Briefly noted

Christian Century, May 16, 2001

* Former Ku Klux Klansman Thomas E. Blanton Jr., 62, was convicted of first-degree murder on May 1 in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls. A jury of eight whites and four blacks deliberated only two hours before reaching its verdict in a trial that drew worldwide attention. The girls were killed one Sunday morning when sticks of dynamite exploded inside the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Blanton had been a suspect for nearly 40 years but had not been indicted by a grand jury until last year. Under laws in effect in 1963, Blanton receives four life sentences. Maintaining his innocence during a seven-day trial, Blanton told reporters after the verdict, "I guess the good Lord will settle it on Judgment Day."

* The Episcopal bishop of Colorado has issued guidelines that prohibit churches from calling gay clergy, prompting the search committee of one Denver church to resign in protest. Bishop Jerry Winterrowd, a church loyalist who has seen a half-dozen parishes leave to join a more conservative body, issued the guidelines after St. Thomas Church wanted to call an openly gay priest as its new rector. The Denver Post reported that Winterrowd signaled his displeasure at the church's choice because the new pastor did not conform to "wholesome" diocesan standards for clergy, which call for pastors to be "married and faithful or single and celibate."

* Isolated religious communities such as the Amish have been able to survive in part because their children are willing to maintain the group's traditions and lifestyle, according to a new report. "Simply making babies will not ensure growth," said sociologist Don Kraybill, coauthor of a report published in the book On the Backroad to Heaven. Children must be persuaded to stay with the church as adults, he said. "And the surprise is that they are." The ten-year study by Kraybill, who teaches at Messiah College, and Carl F. Bowman examined the lifestyles of the Amish, Hutterites, Old Order Mennonites and strict Brethren. They found that 95 percent of Hutterite children opt to remain in those communal agricultural societies. More than 75 percent of Amish children remain in the faith, the largest of the four "Old Order" groups studied.

* Chinese authorities have arrested a bishop of the country's underground Roman Catholic Church along with several priests and other Catholics, according to the U.S.-based Cardinal Kung Foundation. Shi Enxiang, the 79-year-old bishop of Yixian, was visiting Beijing when he was arrested April 13 (Good Friday) in the northern province of Hebei. Shi, who has spent about three decades in prison, had lived in hiding since escaping arrest four years ago. Also arrested on April 13 were 13 underground Catholics and one priest in Jiangxi province, as well as a priest in Fujian province. During the same week, police arrested Li Jianbo, a 34-year-old priest from Hebei. Another priest, Lu Genjun, was arrested in Hebei shortly before Easter and was given a three-year sentence in a labor camp, Reuters news agency reported.