Latest Articles

WASHINGTON (RNS) The largest slice of President Barack Obama's religious coalition – at 23 percent – is not very religious....

SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) Rather than wait for possible excommunication, Mormon blogger David Twede has resigned his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints....

To understand what I am going to tell you, you need to know that my parents were scientists and that my mother’s mind had a decidedly unpoetic bent....

I wasn't planning to post a running commentary on the final debate, since I don't follow foreign policy half as closely as the domestic stuff. But judging from the candidates' dodges and pivots last night, neither do they. So here I am. 

“The government that is closest to the people governs best.” That sentiment was expressed recently by Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, and it’s long been a staple of conservative political philosophy and of candidates who want federal programs to be taken over by state and local governments. But liberals embrace it in their own way when they talk about “participatory democracy” and the need for people to be able to make decisions about the issues that directly affect them. The question is: what does it mean for government to be “closer” to people?

New today from the Century: Philip Jenkins on mainstream African churches, Heidi Neumark on All Saints, more.

Being a pastor is bad for your health. The Clergy Health Initiative aims to study this problem and begin to correct it.

As a Vatican delegation prepared in October to leave for war-torn Syria, the Catholic Church’s fraught relationship with Islam emerged as one of the main themes at a major gathering of the world’s ...

On a recent afternoon, I skimmed from page to page in the newspaper, glancing at headlines about environmental deregulation, an increase in the state murder rate, schools that aren’t educating their students, massacres in Syria and other grim realities. My reaction? I’m embarrassed to confess: “Not my problem, not my problem, not my problem, and not my problem.” Then I turned to the sports section.

In my tradition, we pride ourselves on the intellect and roll our eyes at emotional sermons. We think of them as (1) dumbing down content or (2) manipulating people. But ignoring the importance of emotion in our spiritual lives can make us... well... boring.

New today from the Century: Amy Frykholm on clergy health, Jonathan Walton reviews Edward Blum and Paul Harvey, more.

The Color of Christ confronts the complicated history of the Christ image and racial politics in the United States. Edward Blum and Paul Harvey's ambitious—some might say audacious—aim is to track “the creating and exercise of racial and religious power through the images of Jesus and how that power has been experienced by everyday people.”

Kenyan Muslims are a marginalized minority. Many are concentrated in Coast Province, where unfair land distribution is a festering wound.

I have a new name for God, at least new to me. The old three-letter word "God" is worn out. Words only last so long before they need to be retired for a season....

New today from the Century: Isaac Mwangi on religious tensions in Kenya, Rachel Stone on the gospel and obesity, more.

While I was away a few weeks ago, regular reader and fellow blogger Charity Jill tweeted to me about speaker/blogger Shane Blackshear’s post “It’s Probably Time We All Talked About Obesity and the Church”. Shane’s post is not particularly unique in its outlook; over a year ago, Marcus Thompson, a pastor in Oakland, CA, published a piece on Relevant called“The Immorality of Gluttony” that expresses very similar concerns. (I responded to it here.)

c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS)...

c. 2012 Religion News Service...

c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS)...

The Diocese of South Carolina has announced that it has disaffiliated with the Episcopal Church, escalating a long-running skirmish and setting the stage to become the fifth diocese to secede from ...