Post by mainedawg on Jul 3, 2012 10:03:38 GMT -5
Police Chaplains Told to Stop Praying in Jesus’ Name
Filed under Christianity, News, Religion{140 Comments}
The Charlotte, North Carolina, police department has made it clear that Jesus is not welcome at its functions. According to the Associated Press, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) has informed its volunteer chaplains that they are not to mention Jesus’ name when they pray at official ceremonies. The Charlotte Observer reported that the new policy was announced by the head of the department’s volunteer chaplain program, Major John Diggs, who explained that the goal was to make sure the chaplains were sensitive to the variety of religions practiced by the department’s more than 2,000 employees. “This is not in any way an effort to demean anybody’s Christian beliefs,” Diggs assured. “It’s to show respect for all the religious practices in our organization. CMPD is not anybody’s church.”
Apparently, some chaplains, most of whom represent the Christian faith, think the new policy is too restrictive. Terry Sartain, a volunteer CMPD police chaplain for the past seven years, said he got the news shortly before he was to give the invocation at a promotions ceremony last month. When he was told not to use Jesus’ name in his prayer, he asked to be excused from the event.
Sartain, who pastors Charlotte’s Horizon Christian Fellowship, told the Observer that “Jesus is all I’ve got for a blessing. Now I’ve got to find a balance. I want to serve the officers and their families. I don’t want to jam my beliefs down anybody’s throat. But I won’t deny Jesus.”
Continue Reading on thenewamerican.com
Filed under Christianity, News, Religion{140 Comments}
The Charlotte, North Carolina, police department has made it clear that Jesus is not welcome at its functions. According to the Associated Press, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) has informed its volunteer chaplains that they are not to mention Jesus’ name when they pray at official ceremonies. The Charlotte Observer reported that the new policy was announced by the head of the department’s volunteer chaplain program, Major John Diggs, who explained that the goal was to make sure the chaplains were sensitive to the variety of religions practiced by the department’s more than 2,000 employees. “This is not in any way an effort to demean anybody’s Christian beliefs,” Diggs assured. “It’s to show respect for all the religious practices in our organization. CMPD is not anybody’s church.”
Apparently, some chaplains, most of whom represent the Christian faith, think the new policy is too restrictive. Terry Sartain, a volunteer CMPD police chaplain for the past seven years, said he got the news shortly before he was to give the invocation at a promotions ceremony last month. When he was told not to use Jesus’ name in his prayer, he asked to be excused from the event.
Sartain, who pastors Charlotte’s Horizon Christian Fellowship, told the Observer that “Jesus is all I’ve got for a blessing. Now I’ve got to find a balance. I want to serve the officers and their families. I don’t want to jam my beliefs down anybody’s throat. But I won’t deny Jesus.”
Continue Reading on thenewamerican.com
