InterVarsity Press in January launched three new imprints: IVP Academic, IVP Connect (for Bible study and small group resources), and IVP Books. One of the academic imprint's projects is a 27-volume Reformation Commentary on Scripture, which will debut in 2009.
Walgreens suspended without pay three Illinois pharmacists who would not dispense Plan B, the "morning-after pill." In November, Walgreens began enforcing Gov. Rod Blagojevich's April edict that made his the only state requiring the drug's distribution.
On December 7, Hindu mobs evicted a pastor and turned his home in north India's Himachal Pradesh state into a Hindu temple. Elsewhere, in India's Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh states, Compass Direct reports that Hindus severely beat five Christians, then hauled them into a temple, where they tried to force them to worship Hindu gods.
The governing board of American Baptist Churches USA (ABC) voted 59-45 on November 24 to add a stand against gay sex to their "We Are American Baptists" statement. Meanwhile, leaders of the Pacific Southwest region, who earlier decided to leave the denomination, announced on December 9 that local congregations will vote in May about whether to leave. But the West Virginia association, the denomination's largest, voted in November to stick with the ABC.
Voters in Kenya overwhelmingly rejected a proposed new constitution that opponents argued would not sufficiently limit presidential powers. About 58 percent of voters cast their ballots against the constitution in late November. Many churches also opposed the measure, which would have allowed each religion to settle some family issues in its own courts.
ABC News has a report of the suspension of three pharmacists for refusing to dispense the "morning-after pill." The American Center for Law and Justice, which filed suit on behalf of the pharmacists, has copies of other news coverage.
The full Compass Direct report on the Indian pastor whose home was turned into a temple is available on their website.
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
A Christian reconciliation group in Israel and Palestine warned that war would come. Now the war threatens their relevance.العربيةFrançais
Eastern Orthodox poet Scott Cairns reflects on his new collection, his journey of faith, and poetry’s capacity to apprehend inexhaustible realities.
