Latest Articles
Food pantry's prayers violate federal rules
c. 2012 USA Today
SEYMOUR, Ind. (RNS) Food pantry volunteer Shirley Sears patiently walked a
young woman through a series of questions on an application for emergency...
Mississippi, Vermont score at opposite ends of religious spectrum
c. 2012 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS) If you're searching for the most religious Americans,...
Dalai Lama awarded 2012 Templeton Prize
New York (ENInews)--The Dalai Lama, already a Nobel Peace Prize laureate,
is the recipient of the 2012 Templeton Prize, often called the most
prestigious award in religion....
Preemptive self-defense
Stand-your-ground laws reflect our culture's belief that violence is not a last resort--it’s a way to proactively promote security.
Forced exits erode clergy morale
They are called "clergy killers"—congregations in which a small group of members are so disruptive that no pastor is able to maintain spiritual leadership for long....
Monkish ways
As a graduate student, my father visited the Abbey of Gethsemani. His experiences there entered him in some permanent way.
Before politics, Romney was a Mormon bishop
The Mitt Romney who is on the campaign trail is often depicted as wealthy, wooden and out of touch with the working class....
Another fight about who's picking a fight
So, who's playing politics with reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act? Sen. Schumer and the Democrats, or Sen. Grassley and the Republicans?
Well,
probably both. Yes, Democracts would love to bolster the narrative that
Republicans don't care about women, even though Grassley et al. object
to new provisions added to the VAWA, not the existing law. And yes, by
threatening the whole bill based on objections to small parts of it,
some Senate Republicans (not all of them) reveal that while they may in
general favor services for domestic violence victims, it's not exactly a
top priority to them.
Of course both Senators Chuck are playing politics. That's their game, especially in leap years.
Monastic community on a trial basis
Must we lose monastic communities before we realize how profound their presence is in our lives?
Word Made Global, by Mark R. Gornik
Over ten years ago Andrew Walls, the renowned historian and mission theologian, with whom I was studying at Princeton Theological Seminary, mentioned that one of his students had begun researching ...
A global identity: Can United Methodism restructure itself?
Is the United Methodist Church an American denomination with extensions overseas? Or is it a worldwide communion?
Report says church giving on the rebound
c. 2012 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS) The recession and a sluggish recovery have made for a lighter...
Muslims call new religious freedom appointee a 'puppet' for Islam foes
c. 2012 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS) One of two new members of the U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom has Muslim civil rights groups crying foul....
'Covenant' to bind Anglicans appears dead
c. 2012 Religion News Service
LONDON (RNS) With the Anglican Covenant aimed at ensuring its unity now
apparently in ashes and the archbishop of Canterbury who backed it on his way...
Doing God's work in committee
I know some people who refuse to sit on church committees
because they think it's a waste of time. I've known some church committees that...
Palms and passion
It is tempting to think of the Upper Room scene in the Gospels’ passion narratives as a dreamy, candle-lit fellowship meal rather than, as ...
Wednesday digest
New today (and yesterday) from the Century: Marilynne Robinson on the Easter Sunday gospel, Robert Harman on United Methodist identity, more.
Survey finds deep mistrust for Muslims in Canada
c. 2012 Religion News Service
TORONTO (RNS) A new poll shows that more than half of all Canadians distrust
Muslims....
Tim Tebow brings a little goodness to Gotham
c. 2012 Religion News Service
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) Tim Tebow is Howdy Doody in a helmet. No, he is Opie Taylor...