NEWS BRIEFS

— Wal-Mart stopped from selling alcohol

POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. - A Georgia church has won a battle to stop a Wal-Mart Supercenter from selling alcohol.

The Marietta Daily Journal reports that Cobb County commissioners on Tuesday denied a request from the Powder Springs store, 20 miles northwest of Atlanta, to have a wine and beer package license.

The vote was 4-1.

The store wanted the commission to waive its restriction of selling alcohol within 600 feet of a church. But members of Pine Grove Baptist Church objected.

  • The Associated Press

Pope adds Arabic as prayer language

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has delivered a prayer in Arabic during his weekly general audience in a new effort by the Vatican to show support for Christians in the Middle East.

A priest read a summary of the pope’s remarks on Wednesday in Arabic. The pope then delivered his own brief greeting in Arabic: “The pope prays for all the Arabic-speaking people. God bless you all.”

The Vatican said it was adding Arabic to the six other languages, aside from the original Italian, typically spoken during the general audience, to remind Catholics to pray for peace in the Middle East.

  • The Associated Press

Kansas City church folds; funds eyed

OLATHE, Kan. - The suburban Kansas City church that a pastor started after losing his megachurch to foreclosure has folded.

Jerry Johnston’s New Day Church Kansas City held its last service Sept. 30. The church met in Olathe schools after last year’s closure of the First Family Church in Overland Park, Kan. The Southern Baptist megachurch, located on a 51-acre campus, once was described as among the fasting-growing in the country.

But members began leaving in 2007 because of financial accountability concerns. Several former members of the church’s building committee - people who had each donated tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to the church - said Johnston had withheld key financial data from them. Last year, the church was foreclosed upon after its lender alleged it owed more than $14 million in mortgage payments and other costs.

  • The Associated Press

Fire captain fired for religious e-mail

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. - The Spokane Valley Fire Department has fired a captain who continued to send religious e-mails from his department account despite numerous orders to stop.

The Spokesman-Review reported that Capt. Jon Sprague, who runs the Spokane County Christian Firefighter Fellowship, has been disciplined several times for sending the e-mails.

This year, he received two letters of reprimand and a suspension before the Spokane Valley Board of Fire Commissioners voted unanimously to fire him Monday.

Sprague sent e-mails to a group of firefighters who agreed to receive the notices. They contained information about meetings and events of the Christian fellowship group.

Religion, Pages 12 on 10/13/2012

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