The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan • Page 4

November 5, 1983 Coming Tomorrow on Spotlight: A teacher sharing program Seat belt use Working World Children of divorced parents Page 4A Times Herald Saturday, Church forum explores life after divorce Bv JIM KFTrwilM "Our purpose is to assist people going Babysitting will be available at the Ministries at Ward Presbyterian Church, si Times Herald Religion Page Editor Life after divorce does exist. So does forgiveness, acceptance, freedom from guilt and self-worth. At least that's how Rev. Timm Jackson sees it. And he hopes to get that message across to as many as 100 people during a two-day workshop beginning Nov.

18 at Colonial Woods Missionary Church. The church and Jackson's Single Point Ministries are co-sponsoring the Divorce Recovery Workshop aimed at helping people come to terms with their separation. The forum is the first of its kind at Colonial Woods, said the Rev. Dan Lundb-lad, who heads the church's Single Christian Fellowship program. Cost for the two-day workshop is $15, which includes lunch, refreshments, books and access to all the sessions.

The first day's activities run from 6 to 11 p.m. The second day's sessions start at 9 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. through the trauma of divorce. You can either grow through it or go through it.

We try to get across that it doesn't have to be totally negative." Jackson has worked with about 3,500 divorced people in more than four years of conducting workshops. Lundblad said he also wanted the church to get involved in the divorce recovery workshop simply because divorce has become a fact of life. "There are some people who don't want to accept the fact that nearly 50 percent of all marriages in this country are going to end in divorce. The pressures on marriages are severe, both for Christians and non-Christians," he said. Discussions will focus on self-identity, coming to emotional terms with the ex-spouse, forgiveness, where children fit into a divorce, remarriage and helping others through divorce.

Livonia. "He's run similar programs there for four years, and he's done an outstanding job," Lundblad said. In his years at Ward Presbyterian, Jackson's ministry has drawn more than 1,000 divorced people to similar workshops. Jackson says he's no promoter of divorce. What he tries to do is help people grow emotionally and psychologically in their divorce.

"Many who have been divorced feel that they have failed, that they're no longer a whole person. But that's not true. You don't have to be married to be complete," Jackson said. Traditionally, Christianity has taught that divorce is a sin. Jackson addresses the issue by agreeing that, indeed, divorce is a sin but it's not unpardonable.

"God hates divorce. But he loves divorced people. There is forgiveness," he said. church's nursery. The church is at 3240 Pine Grove Ave.

"We want to try to offer healing to people. We have sessions based on improving self-esteem and on how to put the pieces (of life) back together. One of the biggest needs is loneliness. In a divorce, a person's self-esteem has gone completely downhill," Lundblad said. Lundblad, who also is a social worker, said the church-sponsored workshops will have a Christian perspective.

But they won't attempt to shove religion in general or a particular dogma down anyone's throat. Believers and non-believers alike are welcome, he said. "There won't be any pressure. But through the sessions, we hope to show that God's healing touch can work in people's lives," Lundblad said. When the church's Single Christian Fellowship decided to offer the workshop, Lundblad said the logical choice as leader was Jackson, who heads Single Point Rev.

Timm Jackson Divorce is forgiveable Church should condemn attack St. Edward's unveils statue I I Crossroads --5 Jim Ketchum iff' 4. I received a telephone call the other day from the Rev. Richard Kim, pastor of Trinity Episcopal Church, Lexington. The call came just before deadline.

Kim was interested in talking about the bombing in Beirut. This intense man, whose interest in any issue is complete, was upset with the lack of reaction from the Christian community to the bomb attack that killed more than 230 American servicemen, most U.S. Marines. The church seems ready to attack the United States for its foreign plicy transgressions, but is unable or unwilling to criticize other nations, he said. Kim explained that Trinity's church bell would toll that morning for each dead serviceman and that the congregation would observe a moment of silence.

But beyond that, he asked if there wasn't something the press could do? "I would hope that you could use the power of the press to do something to get some kind of response from the church hierarchy," he said. I thanked him for his call, suggested he write a letter to the editor and then went on about my business of helping put the day's paper out complete with news about more dead being found in the Beirut rubble and about new shipments of coffins arriving from another place Grenada. It wasn't until a couple of days later that I thought again about that phone call. Perhaps a twinge of guilt pricked me that I really couldn't do any more than I did. Perhaps all of us felt helpless after the bombing.

