Latest Articles
Heart of the matter: Shepherding souls
At ordination Presbyterian ministers promise to give their “energy, intelligence, imagination and love” to ministry. Sometimes just managing the institution of the church exhausts such capacities....
Beyond the commandments: God's laws on our doorposts
This summer the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on several cases involving the constitutionality of displaying the Ten Commandments on government property....
Century Marks
Just justice: The Navajo Nation has about 28,000 criminal cases in its court system each year, and has prison space for only 220 people at any given time....
No return: Refusing duty in Iraq
Army Sergeant Kevin Benderman, 40, faces a military trial for refusing to return to Iraq for a second tour of duty....
Hearing God out: Worship: Act two
When the books of the Bible are read in the context of worship, they become the scripture of the church....
Churches Together on target for launch: Church of God in Christ considering membership
The fledgling Christian Churches Together—a painstakingly crafted amalgam of U.S....
Gay clergy option backed by ELCA council, professors: Some not pleased by middle-ground proposal
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s high-ranking church council has prepared a proposal to the churchwide assembly in August that would give bishops the final authority to let congregation...
Federal faith-based grants doubled in 2004: Some funding funneled through states
Faith-based groups received more than $2 billion in federal funding for the 2004 fiscal year, compared to $1.17 billion in 2003, according to statistics recently released by the Bush administration...
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...