John Dart
How many in mainline? Categories vary in surveys: Defining the mainline
Americans who identify with mainline churches make up either 18 percent of the U.S. population or 13 percent, according to two large-scale surveys taken within recent years. Which is right?
...Seafarer chaplaincy confronts piracy fears: "An amazing ministry"
The recent dramatic high seas rescue of a merchant ship captain held hostage by Somali pirates stirred a public debate on whether cargo vessels should be armed....
Seminary rebounds, plans multifaith university: Claremont School of Theology
On the verge of losing accreditation in 2006 during its third straight year of bleeding red ink, the Claremont School of Theology faced an uncertain future....
Praying for the president—regardless of party: Presidential Prayer Team
The church sign of a Pentecostal congregation facing a busy Los Angeles–area street bore a single message for months: let us pray for our new president....
Mainline called uncounted force for change: Clergy support administration on social spending
The White House has an oft-overlooked religious ally for solving the country’s social problems through greatly expanded government programs, if a new survey of senior pastors in mainline Protestant...
Counting the cost: Congregations in the recession
Among U.S. churches of better-than-average size and budget, nearly half are feeling the impact of the deepening recession and are being forced in many cases to cut staff or freeze salaries. Donations are down, said 48 percent of church leaders surveyed at these churches in February. Last August, 41 percent of respondents reported a downward trend in donations at a time when Wall Street financial firms needed rescue and gasoline prices were sky high. But although the unemployment rate is rising, credit is tight as a drum and stock and home values are shriveling, 52 percent of congregational executives reported that donations at their churches have not declined.
Encyclopedia project stirs heated argument: The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization
In the spring of 2006, a University of Chicago Divinity School expert on the history of Christianity was approached by George T....
Starting pastors off on right foot: Lilly Endowment's Transition into Ministry program
Many pastors remember struggling in their first ministerial position—isolated geographically or professionally, lacking ready access to mentors and peers....
Episcopal Church wins in property disputes: Breakaway congregations cannot keep properties
Episcopal bishop J....
Obama, Warren defy culture war: A controversial invitation
When President Barack Obama tapped megachurch pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration, many liberal activists decried the choice of a high-profile evangelical figure who has o...
Seminaries tighten their belts: Wartburg suspending M.A. program
When 85 new students enrolled this fall at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, the numbers were “beyond our wildest dreams,” said President Duane Larson....
Religion professors repairing their rift over annual meetings: Plans difficult to change
Separate fall meetings for the nation’s two largest organizations of religion professors—a showcase of religious studies research and expertise—may last only three years if negotiations under way b...
Senior Schuller breaks with son over TV roles: Hour of Power in jeopardy
After turning over the Crystal Cathedral pulpit nearly three years ago to his son as the main preacher on the Hour of Power TV program, founding pastor Robert H....
Churches assess impact of financial crisis: Pension funds said to be secure
During what some call the start of a recession, mainline church officials are assuring pastors and retirees that their pension funds are secure....
'Female pastors' story rattles SBC nerves: Magazines removed from shelves
When Lutherans recently celebrated 50 years of ordaining women as pastors in Sweden, they invited Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, to speak at fe...
Flexible megachurches rival denominations: Swift adaptability
Displaying swift adaptability in the early 2000s, America’s largest congregations may be reshaping institutional church life, suggests a national megachurch survey, the third conducted in eight yea...
College presidents ask public to rethink drinking age: The Amethyst Initiative
Alarmed at undergraduate binge drinking and other illegal activities they say are related to a nationwide ban on under-21 alcoholic beverage consumption, more than 100 college presidents have sign...
Warren’s forum aims for ‘civility’ Obama nuanced, McCain crisp: Obama nuanced, McCain crisp
With a California megachurch as the setting for their first joint campaign appearance, Republican John McCain gave crisp, campaign-tested responses, and Democrat Barack Obama offered nuanced replie...
Obama is quick to make contact with evangelical leaders: Off-the-record session in Chicago
Only days after Barack Obama resumed his presidential campaign wearing the label of “presumptive Democratic nominee,” the Illinois senator invited a number of evangelical leaders to a private meeti...
Mainline shows shift to Democrats: Most change among centrist mainliners
Although mainline Protestant denominations for decades have been closely linked to liberal causes—civil rights, women’s movements, abortion rights and antiwar protests—most of their members have be...