Plus: Episcopal diocese sues Va. churches, U.K. won't exempt churches from gay adoption rules, Baptist beer, and other stories from online sources around the world.
NFL lawyers found the announcement on the church's website and FedEx'ed a cease-and-desist order. The church's large screen (only screens 55 inches and smaller are allowed), use of the words "Super Bowl," and other plans violated copyright laws, the lawyers said. So does the evangelistic video. NFL assistant counsel Rachel L. Margolies wrote to the congregation, according to The Indianapolis Star: "While this may be a noble message, we are consistent in refusing the use of our game broadcasts in connection with events that promote a message, no matter the content."
There's no word on how many other churches have been contacted by the NFL, or whether Lovie Smith's own church, which was planning to show the game on a projection screen to up to 1,000 people, has special dispensation. But given the quotes from multiple NFL representatives in the Star article, this isn't just the case of one overzealous attorney. This may be the end of a very common annual church practice across the country. Already, some churches are scrambling to cancel or change Sunday's events. Others say they'll keep holding events until they get their own letter from NFL attorneys.
2. Episcopal Diocese of Virginia sues 11 departing churches Bishop Peter Lee also recently declared the churches abandoned property and prohibited the priests from officiating at worship services. At least two churches say they'll press trespassing charges if officials from the diocese "set foot on either congregation's property without express permission from that congregation's vestry." And for some real vitriol, check out this editorial in the Falls Church News-Press, the hometown paper of the most prominent of the departing congregations.
3. U.K's Catholic adoption agencies must place children with gay couples But Prime Minister Tony Blair gave the agencies 21 months to comply. "There is no place in our society for discrimination. That's why I support the right of gay couples to apply to adopt like any other couple," Blair said. "And that way there can be no exemptions for faith-based adoption agencies offering public-funded services from regulations that prevent discrimination."
Catholics aren't the only ones outraged. "The idea that New Labour can come up with a new morality which it forces on the Catholic Church after 2,000 yearsI am sorry, this is amazing arrogance on the part of the Government," N.T. Wright, the Church of England's Bishop of Durham, told The Times of London.
4. Measuring spiritual growth Inside Higher Ed has a lengthy article today on one of the most important contemporary issues in Christian higher education: assessing spiritual development. Elizabeth Redden writes:
As the accountability pressures on higher education grow, and words like "measurable outcomes" become common parlance in academe, religious colleges are increasingly embracing a need to measure the spiritual and moral outcomes they promise in their mission statements to deliver. They're seeking ways not only to measure their own students' spiritual commitments and how those commitments might change from freshman to senior year but also how they as institutions stack up, spiritually speaking, relative to peer colleges.
Whether you're already familiar with the issue or have never heard of it before, the article is an important read. Inside Higher Ed is a little late on the story, but it's encouraging to see them doing it at all.
5. Va. House bill to charities: Feed an illegal immigrant, lose government funds Republican delegate Jackson H. Miller told The Washington Post his bill "is to make sure the monies that are going to charities and organizations go to the people they are intended to go to, which is legal immigrants. The ultimate goal is to make the commonwealth of Virginia an unwelcome place if you are in this country illegally."
It can also make Virginia an unwelcome place for large Christian charities (the Post names the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities). The groups would still be able to help illegal immigrants with private funds, but would have to make each aid recipient 19 or older prove that he or she is in the country legally.
6. Church under fire for bar ministry It's unclear whether The Journey is one of those "ministering to postmoderns" or "ministering as postmoderns" emerging churches, but given that the church website has a lengthy doctrinal statement, it seems more the former than the latter. There's not a lot of theology in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's article about the "controversial" church, but there's not a lot of theology in the debate over alcohol abstention, either, and apparently alcohol is what makes The Journey controversial. A number of churches and ministries meet in bars these days. But not many are Baptist, apparently. The Missouri Baptist Convention, which helped to fund The Journey, is now uncomfortable with alcohol being so prominent at the church's "Theology at the Bottleworks" ministry.
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"Beer being served as part of a church presentation sends mixed messages to the community and causes confusion," MBC executive board member Kerry Messer told the paper. "Had we known about this before the loan was approved, I would have openly spoken out against a financial relationship being established."
7. Mike Jones goes to New Life Church The former male prostitute went to the church formerly pastored by Ted Haggard, who allegedly hired him for sex. "A couple of ladies cried when they were touching me," he told The Denver Post. "I was thanked for exposing the church, for helping Ted Haggard. A couple of them said they hoped I get God into my life. And they all said 'God bless you,' every one of them."
Associate pastor Rob Brendle was apparently one of those who thanked him. "I told Mike, 'I don't want to impose my religious beliefs on you, but I believe God used you to correct us, and I appreciate that,'" he said. "The church's response to him was overwhelmingly warm. One of the wonderful and enduring truths of Christianity is to love people the world sets up to be your enemies."
He didn't say "love your enemies," which was a nice touch.
The Post's Eric Gorski says Jones "wasn't impressed on the whole. If the Gospel message is enough, he said, why the loud music and MTV-quality production?"
8. One of the worst abuse case stories you'll read Or not read. Really, apart from being another example of human depravity and another warning that you shouldn't automatically trust church leadersand who needs another reminder of either of those?there's little reason to get into the details here. But there are few cases more outrageous than Assembly of God youth pastor Adrian Estrada, who allegedly impregnated a 16-year-old in his youth group, took her to get an abortion, got her pregnant again (she miscarried), and then strangled and stabbed her to death when he found out he had impregnated her a third time. And Stephanie Sanchez was apparently not his only target. Estrada reportedly confessed, but his defense lawyer told jurors, "We do not believe the state can prove beyond a reasonable doubt he intended to kill both" Sanchez and her baby.
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9. Priest suspends parishioners for "non support" The closing of Catholic parishes and schools has been a contentious issue around the country, but one sign that it's really getting hot is the Rev. Thomas Cappelloni's letters to two of his parishioners at Our Lady of Grace Church in Hazelton, Pa. The parishionersone of whom has been a member of the church for 50 yearsprotested the diocese's closure of a local school by withholding their parish contributions. Cappelloni wrote back: "[Y]ou raise your hand to strike at the parish that has nourished your faith through the years. That says volumes. [W]ith great regret I must inform you that as long as you willfully seek to harm Our Lady of Grace by your non support, I must respond by temporarily suspending your registration at this parish. By the next mailing if you have not reconsidered your decision the termination will be made permanent."
