r

on the subject of religion and chil-
dren. Christians and Jews can
concur on issues like social jus-
tice and the value of religion and
the existence of God, he says, but
there's an undeniable gap when
it comes to Jesus. "It's closer to a
chasm when you come right
down to it."
Even when an intermarried
couple has made a decision to
raise their children in one faith,
it can be difficult for the partner
who does not join in, he says.
He brings up one family with
a Jewish husband and Christian
wife, whose children were being
raised in the church. The hus-
band had no problem with the
fact that his children weren't go-
ing to be Jewish, Canon Logan
says, though he chose not to con-
vert himself. So when the family
came to church on Sundays, he
was not allowed to participate in
certain religious ceremonies, like
the taking of the sacrament.
Canon Logan recalls: "He told me
he had never felt so lonely in his
life."
Canon Logan says life is prob-
ably easier for couples of the same
faith. "Marriage is tough enough"
without adding complicated reli-
gious questions, he says.
Yet neither Canon Logan nor
Canon Okunsanya encourages
congregants to marry other
Episcopalians, or even other
Christians.
"My role isn't to say, 'You
mustn't marry someone from
a different faith," Canon
Okunsanya explains. "My role is
to help (a couple) understand
what it is to be in love and how to
find things that will cement that
relationship."
t isn't unusual to see congre-
gants doing a lot of writing as
Pastor Len Crowley gives his
Sunday morning sermons.
When Pastor Crowley talks,
congregants hear him discussing
the word of God — and that's not
something taken lightly at the
Highland Park Baptist Church.
During sermons they make notes,
often on the blank pages in their
Bibles, which they will go back
and review and discuss and care-
fully consider. They are eager to
learn and, even more important,
carry out what they understand
to be God's role for them here on
earth.
Pastor Crowley is one of 11
ministers at the Baptist congre-
gation in Southfield, where
Sunday morning services always
draw more than 2,000. The
church was founded in 1913, and
many members have been affil-
iated for decades. Virtually all
are married to other Christians.
Pastor Crowley sits in a leather
chair in his comfortable, orga-
nized office at the front of the
church, leafing through the pages
of his clearly well-used Bible. It
takes just a moment for him to
find the passage he's looking for.

I

"It says right here — verse 14,
chapter 2, Second Corinthians,
`You shall not be bound togeth-
er with non-believers.' "
Paul expressed a similar sen-
timent, he points out, in verse 39,
chapter 7, First Corinthians, in
which widows are urged to re-
marry whomever they choose,
"but only in the Lord."
The New Testament describes
an intermarriage as "an un-
equaled yoke." Pastor Crowley
draws an analogy to a farmer
who plows the land with an ox
on one side, a donkey on the oth-
er. Both pull, but their pace is not
the same.
"The ox pulls at one pace and
energy level, the donkey at an-
other," he says. "So you can't have
a good job of plowing and you'll
never get the work done."
At Highland Park Baptist
Church, "we teach the Bible, we
believe in the Bible," Pastor
Crowley says. That leaves no
room for compromise.
"Both the Tanach and the
New Testament are the words
of God. If you say they're not,
then go ahead and do what you
want.
"But we don't see it as up to us
to say what we like and don't like
about the Bible," he says. "It's our
job simply to submit to it."
Like any other violation of
God's law, intermarriage is a sin.
"And a lifestyle of unrepentant
sin initiates church discipline,"
Pastor Crowley says. A Christian
who marries a non-Christian typ-
ically will lose his church mem-
bership, a move the pastor hopes
will serve as "a call to the
Christian to repent."
Under no circumstances will
Pastor Crowley marry a
Christian to one who is not, and
that includes extraordinary cas-
es.
"There are going to be some
who disagree with me," he says.
"But I would say this is true even
when someone is pregnant.
That's just not a mitigating fac-
tor. We don't change the word of
the Bible to accommodate social
situations."
Pastor Crowley has thought all
these situations through, but he
hasn't seen them. Intermarriage
is not an issue at Highland Park
Baptist Church, and it shouldn't
be for any Bible-believing
Christian, he says.
At Highland Park Baptist the
pastors' message to congregants,
from the time they are young chil-
dren until they die, is unequivo-
cal: "We are not bound together
with non-believers."
Of course, it does happen
however rarely — that a
Christian will marry someone
who says he's a man of faith, then
turns out to be one of those peo-
ple who celebrates Christmas and
goes to church on Easter, but
that's about it. Such behavior has

INTERMARRIAGE page 20

ORCHARD LAKE ROAD • SOUTH OF MAPLE • WEST BLOOMFIELD

MICHIGAN DESIGN CENTER

Semi-Annual

Floor Sample Sale

SATURDAY, JULY 15
9 AM-5 PM

NOW EVEN MORE
SAMPLE SALE AREAS OPEN

Some Showrooms Closed, but
lighted for your window viewing

MICHIGAN DESIGN CENTER,
the resource marketplace for the
interior design profession, is
home to 40 showrooms offering
extraordinary home furnishings
by the most sought-after names
in the business.
Participating showrooms will
mark down their clearance
merchandise 60% to 70 13 /0
and more!
Michigan Design Center, 1700 Stutz
Troy. is located 3 blocks east of
Coolidge, north off of Maple
(15 Mile Road). 810/649-4772

•
60%D]

70%°MRORE

OFF

SUNDAY JULY 16
12 NOON-5 PM

THE VERY FINEST
INTERIOR FURNISHINGS
FROM THE FINEST
MANUFACTURERS IN
THE BUSINESS!

• MDC is open to consumers just

4 days a year!

• All items sold AS IS, all sales
final

• Payments must be made by
CASH OR CHECK

• You may take-with or delivery
arrangements must be made at
time of purchase at customer's
expense; delivery must be
accepted within 10 days

SHOWROOM LIST PRICES

te• F.11111

I.. 1 ,1..1 I:

.

1111.

MICHIGAN
DESIGN
CENTER

',Milli

I

N ,

t.....41•11

• i■

8

.11,1

•

MICHIGAN

AI

Ilft

'

An,

N

, ,,,,,,,

Da IGN.

ceNreR

$3.00 Admission

ti

A portion of the proceeds
will go to benefit HAVEN

19

