Notes from the Newsroom NewsOK.com Blogging Community

I’m a romantic at heart and Scott Williams of Crofton, Md.,  recently made my day.

According to a Capital News Story distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, Williams is frantically searching for someone who will give him two tickets to Thursday’s papal Mass at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

Williams said his girlfriend, who is completing her theology degree at Mt. St. Mary’s University, wants to attend the Mass and see Pope Benedict XVI.

Williams wants to propose to her,  either at the Mass, or present them to her during his proposal beforehand — the wire story wasn’t clear about that.

One thing is clear – those papal Mass tickets are hot items.

Here’s the thing: It’s wrong to sell such tickets, according to the Archdiocese of Washington.

A spokesman for the archdiocese is quoted as saying a Roman Catholic Church Mass is considered a sacrament, and scalping the tickets (which were free, but in limited supply)  is equivalent to selling a sacrament, which is forbidden according to church law.

This has not stopped some folks from trying to sell the tickets, though.

As of April 11, there were 28 “tickets wanted” posts in the Washington section of classified ad Web site Craigslist, with one post offering to sell, according to the Capital News Service story. The story went on to say that the Archdiocese of Washington had the site remove about 20 posts selling the tickets or passes.  

Anyway, I’ll be curious about Williams and his proposal plans. Interestingly enough, Williams doesn’t want to buy the tickets since that’s wrong. He is proposing an in-kind exchange. He has information technology skills and is offering to fix a computer for someone who might want to give him two tickets to the Mass. Or he’ll even clean someone’s house.

People who want to help him are probably going to proceed with caution, according to the wire story.  You see the tickets are the nontransferable property of the archdiocese and there is a designated process for assigning “unneeded” tickets.

The archdiocese spokeswoman said each ticket is seat-specific and bar coded so officials should be able to track who is supposed to be sitting in any given section. If archdiocese official see a seat or section number on sale, they can cancel that ticket or flag a row for monitering, the wire story said.

Imagine being pinpointed as an illegal ticket holder at the papal Mass –– beyond embarrassing! 

The spokeswoman said 200,000 people applied for 46,000 passes and there are 10,000 people on the waiting list.

Romantic though he may be, Williams may wait in vain for these golden tickets.      

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

I’ve met many “cradle-Baptists” in my time as religion editor.

Yep, I’ve also met plenty of people who were raised as Roman Catholics and who still adhere to the faith traditions of their youth.

However, a survey released this week said those folks still dedicated to the faith traditions of their childhood are decreasing in number.

In fact, the survey released this week by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, says that nearly half of American adults have left the faith tradition of their upbringing.

According to the survey, they are either switching to another denomination or faith or deciding to reject religious affiliation.

A story about the survey is featured in Saturday’s Religion section. I’d like to know what readers think about the survey findings.

E-mail your comments and opinions to chinton@oklahoman.com.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Martin Luther King Jr. said America’s most segregated major institution is the church.

“At 11:00 on Sunday morning when we stand and sing and Christ has no east or west, we stand at the most segregated hour in this nation,” King said in 1963. “This is tragic. Nobody of honesty can overlook this.”

In noting today’s national holiday, ABC News on Sunday ran a feature about an Ohio church that is trying to break down the voluntary segregation of most churches. The church members regularly visit Sunday worship services at predominantly white churches. Sometimes they tell the church they’re coming; other times they drop in unexpectedly. The pastor is trying to break down barriers between Christians.

“We are all brothers and sisters in Christ,” the Rev. Cliff Biggers told ABC News. “If there’s one Lord, one faith, one baptism, then we ought to be able to worship together.”

In a small way, my family did that on Sunday. Our predominantly white Edmond church for the past four years has with predominantly black Holy Temple Baptist Church staged a joint Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative service at one chuch or the other. Since this year’s service was scheduled to be at our church on Sunday night, we decided to worship at Holy Temple in the morning.

The members couldn’t have made us feel more welcome. As you might expect, the service was considerably different than what we experience at our church. It was longer, louder and more participatory than what we’re accustomed to. But the central message was a familiar one, and the experience was in all ways positive.

Unlike Biggers’ concept, our attendance at Holy Temple was not part of any broad-based plan to tear down walls that separate black and white — it was an opportunity for us to get out of our spiritual comfort zone. We’re the kind of people who sit in a different pew just to meet folks and stir the pot. It also is part of an effort to help my children experience diversity, and to grow up as someone who evaluates people by the content of their character. But frankly, we did it mainly because we thought we would enjoy it, and we did.

Only 7 percent of America’s churches are racially mixed. On June 29, Biggers is planning a nationwide Mission Sunday. He hopes to organize 1,000 churches across the United States to visit churches that “look different from one another.”

Can I get an “Amen?”

Don Mecoy

Business Writer

Travelers at Will Rogers World Airport may notice people waiting for large containers of water along with luggage in the baggage claim area.

In the last few days, many Oklahoma Muslims have been arriving back in the state from their Hajj journey and most of them have brought back Zam-zam water. Imad Enchassi, imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, said Zam-zam water is a precious gift that Hajj pilgrims bring back to share with others who did not make the Hajj journey. Hajj is observant Muslims’ annual religious pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the five pillars of Islams.

Enchassi said last year, the Travel Security Administration (TSA) developed specifications for pilgrims desiring to bring the holy water back to the United States. He said pilgrims don’t want to simply bring back a small bottle of the water. They typically want to bring back gallons of Zam-zam, which they consider miraculous. 

Enchassi said the good news is customs officials in Saudi Arabia were aware of the complexity of traveling with the water, plus it was packaged to meet TSA specifications this year.

According to the Council on Islamic American Relations, many Muslims believe that the water from a well in Mecca is divinely blessed. According to Islamic tradition, Zam-zam water is water that Allah presented to Hagar, who cried out for water for her son, Ishmael when they were alone in the desert.

CAIR advised Hajj pilgrims to pack their Zam-zam water it in their checked baggage if the container was larger than three ounces, pursuant to the TSA’s liquids regulations.

The Rev. Wayne Childers always expects a larger than usual crowd at South Lindsay Baptist Church on the Sunday before Christmas.

This year he’s expecting the holiday service to draw more people, but for the last few days he had been afraid folks would flock to the church at 3300 S Lindsay — only to find noone there.

The reason behind his anxiety?: Church leaders decided this afternoon to hold Sunday’s services at Wheeler Elementary School, 501 SE 25,  instead of the South Lindsay church building.

The building had been without electricity since Dec. 10 because of the ice storm. He said electric company representatives had told him the power would be restored Dec. 19 or 20,  but he began to fret when that didn’t happen.

Electric company crews restored power to the building at about 3 p.m. today (Dec. 21) , a few hours  after Childers said he and other church leaders made the decision to move services to the school.

But another few hours after the change had been made, there was another switch (pun intended).

Childers said the decision was made to switch the services back to the church late  this evening.

So it looks like the South Lindsay Baptist sanctuary will likely be filled with people come Sunday just as the pastor had envisioned.

“It’s Christmas Sunday — one of the biggest Sundays of the year,” he said.

Carla Hinton

Religion Editor