Archbishop Patrick Flores, the highest-ranking Catholic in Texas, endorsed the crusade early in its planning stages. He met with Graham and taped radio spots encouraging Catholics to attend the crusade to help bring them to a closer commitment to their faith. California's popular Church of the Way, led by charismatic pastor Jack Hayford, sponsored its second rave concert last April. At each public evening service of the 55th convention last March, women not only ushered but also read the Bible and led in prayer. This group distributes the books Women Elders Called by God and What Paul Really Said About Women.
Women are to be used in pastoral care, teaching, preaching and worship.
Bethel College, which claims to be a Christian liberal arts school, has been the subject of complaints and a lawsuit because some professors use vulgar language in class and ask students to read books and to watch films that contain hard-core violence, profanity, and explicit sex. The trustee religious-life council voted this spring to open its membership, formerly exclusively Baptist, to Jews, Catholics, and Episcopalians. The move reflects the diversity already present on campus. Jesus Fellowship, a large charismatic church in the city, submitted the ad, which was supposed to appear on the paper's home-delivery polybag covers. After four years of study of the networks' coverage of religious news, the Media Research Center has found that the coverage is stuck at around one percent.