Har Shalom to host Shabbat service
Congregation Har Shalom will host a Shabbat morning service from 9:30 a.m. to noon today at the synagogue, 2537 County Road 203.
The Shabbat morning services will include a Torah reading and Torah study followed by kiddush.
For more information, visit www.harshalomdurango.org.
Author to speak on crisis in Israel
Lela Gilbert, Christian author and longtime resident of Jerusalem, will discuss the current crisis in Israel and her latest book covering religious persecution, Saturday People, Sunday People, at 11:30 a.m. Sunday in the Windom Room of the Durango Community Recreation Center, 2700 Main Ave.
Her latest book interweaves her experiences with Israel’s people and places, alongside an account of past and present events that continue to shape the lives of Israelis and the world beyond their borders.
Gilbert, an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute, has authored or co-authored more than 60 books and is a contributor to the Jerusalem Post, The Weekly Standard, National Review Online, Huffington Post and other major publications.
For more information, call the Rev. Edward W. Fowler at 946-4822.
Lawsuit challenges clinic buffer zone
CONCORD, N.H. – A conservative Christian law group has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to strike down New Hampshire’s 25-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics.
Alliance Defending Freedom announced Tuesday it filed the lawsuit on behalf of several abortion opponents. The lawsuit says the buffer zone signed into law this year violates the free speech rights of abortion protesters.
ADF filed the Massachusetts lawsuit that led to last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down that state’s buffer zone.
The lawsuit filed Monday says the law unfairly allows clinic escorts, but not protesters, to talk to women within the buffer zone.
Abortion rights supporters say the buffers are needed to protect women and clinic workers from harassment.
William Hinkle, Gov. Maggie Hassan’s spokesman, says the governor believes the law is narrower than the Massachusetts law and will survive a court test.
Religious commission brought back by House
WASHINGTON – The House has approved a five-year reauthorization of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The independent government agency reports on violations of religious rights abroad and recommends actions the U.S. could take against countries that persecute or fail to prevent persecution of people of faith.
Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf said, “Without this commission, there would be nobody around to point out what is taking place to these groups.”
USCIRF commissioners are appointed by Congress and the White House.
The five-year reauthorization was approved by a voice vote in the House. New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith said he hopes the Senate will promptly agree to extend the life of the commission.
Hispanic evangelicals address immigration
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A Hispanic evangelical leader says most of the unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border would be better off with their parents and should be sent home.
The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez says those without parents in the U.S. could fall victim to the same drug gangs in American cities that threaten their lives in Central America.
Rodriguez is president of NHCLC/Conela, which represents more than 40,000 Hispanic evangelical churches in the U.S. and 500,000 worldwide.
NHCLC/Conela plans to broadcast public service announcements in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala discouraging parents from sending their children on the dangerous trek to the U.S. border and is urging Central American pastors to spread that message throughout their communities.
Rodriguez says while NHCLC/Conela opposes illegal immigration, its churches are offering temporary shelter, food and clothing to children packed into U.S. detention facilities while their cases are processed.
Herald Staff & Associated Press
