Gospel readings, African drumming

Grace Church, 175 Mathewson St., Providence, will celebrate Pentecost Sunday tomorrow at 10 a.m. with a festive service featuring African drumming and Gospel readings in 10 different languages commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. The service will also serve as a welcome home to the Rev. Bob Brooks who has been on a three-month sabbatical to Jerusalem, the West Bank, Petra and other sites in the Holy Land with his wife, Rhea. A reception will follow the service. For information, call (401) 331-3225.

Fundraiser for National Cathedral Association

A benefit performance of Fiddler on the Roof to support the National Cathedral Association of Rhode Island will be held Thursday, June 5, at 8 p.m. at the Barker Playhouse, 400 Benefit St., Providence. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling (401) 521-0834.

Letter addresses committee investigation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two-dozen conservative Christian leaders have signed a letter to the Senate Finance Committee questioning an investigation into six large ministries that preach a gospel of prosperity.

The letter argues that the 6-month-old inquiry sets a dangerous precedent. It also suggests that the ministries were targeted for sharing “the same branch of evangelicalism” and promoting “socially conservative public policy positions such as support for the traditional definition of marriage.”

Although the ministries under scrutiny are conservative theologically, they are not at the forefront of the culture wars issues championed by the leaders who are now rallying to their side.

The most prominent figures who signed the letter are Moral Majority co-founder Paul Weyrich, American Family Association chairman Don Wildmon and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell.

“The ministries have been asked to produce financial records and internal documents in what appears to be an exercise in disproving their alleged guilt,” the letter states.

The group repeats an argument by some of the targeted ministries — that the investigation falls short of the high bar the Internal Revenue Service has for justifying a church investigation.

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, sent letters to the six ministries in November seeking answers about spending on private planes, oceanside mansions and board oversight. The committee’s Democratic chairman, Sen. Max Baucus, joined Grassley in asking for answers.

Archbishop defers Communion opinion

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Roman Catholic Archbishop Donald Wuerl, responding to questions about the pro-abortion rights Catholic politicians who accepted Holy Communion during Pope Benedict XVI’s American visit, said any decision about denying the sacrament to those politicians should be made in their home dioceses.

“A decision regarding the refusal of Holy Communion to an individual is one that should be made only after clear efforts to persuade and convince the person that their actions are wrong and bear moral consequences,” Wuerl wrote. “Presumably this is done in the home diocese where the bishops and priests, the pastors of souls, engage the members of their flock in this type of discussion.”

Wuerl’s comments came after New York Cardinal Edward Egan issued a statement saying former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, another abortion rights supporter, had broken “an understanding” the two shared by accepting Communion at a papal Mass in New York.

In Washington, a number of Catholic lawmakers who support abortion rights, including Sen. John Kerry, the former Democratic presidential candidate, attended a papal Mass at Nationals Park. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, took Communion from a priest far from the papal altar.