Pentecostal denomination elects new leader

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Bishop Charles E. Blake, an influential Southern California pastor, has been named presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ Inc., the world's largest predominantly black Pentecostal denomination.

Blake, pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, replaces Presiding Bishop G.E. Patterson, who died in March at 67 of heart failure. The Memphis-based church body claims 6.5 million members worldwide, mostly in the United States.

Blake's church has a history of involvement in the local community and in global outreach programs, and he said he planned to continue that tradition.

``In addition to pursuing the basic principles of service to God and our ministry to the community in spiritual areas, my focus has always been on community development and global involvement,'' Blake said after his appointment, which came at the church's general assembly this month. ``I certainly intend both to preserve those things and to do them on a higher level now, if we can.''

The church Blake has led since 1969 is the denomination's largest congregation, with a membership of about 24,000. It has long been a key stop for California's Democratic politicians.

Blake also is founder and chief executive of Save Africa's Children, an organization that supports programs for orphans in countries throughout Africa. Actor Denzel Washington and singer Kanye West have been among its more prominent supporters.

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Jesuits closing Boston church that serves many gays

BOSTON (AP) - A Roman Catholic religious order is closing a Boston church with a largely gay congregation, citing cost pressures.

The Jesuit Urban Center in the city's South End will close at the end of July, said the Rev. Thomas Regan, the superior of the New England Jesuits.

The sexual orientation of many in the congregation did not play a role in the decision, and there was no pressure from the Vatican or the Boston Archdiocese to shutter the church, Regan said.

The order has become financially reliant on salaries paid to members who teach at Boston College, College of the Holy Cross, and Fairfield University but as they retire or die, the order is being forced to cut back on its activities, he said.

About one-third of the order's 342 priests in New England are retired.

``A lot of people are still in the church because of the Jesuits,'' Regan said. ``We do not want to abandon these people. ... There's a spirit among this group, and I think that's going to be lost, and that's very sad.''

The Jesuit Urban Center costs the order about $350,000 a year to support, and its only significant remaining activity is a weekly Mass attended by 150 to 200 people who generate weekly collections of about $2,400, Regan said. The building, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, was dedicated in 1861 and needs $4 million to $8 million in renovations, he said.

Jesuits will continue to welcome gays and lesbians to worship at St. Ignatius of Loyola, a parish they oversee adjacent to Boston College, Regan said.

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