‘VeggieTales’ studio takes gamble with first movie

The star is an asparagus. His buddies include a tomato and a cucumber. And they’re featured in a movie based on the biblical tale of Jonah, the guy who got swallowed by a whale.

What’s the big idea? At Big Idea Productions, it’s that kids’ entertainment can teach children a thing or two about morality and religious faith yet still trigger a belly laugh or two.

The independent studio from suburban Chicago is about to find out if mainstream moviegoing audiences agree. Its first feature-length film, “Jonah a VeggieTales Movie,” opened Friday.

Big Idea has put $14 million into the movie, making it a gamble even though the company has sold nearly 30 million of the startlingly successful “VeggieTales” animated videos over the past nine years.

“Jonah” recycles the biblical book into a fishy story-within-a-story starring Archibald Asparagus, above left, voiced with a British accent by Big Idea founder Phil Vischer, in the title role, alongside Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber and others from Big Idea’s improbable garden of animated fruits and vegetables. (“No vegetables were harmed in the making of this film,” viewers are assured.)

Episcopal Church bishops decline to take sides

Cleveland Bishops of the Episcopal Church delayed wading into a feud between a colleague who removed a conservative priest and another bishop who rehired the ousted clergyman.

The Episcopal House of Bishops gutted a draft resolution this week that would have censured Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan for reinstating the Rev. David Moyer. The 137 church leaders agreed to develop a new system for handling such disputes and discuss it next March.

Liberal Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr., leader of the four-county Diocese of Pennsylvania, removed Moyer last month, saying Moyer had rejected his authority.

Black Mormon pioneer honored with monument

Salt Lake City Elijah Abel, one of the few black members reported to receive the priesthood in the early days of Mormonism, has been honored with a monument at his Salt Lake City grave site.

Mormon founder Joseph Smith Jr. apparently ordained Abel to the priesthood in 1836. Succeeding Mormon prophets did not allow black members to hold the priesthood normally granted to all boys until 1978, when Spencer W. Kimball and church apostles announced a revelation and changed the policy.

The monument was funded by private donations organized by the Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation and the Genesis group, an organization for black Mormons.

Baltimore cardinal’s naming of accused priests stirs debate

Baltimore A report issued by Cardinal William Keeler naming all area priests who have been the object of credible sex abuse allegations over seven decades has provoked criticism from some Roman Catholics.

In a letter last week to all parishioners, Keeler named 57 accused priests, none of them currently in active ministry. All cases were reported to civil authorities, he said.

Keeler did not name 26 other accused priests who are dead and could not reply to charges. Of all those accused both dead and alive 41 were priests of the archdiocese, while 42 were members of religious orders or priests from other dioceses working in the area.

Some Baltimore priests, and church and civil authorities elsewhere, questioned naming accused priests who have not been investigated by police or convicted of crimes. Keeler said the names were released to encourage other victims to come forward and receive treatment.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the report was overdue and should have been compiled by an independent panel, not the archdiocese.

The cardinal also revealed the archdiocese had spent $5.6 million on abuse cases in the past 20 years, including $4.1 million in settlements to eight victims, most of that covered by insurance. The rest was spent on therapy for victims and offenders and living expenses for suspended priests.

Christian Scientists open $50-million library

Boston Some 25,000 pages of writings by Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy have been made available to the public for the first time at a newly opened library that collects her complete works.

The $50-million Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity includes a digitally stored archive so texts can be searched and viewed. The library, a nonprofit organization separate from the church, has already received 1,500 requests from researchers to study the papers.

Eddy taught on the relationship between the mind, body and spirit in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” and founded the Church of Christ, Scientist, in 1887. The church teaches that healing can come through prayer and faith without resorting to medical treatment.

Sermon titles on Baptist signboard are too explicit for some

Marietta, Ga. Some parents are protesting suggestive sermon titles on the signboard at a local church.

“Tough Love in Dealing with Raunchy Sex” was Sunday’s topic at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. Another recent title: “Mixing Jesus with Sex in the City,” referring to the HBO television series.

The Rev. Bryant Wright, who is preaching a “tough contemporary issues” series at his 6,000-member church, said “I hope every title creates interest in the community.”

Church receptionists said they’ve received about 30 phone complaints, mostly from nonmembers.

Stacy Walker, a Roman Catholic mother of three, said “they’re using sex to sell God” and that her 8-year-old daughter sent an e-mail complaining, “I do not like it. Jesus maybe is confused, too.”