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The 2007 top religion stories included:

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 29, 2007

As always, religion news did not disappoint this year.

From the wondrous to the wacky to the wanton, we had plenty to cover in this arena, both locally and globally.

For the Tampa Bay area, two of our most visible religious leaders - Monsignor Laurence Higgins of St. Lawrence Catholic Church and the Rev. Abe Brown of First Baptist Church of College Hill - both decided to step down from their day jobs as senior pastors to concentrate on their ministries.

For Higgins, that means projects that benefit children, men and women behind bars in our penal system and ex-offenders once they return to society.

Although they are both well past retirement age, these two men are not going away any time soon. And we need to be grateful for their tireless commitment to make this community a better place to live.

We also had some surprising news, with the early retirement of Bishop John Lipscomb, leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida, because of Parkinson's disease and malaria. But in November, we learned he and his wife, Marcie, made a decision to leave their church and become Catholics.

They represent a growing number of Episcopalians who say they are disillusioned with the direction their denomination is taking.

In March, after two years of planning, international evangelist Luis Palau came to Raymond James Stadium for one of his famed two-day family festivals. Although inclement weather dampened attendance, tens of thousands still came out for the impressive lineup of Christian musicians, sports figures and speakers.

We all were thrilled when "Quiet Strength," the autobiography penned by former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy, vaulted to the top of The New York Times best-seller list. No one deserved it more.

Although some readers would prefer otherwise, we are obligated to report the bad along with the good. Earlier this month, the popular Rev. Brian James resigned from St. James United Methodist Church after admitting an addiction to online adult pornography. This was a real stunner for this very active congregation.

We also looked into allegations of financial improprieties and the lavish lifestyles of Randy and Paula White, founders of Without Walls International Church in Tampa.

A series of stories in the Tribune resulted in actions that corrected some of the accusations, such as a widow being repaid a personal loan she had made to the Whites and the church purchasing a home that had been promised to a single mother years ago.

The couple, both on their second marriage, finally announced in August they were splitting up. That put an end to rumors of a troubled union that had been circulating for months.

The Whites likely will be in the news again in 2008. Without Walls and Paula White Ministries, along with five other ministries, are being investigated for possible violations of their tax-exempt status by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member of the Senate Finance committee. Most of the evangelists are taking a defiant stand, saying they don't have to reveal personal and church business to government officials. Stay tuned.

Convicted felon Henry Lyons, the disgraced pastor and former leader of the National Baptist Convention USA, tried to make a comeback when he ran for his denomination's state presidency. But delegates were not willing to return the Tampa preacher to power, instead electing the Rev. James B. Sampson of Jacksonville to head the Florida General Baptist Convention.

That's just a small sampling of the local religious scene. For a snapshot of the world view, 80 members of the Religion News-

writers Association (myself included) came up with the top 10 stories of the year.

The upcoming presidential election and the fight for votes among GOP candidates won the top spot; close behind as the No. 2 story were efforts by Democrats to win over voters by showcasing their faith.

For the top religion newsmaker of the year, the journalists chose the Buddhist monks in Myanmar. Hundreds of monks protested in September in support of democracy but were squelched by the military-backed government.

More than half of those responding to the survey chose the monks over Pope Benedict XVI, President George W. Bush and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, among others.

1 Evangelical voters ponder whether they will be able to support the eventual Republican candidate, as they did in 2004, because of questions about the leaders' faith and/or platform. Many say they would be reluctant to vote for Mormon Mitt Romney.

2 Leading Democratic presidential candidates make conscious efforts to woo faith-based voters after admitting failure to do so in 2004.

3 The role of gays and lesbians in the clergy continues as a deeply divisive issue. An Episcopal Church promise to exercise restraint on gay issues fails to stem the number of congregations seeking to leave the mainline denomination, while in a close vote, Canadian Anglican bishops vote to nullify lay and clerical approval of same-sex blessings. Meanwhile, Conservative Jews become more open to gay leadership.

4 Global warming rises in importance among religious groups, with many mainline leaders giving it high priority and evangelical leaders split over its importance compared with other social and moral causes

5 The question of what to do about illegal immigration is debated by religious leaders and groups on both sides. Some take an active role in supporting undocumented immigrants.

6 Thousands of Buddhist monks lead a pro-democracy protest in Myanmar, which is brutally crushed after a week when troops fire on the group.

7 Some conservative U.S. Episcopalians realign with Anglican bishops in Africa and elsewhere in the global South, initiating legal disputes about church property ownership.

8 The Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote rules on the conservative side in three major cases with religious implications: upholding a ban on partial-birth abortions, allowing schools to establish some limits on students' free speech and denying a challenge to the Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.

9 Death takes evangelical leaders known, among other things, for their television work: Jerry Falwell, Rex Humbard, D. James Kennedy, plus Billy Graham's wife, Ruth, and Jim Bakker's ex-wife, Tammy Faye Messner.

Other deaths include Gilbert Patterson, presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ, and Bible scholar Bruce Metzger.

10 The cost of priestly sex abuse to the Roman Catholic Church in the United States surpasses $2.1 billion, with a record $660 million settlement involving the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and earlier settlements this year totaling $100 million in Portland, Ore., and Spokane, Wash.

Michelle Bearden can be reached at mbearden@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7613.

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