Latest Articles
First lady seeks help for military families
WASHINGTON (RNS) First lady Michelle Obama has asked religious leaders
to join her initiative to assist military families by increasing...
Ergun Caner moving to school started by J. Frank Norris
ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) – Ergun Caner, the former president of Liberty Theological Seminary demoted for exaggerating claims about his Muslim upbringing, has been hired as provost and vice pres...
Muslims wait for signs of change from Obama
Officially, President Obama was talking to the Muslim world in his
State Department speech in May, but U.S. Muslims were equally interested...
Send me
My parents' marriage began with a betrayal. My maternal grandfather was in the army, so my mom's family moved around a lot....
The last day and the day after that
I first heard that the rapture would be
happening this Saturday via billboard outside Boston. I had no idea,
though I do try to stay informed....
All is vanity
Where is Qoheleth coming from? What is he doing in the Bible? What can
he offer us, when his mood and outlook seem so at odds with the rest of
the Bible?
To join or not to join
St. Cyprian said that we can't have God as our Father if we don't have
the church as our mother. It seems, however, that we live in an age in
which people are less inclined to become church members—even when they
are happy to have some church associations.
Amnesty International chides Vatican for abuse
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Amnesty International has criticized the Vatican for
falling short of its commitments to protect children from sex abuse....
It's the end of the world as they know it, and atheists feel fine
(RNS) Harold Camping's campaign to warn Christians that the rapture is
coming on Saturday (May 21) may have won him a band of followers,...
Israel removes landmines from Jesus baptism site
Pilgrims are flowing back to the traditional site of Jesus' baptism
on the West Bank of the Jordan River as Israel removes 40-year-old
landmines and makes improvements to the area....
Trauma Recalled, by Dirk G. Lange; Divine Worship and Human Healing, by Bruce T. Morrill
One might not expect to find so much common ground between a Lutheran and a Roman Catholic liturgist....
Sunday, May 29, 2011: Acts 17:22–31; 1 Peter 3:13–22
Walk through most people's houses, and you'll quickly get a sense of what they love....
Mormons, Baptists assist in tornado cleanup
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) Mormon missionaries are often unwelcome guests
when they knock at local front doors wearing white dress shirts and
holding a Book of Mormon....
Hawking says heaven is for `people afraid of the dark'
LONDON (RNS) Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the world's most eminent
scientists, says the concept of heaven is "a fairy story for people
afraid of the dark."...
Taking time in worship to counter bigotry
Religious and human rights activists are asking U.S. churches to
invite Jewish and Muslim clergy to their sanctuaries June 26 to read...
My good parishioner
There's a young man in my congregation--let's call him
"Michael"--who's trying to turn his life around. He's been in and out of...
Loose connections: What's happening to church membership?
Most churches still
approach membership the way they did in the 1960s. But if new modes of affiliation are
appearing, churches will need new ways of thinking about membership.
Dismembership plan
When House of Mercy began in 1996, most attendees weren’t interested in formal membership. In 2008, the church joined the ELCA—which requires congregations to keep a member roll.