But I kept thinking that, perhaps Kim had hit on a point. Outside of a statement deploring the attack from Pope John Paul II, little else apparently happened. Protestant leaders have said little and done less. Maybe they are stunned by the horror of the bombing and of the systematic destruction of Lebanon to think about doing much of anything. So what should have been done? Kim said the church as a whole should take a moment to acknowledge the attack and who was responsible for it.

Kim believes that a unified condemnation would carry much moral weight. Who know? Kim might be right. At this point, it sure couldn't hurt to try. i- y' Way I Si I i i i i te'i FORT GRATIOT TOWNSHIP A gift destined for St. Edward's On The Lake Catholic Church will hold many special meanings when it's unveiled Sunday.

In a sense, it's a gift of love from the people who gave the money for it, the man who created it and the priest who will accept it on behalf of the parish. The gift is a seven-foot bronze statue of St. Joseph, venerated by Catholics as the father of their church and the foster father of Jesus. The statue, which will be dedicated in a short ceremony following the 9:30 a.m. Mass, comes through a donation of about $20,000 from an anonymous Marine City businessman who was a former St.

Edward's altar boy, said the Rev. Fr. John R. Hogan, the church's pastor. Hogan then contacted Edward Chesney, a Detroit sculptor whose brother was a friend of Hogan.

"I had seen his studio on Gratiot and 9 Mile Road in Detroit, and I was greatly impressed by his work," Hogan said. Arrangements were made and the work began about seven months ago. Chesney, 61, who also worked as a carpenter for 25 years, said the statue became something personal for him, not only because his late brother and Hogan were good friends, but also because he had something in common with the subject. "Being a carpenter for 25 years, I have a strong feeling toward him (St. Joseph).

We were both carpenters. It (the statue) is of a sentimental nature," he said. Chesnev also wanted to do the work for Hogan and for the parish members. "When you start working and meeting the people who travel 15 or 20 miles to come to the church, you find they give a lot of time to it. It means a lot to them," he said.

While the statue was being completed, six parish members put in about 150 hours of work preparing the site and cutting paths into a woods near the church for outdoor stations of the cross, Hogan said. "The donor wanted it to belong to the parish with volunteer labor used in the laying of they've assisted with all the manual labor to build the four-foot cement base and with assembling the superstructure," he said. Hogan said the donors have seen the work and say it's breathtaking. "There's no statue of this design that I know of anywhere in the world," Hogan said. Sunday's ceremony will be simple, including a few prayers, a hymn and a blesssing by Hogan.

A formal blessing by Archbishop Edmund Szoka is planned sometime next May, Hogan said. It would be Szoka 's first visit to Port Huron. Hogan, active in many civic projects during his 33 years at St. Edward's, views the statue as a high point of his life in the priesthood. "I'm 6fl.

I don't know if I'll be retired in a year and a half or if the archbishop will let me go on. So I see this as approaching my swan song," he said. Your Church's Corner announcements are always welcomed. The deadline for getting them in Saturday's paper is noon Wednesday. Items submitted after the deadline can't be guaranteed publication.

The early deadline allows us to allocate space and helps ensure that everyone's announcements will be seen on time. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. Jim Ketchum It the Times Herald Religion Page Editor I Jewish woman aims to become a rabbi Timai UaraU Dalnh UU Onlnvyiz-K The Rev. Fr. John R.

Hogan, pastor of St. statue, given by an anonymous donor, was Edward's on the Lake Catholic Church, will made by Edward Chesney, a Detroit-area officiate at a brief dedication ceremony sculpter. A formal dedication with Arch-Sunday for a seven-foot bronze statue of bishop Edmund Szoka officiating is planned St. Joseph on the church grounds. The next May.

