National religion briefs for July 5

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Rev. Peter Morales of Colorado has been elected as the first Latino president of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Morales, senior minister of Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Colo., was elected to the post recently at the Unitarian General Assembly in Salt Lake City. Morales succeeds the Rev. William G. Sinkford, who has served two four-year terms.

Unitarians, who have roots in a movement that rejected Puritan orthodoxy in New England, support a free search for spiritual truth.

Atheists and pagans are a significant part of their membership. Jews, Buddhists, Christians and others sometimes join to maintain their traditions without having to accept, wholesale, their denomination's creed. Unitarians are estimated to have about 200,000 members nationwide.

Separately, the United Church of Christ also elected a new president, the Rev. Geoffrey Black, who has served for nearly a decade as minister of the denomination's New York district. The liberal-leaning Protestant church says it has about 1.1 million members.

Broadcaster builds estate despite layoffs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A religious broadcaster is building a $4 million home in a gated, lakefront community in western South Carolina at the same time that the ministry has cut jobs and reset thermostats to save money in its new headquarters.

Inspiration Networks' CEO David Cerullo is building the 9,000-square-foot home on a lot that overlooks Lake Keowee, The Charlotte Observer reported last week.

Inspiration Networks has drawn scrutiny for up to $26 million in incentives it won from South Carolina to move from Charlotte to Indian Land, S.C., in Lancaster County. The network's revenues are expected to approach $100 million, largely donations from people who are told God favors those who give.

Cerullo has said 80 cents of each donated dollar is spent to spread the Gospel.

In addition to laying off workers, the newspaper reported, the ministry froze wages and stopped making contributions to 401(k) retirement accounts. The thermostat on the network's new building was cut to 65 degrees during the winter.

A network spokesman didn't respond to calls and e-mails requesting comment on the house.

Malaysia royalty defers minors conversion ban

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A council of Malaysia's royalty has deferred a decision on whether to ban religious conversion of minors by one parent without the spouse's consent -- a source of several interfaith disputes in this Muslim-majority nation.

A meeting of Malaysia's king and state sultans decided last week that they will consult Islamic authorities before deciding whether to approve a proposed amendment banning such conversions without both parents' consent.

The proposed amendment to the law was aimed at appeasing non-Muslim minorities, who feel their rights have come under threat and that they lose out in conversion disputes.

The hereditary monarchs have a largely ceremonial role in Malaysia but are seen as the guardians of Islam, the official religion, and are revered by Muslim Malays, who make up 60 percent of the country's 28 million people.