection with the crimes would face enhanced charges beyond mere vandalism.

Loud church-goers told to pipe down

LONDON, Oct. 11 (UPI) --

A London church can no longer amplify its hymns and sermons after neighbors complained, the Pentecostal church's pastor says.

All Nations Centre pastor Victor Jibuike said a Lambeth Council decision in response to a complaint to town hall that left his congregation of 600 people under orders to quiet down wasn't about volume levels, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

The complaint against us has nothing to do with noise and everything to do with our faith, Jibuike, 43, said.

Last week, the Immanuel International Christian Centre faced a similar order concerning its musical efforts. With decibel restrictions in place, the London congregation's ranks quickly shrank from 100 to 30 people.

Jibuike told the Telegraph his church could face a similar drop in followers because of the ban on amplified hymns and sermons.

We are horrified at the implications of this order, which means people will no longer be able to worship, the pastor said.

Swedish church opens gas station

TARNSJO, Sweden, Oct. 8 (UPI) --

The Church of Sweden said it is preparing to open the country's first church-operated gas station near a town with no other fuel pumps.

The gas station near the village of Tarnsjo, which hasn't had its own gas station since last winter, is set for a grand opening Saturday alongside a connected convenience store, The Local reported Thursday.

The church said a joint-stock company it created will be responsible for operating the service station, which was built from a $715,000 investment from parish members.

Our own petrol station is important for the survival of the whole village, parish council chair Per Eriksson said.