Weblog isn't too familiar with Catholic polity on giving and church discipline. It seems that giving is an important sign of Christian discipleship and that Protestant pastors would do well to do encourage their congregations to give morefor the sake of the church and its members. But Weblog also knows that if almost any Protestant church started purging members who didn't give, those church rolls would look a lot smaller than they do.
The Mennonites went to Mexico and Paraguay looking for a place to live without government interference in their lives. But they have been trickling slowly back to Canada ever since. Many of them married while living in Mexico, and that's what is causing the problem now. They were married by the church, and Mexico doesn't recognize church marriages as being legal. That means their children were born out of wedlock, and they along with their grandchildren and even great-grandchildren are not eligible to be Canadian citizens.
Quote of the day "If it didn't say Proverbs, I might think it came from a Star Trek episode."
Jeremy Lemming, spokesman for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, on why the group, which has opposed other posts of Scripture on government property, doesn't oppose a posting in the University of Kentucky's men's basketball locker room. The display quotes Proverbs 27:17: "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Lemming was quoted by the Lexington Herald-Leader.
NFL's lawyers sack church's game plan | The thousands of churches across the country that want to host Super Bowl parties Sunday night had better not pull out big-screen TVs, or they could face the wrath of NFL attorneys (The Indianapolis Star)
Liberty's triplets turning heads on the court | As the only basketball-playing triplets in Division I, the Frazees and the evangelical school founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell are proving a perfect match (Associated Press)
Under interrogation, Bears' Johnson rests his defense | Johnson, who was arrested in December after police stormed his home and found a stash of weapons and then saw his good friend and bodyguard shot to death at a nightclub the next day, was blasted after he said earlier this week that the coverage of his troubles was "overblown" and that his Christian faith had gotten him through the troubles (The Washington Post)
Black churches are urged to denounce gangsta rap | An influential pastor from Atlanta tells his peers from around the country that the music has a negative effect on young people (Los Angeles Times)
She has faith in latest album | Rickie Lee Jones was moved to record rock songs based on the words of Jesus (The Boston Globe)
Lost souls, and puppets, in a tour of the afterlife | The Magis Theater Company is daring to be different with a thought-provoking adaptation of "The Great Divorce," C. S. Lewis's story about a bus ride through heaven and hell (The New York Times)
In search of evangelicals | New York actors craft a musical on Colorado Springs faithful (Rocky Mountain News)
God, Satan and Southern Times feature in court scrap | One of Namibia's fastest-growing churches, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, yesterday turned to the High Court to look for some earthly justice for being referred to as a "Satanic sect" in a weekly State-owned newspaper (The Namibian)
Religion in the news: Magazines to the rescue | Southern Baptists are sending Christian magazines to troops in Iraq as an alternative to the "lad mags" that feature scantily clad women, hoping to get clean, positive images in front of the servicemen (Associated Press)
Daily Show to visit Jewett City concerning church music controversy | "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," a comedy news show on the Comedy Central network, will be in the borough Thursday to interview residents and officials about the controversy surrounding a sound system that plays music out of a church, but is funded by the town (Norwich Bulletin, Ct.)
Jim Jones's temple of doom | Documentary gives a matter-of-fact treatment to the matter of mass killing (The Washington Post)
Film censorship's bleeping mad | A censored version of the film The Queen in which all references to God were taken out has been removed from Qantas flights (The Daily Telegraph, Australia)
Church arson becomes online music video | Video of an area church covered in flames has become a music video on the YouTube Web site, prompting an outcry from congregation members and a federal investigation (WRAL, Raleigh, N.C.)
The blasphemy challenge | Host of internet challenge says God 'most likely doesn't exist' (Nightline, ABC)
A culture of faith, devoted yet complex | Alexandra Pelosi's documentary glances on the more intolerant and grotesque manifestations of Christian fundamentalism and also the faith's vast following and political clout (The New York Times)
Senate chaplain cancels appearance | Senate Chaplain Barry Black has canceled his scheduled appearance at a Christian evangelical conference after he was pictured with columnist Ann Coulter and other prominent conservatives in a brochure promoting the event (Associated Press)
Chaplain's discharge blocked, for now | A three-judge panel has temporarily blocked the Navy from discharging an evangelical chaplain who was convicted last year of disobeying a lawful order by wearing his uniform to a press conference outside the White House (Navy Times)
Earlier: Navy chaplain fights discharge to last hour | After a yearlong fight to overturn restrictions on prayer in the military, Navy chaplain Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt's career hangs in the balance while a federal appeals court decides his fate (The Washington Times)
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Leap of faith | Steve Chalke wants to help run Britain's schools, hospitals and even prisonsand, as a Christian minister, believes he is perfectly placed to do so (The Guardian, London)
He calls himself God | A Puerto Rican minister says Christ 'integrated' with him. Others call him a cult leader and a charlatan (Newsweek)
The right and the wrong | Conservative talker Glen Beck puts his own feelings up front (The Washington Post)
Services today for Jim Warren | A memorial for the brother of paster Rick Warren are scheduled for today at Saddleback church (The Orange County Register, Ca.)
France united and divided over activist priest | The tug-of-war over Abbe Pierre's legacy brought to the surface an underlying tension between France's long and rich Christian heritage and its modern and very secular society. (Reuters)
Robert Drinan dies at 86; pioneer as lawmaker priest | The Rev. Robert F. Drinan was the first Roman Catholic priest to become a voting member of Congress, and the first congressman to call for the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon (The New York Times)
Father Drinan, model of moral tenacity | If there is a God, the Frank-for-Drinan trade surely had Him laughing at the Vatican's expense (Colman McCarthy, The Washington Post)
Pastor inspires 'audacity to hope' | Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, is a straight-talking pragmatist who arrived in Chicago as an outsider and became an institution (Chicago Tribune)
Giuliani a tough conservative sell | New York mayor hopes emphasis on security and limited government will override his weaknesses (Associated Press)
Romney faces questions about his faith | Republican Mitt Romney on Tuesday dismissed questions about whether his Mormon faith would be an impediment to his White House aspirations, echoing the argument that voters will be choosing a president not a pastor (Associated Press)
Turnabouts by Romney are fair game | The Massachusetts Republican's shifts on abortion and gay rights could help or hinder his 2008 bid (Los Angeles Times)
Mitt Romney's conversion | His pro-life turn is more recent than you think. (Jennifer Rubin, The Weekly Standard)
What evangelical problem? | Some of the biggest power brokers of the Christian right are lovin' Mitt. (Sarah Posner, The American Prospect)
Many believers focus on Darfur crisis | Among the armed conflicts killing innocents around the world, the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan has become a moral tsunami for many religious believers in Massachusetts (The Boston Globe)
Religious leaders in debt plea | Religious leaders have joined forces to put pressure on Tony Blair to tackle the "injustice" of international debt (PA, U.K.)
