The blogosphere was abuzz with sermon snippets from Pentecostal and charismatic churches once attended by GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. In them, pastors declare that people who die without Christ “have a horrible, horrible surprise” awaiting them and refer to America as a “Christian nation.”
The Church of England is telling its members, yes, let there be light—just not so much of it.
Reversing an eight-year campaign to brighten up the evenings, the church has come up with new guidelines backed by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams urging parishes to cut back on the use of outdoor floodlights, in the interest of reducing their carbon footprint.
Membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the country’s largest Lutheran denomination, has fallen for the 16th consecutive year, the ELCA has announced.
God’s chosen: A Marxist and a Muslim were having a discussion about Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac in obedience to God’s command. The Marxist said that if God were to ask him to sacrifice his son, he wouldn’t do it. The Muslim replied, “That is why you are not Abraham” (International Journal of Middle East Studies, August).
The United Methodist Church, like other mainline denominations, is steadily losing members. Yet it has some large, thriving congregations, and about 100 of its churches draw more than 1,200 people on a typical weekend.
Rejected Nation of Islam's black nationalist teachings
Oct 07, 2008
Muslim leaders and community members across the nation mourned the loss of Warith Deen Mohammed, a key African-American figure who worked to unite Muslims of different races to follow an orthodox form of Islam.
An Illinois Supreme Court justice who chaired a lay review board investigating the Catholic sex-abuse scandal is quoted blasting the church and prominent cardinals in a new book and accusing them of dishonesty.
A New York judge has dismissed the first challenge to a new state policy that recognizes same-sex marriages performed out of state, saying the current policy is in line with state law.
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 years.
Florida’s Supreme Court has tossed out two statewide ballot initiatives aimed at ending a longstanding ban on public funding for religious institutions, drawing praise from church-state watchdogs.
The confetti and popping balloons had barely subsided at the end of the Republican National Convention when John McCain’s media-shy Southern Baptist pastor delivered a closing prayer bordering on a plea for God’s endorsement.
A World Council of Churches team that included two U.S. clergy returned to the WCC’s Swiss headquarters from a visit to Georgia and Russia to describe a state of “lawlessness” in areas of South Ossetia and said humanitarian aid is not reaching people caught up in the conflict.
