I read this in the paper today. How do we respond to things like this?
Christian Bowhunter Believes Faith and Hunting are on Target
The Flint Journal- Sat, Sept-5-1998
By Betty Brenner - Journal Religion Editor
Bowhunting season begins in Michigan on Oct. 1, so what is more natural than that a church hold a bowhunters’ celebration and invite the executive director of Christian Bowhunters of America to speak? Right?
To those who oppose hunting, a national organization of Christian bowhunters might seem contradictory. But the Rev. Wally Harder, who will speak after a morning bowshooting range at Trinity Assembly of God, it’s not surprising at all. “The Bible has clear mandates that we are allowed to hunt,” he said from his home in Greenville, Ohio. “We have permission from God to do so,” he said. He cited Genesis 9:2, in which God said to Noah, “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.”
“We use bowhunting and archery - our enjoyment of it - to reach others with the same interest,” Harder said. The organization's mission statement calls itself a ministry to the bowhunting and archery world, leading others to Christ. The third annual event at Trinity, 4363 W. Mt. Morris Rd, Mt. Morris Township, will open with a men’s camp out Friday evening. A 3D bowshooting range will be awarded that day at the noon luncheon. Venison and other wild game will be served. Price: $3 for adults, $1 for those 10 and under. A trophy wall will be set up. “It’s another way to reach people,” said the Rev. Jerry Carlson, a pastor at the church.
Harder said the Christian Bowhunters is a national nonprofit, nondenominational organization founded in 1984 and incorporated in Michigan. Members set up booths at major events and conduct worship services there. Members speak at church camps, youth camps, father-son banquets and similar events. There are about 50 chapters in the United States, including a few in Michigan and 2,000 members across the country. There is no chapter in the Flint area, “but we have an interest in starting one there,’ he said. Michigan has about 450,000 bowhunters.
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