"When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when you number them." -- Exodus 30:12. No one talked about plagues or ransoms during a news conference today at St. John's United Methodist Church downtown.... These local leaders gathered to promote "Census Sabbath" (PDF) March 5-7. They encouraged pastors, rabbis, priests and other spiritual leaders to dedicate sermons and other messages to the value of returning 2010 Census forms that will arrive in mailboxes...