wfn.org | Re: United Methodist Daily News note 451

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Reply-to: owner-umethnews@ecunet.org (United Methodist News list)
"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (459
notes).

Note 459 by UMNS on Nov. 14, 1997 at 16:16 Eastern (3476 characters).

ITLE: 	Guidelines to Determine Emory Chapel Use

Contact:  Joretta Purdue  	647(10-21-71B){459}
		Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722  	Nov. 14, 1997

Emory trustees adopt new guidelines
for chapel use developed by chaplains

	by United Methodist News Service

	Emory University's Board of Trustees approved new guidelines
for the use of chapels at Emory, a United Methodist-related school, in a Nov.
13 meeting.
	Bradley Currey Jr., chairman, read a statement after the trustees' decision,
in which he said university chapels "exist to serve the religious and
spiritual aims of the whole community.
	"These chapels receive steady use by myriad religious communities that
reflect the dynamic plurality of a university setting." he said. The chapels
also are the location for nonreligious purposes such as concerts, lectures and
academic ceremonies.
	In June, the university chaplain, the Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe, and the Oxford
chaplain, the Rev. Sammy Clark, were asked by the board to develop guidelines
for the use of Emory chapels. Both are ordained United Methodist ministers.
	The request grew out of a controversy over holding same-sex commitment
ceremonies in the chapels, after an Oxford College employee was denied the use
of Oxford College facilities for such a ceremony in May.
	On June 2, Emory President William M. Chace said in a letter to the
university community that the ceremony should have been permitted under the
university's equal opportunity policy.
	On June 12, the North Georgia Annual (regional) Conference of the United
Methodist Church called for the president to change his policy and asked the
board to change the university's policy if he would not.
	"While the missions of the church and of the university complement each
other, they sometimes differ," Currey acknowledged.
	He said the church and the university agree that all people are of sacred
worth and must be assured equal justice.
	"In keeping with Emory's United Methodist heritage, which has nurtured
ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, the trustees have approved guidelines that
respect the traditions of those 24 faith groups officially recognized at
Emory," Currey added.
	Of the 24 faith bodies, only two allow same-sex commitment ceremonies: a
Reformed Jewish organization, and the United Church of Christ.  Only
recognized campus ministers and ordained faculty of the university School of
Theology will be allowed to officiate in university chapels.
	The guidelines will apply to use of Cannon chapel on the Emory campus, Day
Prayer Chapel on the Oxford College campus and hospital chapels at Crawford
Long and Emory University hospitals.
	Henry-Crowe described the decision as an affirmation of freedom of religion
and allows approved religious groups the right to practice their own rites and
rituals. "It's consistent with United Methodism's commitment to respect
religious pluralism," she said.
	During the months since she and Clark were asked to develop the guidelines,
they have consulted repeatedly with trustees, church officials, faculty, staff
and students.
	"The institution is better because of this soul-searching journey," she said.
"The process was very important and did demonstrate the genius of both the
university and the United Methodist Church in their abilities to respect
religious pluralism."
	She added that the bishops -- there are five active bishops on the board of
trustees -- "gave very prayerful and pastoral leadership to the decision."
	#  #  #

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