Spiritual Life
6A
Thursday, February 11, 2021
HIGHLIGHTS
ZION LUTHERAN
CHURCH
time when Joseph Smith began to
board with the Whitmer family
while completing the transla-
tion of the Book of Mormon and
securing its copyright. Mem-
bers of the Whitmer family were
blessed with the opportunity to
receive direct revelation through
Joseph Smith and to be witnesses
of the plates from which the Book
of Mormon was translated. As
church building use increases,
members are reminded of our
duties to care for them.
RootsTech Connect, a virtual
family history event, will take
place Feb. 25-27. Visit the news-
room on the Church’s website to
Submissions
LA GRANDE — Zion
Lutheran Church will not wor-
ship in person this Sunday, Feb.
16, due to COVID-19. A recorded
worship service will be posted
on Zion’s Facebook page and
website on Saturday. There will
be a recorded service for Ash
Wednesday, Feb. 17, posted to
Zion’s Facebook page and website
on Tuesday.
The Zion congregation won’t
worship in person again until
Union County is in the yellow
zone of the State’s metrics. The
Churches and faith-based groups are encouraged to submit Highlights
for the Spiritual Life page by 4 p.m. Tuesday for publication Thursday.
Submit by email to news@lagrandeobserver.com (with Highlights in
the subject line.
offi ce will remain closed until
then as well.
CHURCH OF JESUS
CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY
SAINTS
LA GRANDE — Individual
wards of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints con-
tinue to meet in person, with lim-
ited size groups and condensed
time schedules. Members are
encouraged to contact their ward’s
leaders for meeting informa-
tion. Face coverings and social
distancing are required at all
meetings.
For the week of Feb. 15, the
church’s at-home “Come, Follow
Me” lesson is on Doctrine & Cov-
enants 14-17, which covers the
learn about the keynote speakers.
ST. PETER’S EPISCOPAL
CHURCH
LA GRANDE — St. Peter’s
Episcopal Church will not wor-
ship in person this Sunday, Feb.
14, due to COVID-19. A link to
a recorded worship service for
Sunday will be posted to Face-
book on Saturday. There also
will be an online service for Ash
Wednesday, Feb. 17, posted to St.
Peter’s Facebook page on Tuesday.
St. Peter’s does not plan to
gather for in person worship
until at least March.
A mix of hope and dismay as religious leaders assess Biden
By DAVID CRARY
and ELANA SCHOR
harmful changes” under
Trump.
Leaders of the Catholic
bishops’ conference cheered
Biden for shoring up DACA
on his fi rst day in offi ce,
while urging him to go fur-
ther by creating a path to
citizenship for its benefi cia-
ries as a “fi rst step” toward
a broader overhaul.
More action is set to
come from the White
House as soon as this week,
and lawmakers also vow
to pursue it through legis-
lation. Whether religious
groups can maintain their
support for future immigra-
tion measures may depend
on the specifi cs.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump’s
departure from the White
House and the start of Joe
Biden’s presidency have
stirred new hopes among
many religious leaders in
the United States, while
causing dismay among
others.
Here’s a look at some of
the issues that major faiths
will be grappling with as
the new administration
takes shape.
Abortion
For leaders of the two
largest Christian denomi-
nations in the U.S. — the
Roman Catholic Church
and the Southern Baptist
Convention — the para-
mount concern about the
Biden administration is its
strong support for abortion
rights.
Biden, a practicing Cath-
olic, already has rolled back
some Trump policies aimed
at curbing abortion access.
On Jan. 22, the 48th anni-
versary of the Supreme
Court decision establishing
a nationwide right to abor-
tion, Biden and Vice Pres-
ident Kamala Harris said
they would seek to enshrine
that right into federal law
to protect it from court
challenges.
That stance was assailed
by Archbishop Joseph
Naumann of Kansas City,
Kansas, who chairs the
U.S. Conference of Cath-
olic Bishops’ Committee on
Pro-Life Activities.
