Clergy

AS AN African-American man, I wonder why every time there is a political election, out of hiding here comes the black clergy. Who are these people? What and who do they represent? What ever happened to the separation of church and state? How much do these guys get paid, is it 30 pieces of silver? Is this considered pay to play? Or should we just start labeling these folks as the "Green clergy"? Ralph P. Goldsborough Yeadon

The topic is domestic violence, and this time the preachers will be getting preached to. The Sabbath of Domestic Peace, a three-year-old effort to combat home violence through faith communities, will conduct its first interfaith worship and healing service Sunday at 3 p.m. at Overbrook Presbyterian Church, City and Lancaster avenues. The service is open to the public, but sponsors say their main audience and target will be clergy. The service will include prayers and readings from Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim scriptures.

It's time, says the Rev. Anthony Floyd, for ministers, evangelists, pastors, and anyone else who believes that spiritual intervention can turn the tide of violence sweeping the city, to be seen, and heard. So beginning at 1 p.m. tomorrow, he and what he hopes will be hundreds of others will march and pray in support of the victims and in protest of the unconscionable killings. The march will start at St. Elizabeth Community Center, 1845 N. 23rd St., and weave through several blocks of North Philadelphia before ending where it started.

C.B. Cook in many ways fits the image of the dutiful clergy spouse. The pastor's significant other works faithfully in the nursery during services, washes dishes in fellowship hall kitchen and brings homemade rolls and pies to church suppers. But C.B. Cook is no typical clergy wife. The "C.B. " stands for Charles Barry. Cook, a Center City banker, is among a growing number of men who find themselves charting new terrain as clergy husbands. "When it comes to the clergy spouse being male, there is a lot more having to feel one's way," said Peggy L. Shriver, a staff associate for professional church leadership for the National Council of Churches.

Hours after a fire in Coatesville destroyed 15 houses and displaced dozens of residents late last month, there was a meeting of local clergy that longtime residents say was unprecedented. Tabernacle Baptist Church was packed with clergy and other representatives of congregations and faith-based nonprofits - neighbors in a small town but often strangers when it comes to working together. One pastor was assigned to oversee clothing donations; another would take care of furniture; a third would blog about relief efforts.

Police in the city's Northeast reached out to area clergy last week for help in catching what police have described as a group of Gypsies preying on the elderly. During a meeting Thursday at the Northeast Police Division, Harbison Avenue and Levick Street, police asked the religious leaders to warn their older congregants to be wary of friendly strangers. The clergymen vowed to do what they could to help stop the thieves. On at least six occasions over the last six weeks, elderly Northeast residents have fallen victim to scams.

According to an old Jewish folktale the world is sustained for the sake of 36 righteous men whose quiet, good deeds go unnoticed by the rest of us. Hidden in plain sight, these unassuming holy men cannot be identified by collar, cowl, or robes. That anonymity may be a blessing: They are accountable only to themselves and their God. The ordained clergy, on the other hand, are frequently called to account in public forums. Last week, Rabbi Fred J. Neulander of Cherry Hill resigned from his congregation amid rumors of marital infidelities with two women in his congregation and an ongoing investigation into his wife's murder.

When it comes to violence in the home, the ways of God need to be mingled with the insights of psychology and law enforcement. So say members of the Sabbath of Domestic Peace, an interfaith educational initiative. The Philadelphia-based project aims to help clergy sharpen their responses when victims of domestic violence seek their counsel. Next Sunday, the project will present its second annual worship service, with Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim representatives attending.

Protestant clergy and faith-based groups are gearing up - again - for a holy war against legalized gaming as being sinful and socially evil. They're reaching beyond the pulpit for coalitions to urge "no" votes in a possible statewide referendum on riverboat gambling. But the usual anti-gambling fervor could be muted by a proposal to spend the filthy lucre on public education - a linkage some clergy consider devious but politically clever. And the Protestant phalanx can't count on support from the Catholic Church, which views gambling as "morally neutral," or on help from organized Jewish efforts.

More than 100 members of the clergy in Delaware County have joined forces to campaign against and discourage racial intimidation and harassment in housing throughout the county. The group, known as CCARE (Clergy and Congregations Affirming Racial Equality), announced its goal in the form of an advertisement published June 30 in seven area newspapers condemning "increasingly frequent acts" of discrimination. Nicole C. F. Bouvier, director of the Fair Housing Council in Delaware County, which helped organize CCARE in September, said that the number of harassments reported to the council had risen from about five a year for the period 1980 to 1985 to 11 in the council's fiscal 1987.

