Latest Articles
Yale University cuts chapel's ties to UCC: Congregation oriented toward off-campus community
As of July, say Yale University officials, the congregation at Battell Chapel on campus will no longer be affiliated with the United Church of Christ, one of the denominations stemming from histori...
Cardinal Law's role in Rome recalls church's scars: Reviled in U.S., respected in Rome
After a grand funeral attracting world leaders to the Vatican and crowds urging a speedy sainthood for the late Pope John Paul II, the assigning of a former U.S....
Catholic nun begins jail sentence for military protest: Hopped fence at former School of the Americas
Before going behind bars, Sister Lelia (“Lil”) Mattingly said she expected jail would be cold and dreary compared to life in a convent....
SBC baptisms on the rise: Increase follows four-year decline
The Southern Baptist Convention has seen a small increase in baptisms after a four-year decline....
Kansas is 18th state to ban same-sex nuptials: Constitutional amendment approved by voters
Kansas voters have made that state the 18th in the nation to adopt a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage....
Moscow art exhibit called 'blasphemous,' museum officials fined: Religious minorities made uneasy by trial
A Moscow district court has convicted and fined the director and the curator of a Russian museum on charges of inciting religious hatred. The court ruled that a 2003 art exhibit, “Caution!...
One in seven rural Americans is poor: Globalization and farm subsidies blamed
As globalization and farm subsidies drive family farms out of business, people living in rural areas are more at risk for hunger, according to an annual report by Bread for the World, an antipovert...
Middle ground elusive on gun-control issue: Lawmakers reluctant to alienate National Rifle Association
In the wake of another spate of gun mayhem—this time in Red Lake, Minnesota, just nine days after a church shooting in Brookfield, Wisconsin—the question resurfaces: Why can’t a gun-control comprom...
Churches seek probe of Zimbabwe elections: Widespread irregularities
The All Africa Council of Churches has called on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to “urgently” investigate claims of irregularities in Zimbabwe’s March 31 parliamentary elections....
2005 is crucial year for cutting poverty, say religious experts: Progress toward Millennium Development Goals abysmal
A third of the way into the 15-year United Nations program aimed at cutting global poverty by 50 percent, church leaders say progress so far has been abysmal and 2005 is a make-or-break year for th...
Archbishop Iakovos, pioneer Orthodox ecumenist, dies at 93: Introduced Greek Orthodox church to civil rights landscape
Archbishop Iakovos, the spiritual leader of Greek Orthodox Christians in the Americas who introduced the immigrant church to the ecumenical, interfaith and civil rights landscape of the late 20th c...
Briefly noted
The Episcopal Church Executive Council has decided to “voluntarily withdraw” its three official participants from a June global steering committee meeting of the worldwide Anglican Communion...
PCUSA cuts funding to Avodat: Support had been controversial
Officials of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) decided to cut off funding for congregation Avodat Yisrael as of July 1....
Postmodern Jesus: The Vatican's quarrel with Roger Haight
In February the Jesuit theologian Roger Haight, former professor at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, received notification that the Vatican had found “serious doctrinal...
Inside stories: Mike McCurry on church, politics and civil debate
As President Clinton’s press secretary from 1995 to 1998, Mike McCurry was a familiar face on the nation’s TV screens....
Speech lessons: A richer repertoire of Christian practice
Two messages arrived on the same day, each one from a talented young adult concerned about how best to use Christian language....
Fire in the dark: Acts 2:1-21
Our reformer ancestors would be appalled by some of the small traditions of joy and triumph that have crept into the Christian celebration of Pentecost. We’ve added trumpet blasts to mimic the great sound of the wind of the spirit, we wave red streamers on bamboo rods, raise clouds of red and white balloons, and even nibble on birthday cakes for the church. We want to signal “Tada!” We made it!
Power point: Ephesians 1:15-23
As long as the ascension is in any way related to upward movement (like an elevator going to the clouds), I am and will continue to be unmoved. The vertical directional imagery just doesn’t do it for me. I am not even moved to argue about whether or not “it” happened.
In praise of folly: Congregational messes
I went to look for “Main’s Folly” the other day....