Also: Debt relief raises hopes, fears in Sierra Leone | Many Sierra Leoneans worry that ministers will again squander funds, safe in the knowledge that they can borrow as much as they want without the need to repay. (Reuters)
New Dem leader challenges GOP over religion | The new head of the leading group of centrist Democrats lashes out at what he calls the "hypocrisy" of Republicans who overdo their talk about religion (Politico)
Also: Democrats' new leader embraces faith | Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford was named chair of the Democratic Leadership Council Thursday (The Christian Science Monitor)
Also: President's Union speech pleases conservative base | Republicans are pleased that the President's speech appealed as much to them as to the new Democratic majority in Congress. (The Washington Times)
U.S. family-oriented job policies weak | The United States lags far behind virtually all wealthy countries with regard to family-oriented workplace policies such as maternity leave, paid sick days and support for breast-feeding, a new study by Harvard and McGill University researchers says (Associated Press)
Nun calls Katrina housing plan a sin Celebrated nun says plan to raze housing development will keep poor black people out of New Orleans (Associated Press)
Religion dividing Labor, Abbott says | The Australian Labor Party is beset by religious tensions with non-Christian members uncomfortable at the way Labor leader Kevin Rudd has been pushing his faith, Health Minister Tony Abbott said (The Sydney Morning Herald)
A fresh breath of Christian air | Tony Campolo wants to take back the evangelical movement from the religious right (Edmonton Journal)
Also: Tony Campolo: Poverty is Jesus' job one | Evangelical activist Campolo, who will speak in Minnesota next week, sees fighting poverty as the key issue for Christians. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
A sad misuse of 'Merry Christmas' | State lawmakers are wasting their time and taxpayers' money on nonexistent problems (Editorial, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Freely, keep religion in holiday greetings | I understand the critics of this bill dismiss it as a waste of time. But what is more important than our freedom of speech? (Clay Cox, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
The Democrats' rude rebuff | Democrats appear intent on rejecting Bush's overtures for bi-partisan cooperation (Robert D. Novak, The Washington Post)
Who would Jesus deport? | A grassroots movement is forming in which anti-immigrant rhetoric dovetails with the odes to God and country that have long constituted conservative evangelical boilerplate (Alexander Zaitchik, Intelligence Report, via Alternet)
Pastor's work extends to environment | Ken Wilson of Ann Arbor Vineyard Church was one of 27 people to sign an "urgent call to action'' statement to protect the environment with other evangelical and scientific leaders, a role he was asked to play as his church is part of the National Association of Evangelicals (The Ann Arbor News, Mi.)
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Getting green religion | A new attempt to suggest that evangelicals and global warming activists are drawing closer (Mark Tooley, The American Spectator)
State Senate opens with prayer | The Indiana Senate today resumed beginning each session with a formal prayer, the first since late 2005 (The Indianapolis Star)
Free public exercise of religion bill okayed | A government agency would have a hard time justifying any law or action that impeded a person's religious practices, under a bill passed by the Utah Senate on Wednesday (The Salt Lake Tribune)
Senator wants God out of courts | A Mesa Republican wants to strip Arizona courts of the ability to decide any questions related to religion (The Arizona Star)
Parents seek exemption to newborn tests | The couple attend a fundamental Christian church and follow some teachings of the Church of Scientology (Say what?) (Associated Press)
Church of England still valid as state religion? | The row over gay adoption has thrown into sharp focus the Church of England's unique role as the country's state religion as Britain grapples with the pressures of a multi-cultural society (Reuters)
After weekend of interrogation, Zimbabwe clerics released on bail | Eight senior officials of Zimbabwe's opposition Christian Alliance arrested Friday in a Midlands church for allegedly holding an illegal political meeting were arraigned in Kadoma magistrate's court Monday and released on Z$100,000 dollars bail each (Voice of America)
Turning a blind eye, IRS enables church politicking | A 1954 law forbids partisan political activity that aims to help, or hurt, candidates for public office. Such behavior would put a church's tax-exempt status in jeopardy if the government chose to enforce the law (Dan Gilgoff, USA Today)
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The IRS at church: Laughable 'interest' | When the church, exercising its First Amendment freedoms, speaks from religious conviction for or against a candidate, why should it be within the province of the government to penalize that expression? (Editorial, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
I'm going to heaven, you're not | This is at the heart of religious belief, which is why the new Racial and Religious Hatred Act is so flawed (Padraig Reidy, The Guardian, London)
S.D. lawmakers launch new abortion bill | The measure would allow exceptions for rape and incest with DNA evidence, making it slightly less rigid than a bill passed last year that contained an exception only to save the life of a woman (Associated Press)
Portugal abortion law put to test | At least 9,000 anti-abortion protesters marched through Lisbon on Sunday urging people to reject the proposal on easing its strict abortion law (BBC)
Each stored embryo is a stem cell debate | Much attention has been focused on potential beneficiaries of stem cell research, such as actor and Parkinson's patient Michael J. Fox. Less notice has been given to those who literally give up a piece of themselves to make research possible (USA Today)
Scientists craft embryonic stem cell ethics rules | New international guidelines on human embryonic stem cell research called for close scrutiny of scientists and clear consent from people donating cells, but did not settle the issue of paying women who donate eggs (Reuters)
Branson to launch stem-cell bank | Virgin says its service is unique because it will offer a charitable element, allowing the NHS to use some of stem cells the company stores (BBC)
Chile to resume contraception handout | The government on Tuesday said it will resume its program to provide free "morning-after" contraceptives to girls as young as 14, but will also offer them advice by specialists (Associated Press)
Kaine dubious on death penalty expansion | Va. governor ran for office pledging to enforce the death penalty despite his personal opposition (The Washington Post)
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Democratic bills target 'pregnancy reduction' | But life advocates question just how "pro-life" those bills really are and the motivations behind them (CitizenLink, Focus on the Family)
Where's the support? | Abortion: Students risk academic, social ostracism in challenge to college culture (Serrin M. Foster, National Review Online)
Church vs State: Battle over surviving sextuplets | The province has forced at least two of the Lower Mainland's four surviving sextuplets to have blood transfusions as a life-saving measure, over the objections of their Jehovah's Witnesses parents (The Vancouver Sun, B.C.)
