By JOHN RICHARDSON, Staff Writer-The minister of a Baptist church in South Portland asked for forgiveness Monday for frightening members of the Jewish community with a provocative newspaper advertisement that promoted his Sunday sermon about anti-Semitism.
The ad for the First Baptist Church appeared on the Religion & Values page of the Portland Press Herald on Saturday, touting a sermon titled, "The Only Way to Destroy the Jewish Race."
The sermon was supportive of Jews but the words in the ad generated fear and anger, as well as complaints to the church and the newspaper.
"Dear friends, please forgive me for causing alarm in your hearts," the Rev. Philip Andrukaitis wrote in a statement released Monday afternoon. "No doubt, several folks have already jumped to conclusions about me and this church."
Andrukaitis' sermon, the text of which he gave to Jewish leaders and the news media, called for Christians to support Jews and the nation of Israel. He said the sermon title was intended to spark discussion and referred to his message that God will never allow the destruction of his chosen people. "I never expected it," Andrukaitis said of the uproar caused by the ad.
The newspaper also apologized on Monday, for publishing the ad containing the sermon title. The newspaper's guidelines "prohibit advertising copy that might appear offensive in nature," and the publication was the result of a mistake, according to a written statement released by Rob Blethen, director of advertising.
"The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram apologizes to all who might have been offended by this unintentional oversight. Additional safeguards have been put in place to avoid a similar situation in the future," the statement said.
Some ads are submitted ready to be published while others are written by the newspaper's staff. In either case, Blethen said, all ads are seen before publication and are screened. He would not elaborate on the mistake in this case or the new safeguards.
Several Jewish leaders said the apologies and explanations, and the text of the sermon, helped ease fears about the words and the apparent message in the sermon title.
Some also said the episode exposes the need for more sensitivity and communication among Maine's religious communities.
"I've reviewed the sermon," said Emily Sandberg, executive director of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine. "When you read it, it is absolutely pro-Israel and pro-Jewish. It's the title that is absolutely inappropriate."
Sandberg and others said they hope to improve the dialogue.
"I think the lesson from this is that two different groups of people from different backgrounds can care about the same thing and there are thoughtful ways to come together, and we have to think of ways to make that happen," Sandberg said.
Rabbi Alice Dubinsky of Congregation Bet Ha'am, a reform synagogue in South Portland, said it would be wonderful if the religious community could get together "and talk about how we talk about each other."
"I'm sure the minister had the best of intentions," Dubinsky said. "But the only thing people will remember is the title. There it is in print, 'destroy the Jewish race.'Ý"
Jacqui Chait of Portland, a member of Bet Ha'am, was scanning the newspaper page on Saturday when the words caught her eye.
"I just gave it to my husband and said, 'What does this mean?'Ý" she said on Monday. "It was sickening to see it in the paper."
Chait called the newspaper and Andrukaitis, who invited her to hear the sermon.
"I don't think that he necessarily meant to hurt anybody," she said. Her initial shock turned to anger at the newspaper for publishing the ad, she said. "It was a huge error on the part of the paper."
The ad became the focus of Hebrew School, which had about 50 seventh- to 10th-graders at Bet Ha'am Sunday afternoon. Laurence Gardner of Scarborough and other teachers wanted to make sure the students had a chance to talk about it, given the impact the words had on many adults.
"There are two real trigger words in the (sermon title). Obviously, the word 'destroy' and the word 'race.' No one talks in terms of the Jewish race anymore. That was Nazi propaganda," he said. "The other part of it is the word destroy, because that has its own connotation with the Holocaust."
Reaction among the youths ranged from fear to head-scratching to chuckling at what seemed like a bad joke, teachers said. They discussed Jewish history and the First Amendment.
"They didn't want to jump to any conclusions. They were saying 'We want to read the sermon,'Ý" Gardner said. "The conclusion was (the ad) was not illegal, but it was wrong and very bad manners."
Andrew Tarsy, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, issued a statement Monday saying he hoped to meet with Andrukaitis and Jewish community leaders.
"The pastor's ad was alarming and lacked sensitivity, but we now understand his intention was to educate about anti-Semitism," he said. "We hope to use this incident to build bridges of understanding between Jews and Christians, and to strengthen the coalition of support for the state of Israel."
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