IN RECENT times, Washington, D.C., has increasingly become known for its relentless partisanship, even sometimes at the expense of addressing effectively some of our nation's most urgent problems. This past Wednesday, with Sens. Toomey and Manchin's compromise amendment on background checks for gun sales, a gust of fresh air blew in our nation's capital. We commend these two senators, Republican and Democrat, both gun owners with top ratings from the NRA, for their perseverance in working out a deal, and also for their creativity and their courage in the face of strong opposition from the powerful gun lobby that too often has prevented commonsense progress.

T HE REV. Terrence Griffith, who was reinstalled Sunday to a second term as the president of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity, doesn't hold back when he talks about the root of violence in urban America. Don't blame poverty, he said, adding, "I grew up poor, and so did lots of successful black men. " And don't point the finger at single-parent households, he said. "My mom was a single mom and lots of folks grew up in single parent homes and raised their kids to be successful.

Testimony is to begin Monday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court in the trial of a priest and a former parochial-school teacher charged with sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy at a Northeast parish in the late 1990s. Judge Ellen Ceisler confirmed the start of testimony Wednesday after prosecution and defense lawyers completed picking a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates to hear the evidence against the Rev. Charles Engelhardt, 66, and Bernard Shero, 49. Jury selection began Monday and concluded Wednesday with two final jurors and six alternates.

It's been almost two years since a Philadelphia grand jury probe of Catholic clergy sex abuse of children resulted in charges against four priests and a teacher. On Monday - after last year's landmark, three-month trial ended in the first criminal conviction of a church administrator for covering up the crimes of deviate priests - the last two defendants, the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and former parochial schoolteacher Bernard Shero, are to go to trial. Prosecutors, defense lawyers, and Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler will begin winnowing a large group of candidates down to a jury of 12 plus several alternates.

Breaking with anonymity - but not loosening the tenacious hold of childhood sexual abuse - two men announced Tuesday that they had sued the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, church officials, and three priests. The emotional statements by Andrew Druding and Michael W. McDonnell highlighted a Center City news conference where their lawyers also announced six other lawsuits on behalf of seven victims purportedly abused as children by archdiocesan priests. "What you did didn't define me," said Druding.

A NUMBER of Philadelphia-area clergy came together Sunday night to speak out against Pennsylvania's controversial new voter-ID law, saying it will prevent thousands from casting their ballots.   The Rev. William B. Moore of the Tenth Memorial Baptist Church in North Philadelphia said an 80-year-old parishioner of his is one of them. She was born in a South Carolina home, delivered by a midwife and never had a birth certificate. Without that, she can't get a photo ID in Pennsylvania, even though she has a Social Security card and voted in prior elections, he said.

Msgr. William J. Lynn was sentenced Tuesday to three to six years in state prison by a judge who said he turned a blind eye while "monsters in clerical garb" sexually abused children, devastating families and shaking the Catholic Church across Philadelphia and beyond. Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said she believed Lynn was once the kind and selfless parish priest that his supporters so passionately described. But as the aide whom Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua tapped to investigate clergy sex abuse, Lynn chose to protect the church over victims, she said.

On a balmy May day on the roof deck of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Ringo Roseman spoke with passion and verve about how Nathan Irish and Elisa Reape are happiest when making each other happy. Clad in a black tuxedo, he pronounced them husband and wife with the ease of a seasoned professional, and got roaring applause from the 80 or so family and friends watching the ceremony. Not bad for a first-timer. Roseman, 31, is not a priest or rabbi (he's a bar manager), but he did fill out a short form on the Universal Life Church Monastery website awarding him the designation of minister and allowing him to legally perform the ceremony in Philadelphia.

Msgr. William J. Lynn was sentenced to 3 to 6 years in state prison Tuesday by a judge who said he turned a blind eye while "monsters in clerical garb" sexually abused children, devastating families and shaking the Catholic church across Philadelphia and beyond. Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said she believed Lynn was once the kind and selfless parish priest that his suppporters so passionately described. But as the aide Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua tapped to investigate clergy-sex abuse, Lynn instead chose to protect the church over victims, she said.