Babies' well-being must be paramount | In Canada we don't recognize the unfettered right of parents to raise their children as they see fit (Editorial, The Vancouver Sun)
The porn pastors: XXXChurch.com | They're on a crusade to bring salvation to an unlikely industry, but their biggest critics are Christians (ABC News)
Church hosts 'porn and pancakes' event | The breakfast discussion on the pornography industry in America is planned next month at the Living Word Assembly of God Church in the town of Ontario, about ten miles east of Rochester (Associated Press)
Rule to prohibit gay topics prompts move | After 26 years, the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department says it won't hold its annual conference at Glorieta's Baptist-owned conference center because of attempts to restrict discussion of gay issues (The New Mexican)
Hawaii lawmakers mull civil unions bill | Trying to avoid a heated battle over gay marriage, Hawaii lawmakers are considering a renewed push to grant same-sex couples similar benefits through civil unions (Associated Press)
Lesbians register Mexico's 1st gay union | A lesbian couple registered what officials called Mexico's first gay civil union on Wednesday in the northern city of Saltillo (Associated Press)
Of gay sheep, modern science and bad publicity | The story of the gay sheep is an example of the distortion that can result when science meets the global news cycle (The New York Times)
Optimism on same-sex amendment | Since the Legislature advanced an anti-gay-marriage amendment last month, pro-gay marriage legislators have grown increasingly convinced that with hard work, they can beat the measure on the merits (Scot Lehigh, The Boston Globe)
No exemption from gay rights law | But Tony Blair said they would get 21 months to prepare for change, calling this a "sensible compromise" (BBC)
Durham damns Blair as 'deeply unwise' | Bishop Tom Wright launched into an excoriating attack on almost every aspect of the present "Labour" Government (The Times, London)
Cardinal warns of 'new morality' | Ministers have been accused of trying to impose "a new morality" by ruling Catholic adoption agencies should not be exempt from gay rights laws (BBC)
Two churches, one view and a question of conscience | The Church of England's move to join Catholic opposition to the government on the gay adoption row has as much to do with internal church politics as religious conviction (The Guardian)
Opt-out refusal 'bans church from public life' | The Government's refusal to allow faith-based adoption agencies to opt out of laws prohibiting discrimination against homosexual couples is the first step in banning the church from public life, the leader of the Catholic church in England and Wales warned today (The Telegraph, London)
The loving gay family and the Archbishop next door | Despite being neighbors with a gay family, Archbishop writes letter asking that Catholic adoption agencies be exempt from gay adoptions (The Guardian)
Retreat on adoption and the Equality Act will crumble | The standoff over gay couples' rights is unlikely to be easily resolved without the churches' moral authority being fatally compromised (Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian)
Is Rowan too subtle or too supple? | It is in the nature of churches to regard themselves as higher moral authorities, but there's no reason for the rest of us to go along with it (Andrew Brown, The Guardian)
Regulation must not trump conscience | I welcome the two-year period that has been established in which to find a practical way forward. But I want to make it clear that our agencies must be able to act with integrity and in accordance with Catholic principles and should not be asked to do otherwise (Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, The Telegraph, London)
Diocese sues 11 seceding congregations over property ownership | The Circuit Court lawsuits, almost all in Northern Virginia, ask the court to declare the diocese the rightful owner of all property, which is worth well into the tens of millions of dollars. The suits also ask the court to force the breakaway congregations off the 11 properties, which they have occupied since the votes in December and January (The Washington Post)
Also: Episcopal diocese sues breakaways for property | The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia has filed lawsuits seeking to retain the property of 11 churches whose congregations voted to leave the denomination and prohibit those congregations from using the property, the diocese announced yesterday (The Washington Times)
Virginia Episcopal Church split: Congregants in legal limbo over who gets the house | Independent legal experts say part of the problem is that the law in this area has become increasingly unsettled as courts in various states have taken differing approaches and arrived at differing conclusions about who gets the assets in a church divorce (The Washington Post)
The real Falls Church | There are many reasons to applaud the tough stand by the Episcopal bishop of Virginia against the move by the Falls Church Episcopal Church to defect and align with a schismatic arch-conservative body created by an Anglican archbishop from Nigeria (Editorial, Falls Church News-Press, Va.)
Episcopal diocese may abandon U.S. church | The San Joaquin Diocese would be the first to align itself with more conservative, foreign members of the global Anglican Communion (Los Angeles Times)
Episcopal Church faces threat | The Episcopal Church, which recently lost 15 Virginia congregations over liberal policies, faces a possible expulsion from the worldwide Anglican Communion when the leaders of the communion's 38 national churches meet in Tanzania later this month, conservative Anglicans say (The Washington Times)
Williams 'fostering schism', aide fears | The Archbishop of Canterbury has "fostered schism" in the Anglican communion's row over homosexual clergy, one of his most senior aides believes (The Telegraph, London)
Anglican parish evicted | They'll abide by bishop's order (The Sun Chronicle, Attleboro, Mass.)
Also: Worshipers vacate Episcopal church | In a service overflowing with tears, hugs, and evocations of historic persecution of Christians, members of All Saints Anglican Church of Attleboro held their last service yesterday in their North Main Street building and bowed to orders from the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts that they vacate the premises (The Boston Globe)
Update: Anglicans find new home | Anglicans from All Saints who were ordered to leave the North Main Street church are preparing to move into new quarters, while former parishioners of All Saints are working with the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts to revive the Attleboro church as an Episcopal congregation (The Sun Chronicle, Attleboro, Mass.)
