RELIGION

The ever provocative Baptist preacher and author Will Campbell - who has credibility on race issues, having had a significant role in the civil rights movement - has given an interview to EthicsDaily.com on the persistence of racism in America.

The Stewpot, First Presbyterian of Dallas' longtime ministry to the homeless, will serve meals for the first today at The Bridge - the new homeless assistance center. Details below:

It's this Sunday. Here's the press release:

The music ministry of St. Andrew United Methodist Church of Plano invites the public to A Salute to America on Sunday, May 25. Imperial Brass Quintet and the church choirs will present a 7 p.m. concert of patriotic favorites including "God Bless America", "Battle Hymn of the Republic", "America the Beautiful", "Stars and Stripes Forever" and Sousa marches from the brass. Additional highlights include a presentation of colors by the 301st Fighter Wing Honor Guard and a musical salute to the armed forces. A picnic along the scenic creek and games for the children will take place prior to the concert. St. Andrew is located at 5801 West Plano Parkway, just east of the Dallas North Tollway. Admission is free. Call 214-291-8002 for more information.

The Dallas Morning News' Joe Simnacher has an obituary on Richard Towne `Dick' Sutcliffe, who had the idea for the faith-based Davey & Goliath cartoon program. Mr. Sutcliffe also was active in Lutheran broadcasting and worked in p.r. for Southern Methodist University.

A book by the Oprah-endorsed best-selling spirituality author Eckhart Tolle will be the subject of a series at Unity Church of Dallas. Details below:

The Rev. Carroll Pickett was the chaplain on Texas' death row for 13 years, ministering to 95 convicts who would die by lethal injection.

Originally a supporter of the death penalty, he is now opposed -- in part because he's convinced that at least one man he saw die was innocent.

Pickett is the subject of a documentary, "At the Death House Door," that airs May 29 on IFC. He was interviewed yesterday on National Public Radio's "Fresh Air."

"The test of our time, I believe, is whether we can share a sacred space. That's really what's up for grabs in Jerusalem. The way to make a place sacred is by the way you act and what you do, and the creating of a just society. A place becomes sacred through the actions. The land is only as sacred as the people upon it."

-- Rabbi Brian Walsh, executive director, Rabbis for Human Rights, North America

Ron Hall and Denver Moore, the Fort Worth-based authors of the best-selling book `Same Kind of Different as Me' will speak tomorrow (Tuesday) at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. Details below:

The paper's Saturday religion section made note of the blog of an anonymous lesbian Baptist.

Local Christian station KCBI (90.9-FM) has a public affairs program that airs weekdays from 5 to 6 p.m. Today's guest, beginning at 5:15, will be Mike Gilbert, author of "How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder."

The Southern Baptist Convention has seen a decline in baptisms most years recently, but now it's saying that membership too is dropping, albeit modestly. Lovett H. Weems, Jr., a professor at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., has written a piece on lessons that might be learned from what the SBC is going through. .

Gordon Atkinson is a San Antonio pastor who writes for the Christian Century and also has a popular blog. `A Listening Prayer' gives a sample of his style and sensibility.

Frank Lockwood, the "Bible Belt Blogger," is the religion editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.So he noticed right away when Barack Obama had this to say about why polls show him doing so poorly in Kentucky:

What it says is that I'm not very well known in that part of the country. Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it's not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle.

As Lockwood points out, Kentucky borders Illinois -- Obama's home state. It does not border Arkansas.

"And Kentucky's population centers are far closer to the Land of Lincoln than to the Land of Clinton," Lockwood adds. "Louisville to Chicago? It's only a 298-mile trip. Louisville to Little Rock? It's 521 miles. ..."

Lockwood suggests that the "geographically-challenged" Democratic contender may want to bone up on his Red State geography, if he hopes to turn any of those states blue come November.

As he inches closer to the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama continues to reach out to Jewish voters. Here's a story from Naftali Bendavid of the Chicago Tribune.

Obama has obstacles to overcome with American Jews. Some question his commitment to Israel. Some worry about his stated willingness to negotiate with Iran, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calls the Holocaust a "myth." Some worry about his association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose church magazine honored Louis Farrakhan, long known for his anti-Semitic comments.

"Jewish voters," Bendavid writes, "are near the top of the list of voting blocs Obama will have to reach out to as he turns to the general election."

But even if they do harbor doubts about Obama (and many, no doubt, would prefer Hillary Clinton), Jews are one of the most solidly Democratic groups in American politics. A recent Gallup Poll, according to the Tribune story, suggested that Obama leads John McCain almost 2-1 among Jewish voters.

Frederick Haynes said Sunday that he lost the presidency of the NAACP because he didn't want to give up his pulpit at the Oak Cliff megachurch he largely built. Here's the story.

Haynes said he'd been told for two months that he was the sole candidate to head the civil rights organization. Instead, the NAACP board chose Benjamin Jealous.

"The only part of my faith that has any play in my judicial enterprise is whatever commandment it is -- the sixth -- thou shalt not lie."

-- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, asked how his Catholicism influences his judicial decisions. Quoted on MSNBC's "The Tim Russert Show."

A bad day on the "winning hearts and minds" front. The New York Times has the story, dateline Baghdad.

Kevin Farrell has been bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas for a year. In a story on this morning's front page, Sam Hodges takes a look at what the bishop has accomplished -- much of it very quietly.

The new Narnia movie, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," opened this weekend.

Beliefnet has an interview with its dashing young star, Ben Barnes, who plays Capsian.

Beliefnet normally tries to provide stuff that's at least marginally related to religion and faith. But there's no trace of God-talk in anything young Mr. Barnes has to say. Guess he's just not big on the whole religion thing.

Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, told his congregation Saturday night: "You need to know that we are appalled and we are disgraced by this terrible action, an unacceptable action by a minister on our staff. I'm so sorry for the injury that this kind of behavior has brought to many people in our church and outside of our church."

He was referring, of course, to the arrest of one of his ministers, Joe Barron, who was caught in an Internet sting when he drove to Bryan, Texas, to hook up with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

Addressing the crowd at the start of Prestonwood's Saturd