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Century Marks
The flesh is weak: Mark Souder, the Republican congressman from Indiana who recently resigned over an extramarital affair, made this confession to World magazine: "I prayed multiple times a day, sang hymns with emotion and tears, felt each time that it wouldn't happen again, read the Bible every morning. . . . So how in the world did I have a 'torrid' (which is an accurate word) many-year affair?" (RNS).
Briefly noted
The World Communion of Reformed Churches, created from the merger of the two largest networks of Protestant churches in the Reformed tradition, was celebrated June 18–26 in Grand Rapids, Mic...
Pope begs forgiveness for clergy sex abuse: Victims say words not enough
Pope Benedict XVI begged forgiveness for sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests at a Vatican gathering on June 11 of nearly 15,000 clergy, concluding the celebration of the “Year for Priests.” The ...
Anglican breakaway church faces budget, unity tests: Anglican Church of North America
When the Anglican Church in North America was launched last year, its founders were clear on what they didn’t want to be: the Episcopal Church that they had left....
Religion by the numbers: Demography drives change
Demography drives religious change....
Called but not ordained: The need for lay pastors
For the sake of discretion, call him Hank—just don’t tell him that he’s not a real pastor. He has been serving churches for 30 years and has never been busier than he is today....
Ready to lead? The problems with lay pastors: The problems with lay pastors
My home congregation is in some ways emblematic of the dilemmas facing mainline Protestants....
Sacrifices: The death of soldiers
After reading Walter Brueggemann’s review of Terry Eagleton’s Reason, Faith, and Revolution: <...
Before computers: How we spent our time
Over the past year I have been speaking with different groups about biblical narrative in the age of Twitter....
'I don't need another tax break' Mike Lapham and Responsible Wealth: Mike Lapham and Responsible Wealth
United for a Fair Economy was started 15 years ago in response to the growing gap between rich and poor in the U.S....
RCA adopts apartheid-era confession: The Belhar Confession
For some 400 years, the small Reformed Church in America has relied on only three confessional statements of belief, all of them forged in the crucible of the Reformation....
Reformed networks merge despite visa denials: The new World Communion of Reformed Churches
Visa problems, an ongoing concern for ecumenical gatherings in the Northern Hemisphere, put a damper on the June celebration of the new World Communion of Reformed Churches, a group created by the ...
Religious groups see slight drop in giving: A Giving USA report
According to a study by Giving USA Foundation, religious organizations reported a 0.7 percent decrease in donations last year—a marked contrast from the 5.5 percent increase in giving reporte...
Pastor slated to be religious freedom envoy: America's chaplain
President Obama has named Suzan Johnson Cook, a well-connected but politically inexperienced pastor from New York, as his nominee to be ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom....
Film looks at Mormon role in boosting Prop 8 defeat of same-sex marriage: 8: The Mormon Proposition
Is it a love letter from liberal Mormons to their church, or a Michael Moore–style hit piece aimed at Mormon leaders?...
Southern Baptists debate ways to revive growth: Teen baptisms dropping
Southern Baptist Convention president Johnny Hunt has urged members of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination to move beyond their comfort zones as they seek new ways to evangelize and ...
Antitorture group demands probe of doctors' roles in experiments on detainees: It should disturb every person of faith
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture wants the government to investigate claims that doctors and medical professionals performed unethical experiments on detainees in CIA custody during ...
Virginia Supreme Court sides with Episcopalians: A battle over parish property
Virginia’s Supreme Court has sided with the Episcopal Church in its dispute with breakaway conservatives over historic and valuable parish property—a partial but important victory for t...
F is for forgetting: A theological dictionary
A half phrase from Augustine has challenged and inspired me for a half century: “God is like the nature he made.” It appears as a virtual throwaway line, quoted in José Ortega y ...