Gay clergy issue tests parish | The Rev. Gilbert V. Wilkes, rector of Christ and the Epiphany Episcopal Church, said Thursday he anticipates that when the parish holds its annual meeting Sunday, members will vote to take their time, and work out in a prayerful way whether to stay in the Episcopal Church (New Haven Register, Ct.)
At the center of the divide | Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop sees a higher purpose to the debate (The Hartford Courant, Ct.)
Mississippi rector chosen as next bishop | The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia has picked its next leader, a 48-year-old Alabamian who says one of the most endearing qualities of his denomination, roiled by disagreements centering on homosexuality, is "our ability to 'agree to disagree' on issues, biblical and otherwise" (The Washington Post)
A fractured church | Western Kansas bishop's letter voices his disapproval of Episcopal Church's leader (The Hutchinson News, Kan.)
Episcopal meeting takes upbeat tone | Years of divisiveness have given way to a fresh sense of unity, some say (The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville)
Priest suspended in evangelism row | A London bishop has suspended the most senior Anglican priest in Turkey who opposed the fast-track ordination of a Turkish evangelist (The Times, London)
Hymns replaced by Bono lyrics at church | A Church of England bishop is to preside at this country's first "U2-charist", an adapted Holy Communion service that uses the Irish supergroup's best-selling songs in place of hymns (The Telegraph, London)
Also: The Lord moves in mysterious ways | Marriage of U2's music and the Eucharist filling pews with youth (The National Post, Canada)
Past of spying haunts Poland's church | Files made public show communist secret police had collaborators amid the clergy, long revered for defying the regime (Los Angeles Times)
Pope meets with Vietnam's prime minister | After decades of tension, meeting between the Holy See and Communist government marks the first steps toward establishing diplomatic relations (Associated Press)
Closure protester rebuked by priest | Parishioner put protest note in collection basket. She was suspended from the church (Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
Also: City priest threatens members' suspension | A Hazleton pastor threatened to suspend the registration of two longtime parishioners who withheld a weekly contribution in protest of the closing of Bishop Hafey Junior/Senior High School (Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.)
Outspoken Catholic pastor replaced; he says it's retaliation | Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton told parishioners at his Detroit parish that he was forced to step down because of his lobbying efforts on behalf of the victims of sexual abuse by the clergy (The New York Times)
Update: Detroit auxiliary bishop won't fight his removal | Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton said he does not plan to contest his removal as pastor of an inner-city parish, which he said Tuesday came as a direct result of his advocacy for victims of priest sexual abuse. (The Grand Rapids Press, Mi.)
Neighbors want sale of church investigated | In the shops and homes that surround the boarded-up Saint Mary Star of the Sea church, it's still the hot talk -- how a wealthy South Boston photographer made $1.8 million buying and selling the closed Catholic church in less than three weeks (The Boston Globe)
Congregant protests 'secrecy' in priest investigation | Catholic Church officials need to break their silence about a former Deltona priest accused of sexually abusing a man, said the national director of an organization supporting victims of abuse by the clergy. (Daytona Beach News-Journal, Fla.)
Members concerned about priest | Some church members at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church are concerned about the welfare and whereabouts of Rev. Gilbert Pansza - "Father Gil" - after several of them learned that he was "essentially kidnapped" from his home in mid-December and committed to a psychiatric facility by Fort Worth church leaders (Times Record News, Wichita Falls)
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Update: Abuse story takes turn | Vicar general: Father Pansza's recent account 'ridiculous' (Times Record News, Wichita Falls, Tex.)
My wife smokes -- I want an annulment | That is just one of the hazy cases that wound up before the Vatican's Sacra Romana Rota, a top court which hears the most complicated of marriage annulment requests. (Reuters)
Uproar as lace-makers slip into G-strings | Polish lace-makers facing declining demand for their table and altar cloths have provoked uproar in their industry and criticism by the Catholic Church after producing sexy underwear (The Telegraph, London)
The cardinal's sins | Edward Egan did the dirty job he was hired to do with less pain than anyone thought possible. So why can't his priests wait to get rid of him? (New York)
Priests leave Pope's doctrines outside confessional | A yawning gulf between the stern doctrines preached by Pope Benedict and the advice offered by ordinary Roman Catholic priests has been exposed by an Italian magazine which dispatched reporters to 24 churches around Italy where, in the confessional, they sought rulings on various moral dilemmas (The Guardian, London)
Vatican enraged by magazine's confessional expose | An Italian magazine report which sought to prove that what some priests tell Catholics in the confessional is not always what the Church preaches in public has enraged the Vatican (Reuters)
Papal bull, priestly wisdom | When it comes to seeking moral guidance, priests can be far more realistic and tolerant than you might expect (The Guardian, London)
Yoga stretches into public schools | More than 100 schools in 26 states have adopted Tara Guber's "Yoga Ed." program and more than 300 physical education instructors have been trained in it (Associated Press)
Christian group wins school case | Pleasanton High School must allow group to have equal access to resources, a judge rules (The Kansas City Star)
3rd time in court for suit over censored religious poster | As a kindergartener in 1988, Antonio Peck drew picture of Jesus as part of assignment to create poster about the environment; school rejected it and a second image (Associated Press)
Judge grants motion in student lawsuit | Student attempted to pass out anti-abortion leaflets while wearing a pro-life sweatshirt and keeping his mouth taped shut. He was reportedly ordered by the school's administration to change his clothes and he was forbidden from passing out leaflets during school hours inside the building (Monroe News, Mi.)
Crosses case may prove to be pricey | A federal judge is being asked to hand a Las Cruces man a sizable bill for his unsuccessful attempt to rid the school district of what he calls religious symbols. (Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.)
