John Dart
Good advice: The ethicist is in
June O’Connor, a noted professor of ethics, leads a double life—and without a whiff of duplicity. Primarily she teaches ethics at the University of California at Riverside....
'Invisible' UCC tries TV ads for exposure: A six-city campaign
Taking a cue from the United Methodists and other media-savvy denominations, the United Church of Christ will spend $1.3 million for a trial television ad campaign in six metropolitan areas through...
Scholars ask academy to keep large meetings: American Academy of Religion
Hundreds of members of the large American Academy of Religion have petitioned the AAR board of directors to rescind last year’s decision to hold its annual meetings separately from the Society of B...
Young, male and married: What search committees want
Churches seeking a new pastor tend to want a man under 40, preferably married to a nonworking woman who volunteers on church committees....
Passion, Judas present contrast in Jesus films: Judas vetted for anti-Jewish scenes
Churchgoers pondering whether to see Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ during Lent know from news stories that they will have to steel themselves for graphically violent scenes and pote...
Expert advice: Covering religion
Religiously ignorant journalists.” That was the headline that accurately captured the flat-out judgment of an unhappy essayist in Books & Culture (January-February)....
Stressed out: Why pastors leave
The most common reason Protestant pastors leave parish ministry is an experience of stressful conflict, usually arising from differences with laity or staff but sometimes with denominational offici...
Muslims in motion: The liberal side of Islam
Moments before receiving an award at a Muslim dinner last month, Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore turned in his seat to watch, along with nearly 400 other people, some clips from his documen...
Gay bishop confirmed: Action in U.S. triggers worldwide reaction
As soon as majorities at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention consented to the election of an openly gay bishop, outnumbered conservative delegates condemned the unprecedented action for “brea...
Who’s who in Jesus’ family: What does the ossuary tell us?
The stone box that possibly held the skeletal remains of James the brother of Jesus has continued to come under critical scrutiny....
Reel faith: Can Hollywood teach and inspire?
On the five Saturday nights before the 2003 Academy Awards show on March 23, a young adult group at a large church in Pasadena, California, has been discussing the five Oscar nominees for best pict...
Is it worth it? The value of a theological education
Daniel Aleshire has been executive director of the Association of Theological Schools since 1998....
What’s in a name? Mainliners ponder denominational labels: Mainliners ponder denominational labels
After attending a conference at Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral seven years ago, leaders of the Lutheran Church of the Master in Sylmar, California, started thinking about changing their congre...
The Case Against Q, by Mark Goodacre
The theoretical source of many Jesus sayings in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke has long been considered a sure thing in New Testament studies....
Coexisting with Saddam: IraqiChristians fear war, decry sanctions
The numbers of Christians living in Iraq, mostly Catholic and Orthodox, have been dwindling for more than two decades....
‘Beam me up’ theology: The debate over 'LeftBehind'
The hugely popular “Left Behind” series of novels continues to frustrate mainstream pastors and biblical scholars who object to an “end-times” theology they consider just as fictional as the books’...
Left behind—It’s a good thing: Luke's apocalypse
“I tell you, that on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left....
Gender and theBible: Evangelicals wrangle over new translations
A new translation of the Bible has created a tug of words between camps in the evangelical world....
Risk management: Protestants confront sexual abuse
The latest wave of sexual abuse scandals crashing upon Catholic parishes and chanceries has apparently missed most Protestant churches....
Gay church stresses zero tolerance: Metropolitan Community Church
Though some Catholic leaders blame homosexual priests for much of their church’s sexual-abuse problems, the predominantly gay Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches has had no sexu...