AP-Religion Roundup
     
Update on the latest in religion news:

SEPT. 11-PRAYERS
     
Prayer and fasting planned on 9/11 anniversary

     
NEW YORK (AP) - Prayer gatherings are planned at county
courthouses across the nation on this eighth anniversary of the
9/11 terrorist attacks.
     
At a Thursday evening service in New York, 9/11 survivor Sujo
John recalled the panic of being on the 81st floor of the first
World Trade Center tower that was hit by a hijacked plane.
     
John says he descended the stairs only to see the other tower
collapsing around him, and convinced those around him to join in
calling on the name of Jesus.
     
From that day on, John said he has dedicated his life to
ministry.
     
Today's gatherings are organized by the Awakening America
Alliance, whose chairman, Billy Wilson, called the attacks of eight
years ago a "wake-up call" from God.

     
SEPT. 11-US MUSLIMS
     
US Muslims face another 9/11 anniversary

     
NEW YORK (AP) - Eight years after 9/11, many American Muslims
still struggle through the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
     
The anniversary brings a mix of emotions: sorrow over the huge
loss of life, anguish over the wars that followed, but also
resentment over how the hijackings transformed the place of Muslims
in the U.S. and beyond.
     
This year, the anniversary falls on a Friday, the Islamic day of
congregational prayer, and during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month,
when mosques are usually packed. Muslims expect their prayer
leaders, or imams, will at least mention the significance of the
date in their sermons.
     
Not all mosques will commemorate the day. A significant number
of U.S. Muslims contend that no one of their faith could have
perpetrated the hijackings.

CLERGY-ABUSE STUDY
     
Survey: 3 percent of female worshippers hit on by clergy

     
WACO, Texas (AP) - A new study suggests that one out of every 33
women who attend religious services regularly has been the object
of a sexual advance by her religious leader.
     
Dr. Diana Garland, the Dean of Baylor University's School of
Social Work, says researchers questioned thousands of women over
the age of 18 who attend services at least once a month.
     
She says the findings suggest that in an average-sized
congregation of 400 adult members, seven women have been victims of
clergy sexual misconduct at some point in their adult lives.
     
Garland says that since clergy hold positions of honor and
trust, sexual advances and relationships with women in their
congregations should always be viewed as "an abuse of spiritual
power."
     
She says clergy should avoid long-term counseling relationships
with members of their congregation.

MELTDOWN-ABRAHAM
     
Victims of downturn are urged to learn from Biblical patriarch

     
NEW YORK (AP) - Christian author and speaker Anne Graham Lotz
says Americans hurt by the economic downturn can learn a lesson
from Abraham in the Bible.
     
The daughter of evangelist Billy Graham says Abraham had to
leave his old life behind to follow God's call, but received the
blessing of God's fellowship and provision.
     
Lotz's new book on Abraham is titled "The Magnificent
Obsession."
     
She says the loss of material wealth is nothing compared to the
richness of finding a personal relationship with God.

    
ISRAEL-ASSIMILATION UPROAR
     
Israeli anti-assimilation ads yanked after uproar

     
JERUSALEM (AP) - An ad campaign against Jewish assimilation,
co-sponsored by the Israeli government, has been yanked after
outraging Jews abroad.
     
The Hebrew-language campaign included newspapers ads and TV
clips showing mock missing persons fliers emblazoned with
Jewish-sounding names and the word "Lost."
     
Jews abroad saw the campaign as an attack on marrying non-Jews.
     
Statistics show that in the U.S. -- home to the largest Jewish
community outside Israel -- about half the marriages of Jews over
the past 25 years have been mixed.
     
Religious leaders and commentators called the ad campaign an
affront to children of mixed marriages, and Jewish Agency officials
said hundreds of people contacted the organization to denounce it.

JEWISH GROUP-LAWSUIT
     
Jewish group sues town over headquarters expansion

     
LITCHFIELD, Conn. (AP) - A Jewish organization has filed a civil
rights lawsuit against Connecticut officials and other defendants
after its plans for a new headquarters with a temple were rejected.
     
The federal lawsuit by Chabad Lubavitch (hah-BAHD'
loo-BAH'-vitch) of Litchfield County accuses local officials, the
Historic District Commission and 10 unnamed defendants of religious
discrimination and violations of the group's constitutional rights.
     
The commission denied Chabad Lubavitch's application in 2007,
saying its proposed expansion of a 135-year-old building was too
big for the historic district.
     
The commission's lawyer declined to comment on allegations.

NATIONAL BAPTISTS-PRESIDENT
     
Once-imprisoned Baptist pastor loses election bid

     
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A preacher who went to prison for stealing
millions of dollars from the National Baptist Convention USA has
lost a bid to lead the group again.
     
The Rev. Henry Lyons was defeated by the Rev. Julius R. Scruggs
by a vote of 4,108 to 924 at the convention's annual meeting in
Memphis.
     
Lyons tried suing to stall the election. He was forced out as
president in 1999 after an investigation revealed he abused his
power and stole about $4 million from the denomination.
     
Lyons used the money to buy luxury homes and jewelry and support
his mistresses. He was eventually convicted and served almost five
years in prison.
     
The National Baptist Convention USA is the nation's largest and
oldest predominantly black denomination with roughly 7.5 million
worshippers.

SEX OFFENDER MINISTER
     
Kentucky church plans to ordain sex offender

     
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A small church in Louisville, Ky., is
planning to ordain a convicted sex offender as a minister to its
flock.
     
City of Refuge Church says on its Web site that 41-year-old Mark
Hourigan will be ordained on Sunday.
     
The move has led members of an abuse victims group to ask the
church to reconsider. The Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests met outside the church Thursday to issue a statement
calling it "a reckless move that will only put kids in harm's
way."
     
Hourigan was charged in 1998 with sexually abusing and
sodomizing an 11-year-old boy. He pleaded guilty to lesser charges
and was released from prison in 2006.
     
Hourigan told CNN that he has completed a sex offender treatment
program and was up front with the church's pastor about his
criminal past.
     
The pastor said Hourigan will sign an agreement not to minister
to children.

PASTOR-PROSTITUTION
     
Court upholds Texas pastor's conviction

     
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - An appeals court has upheld the conviction of
a Texas pastor accused of bringing a woman from Kenya to the U.S.
to be his sex slave.
     
James Cornell Clark was sentenced to 10 years in 2007 on a
charge of importing an alien for immoral purposes. A panel of the
5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction and
sentence Thursday.
     
Clark's attorney had argued that the term "immoral purposes"
is unconstitutionally vague.
     
The 57-year-old Clark was a minister at Mount Vernon United
Methodist Church in Lubbock.
     
He met his victim in 2005 and months later arranged for her to
travel to Texas. She enrolled at South Plains College in Levelland,
and prosecutors say Clark frequently threatened to have her
deported if she didn't have sex with him.

     
     
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)
     
AP-NY-09-11-09 0330EDT