Monthly Archives: February 2010
In a country churchyard
By Mark Silk — February 28, 2010
Ruth Gledhill reports in the London Times that England’s Catholic bishops will be wading into the election campaign with a “controversial” document condemning moral failures and urging a return to the “classical Christian virtues of faith, hope and charity in public and private life.” Meanwhile, staying with old friends in the Gloucestershire village of Berkeley […]
Post-earthquake faith
By Adelle M. Banks — February 27, 2010
Since the massive earthquake hit Haiti in January, there has been an outpouring of relief efforts. But Florida Baptist Witness reports that there has also been an unusual number of conversions _ in the tens of thousands. The newspaper reports that more than 40,000 Haitians have made professions of Christian faith since the earthquake. Dennis […]
Starr: An active churchgoer?
By Adelle M. Banks — February 27, 2010
As Baptists continue to comment on the selection of former prosecutor Kenneth Starr as Baylor University’s new president, ethicist Robert Parham has questioned university regents’ description of him as an “active churchman.” Parham’s EthicsDaily.com confirmed that Starr currently attends University Church of Christ in Malibu, Calif., but is not a member. Other media reports have […]
Famed evangelist says wife has `no biblical grounds’ for divorce
By Tracy Gordon — February 27, 2010
(RNS) Famed television evangelist Benny Hinn has written a letter to his supporters saying his wife has “no biblical grounds” for filing for divorce. “My wife has no biblical grounds for what she has done,” the Pentecostal leader wrote in a letter posted on the Web site of his Texas-based Benny Hinn Ministries. “We both […]
German bishops `ashamed’ over abuse allegations
By Tracy Gordon — February 27, 2010
BERLIN (RNS) German Catholic bishops expressed shame and shock Thursday (Feb. 25) over a sexual abuse scandal that has grown to as many as 150 separate allegations of abuse across several decades at multiple Catholic institutions. The bishops’ statement was released as prosecutors in Munich and Bonn launched their own investigations into alleged abuse at […]
Under new rules, Mo. church with gay pastor readmitted to ELCA
By Tracy Gordon — February 27, 2010
(RNS) A Missouri bishop has lifted the public censure of a church that hired a lesbian priest in 2000 — believed to be a first since the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination removed a ban on gay clergy last summer. Bishop Gerald Mansholt of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America lifted the public censure and admonition […]
From inside a doublewide, a shot at the Prosperity Gospel
By Tracy Gordon — February 26, 2010
(RNS) Forty years ago, in the bedroom of a single-wide trailer in Columbus, Ga., 13-year old Karen Spears — now Karen Spears Zacharias — knelt in despair and beseeched God to come into her life. Young Karen had suffered a terrible tragedy: Her soldier father, David Spears, had been killed in Vietnam when she was […]
Friday’s roundup
By Kevin Eckstrom — February 26, 2010
Members of the Secular Coalition for America will get their long-awaited sit-down with members of the Obama administration today; POTUS is not expected to attend. Speaking of POTUS, he and FLOTUS honored luminaries in the arts and humanities at 1,600 yesterday; Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel seems to be the only “religious” name on the list […]
Fast for Lent
By Francis X. Rocca — February 26, 2010
A Catholic priest in Ireland has boosted daily Mass attendance this Lenten season by pledging to get worshippers out the door in 15 minutes flat.
Signs from God
By Daniel Burke — February 26, 2010
The Toronto Star has a cute little piece on church signs; you know, the ones outside churches and other houses of worship that tell you when the services start and sometimes even impart pithy little pieces of theology. For example: Feeling a little down in the mouth? Come in for faith lift. or, Want to […]
European court censures Turkey over religious identification
By Tracy Gordon — February 26, 2010
WARSAW (RNS/ENI) A European human rights court has condemned Turkey for requiring citizens to specify their religious status on national identity cards. “This is in breach of the state’s duty of neutrality and impartiality, since it leads the State to make an assessment of the applicant’s faith,” the European Court of Human Rights said in […]
Study: Catholic students more prone to `hook up’ at college
By Tracy Gordon — February 26, 2010
(RNS) Women at Catholic colleges engage more frequently in sexual “hook ups” than women at secular colleges, a new study shows, and researchers suspect alcohol may be the reason. The study defines a “hook up” as “a physical encounter between two people who are largely unfamiliar with one another or otherwise briefly acquainted.” The encounters […]
Polish church stands by commemoration of German war dead
By Tracy Gordon — February 26, 2010
WARSAW (RNS/ENI) A Polish archbishop has sided with a Catholic parish that erected a memorial to civilians who died at the hands of Soviet torpedoes during World War II, even though the victims were from neighboring Nazi Germany. “I do not agree that this monument skirts over differences,” said Archbishop Jozef Zycinski of Lublin. “In […]
Chaplains keep wary eye on Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell repeal
By Tracy Gordon — February 26, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) As Congress and the Pentagon grapple with a proposal to allow gays to serve openly in the military, some chaplains — especially evangelicals — worry the change will infringe on their religious beliefs. “It’s morally wrong,” said the Rev. Billy Baugham, executive director of the International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers, saying his […]
Thursday’s roundup
By Daniel Burke — February 25, 2010
The much ballyhooed health-care summit is taking place today at Blair House (I know all of you are watching at your “summit parties”). The U.S. Catholic Bishops urged Congress to set aside partisan divisions and enact “genuine health care reform” that protects “the life, dignity, consciences, and health of all.” Investigators seized books on demons […]
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