John Dart
Obama: On finding a balanced church: After Trinity
With the added backing of delegates and superdelegates on the final day of primary elections, Barack Obama declared himself the winner June 3 of the hard-fought Democratic presidential campaign, be...
Executive perspective: An interview with Clifton Kirkpatrick
More than any other mainline Protestant executive in the past dozen years, Clifton Kirkpatrick of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been on the hot seat alm...
The pastor behind the gay marriage ruling: Troy Perry
Little noted in the history behind the California Supreme Court decision that gives the “right to marry” to same-sex couples are the bold steps taken over four decades by onetime Pentecostal minist...
AAR wants return to joint meetings with biblical scholars: SBL officials greet news favorably
The annual pre-Thanksgiving joint meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature had a record registration in 2006 of over 11,000, and last year’s meeting in San...
Gene Robinson takes on more risky ventures: Bishop publishes first book
The death threats have lessened over the five years since Episcopalians affirmed V. Gene Robinson’s election as their church’s first openly gay bishop....
How to be Anglican: The proposal for an Anglican Covenant
Every ten years bishops of the worldwide Anglican Communion assemble in England for the Lambeth Conference....
Church-closing rate only one percent: More "churning" among evangelicals
With a dozen regulars or fewer attending services, the 150-year-old Kinderhook United Methodist Church in rural Illinois near the Mississippi River shut its doors this Easter....
Gay acceptance has advances and setbacks in three denominations: No consensus
“The Church’s Unfinished Sexual Revolution” was the title of an article in the spring 2006 issue of Yale Divinity School’s Reflections magazine. In it longtime Christian ethicist James B....
Episcopal seminaries adjust to realities: Declining revenue, new plans
The deans of Episcopal seminaries warned bishops and other church leaders last year that their theological schools must deal creatively with hard financial realities....
Presbyterian court nixes gay compromise: No exceptions to fidelity/chastity standard
At the last biennial Presbyterian General Assembly, many gay-rights supporters along with many conservatives weary of decades-old fights approved a delicate compromise that kept the ordination stan...
Survey shows that pastoral posts still attract and satisfy: Low attrition
Recent surveys have indicated that clergy are generally quite satisfied with their profession....
Bishops make moves on Episcopal chessboard: San Joaquin out, Pittsburgh still in
In a scenario that may be performed repeatedly in months ahead, the Episcopal Church has declared that two bishops have “abandoned the communion of the church”—John-David Schofield, whose diocese i...
Young Life draws fire over new ministry guidelines: A narrower method of gospel presentation
New “nonnegotiable” guidelines for evangelism at Young Life ministries has led to the closing of a North Carolina office of the group and the claim by a national expert on youth and religion that t...
Judas is a 'demon' in new read of gospel: The long-lost Gospel of Judas
When the first translation of the long-lost Gospel of Judas was published last year amid considerable publicity, a few scholars trumpeted its apparent depiction of Judas Iscariot as a positive figu...
Muslims point to common ground: A Common Word Between Us and You
When Mark Hanson, who heads the 66-million-member Lutheran World Federation, read the open letter sent to Christian leaders by an unprecedented range of Muslim clerics and scholars last month, the ...
Kinnamon's NCC: Frugality and fellowship
If ecumenical veteran Michael Kinnamon is ratified next month, as expected, to be the top executive of the National Council of Churches, look for a stylistic shift on social justice issues and appe...
All Saints challenges IRS 'vagueness' IRS won't say how sermon violated rules: IRS won't say how sermon violated rules
The large and liberal All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California—after squirming on the hook for two years as the Internal Revenue Service examined the content of a preelection sermon—has ...
Lesbian is candidate to be next Episcopal bishop of Chicago: Chicago diocese
The Episcopal Church’s struggle with the worldwide Anglican Communion over homosexuality and biblical interpretation took another turn just before the Labor Day weekend with news that one of five c...
Ecumenism's new basis: testimony: The Global Christian Forum
After keeping a low profile for several years, advocates of a fresh approach to ecumenism are going public about a promising international gathering in Kenya this November.
...Counting Mormons: Study says LDS numbers inflated
The Mormon Church claims to have some 5.7 million members in the United States, which would make the Utah-based denomination the fourth largest church body in the nation after the Roman Catholic Ch...