Short Stuff

The Mennonite Brethren Herald's online version is one of the "Top 100 Sites" on the internet, according to the June, 1996 issue of The Net magazine. The Herald was one of eight sites listed in the Religion category. The Net said the March 8, 1996 issue of the Herald "explains the internet to the novice, and how it can bring far-flung church groups together. While the site dwells on some of the evils of the technology, it also explains how networks and computers help translate the Bible into new languages in record time. And I thought that Mennonites dressed in black and worked in the fields all day! If every issue is like this one, it's well worth the read, Mennonite or not."

The Assemblies of God is urging its 2.5 million members to boycott Walt Disney Corporation's products and theme parks for "abandoning the commitment to strong moral values". The denomination lists Growing Up Gay, a book published by Disney subsidiary Hyperion Press; Priest, a movie which features a homosexual priest; and Gay and Lesbian Day held at Disney World in Florida, as examples of Disney's "moral shift". The 16-million member Southern Baptist Convention threatened a boycott of Disney earlier this year.--
Evangelical Press News Service

The Christian band Jars of Clay opened for secular rock star Sting in a series of concert dates in Texas. The band played songs from their self-titled release in Dallas, Austin and Houston in September. Jars of Clay has been gaining mainstream acceptance through strong radio play of its song "Flood".--
EPNS

"Gone With the Wind", "The Ten Commandments", and "The Sound of Music" are among the top five money-making films of all time--if you adjust for inflation. A report by USA Today found that popular films like "Snow White" and "Jungle Book" make the top 10 list if you account for the shrinking dollar. Almost half of the top 25 films on the inflation-adjusted list are rated G.--
EPNS

Stephanie Stephenson got her shot at the big-time and said no. The day after landing a leading role in the touring cast of the Broadway musical "Les Miserables," the 20-year-old actress quit rather than take on an additional role that conflicted with her Christian beliefs. That minor role would have required her to dress as a prostitute and be pawed by male actors. "There's a fine line between the morals and going over that line, and I didn't want to go over that line," said Stephenson, who returned to her role as understudy for the Virgin Mary in "The Promise", a musical about the life of Christ.--
EPNS

The web site of Gospel Communications Network logged nearly 7 million "hits" (accesses to its electronic resources) in August. The site allows access to many religious resources. GCN's Bible Gateway cracked the I-way 500 list, a listing of the best 500 websites in the world. The network's "CrossSearch", a directory of religious resources, garnered the "4-star" rating from the McKinley Group's editorial team. The entire site was given a "Top 5%" rating from Point Communications, another internet review group for the second year. The address is http://www.gospelcom.net.--
GCN

Information about India 1997, the Mennonite World Conference Assembly, is available on the internet at http://www.mph.lm.com/mwc.html.--
Mennonite World Conference

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