Free Bibles banned in Burnaby schools | Gideons International has been giving out pamphlets to Grade 5 students in Burnaby for years that ask them and their parents if they would like to receive a free Bible (CBC)
Student's recording of teacher's views leads to a ban on taping | After a public school teacher was recorded telling students they belonged in hell if they did not accept Jesus as their savior, the school board has banned taping in class without an instructor's permission, and has added training for teachers on the legal requirements for separating church and state (The New York Times)
Gore film sparks parents' anger | Parents protest school board's decision to invoke a moratorium on showing Gore film in classrooms (The Washington Post)
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Bush proposes adding private school vouchers to 'no child' law | The Bush administration angers Democrats by introducing a proposal allowing students at failing public schools to use federal vouchers to attend private and religious schools (The Washington Post)
Co-habiting teachers face axe | Teachers who are co-habiting in church-founded schools may soon face the axe, the Bishop of West Ankole Diocese has said (New Vision, Uganda)
Ed Board reviewing policy on religious observances | In response to some board members' concerns that the its policy on religious observances is outdated and does not meet the needs of today's students, the Board of Education is forming a subcommittee to review both the policy and the school system's current practices (Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Ct.)
Religious holidays may become optional | Employer organisation Almega has proposed scrapping 10 public holidays based on the Christian faith. Workers should instead be free to choose their own public holidays, it says. (The Local, Sweden)
Graduation venue resolved: it's Comcast | In less than a week, parents at the county's largest high school have seen a reversal of fortune in their quest to find a better graduation venue (The Washington Post)
Even earlier: School can hold commencement at church, board says | Montgomery County Board of Education votes to allow the county's largest high school to hold graduation exercises in a church, reversing the decision of Superintendent Jerry D. Weast (The Washington Post)
Earlier still: Blair PTSA again asks to graduate in a church | School board members to consider an appeal from high school's parent leaders, who want to hold graduation exercises in a church (The Washington Post)
The battle of Jericho | Montgomery's school board makes the wrong choice on a graduation ceremony in a church (Editorial, The Washington Post)
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Also: Let the walls come tumblin' down | This controversy is not about studying religion or stuffing religion down the throats of those who have no interest in it. This is simply a real estate question, a matter of where to hold a large-scale event (Marc Fisher, The Washington Post)
Spiritual accountability | Religious colleges use assessment to measure spiritual growth for accountability, accreditation and their own advancement (Inside Higher Ed)
The first dance | One small Christian college finds that there may be some redemption in being footloose after all (The New York Times Magazine)
University in 'gay weddings' row | Canterbury Christ Church University does not allow civil partnership ceremonies at two properties it owns in Canterbury and Tunbridge Wells (BBC)
Not practicing what they are preaching | I find it amazing to hear so many Christians deplore the subjugation of women in Islam, and I often remind them that they should examine their own religion regarding gender issues before criticizing others (Bob Ray Sanders, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
Some at SMU soften Bush library stance | Two leading opponents have softened their stance against building George W. Bush's presidential library and museum at Southern Methodist University, but they still object to the accompanying public policy institute (Associated Press)
Methodism madness | A group of Methodist bishops tries to keep the Bush presidential library out of SMU (Mark D. Tooley, The Weekly Standard)
Kaine weighs in on W&M cross debate | The governor said displaying a cross in a campus chapel lies with the university, not him. (Daily Press, Hampton Roads, Va.)
Bow to diversity leaves altar empty | College of William & Mary's president defends decision to remove cross from Wren Chapel (The Washington Times)
The Wren cross | It's an interesting debate, but is it one W&M really wants? (Editorial, Daily Press, Hampton Roads, Va.)
The FCC and William & Mary case | Head of the college board should heed public outcry and return the historic Wren cross to the school chapel. (Elizabeth Gibbons, The Washington Times)
Laus Deo | Crossing the line at William and Mary (Newt Gingrich & Christopher Levenick, National Review Online)
The inside man | William & Mary's new president tries to get rid of a cross on campus (Cesar Conda & Vince Haley, The Weekly Standard)
Loyalty oaths are back at William and Mary | President Gene Nichol and his stooges are cracking down on anyone opposed to his scheme to remove the cross from Wren Chapel. (Thomas Lipscomb, The American Spectator)
Christian duty, county law at odds in Westgate trial | Westgate Tabernacle Church may be a place where the heartbreak of homeless men, women and children seems endless. But what jurors should see first, said county attorney Amy Petrick, is a property owner who has engaged in a lengthy attempt to dodge county zoning and building regulations (Palm Beach Post, Fla.)
Racy ad drives surprise message | Billboard promotes a church series about sexuality that targets obsession (The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
Do-gooders with spreadsheets | What's a social entrepreneur? Let me give a few examples among those at the World Economic Forum (Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times, sub. req'd.)
Fury at church's Osama sign | A Sydney church has called on people to pray for the world's most wanted terrorist - declaring "Jesus loves Osama" (The Daily Telegraph, Australia)
Jesus wants Osama brought to justice: Nile | Pastor and leader of the Christian Democratic Party says the signs were insensitive to families whose loved ones had died in terrorist attacks (ninemsn, Australia)
Not quite related: Religious signs annoy people | Outdoor advertising signboards with religious messages should be banned as they could infringe upon people's religious freedom, the Korea Institute of Religious Freedom said Thursday (The Korea Times)
Fury at church signs | Melbourne churches have begun posting controversial "Jesus loves Osama" signs amid outrage from terror victims (Herald Sun, Melbourne, Australia)
Muslim-Christian-Jewish dialogue vital, Pope says | "Inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue is not just an option, but a vital necessity for our times," he told members of a foundation on inter-religious dialogue (Reuters)
Hate or debate? | Religion: Ex-terrorist faces deportation for "hate crimes" against Islam (World)
Kangaroo court | Beaten, chased, tried, convicted, and released, pastor Daniel Scot can't stop speaking out about Islam (World)
Controversy follows Dennis Prager to Yorba Linda | Islamic councils say tonight's talk by the radio hostwho has been criticized for saying a congressman shouldn't be able to take his oath on the Koranshould have a Muslim speaker for balance (Los Angeles Times)
Chinese official publishes rebuke of Bush | Director of China's State Bureau of Religious Affairs wrote that Mr. Bush had effectively "hijacked" one religion, Christianity, to engage in a battle against another one, Islam (The New York Times)
Mexico won't deport 11 Iraqi Christians | The head of Mexico's Immigration Institute said the detainees may be granted asylum or simply be freed and allowed to go where they want (Associated Press)
U.N. plan for Kosovo unacceptable, says Serb bishop | "The proposal is unacceptable to us because it presupposes the separation of Kosovo from Serbia and as such will never be accepted either by the Kosovo Serbs nor the Serbian state," Bishop Artemije said (Reuters)
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An "immature" war on terror? | The Church of England's Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, is a respected writer and a distinguished defender of Christian orthodoxy, but in addressing the "The War on Terror" in a lecture at his cathedral late last year, the bishop colorfully illustrated how theologians are often failures at political polemics (Mark D. Tooley, FrontPage)
Israel excavation work near shrine fans Muslim ire | Israeli authorities are involved in a few excavation projects near al-Haram al-Sharif, the site of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque where the biblical Jewish Temples once stood. (Reuters)
Plans on track for 'Galilee Christian Heritage Center' in Israel | The Israeli organizer of a prospective "Galilee Christian Heritage Center" at the historical center of Jesus' ministry said the project is still proceeding without the involvement of Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson (The Virginian-Pilot)
Grace rector to quit in $236K settlement | The rector of Grace Episcopal Church, accused of breaking pastoral confidences and ridiculing parishioners, is resigning as part of a settlement that church leaders hope will preserve the financial and communal health of the congregation (The Capital Times, Madison, Wis.)
