CHICAGO (RNS) In the first decade of the 21st century, America's religious landscape shifted dramatically, with minority groups making sizable gains as established Catholics and Protestants lost ground -- literally, according to a new study. By Kevin Eckstrom.

WASHINGTON (RNS) A new White House report that offers guidance on public/private partnerships between the government and faith-based groups leaves critical questions unanswered and does not resolve the issue of religious groups' ability to discriminate in hiring and firing, church-state watchdogs said.

(RNS) Jerry DeWitt’s transition from true believer to total skeptic took 25 years. It began, he said, with the idea of hell. How could it be, as he had been taught and preached, that a loving God would damn most people to eternal fire? By Kimberly Winston.

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS/ENInews) Kenyan churches are tightening security after a lone attacker exploded a grenade inside an evangelical church in Nairobi on Sunday (April 29), killing one person and injuring 15, while a string of bombings in Nigeria killed 19 people. By Fredrick Nzwili.

(RNS) I have been a Christian my entire life, never more fervently than in recent years, and yet I cringe when I hear politicians and public figures announce their Christian faith. No wonder people have come to see "Christians" as harsh, judgmental, intolerant, argumentative and angry. By Tom Ehrich.

BETHESDA, Md. (RNS) The goal of the Clergy Project is not to pull pastors from the pulpit, but to provide those who have already lost their faith with a safe place to anonymously discuss what what’s next. By Kimberly Winston.

(RNS) The Pentagon is investigating whether military officials ignored complaints from senior officers about a course that was found to have inflammatory and inaccurate content about Islam. By Omar Sacirbey.

(RNS) Opposition to gay marriage is significantly reduced this election season, compared to the previous two presidential campaigns, a Pew Research Center poll shows. By Adelle M. Banks.

(RNS) Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition is trying to corral "NASCAR Christians'' in hopes that they will give Mitt Romney a critical boost in November. By David Gibson.

As millions of Americans bow their heads for the annual National Day of Prayer, atheists, humanists and other nontheists will mark the National Day of Reason _ part protest, part celebration and purely godless. By Kimberly Winston.

SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) The massive new Utah Bishops' Central Storehouse is the centerpiece of the Mormons' intricate network for taking care of its members and lending a hand to others in times of natural disasters. Holding a can of peaches grown on church-owned orchards, manager Richard Humpherys says, it's "the best food money can't buy." By Brooke Adams.