Authors /
John Dart
John Dart is news editor at the Century.
Barbour fostered dialogue between religion and science
Ian Barbour, who died at 90 in Northfield, Minnesota, where he taught for 30 years at Carleton College, was widely lauded for his pioneering role in bridging religion and science....
January 23, 2014
Bishop challenges ban on gay nuptials
Retired bishop Melvin Talbert of the United Methodist Church, who shared a jail cell with Martin Luther King Jr....
November 7, 2013
Seminaries expand online options
It’s tough enough for aspiring clergy to take on a student loan to finance three years of M.Div. studies at a seminary....
September 12, 2013
Evangelical body supports politicking in the pulpit
Bucking popular opinion and a decades-old IRS policy, a group of conservative evangelicals is urging that pastors be allowed to endorse political candidates in church without risking their congrega...
August 29, 2013
Robert Bellah, influential religion scholar, dies at 86
Robert N. Bellah, an eminent sociologist of religion most remembered for defining the interplay of U.S....
August 8, 2013
Disciples’ broad welcome to gays is not a change in policy, says leader
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) approved a resolution at its recent general assembly in Orlando, Florida, that called upon its churches to affirm that no grounds exist to bar Christians ...
August 1, 2013
Lutherans merge seminary, university on West Coast
Though the two campuses are 400 miles apart, California Lutheran University in Southern California will merge with the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley....
August 1, 2013
Lutherans elect first openly gay bishop
A prominent Lutheran scholar and theologian in California will become the first openly gay bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a denomination that opened its ministry to gay and p...
June 6, 2013
United Methodist Reporter folds
The United Methodist Reporter, a national weekly newspaper that once produced nearly 300 separate editions, each with regional church news, said that the financial losses of recent months ...
May 23, 2013
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Churches weather the recession
A survey that asked churches how they fared during the economic recession found that there was a collective sigh of relief from most pastors and congregational leaders—nearly 75 percent said “well”...
March 14, 2013
From Gotham City to Capitol Hill
The National Council of Churches, long strapped for cash, is leaving its costly digs in Manhattan and consolidating with a slimmer staff in a Washington, D.C., office within walking distance of two...
February 28, 2013
Anglicans, Protestants hail pope’s ‘courage’ in deciding to retire
One week after Justin Welby was confirmed as the next archbishop of Canterbury, a frail Pope Benedict XVI surprised the Christian world February 11 by announcing that he would step down by the end ...
February 14, 2013
Bangor Seminary ending degree programs
Bangor Theological Seminary plans to give degrees to about 45 students this spring—a large graduating class for a school that had only 13 graduates the year before....
January 31, 2013
Bishop Ting dies at 97; led Chinese churches
Bishop K. H. Ting, the longtime leader of China’s official Protestant Church, died in Nanjing on November 22 at age 97....
December 6, 2012