Jeans-and-rock worship concept takes hold in city | A nondenominational Christian start-up that promises to provide "teaching that is practical and relevant to your life in New York City," the Journey functions as an evangelical, gospel-spreading church but eschews the evangelical label (The New York Sun)
Is there room in the pew for him? | Most churchgoers are women, but some Christian men soldier on, striving to attract male worshippers with a virile approach to religion (The Orlando Sentinel)
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No glass ceiling | More female pastors leading congregations (Ocala Star Banner, Fla.)
Worshipers withering in icy winter | Six consecutive weeks of snowfall, ice-rutted roads and cold temperatures are carving into attendance and contributions at many Colorado places of worship As a result, churches, synagogues and mosques are honing their messages about giving in hard times, halting some spending, lending an extra hand to the elderly - even reminding the faithful that God's hand can be seen in that blocked driveway. (The Denver Post)
Lawyer rips church settlement, says project should be denied | A court settlement that would allow the Church of the Hills off Route 206 to nearly triple in size has been blasted by an opposition attorney as "a horrible deal" (The Bernardsville News, N.J.)
Christian ecumenical group to mark alliance | Christian Churches Together in the USA, or CCT, will gather 36 leaders of denominations and faith groups Wednesday to celebrate their historic alliance (Religion News Service)
Ex-pastor called 'wolf in sheep's clothing' | Seventeen-year-old Stephanie Sanchez had been impregnated for the third time by Adrian Estrada, her youth pastor, when she was strangled and stabbed, prosecutor Scott Simpson told jurors Tuesday in Estrada's capital murder trial (San Antonio Express-News, Tex.)
Separate case: Former pastor gets new trial in sex case | A former pastor convicted of having sex with an underage choirgirl will get a new trial, a local appeals court decided Wednesday (San Antonio Express-News, Tex.)
Complaint lists details of pastor-woman relationship | 14-page criminal complaint released Tuesday accuses the Rev. Donald Dean Budd with felony sexual conduct and outlines a 31/2-year relationship with a woman who claims she was too emotionally fragile to say no to his advances (Winona Daily News, Wis.)
Former pastor charged with '70s, '80s rapes | A former Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) pastor from Pennsylvania was arrested in his Foothills home this week on charges that he raped a dozen young women who attended his church in the 1970s and '80s (Arizona Daily Star)
Acquitted of rape at church | Suspect found guilty of assault; jury verdict follows tentative settlement in $10M civil suit (The Jackson Sun, Tenn.)
Cops say church volunteer abused 2 boys | A Hoffman Estates man who volunteered at a Bartlett church has been accused of fondling underage boys, police said (Chicago Tribune)
Pedophile priest may spend more time in prison | Prison officials say if found to be a sexually violent predator, pedophile priest could be kept in prison despite completing his sentence (Los Angeles Times)
Accused part of church shell game? | A Missouri police report suggests that the Marianist religious order knew of allegations that a brother had abused at least one student before he was transferred to a Pueblo parochial school, where more than 20 students have alleged he sexually abused them (Pueblo Chieftain, Co.)
Church again tries to remove trial judge | For a third time, lawyers tied to Vermont's Catholic Church are trying to disqualify the judge presiding over a string of priest misconduct lawsuits. (Times Argus, Vt.)
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Earlier; Diocese's bid to disqualify judge denied | -Administrative judge rejects a second attempt by the Roman Catholic Diocese to disqualify a judge whom the diocese says is biased (The Boston Globe)
Attackers stone Turkish church | Unidentified attackers threw stones at a church in the northern Turkish town of Samsun in the latest attack on Christians in predominantly Muslim Turkey, Anatolian news agency said (Reuters)
Also: Attack against Protestant church in Samsun, Turkey | Vandals throw stones at Agape Church windows. For the past three years its congregation has been victim of aggressions and has never been protected by the police (AsiaNews.it, Catholic site)
Reward for information on Indonesian anti-Christian attacks | Indonesian police say they have offered a reward for information leading to the capture of Muslim militants wanted for anti-Christian attacks in the district of Poso (ABC Radio Australia)
Also: Abortion doctor's killer convicted again Already serving time for a sniper-death shooting, James Kopp was convicted Thursday on a federal charge of targeting and killing a doctor for providing abortions (Associated Press)
Feds: Brazilian couple smuggled cash | Two evangelical church leaders accused in Brazil of using their followers' donations to buy mansions, a horse farm and apartments will face a grand jury on money-smuggling allegations in the U.S.(The Boston Globe)
Minister who lost 3 sons counsels youth | The Rev. Leondis Fuller had three sons, and each of them died by the bullet. At the funeral for the last one after Fuller gave his eulogy he implored young people to come forward (Associated Press)
Bishop attacks prison 'obsession' | Dr Rowan Williams hinted that many minor offences, including some kinds of theft, should not lead to jail (BBC)
Man gets 40 years in import scam | Ex-salesman Gregory Setser swindled millions from hundreds of Christian investors (The Dallas Morning News)
Robbers pick the wrong church | Five men old enough to qualify for senior-citizen discounts foiled an armed robber and his accomplice this morning during the 8 a.m. Mass at Christ the King Church on E. Livingston Avenue (The Columbus Dispatch, Oh.)
