Monthly Archives: July 2007
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — July 18, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Cut Farm Subsidies, Boost Food Stamps, Religious Leaders Say (RNS) A group of religious leaders met on Capitol Hill Tuesday to lobby for a Farm Bill that would improve the Food Stamp Program _ a change they described as the quickest way to reduce hunger in the U.S. Bread for […]
Author’s Odyssey Takes Her to Slave Cemetery
By Cecile Holmes — July 18, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service CHARLESTON, S.C. _ From early adulthood, a yearning for soul connections pushed China Galland beyond her parochial school education in Dallas and her ancestry in East Texas. Eventually her searching took a circular path, bringing her back to where she began. She recounts that odyssey in her newest book, “Love […]
Exhibit Displays Sallman’s Iconic Images of Christ
By Marcia Z. Nelson — July 18, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Late one evening in 1924, Warner Sallman, a commercial artist, was working on deadline on a new magazine cover. He went to bed but was restless. When an image appeared in his mind’s eye sometime after 2 a.m., he got up and drew what he saw. That nocturnal vision […]
COMMENTARY: Three Tips for Greeting a New Pastor
By Tom Ehrich — July 18, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) On Sunday I said farewell to a wonderful congregation where I have served on Sundays for the past four months. Their full-time pastor will arrive in three weeks. I want to leave behind these thoughts on how to greet a new pastor. _ First, honor the complexity. “Keep it […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — July 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Archdiocese of Los Angeles Reaches Largest Settlement in Abuse Cases (RNS) The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has reached a landmark $660 million settlement with 508 alleged victims of sexual abuse, the largest such payment thus far in the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal. The settlement was approved by a California […]
Church Archivists Try to Salvage Katrina’s Soggy Legacy
By Bruce Nolan — July 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS _ In her spare office, Emilie Leumas, the new archivist for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, unties a string-bound folder and exposes the loose, ruined pages of an old parish ledger book. The pages once recorded the baptisms, marriages and funerals of hundreds of parishioners of St. Dominic […]
Churches Make Safety a Top Priority for Vacation Bible School Programs
By RNS Blog Editor — July 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When planning Vacation Bible School activities, Nicole Carmines decided it wasn’t enough to require background checks on volunteers and to inspect photo IDs at child pickup time. So she decided to hire two uniformed police officers to stay on church premises for the entire week. Excessive? Carmines doesn’t think […]
GUEST COMMENTARY: Not in the Name of Islam, or of Medicine
By RNS Blog Editor — July 14, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The thought of physicians treating sick patients by the light of day while plotting to kill innocent people under the cover of darkness sickens and angers me on a very personal level. If the accusations surrounding terror suspects in London and Glasgow are true, these Muslim doctors represent the […]
Rate Hike Slows Flow of Books to Needy Countries
By Wade Nkrumah — July 14, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service PORTLAND, Ore. _ Being a self-anointed goodwill ambassador the past 12 years was affordable and easy for Fred MacLeod, Shannon Brown and her husband, Lance Cole. Then came postal rate increases and the end of a special low rate that allowed people to ship printed material in a 66-pound bag […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — July 13, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service O’Brien Succeeds Keeler as Baltimore Archbishop (RNS) Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, who oversaw Catholic military chaplains and pastoral care for members of the Armed Forces, was named Thursday (July 12) by Pope Benedict XVI as the new archbishop of Baltimore. O’Brien, 68, will succeed Cardinal William H. Keeler, who has […]
Surgeon General Nominee Grilled on Church Court Rulings
By RNS Blog Editor — July 13, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Senators grilled President Bush’s nominee for surgeon general Thursday (July 12) about his apparent religious objections to homosexuality, based in part on rulings he issued as a judge on the United Methodist Church’s highest court. For the first time, Dr. James W. Holsinger publicly responded to concerns raised […]
Old Testament Features All-Star Black Hollywood Cast
By RNS Blog Editor — July 13, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. _ Hollywood, meet the Bible. Zondervan, the Christian publishing giant, is launching the prequel to its critically acclaimed spoken-word Bible, “Inspired By … The Bible Experience” _ an Old Testament version that will include a Hollywood cast with three Oscar winners, five Golden Globe winners and seven […]
COMMENTARY: Bigger Isn’t Always Better
By Dick Staub — July 13, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) “Think globally, drink locally.” At Seattle-based Hales Ales Brewery and Pub, that’s the spin on a 1960s phrase birthed back in the days when E.F. Schumacher wrote, “Small is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered.” In an era of economic globalization, media conglomerates and mass distribution, the urge towards […]
The Museum of Modern Muslim Art
By RNS Blog Editor — July 12, 2007
Artists Blend American, Muslim Identities on Canvas RNS’ Menachem Wecker looks at a new generation of Muslim-American artists, with their “blend of sacred and secular symbolism,” in this week’s full text article, linked above. Quote: Muslim-American artists are mixing traditional Islamic iconography with all sorts of secular symbols, from iPods to Dora the Explorer to […]
Protestant Response Mostly Muted to Vatican Statement
By RNS Blog Editor — July 12, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) While some non-Catholics are angry over a Vatican statement asserting that the Catholic Church is the only valid church, a number of other groups mostly shrugged, saying Tuesday’s (July 10) strong words are nothing new. The statement, “Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine of the […]