“It is deeply disturbing
and tragic that any president
would praise and commit to
codifying a Supreme Court
ruling that denies unborn
children their most basic
human and civil right,” he
said.
The Rev. Albert Mohler,
president of the Southern
Baptist Theological Semi-
nary, said in a recent radio
broadcast that Biden “is
entirely, unquestionably
sold out to the abortion
rights movement.”
Clergy of other denom-
inations who support abor-
tion rights, including
from mainline Protestant
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
Doug Emhoff, left, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and fi rst lady Jill
Biden stand during the national anthem Jan. 21, 2021, during a virtual Presidential Inau-
gural Prayer Service at the White House. President Donald Trump’s departure and the
start of Biden’s presidency have stirred new hopes among religious leaders in the United
States, while causing dismay among others.
churches and the Reform
and Conservative branches
of Judaism, will likely
embrace the administra-
tion’s efforts to expand
access.
“We’re not pro-choice
in spite of our faith —
we’re pro-choice because
of our faith,” said the
Very Rev. Katherine Han-
cock Ragsdale, an Epis-
copal priest and president
of the National Abortion
Federation.
LGBTQ rights
Another issue uniting
Catholic and Southern Bap-
tist leaders is concern about
expanding nondiscrimina-
tion protections for LGBTQ
people.
They say such measures
— some already taken and
others expected later —
could infringe on religious
freedom for faiths that
oppose same-sex marriage
and question the inclusion
of gender identity in non-
discrimination policies.
In a recent statement,
fi ve prominent bishops
warned about “the impo-
sition of new attitudes and
false theories on human
sexuality which can pro-
duce social harms.”
Massimo Faggioli, a Vil-
lanova University theology
professor who authored a
book about Biden and U.S.
Catholicism, said these
issues will fuel serious ten-
sions. The bishops, he said,
fear Catholic institutions
will lose their right to pro-
vide government-subsidized
social services if they do
not abide by certain nondis-
criminatory policies.
Francis DeBernardo of
New Ways Ministry, which
advocates for LGBTQ Cath-
olics, predicted that Biden
will fi nd a balance even as
he bolsters LBGTQ rights.
“As a person deeply
committed to his church,
he is not likely to trample
on the religious liberties of
faith institutions,” DeBer-
nardo said.
Leaders of The Church
of Jesus Christ of Lat-
ter-day Saints, another
conservative denomina-
tion, may be relieved at
Trump’s departure and
willing to work with Biden
on some issues, said Mat-
thew Bowman, chair of
Mormon studies at Clare-
mont Graduate University
in California.
Bowman said they
would ask that any nondis-
crimination initiatives pro-
vide exemptions for reli-
gious institutions, including
faith-based schools such as
Brigham Young University.
Immigration
Faith-based groups have
called for raising the annual
cap on refugee admis-
sions to the U.S. and relief
for benefi ciaries of the
Deferred Action for Child-
hood Arrivals program, or
DACA, which shields some
young immigrants from
deportation.
Evangelical organiza-
tions that assist refugees
offered advance praise for
Biden’s expected raising of
the admissions ceiling after
what one called “numerous
Racial inequality
Many denominations in
the U.S. have committed to
combating racial injustice.
Their leaders were critical
of Trump’s divisive rhet-
oric and expect Biden and
Harris to make substan-
tive efforts to reduce racial
inequality.
“It’s my hope that the
administration will do
everything they can to pro-
mote racial justice, truth-
telling and healing,” said
Michael Curry, the fi rst
African American to serve
as presiding bishop of the
Episcopal Church. He
added that criminal jus-
tice and education are areas
where racial disparities
must be addressed.
The Rev. Terri Hord
Owens, the fi rst African
American to lead the
Disciples of Christ, was
encouraged by the Biden
transition team’s extensive
outreach to faith leaders
and hopes the adminis-
tration can address eco-
nomic inequality in ways
that will simultaneously
combat racial injustice.
