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In this world of constant change, one thing remains predictable: the WSJ will never miss an opportunity to bash mainline churches.

c. 2013 Religion News Service (RNS) If Jason Heap has his way, he’ll trade his Oxford tweeds for the crisp whites of a newly minted U.S. Navy chaplain....

An Austrian priest who’s been banned from speaking at Roman Catholic churches during his three-week U.S....

I always savor the chance to speak with Dr. Meredith Gould. She is a sociologist who has written nine books. She is also deeply in love with the church....

Deo gratias. That’s what the sign in my office says. It’s not fancy, just two words laser-printed on office paper and tacked up over the computer monitor so I can read it dozens of times a day.  The phrase—which means “Thanks be to God”—is the traditional Benedictine greeting that monks offer visitors.

There is a running joke among preachers that if the lessons seem too tough to tackle, you can always “preach the collect” or, in the absolute worst case scenario, “preach the Lord’s Prayer.” I’ve preached the collect a time or two, but never have I been so bold as to preach the Lord’s Prayer.

New today from the Century: Bashing the mainline, preaching the Lord's Prayer, more.

When Rachel Marie Stone offers homilies of food redemption rather than damnation, it may feel like a lovely if disorienting kind of grace.

It has been a season of losses. I've been reminded of the importance of knowing how to respond, and how not to.

c. 2013 Religion News Service...

 I wished that Hosea and Philemon were not in the lectionary. My reasoning? I don't like that the books uphold the notions of people being bought and sold as property.

Greg Sargent reports on how those GOP House members who want to pass comprehensive immigration reform intend to get enough of their caucus on board to do it. He includes their re-exploration of this doozy: keep the rough outline of the Senate’s path to citizenship, but require people to admit their guilt—and instead of calling the middle category “legal status,” call it “probation.” Problem solved: we’re still Tough on Crime!

New today from the Century: John Buchanan on grief, Carol Howard Merritt on bad biblical metaphors, more.

"Dolphin Michael, 61, who retired from the Detroit fire department after 38 years, said he saw it coming...

At 52 I was lead pastor of a large, vibrant church. Then I was diagnosed with ALS, and I began to call on my faith community in a new way.

The verdict in the Trayvon Martin case shows that a trial can be fair as far as the law goes, while the nation falls far short of offering justice to all.

Two days after the U.S....

A divide is developing in America about what it means to be a religious person, with a majority believing that it’s about acting morally but a strong min...

New today from the Century: The editors on the Trayvon Martin case, Julie Ruth Harley on living with ALS, more.

In theory, splitting up the farm bill to deal separately with farm policy and nutrition assistance makes a lot of sense. Farm subsidies used to go mostly to actual farmers who could use the help. So while the pairing of farm aid and food aid was always politically motivated, it also made some sense: the farm bill was safety-net legislation, and food stamps fit right into that. As agriculture has changed, agricultural policy has become more and more of a mess of corporate welfare that's against the public interest. And one big thing protecting this status quo has been the fact that liberals can't vote against a business-as-usual farm bill, because it's also how hungry people get fed.