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Front page Washington Post

Posted by tom | Aug 27, 2006

Georgetown bars ministries from campus

Georgetown University has banned outside Protestant ministries from holding on-campus events and using the school's name, prompting group leaders to question whether the prestigious Catholic school is restricting religious choice.

"All we're wanting is diversity," said Kevin Offner, a staff leader for InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship. "We're simply saying, 'Can't we worship and conduct our meetings in a way appropriate to our tradition?' And it feels like [Georgetown is] saying 'no'" . . .

Included in the email forwarded to me by a faculty friend was a note from Kevin, who stated in closing, May those of us who know Jesus Christ continue to trust Him and remain vigilant in following Him, whatever the cost.

Amen. Please join me as I set aside Tuesday as a day to focus my prayer upon our work at Georgetown.

Reflections on drawing closer to Christ | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

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    Tom - that's actually from the Washington Times. The Washington Post link is here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/26/AR2006082600629.html
    It's slightly less complementary than the Times article, but it's good that the word is getting out.

    This post: http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2006/08/evil_protestants_-_georgetown_u_ejects_private_ministry_groups/ just made me mad at the lack of understanding. I didn't even know where to start if I were to leave a comment.

    Posted by Erica, Aug 28 2006, 10:08

    Just for the record, it appears this decision was made by Georgetown's *Protestant* chaplain, and is therefore *not a Catholic vs. Protestant thing* as several articles have made it sound.

    The Washington Times article linked above makes this clear, as does this one from World Net Daily:

    http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51701

    Here's the Protestant chaplain's letter explaining the decision:
    http://www.thehoya.com/news/082506/ministriesletter.pdf

    It's so sad to see the Body of Christ fighting against each other. Divide and conquer?

    Posted by a ghost of gcf past, Aug 29 2006, 10:45

    Yes, thank-you for your clarification "ghost of GCF past." I mention this as part of the background in the "Call to Prayer" at http://groshlink.net/archives/2006/08/28/call_to_prayer. I am praying for our brothers-and-sisters in Christ which serve in the leadership of Georgetown University to re-affirm the presence of the campus affiliates which have been asked to leave AND provide an opportunity for reconciliation between the official Protestant chaplaincy, the campus affiliates, and Georgetown as a whole . . . that is, if the reconciliation does not occur before then by the initiation of the official Protestant chaplaincy.

    Gritty conflicts such as this encourage us to look to Father to send His Spirit to draw us together, so that by His grace we might demonstrate the gritty nature of the Light of Christ shining into relationships, institutional structures, rhetoric, and intellectual thought.

    May we as the People of God guided by the Word of God and the Spirit of God (no matter of external affiliation) reproduce the likeness of Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and deeds no matter where we have been placed (no matter the challenges we face) in our fallen world. And when we (as individuals and a community) fall short in our day to day living may we receive the grace to confess we have and when we receive the confession of others may we receive the grace to forgive. To the praise of His glory and the advance of His Kingdom!

    Posted by Tom Grosh, Aug 29 2006, 17:24

    For a little more on the Georgetown situation, see the recent Christianity Today Weblog: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/135/21.0.html (thank-you for your forward Miller)

    Posted by Tom, Aug 31 2006, 09:09
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