Israelis unearth Biblical altar By ALLYN FISHER Associated Press Writer tein of Congregation Beth El in South Orange, said his daughters convinced him to support the ordination of women. "They had been teaching in junior congregation, and they asked me, 'How is it possible to disenfranchise 50 percent of the And I didn't have a good answer for that," her father said. Orenstein said she believes women will add a unique perspective to the rabbinate for several reasons, including "the price they have to pay" for their advancement. "Women have been socialized differently, and some of those ways are beneficial. Women are encouraged to be more emotional and that's a very important attribute to have when you're dealing with people in any profession," she said.

But the rabbinate also will receive a dose of healthy stubbornness, she said. While entering the rabbinate is "a natural decision" for men, "it's never that smooth for women." "Do you want to be in a position of having to explain why you're doing what you're doing every single day? Those who choose are willing to take that on," she said. The faculty vote to ordain women brought happiness to many, but left the seminary somber, she said. The decision to ordain women in the Reform movement of the Jewish faith was made decades ago, although the first woman rabbi was not ordained until 1972, Orenstein said. SOUTH ORANGE, N.J.

(AP) -Debra Orenstein has always wanted to carry on a six-generation family tradition and become a rabbi. Now that Conservative Jewish leaders have reversed a prohibition against women rabbis, she plans to do just that. Last week, the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York voted 34-8 to begin ordaining Conservative women rabbis in the United States. "I wish that I were No. 120,000 and this had been going on for years and I could remain anonymous," the 20-year-old woman said.

"It should have happened a long time ago. Who needs this burden?" Now a graduate history student at the theological seminary, she 'said she plans to apply for entrance to the seminary's rabbinical program next September. She likened the new religious opportunity to admitting women to all-male universities. "It's almost an exaggerated case of the same phenomenon," she said. "There's something about religion that people want it to be a bastion of tradition.

I think that's a good thing. Religion should be a source of traditional values, something that doesn't change overnight and is ephemeral. "But clearly, women's rights don't fall into that category of being the latest fad," said Orenstein, an honors graduate of Princeton University. Her father, Rabbi Jehiel Orens counts of the settlement of the people of Israel in the ancient land and here we have found archaeological remains that are testimony to the holiness of the site," said Professor Benjamin Mazar, 77, of Hebrew University. Mazar, who helped Zartal in research on the project financed by the government and Haifa University, is one of Israel's most respected archaeologists.

He said further research was needed to establish the link with Joshua. "There is no doubt that this is a very significant holy site but it still needs further archaeological and biblical research," Mazar said. Both archaeologists said the site dated from the 12th century B.C., based on ceramic pottery found at the scene and subjected to a car bon dating test. Zartal said the stone structure and two adjacent open courtyards could give insights into the rituals and religious practices of the ancient Israelites. Excavations have been under way for a year on the three-quarter acre site near the mountain peak.

It is a restricted area controlled by the Israeli army. Zartal, a resident of Kibbutz Ein Shemer south of the port city of Haifa, is a doctoral student who has specialized in the wanderings of the Menashe Tribe of Israel. The tribe is said by the scriptures to have settled in what is now the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in 1967. Three years ago, Zartal uncovered the site of an ancient city named Narbata that dated back 3,000 years to the period of King Solomon. paper and confirmed by Haifa University.

What excites archaeologists about the find made Oct. 21 is the possibility that it was constructed by Joshua, who the Bible says blew down the walls of Jericho with a trumpet. Joshua succeeded Moses as leader of the Israelites. Zartal said the location fit the description of Old Testament references to an altar Joshua built on Mount Ebal. And in the book of Deuteronomy, God instructs his people to build an altar of stones with chalk markings after the Israelites crossed into the holy land across the Jordan River.

If the altar is proven to be that of Joshua it would lend support to those who argue the literal nature of the Scriptures rather than their allegorical value. "Mount Ebal is known by all ac TEL AVTV, Israel A stone altar 30 centuries old has been unearthed on a West Bank mountain where the Bible says the prophet Joshua built his altar after leading the children of Israel into the promised land. Israeli archaeologist Adam Zar-tal said that sheep bones, ashes and a dark substance that may have been blood from ritual sacrifices were found on the 27-foot by 21-foot stone structure near the peak of the Mount Ebal, a little more than a mile north of Nablus. "We have never before found a structure of an altar from the period of the Old Testament," said Zartal, whose discovery was reported in the daily Haaretz news.