IN BRIEF

Saturday, May 12, 2007

ALTON B. POLLARD III

New Dean for Howard Divinity School

An Emory University professor and author of books on the growth of the African American church has been named dean of Howard University's School of Divinity.

Alton B. Pollard III, currently director of the black church studies program at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, will start at Howard on July 1 to fill a post that has been vacant for several years.

Pollard has published several books, including "Mysticism and Social Change," and he is co-editor with Love Henry Whelchel of "How Long This Road: Race, Religion and the Legacy of C. Eric Lincoln."

-- Hamil R. Harris

EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Nigerian Cleric Blames U.S. Bishops

Nigerian Anglican Archbishop Peter J. Akinola, who defied the top bishops of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion by installing his own bishop on U.S. soil last Saturday, said "insulting and condescending" American bishops were to blame for the controversy.

"The decisions, actions, defiance and continuing intransigence of the Episcopal Church are at the heart of our crisis," Akinola said in an open letter to Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Communion.

On Saturday in Woodbridge, Akinola installed the Rev. Martyn Minns as missionary bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). Minns was the longtime rector of the prominent Truro Church in Fairfax City.

CANA has about 30 congregations of Nigerian immigrants and American conservatives who have left the Episcopal Church, the U.S. wing of the Anglican Communion, because they disagree with its interpretation of Scripture on homosexuality and other issues.

Williams and Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori had urged Akinola not to install Minns.

-- Religion News Service

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT DESIGN

Temple Named a Historic Landmark

The only synagogue designed by Frank Lloyd Wright has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Beth Sholom, a soaring glass-and-concrete temple just outside Philadelphia, began welcoming worshipers nearly 50 years ago. On Sunday, the National Park Service recognized it as one of the architect's greatest achievements.

The towering, flat-topped spire is constructed out of concrete, steel, aluminum and glass.

After a 70-year, 1,000-project career, Wright died in 1959, six months before Beth Sholom was first used.

The designation for the synagogue is part of the congregation's plan to make it a semipublic site, one whose costly upkeep can be supported in part by tours, government funding, philanthropy and a museum shop.

-- Associated Press