Priest suspected in attack arrested | The Rev. George Chaanine, 52, was arrested without incident Thursday by FBI agents in Apache Junction, about 30 miles east of Phoenix (Associated Press)
Also: Rev. King not a Christian- PFN president | "How can a man who says he is Jesus, he is God be a Christian? I am following Christ and this man (King) says he is Christ so we can't be in the same boat. I know the Christ I am following." (Daily Champion, Nigeria)
Reverend King: his testimony, his lies, his conviction | Today we present Reverend King's own testimony, his lies and fabrications and how he crumbled with his evidence as the trial judge described him as a cruel, conceited and callous person (Vanguard, Nigeria)
Beer and the Bible | In December Baptist leaders began questioning the church's methods of attracting worshippers, specifically its use of alcohol (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Churches oppose mix with alcohol | An exemption in Tavares allows serving booze near places of worship downtown (The Orlando Sentinel)
Found through translation | A theology student in Richmond has created a written version of his native language to bring the Bible to Solomon Islanders (The Washington Post)
Inuktitut Old Testament nears completion | The Inuit land claims organization is helping to finance the project, a partnership between the Anglican Diocese of the Arctic and the Canadian Bible Society (CBC)
What the Talmud really says about Jesus | Peter Schaefer, who heads up Princeton's Judaic studies program, has collected and analyzed all the passages in the Talmud that apparently refer to the founder of Christianity, texts that were previously censored from Talmud editions for centuries (Religion BookLine)
Too nice for vice? | Hard-boiled mystery writer Andrew Klavan on becoming a Christian and "seeing the world more clearly as it is" (World)
The Ratzinger Code? Pope uses Dan Brown's publisher | Benedict's book, "Jesus of Nazareth," is meant to be a personal, historical-theological analysis of Jesus as the central figure of the Christian faith (Associated Press)
Update: Vatican defends choice of Doubleday | The Vatican on Wednesday defended the choice of Doubleday to publish Pope Benedict XVI's new book in North America, responding to an Italian newspaper's barb that the company is part of the publishing giant holding the rights to "The Da Vinci Code," which was assailed by the church (Associated Press)
Pulitzer winner explores Dover case in 'Monkey Girl' | Several York countians will be reading about themselves in Pulitzer Prize-winner journalist and best-selling author Edward Humes' book about the Dover intelligent design trial, which was released to most major booksellers today (The York Dispatch, Pa.)
Sermons in stone | How seashells disprove Creationism (Oren Harman, The New Republic)
An intelligent approach to intelligent design | The most effective way to convince students that evolutionary theory is correct is to confront, not avoid, the continuing challenges to it (Michael Balter, International Herald Tribune)
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God and gorillas | Anthropologist Barbara J. King explains what our distant cousins can tell us about religion and why it's OK for scientists to believe in God (Salon.com)
A real history lesson | In claiming that Christianity has made no contribution to scientific discovery, AC Grayling has overplayed his hand (Mark Vernon, The Guardian, London)
Don't ignore the Protestants | A C Grayling and Madeleine Bunting are having a spat about the achievements of Christianity, but they are both wrong (Theo Hobson, The Guardian, London)
Religion in the news: Neurotheology | The new Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the University of Pennsylvania is using brain imaging technology to examine thorny questions, and to investigate how spiritual and secular beliefs affect our health and behavior (Associated Press)
Spiritual state of union found strong | Almost two-thirds of Americans -- churchgoing or not -- say the overall health of the nation is heavily dependent on its spiritual health. About 77 percent say the nation's economy is dependent on its spiritual well-being, while 64 percent say religious expressions are either tolerated or encouraged in their workplaces, according to a Gallup Poll released yesterday (The Washington Times)
Religion defined | Science, politics and believers can co-exist without intimidation (Jeffry Gardner, The Albuquerque Tribune, N.M.)
Churches' second life: Homes | Buyers seeking a unique home could be the saving grace for 24 churches for sale in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Minnesota's teetotal taxis | The Twin Cities taxi issue is a rite of passage for both the Muslim community and its neighbors (Time)
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Insurance:
Insurance plan with church payday probed | State authorities are investigating a life-insurance sales program operated by prominent local minister Acen Phillips in which his religious organizations become beneficiaries when the faithful die. (The Denver Post)
Also: Ky. wants new Christian insurance ruling | Other states recognize Medi-Share as insurance and subject it to stricter regulations, attorneys for the Insurance Department argued in a motion filed Friday in Franklin Circuit Court (Associated Press)
Defending the "e-word" | And odd interview with Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family (Your World With Neil Cavuto, Fox News)
By Zeus! | After a break of 16 centuries, Greek pagans are worshipping the ancient gods again - despite furious opposition from the Orthodox church (The Guardian, London)
Woman's crusade against bar spawns free speech case | Anne Lemen just wants to say what she pleases about a Balboa Island restaurant and bar. A court has forbidden her to, and that sets up a dispute over prior restraint (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. highways lead to heaven and hell for drivers | While highways around the world boast billboards and roadside attractions, a drive through the U.S. heartland often adds religious signs and symbols to the mix (Reuters)
Religion news in brief | Religious leaders meet with Rice; parents of convicted arsonist visit burned church in Panola; Methodists turn their Web site into social networking center; and other stories (Associated Press)
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Religion's role in America | How can people with different religious views, or no religious view, live together in the world, a nation or, for that matter, a neighborhood? (Dave Brown and Glen Hiemstra, The Seattle Times)
Launched in 1999, Christianity Today’s Weblog was not just one of the first religion-oriented weblogs, but one of the first published by a media organization. (Hence its rather bland title.) Mostly compiled by then-online editor Ted Olsen, Weblog rounded up religion news and opinion pieces from publications around the world. As Christianity Today’s website grew, it launched other blogs. Olsen took on management responsibilities, and the Weblog feature as such was mothballed. But CT’s efforts to round up important news and opinion from around the web continues, especially on our Gleanings feature.
Ted Olsen is Christianity Today's executive editor. He wrote the magazine's Weblog—a collection of news and opinion articles from mainstream news sources around the world—from 1999 to 2006. In 2004, the magazine launched Weblog in Print, which looks for unexpected connections and trends in articles appearing in the mainstream press. The column was later renamed "Tidings" and ran until 2007.