The chairman of the
Catholic bishops’ Com-
mittee on Racism, Bishop
Shelton Fabre of the Hou-
ma-Thibodaux diocese in
Louisiana, said differences
with Biden over abortion
won’t prevent cooperation
on race-related matters.
“While we have strong
disagreements regarding
abortion and other issues
… I nonetheless look for-
ward to working together to
address racism as it impacts
society and individuals,”
Fabre said.
The Rev. Russell Moore,
head of the Southern Bap-
tists’ public policy arm,
acknowledged that some
white evangelicals don’t
consider racial inequality a
high-priority issue. But he
argued that it’s crucial to
develop a “Christian vision
of racial justice” and said an
increasing number of multi-
ethnic evangelical churches
share his view.
Domestic security
The Jan. 6 insurrection
at the U.S. Capitol lent fresh
urgency to the debate over
combatting domestic secu-
rity threats, including hate
crimes targeting houses of
worship in recent years.
Faith-based groups such
as the Jewish Orthodox
Union lauded an increase
in federal grant money
for protection at reli-
gious institutions, aid
that’s distributed through
a program Biden vows to
strengthen.
But discussion of
expanding legal authority to
prosecute alleged domestic
terrorists has raised alarms
among civil rights groups,
including Muslim organi-
zations that fear it could be
unduly deployed against
minority communities.
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Northeast Oregon Directory of Churches
Cove United
Methodist Church
1708 Jasper St., Cove, OR
North Powder
United
Methodist Church
390 E. St., North Powder, OR
JOIN US... Catch the Spirit!
First Christian
Church
(Disciples of Christ)
901 Penn Avenue 963-2623
lgdisciples@gmail.com
Worship
10:00 a.m.
Worship: 9:00 a.m. Cove
Worship: 10:00 a.m. N. Powder
~Join us at The Lord’s Table~
SUMMERVILLE
BAPTIST CHURCH
LA GRANDE UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday Services:
Sunday School & Adult Bible Classes
9:45AM
Children’s Church & Worship Service
11:00AM
Family Worship Service
6:00PM
Wednesday:
Prayer Mtg, Children’s Bible Club, Youth
Group 7:00PM
A church for your whole family
Visit us at summervillebaptistchurch.org
“OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, OPEN DOORS”
1612 4th Street – 963-2498
Pastor Taylor Gould
For service information go to
www.lagrandeumc.org
GRACE COMMUNITY
LUTHERAN CHURCH
The Place
62848 Philynda Loop in Island City
“We are called to Serve”
Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am
Sunday Worship 10:00 am
Phone: 541-568-4230
grace.lutherancove@gmail.com
Zion Lutheran
Church
(an ELCA church)
902 Fourth Street,
La Grande, OR
(541) 963-5998
9:00 am - Worship
10:00 am - Fellowship & Refreshments
10:30 am - Classes
Pastor: Roberta Smythe
www.zionlagrande.org
Imbler
Christian
Church
440 Ruckman, Imbler 534-2201
www.imblercc@gmail.com
Sunday Services
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Sunday School
Worship Service
Services
This
Week
La Grande Seventh-day
FIRST LANDMARK
MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH
Adventist Church
A Place where hope is found in Jesus
Join us in Fellowship & Worship
Saturday all age classes 9:30 am
Saturday Worship 11:00 am
1812 1st St. La Grande
Pastor Dave Tierce • 541-605-0215
2702 Adams Avenue, La Grande
963-4018
lagrandeor.adventistchurch.org
Learning for Today and Eternity
Little Friends
Christian Preschool/Childcare 963-6390
La Grande Adventist Christian School
K-8th Grade 963-6203
We use the King James Version Bible
109 18th Street • 963-3402
Sunday School 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.
Sunday School - 10:00 am
Worship 11:00 am
Sunday Evening Bible Study - 3:00 pm (Effective June 10)
Wednesday Evening - 6:30 pm
“Where you can find TRUTH according to the scriptures”
www.flmbclagrande.com