Lilly Fowler
Lilly Fowler is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Lilly Fowler
San Diego judge says public school’s yoga instruction not religious
By Lilly Fowler — July 1, 2013
(RNS) In his opinion, San Diego Superior Court Judge John Meyer explained that although yoga is rooted in religion, it has a legitimate secular purpose in the district’s physical education program. He also said the practice, contrary to parents’ complaints, does not advance or inhibit religion.
Is yoga instruction religious? San Diego court case may decide
By Lilly Fowler — June 24, 2013
(RNS) Although experts point to a 1979 federal court case that grappled with the instruction of transcendental meditation in the public schools, no court has ruled on whether it is appropriate to teach yoga in public schools.
Methodist bishop Minerva Carcano on front lines of immigration battle
By Lilly Fowler — March 8, 2013
PASADENA, Calif. (RNS) When United Methodist Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño talks about tussling with political bigwigs on the topic of immigration reform, she is poised, yet forceful.
Pastors to challenge IRS over political endorsements, and they’re likely to get away with it
By Lilly Fowler — October 4, 2012
LOS ANGELES (RNS) In a matter of days, some 1,400 American pastors are planning to break the law by endorsing a political candidate. And they’re likely to get away with it. By Lilly Fowler.
Coptic Christian expats keep a wary eye on Egyptian elections
By Lilly Fowler — June 18, 2012
LOS ANGELES (RNS) Abdel is an Egyptian Christian, so fearful of retribution that he asked that only his first name be used. Fellow Coptic Christians, he says, can't get jobs in Egypt, and he was jailed for nine days for handling out Christian pamphlets. By Lilly Fowler.
Monks, now homeless, look to future after wildfires destroy monastery
By Lilly Fowler — November 25, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service SANTA BARBARA, Calif. _ For more than 60 years, Mount Calvary Monastery sat as a patch of holy ground high atop the Santa Barbara hills, home to seven Benedictine Anglican monks whose only jobs in life were prayer and welcoming pilgrims. Now, after one of the most devastating fires to […]
10 minutes with … Matt Rogers
By Lilly Fowler — April 10, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Matt Rogers had been a campus pastor at Virginia Tech for only a year when gunman Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty before taking his own life on April 16, 2007. Rogers, 31, is a leader of New Life Christian Fellowship, which attracts some 800 Virginia Tech students. […]
Episcopalians carve out small role in monastery life
By Lilly Fowler — April 4, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service SANTA BARBARA, Calif. _ Mount Calvary looks like your typical monastery. Visitors are greeted by a painting of a white-robed monk, a large cross around his neck and a Bible in his hand, staring ahead. But the monk in the painting isn’t a Catholic, and neither are the men in […]
RNS Daily Digest
By Lilly Fowler — February 26, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Americans who aren’t part of a religious organization or who identify as an atheist or an agnostic represent the biggest change among U.S. religious groups, according to a study released Monday (Feb. 25) by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey estimates that […]
New `Manga’ Bible casts Jesus as ultimate superhero
By Lilly Fowler — January 30, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Superman may have been able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but for Christians, Jesus has always been the ultimate superhero. After all, they say, only Jesus was able to bring salvation to the world through, of all things, his demise. So maybe it’s no surprise that […]
10 minutes with … Rabbi Sholtiel Lebovic
By Lilly Fowler — January 17, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Football fans who happen to be churchgoers might be in trouble again this year if they choose to attend a Super Bowl party at their usual place of worship. According to Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the National Football League, the law that prohibits congregations from viewing the biggest […]
`Brights’ try to put a positive spin on nonbelief
By Lilly Fowler — December 8, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Editors: Rik van Hemmen in 14th graf is CQ; note “crap” in 2nd graf (UNDATED) Eric is a sub-deacon at a Greek Orthodox church in northern Michigan with a secret so deep he doesn’t want his last name used because he hasn’t told his wife: he is also a committed […]
10 minutes with … Keith and Molly Moore
By Lilly Fowler — December 6, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Zachary Moore, though born prematurely in July 2002, seemed normal at first. Slowly, however, his parents began to notice alarming changes in their son. “We never could overcome issues with lack of weight gain (and) over about a two-week period his skin became tight and seemed to not be […]
Lesbian clergy couple comes up on short on `Amazing Race’
By Lilly Fowler — November 15, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service LOS ANGELES _ Kate Lewis and Pat Hendrickson may be ordained clergy, but even before they became the latest couple eliminated from “Amazing Race,” they knew God wasn’t really watching. “We are religious people, but we have no illusions that God cares whether we win the Amazing Race,” Lewis, 49, […]
Atheist parents say raising nonbelievers can be a challenge
By Lilly Fowler — November 9, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Dale McGowan has developed two ground rules for his evangelical mother-in-law with regard to his children: Don’t discourage them from having doubts about the existence of God, and don’t tell them they’re going to hell. Other than that, he said, everything else is fair game. McGowan, the author of […]
