Religion briefs for Aug. 2

STOW, Ohio -- A financially struggling church has run into neighborhood opposition to natural-gas drilling on church property.

Stow Community United Church of Christ sits on a 4-acre lot in this upscale Akron suburb. It needs the approval of neighbors living within 300 feet to allow drilling. Two of 20 owners have balked at signing because of safety and property-value concerns.

Drilling is increasingly common on school grounds and private property in big producer states such as Texas.

Rich Reinhart, president of the Stow church council, said the congregation has empathy for opponents but believes it is Christian to "help more people by keeping our church open." The church has about 140 members with an average age of 62, Reinhart said.

The church and neighbors would share royalties. As the property owner, the church also would receive gas from the well, perhaps saving $12,000 a year. The church is trying sustain an annual budget of $120,000 to $130,000.

Database marks Jewish history in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS -- A three-year project to create an online database of Indianapolis' Jewish cemeteries has yielded a trove of new information about the city's Jewish past.

Gloria Green, an office manager in a commercial real estate business, began collecting data after learning from a genealogy expert that there was no information readily available about people buried in Indianapolis' Kelly Street cemeteries.

Green and volunteers sifted through handwritten congregational and mortuary records dating to 1935. They also scoured crowded rows of graves, searching for headstones whose birth and death dates are recorded based on the Hebrew calendar.

What followed was a database of the 5,600 graves in the 11 Kelly Street cemeteries, where the city's Jewish community has been burying its dead for 150 years.

Idaho panel reviewing if Bible needs OK for class

BOISE, Idaho -- The Idaho Public Charter School Commission is reviewing whether the Bible and other religious texts used in the classroom for historical purposes should be first approved by the state.

The review comes after the founders of a new public charter school in southwest Idaho, Nampa Classical Academy, spoke publicly about plans to include the Bible as a primary source of teaching material.

They said the Bible, which will be introduced in the ninth grade when students delve into the history of Western civilization, will be taught for its literary and historic qualities and as part of a secular education program.

"The question is, because it is a text, does it have to go through the state Department of Education for approval," said commission Chairman Bill Goesling.

Detroit wrestling coach alleges unfair dismissal

DETROIT -- A wrestling coach has filed a federal lawsuit accusing a Detroit suburban school district and its principal of firing him because of his Christian beliefs.

Gerald Marszalek, 64, said his troubles began in 2005 when a Protestant minister lost his job as a volunteer assistant coach after he introduced Muslim students to Christianity. The discussions took place during a private off-campus wrestling camp for the Fordson High School team.

Marszalek said he was ordered by the principal to keep the Rev. Trey Hancock, whose son was on the team, away from the Dearborn school.

Marszalek, who also is Christian, said his contract wasn't renewed in 2008 because of his religious beliefs and his association with Hancock. Dearborn has a large Muslim population, and the principal is described in the lawsuit as a devout Muslim.

The school system declined comment.