CP: 1.63 percent ahead of last year
Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program are 1.63 percent ahead of the same time frame in 2006. As of March 31, the year-to-date total of $102,076,645 for Cooperative Program missions is $1,632,454 ahead of the $100,444,191 received at the same point in 2006. For the month, receipts of $14,991,093 were 18.21 percent, or $3,336,944, below the $18,328,037 received in March 2006. Designated giving of $117,390,555 for the same year-to-date period is 2.17 percent, or $2,489,202, above gifts of $114,901,352 received at this point last year. The $23,923,724 in designated gifts received last month is $11,243,313 below the $35,167,038 received in March 2006, a decrease of 31.97 percent.
Disney to allow same-sex ceremonies
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts announced April 6 it now will allow homosexual couples to exchange vows in its public wedding spots that previously were reserved for people with valid marriage licenses. “Bottom line, our business is all about hospitality,” Donn Walker, a spokesman for Disney, told the Orlando Sentinel. “Our commitment at Disney is to welcome all guests in an inclusive environment and to make them feel respected. We think this is consistent with that long-standing policy.” Disney hosts about 1,500 weddings each year, mostly through its Fairy Tale Wedding packages that include a ceremony at one of the parks’ marriage pavilions, Disney costumed characters at the reception and a ride in a horse-drawn, glass-enclosed carriage through the Disney property. Such packages can cost tens of thousands of dollars, The Washington Post reported.
Poll: Half of Americans reject evolution
Roughly half of Americans reject the theory of evolution and instead believe that God created humans in their present form in the past 10,000 years, according to a new Newsweek poll. The survey of 1,004 adults, conducted March 28-29, found that 48 percent of Americans believe God made humans “pretty much in the present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.” Another 30 percent believe humans evolved over millions of years, with God guiding the process – a belief sometimes called theistic evolution. Only 13 percent believe in a Godless evolution.