October (Web-only) 2000

ARTICLE TOOLS

Find similar articles E-mail this page

After an earlier survey showed that 1,000 young people were leaving British churches every week, Youth for Christ surveyed youth workers to find out why. Only 15 percent said teens are abandoning the church because they're bored, but 3 out of 4 said youth have so many other activities in their lives that they're too busy for church. Forty-seven percent blamed family and peer pressure, and 40 percent said non-Christian boyfriends or girlfriends often lead teens away from church.

Sunday's service at Saints Stephen and James' Evangelical Lutheran Church in Federal Hill, Maryland, was a little different. On the altar, next to the Bible, were duckpins, a bowling ball, and bowling shoes. The number on the hymn board was 300. And praise was given to the church's neighboring Southway Bowling Center, which is due to close. "We know in our heart and in our memories that God's grace was present with us each time we bowled," church member and lifelong duckpin bowler Mel Tansill said at the service. "For this, we gather together today in his name to give thanks." Strangely, the story doesn't note that there is some appropriateness to this kegler-centric service in a Lutheran church. Martin Luther was himself an avid bowler who had his own bowling lane. Many bowling historians even credit him with standardizing the rules of nine-pin bowling. (Here's a sermon illustration that tells a bit of the story and has a moral lesson about bowling.)

The Los Angeles Times quotes Jerry Falwell: "I disagree with Mr. Cheney on his suggestion that the states should be allowed to sanction any ...