Money & Giving
In Cleveland, a battle over unwanted churches
By Tracy Gordon — January 30, 2012
CLEVELAND (RNS) Shuttered churches might be the biggest challenge facing the preservation community. Shrinking congregations and migration to the suburbs have left churches empty, or with fewer members. Preservationists lobby to save them, but no one can afford to open them. By Michelle Jarboe McFee.
Woman charged with embezzling $1 million from NY archdiocese
By David Gibson — January 30, 2012
NEW YORK (RNS) A 67-year-old woman with a criminal record for theft has been charged with siphoning $1 million in donations while working in the finance office of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. By David Gibson.
Workers at religious institutions fear future of pensions
By Tracy Gordon — January 24, 2012
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (RNS) Tens of thousands of current and former employees at scores of religiously affiliated institutions across the country are worried as nonprofits increasingly seek refuge in "church" pension plans to escape onerous financial obligations. By Tom Haydon. 800. With photo.
Atheists aim to change image of penny-pinching Scrooges
By Tracy Gordon — December 21, 2011
(RNS) If Dec. 10 had been an average day for Doctors Without Borders, the Swiss charity that sends medical help into crisis areas, its website would have logged 4,000 hits. Instead, it was bombarded with more than 10 times that amount as atheists from the user-driven news site Reddit.com participated in a fundraiser that has […]
It’s the most wonderfully holy time of the year
By Tracy Gordon — December 2, 2011
(RNS) A quick glimpse at a calendar is one way to see how religiously diverse the United States has become. This year, December, a month that encompasses the Christian and Jewish celebrations of Christmas and Hanukkah, includes spiritually significant days for Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans and Zoroastrians. Yes, Zoroastrians: Scholars estimate there are 6,000 followers of […]
Charitable giving up slightly but still ailing
By Tracy Gordon — November 30, 2011
(RNS) Charitable giving is trickling back up as the economy heals, but it could take years to return to pre-recession levels, nonprofit leaders say. Giving totaled $291 billion in 2010, according to the 2011 annual report by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. That's up 3.8 percent from 2009 and follows two consecutive years […]
COMMENTARY: All I want for Christmas
By Tracy Gordon — November 29, 2011
(RNS) After noticing that Lexus wants me to give a $50,000 sedan to my wife this Christmas, I joined my family in the annual “Ehrich Christmas Wish List,” an online spreadsheet maintained by my youngest son. I knew I had to list something, so I thought hard. Had to be affordable — no Apple MacBook […]
Was the first Thanksgiving a religious celebration?
By Tracy Gordon — November 24, 2011
(RNS) If you want to prepare for Thanksgiving like a real Pilgrim this year, here’s what you should do: Cancel the plane reservations. Stop jotting down recipes. Leave the libations alone. For the Pilgrims and Puritans, “thanksgiving” days were spontaneous and sober affairs. When friends arrived from overseas, European Protestants defeated Catholics in battle, or […]
Monday Godbytes
By Jack Jenkins — November 22, 2011
Religion majors rejoice: Nathan Schneider at Religion Dispatches explains why he thinks the world needs religious studies. The Dalai Lama is questioning whether self-immolations should be used as a form of protest, echoing the misgivings of other Tibetan leaders. Relevant Magazine asks: should a candidate’s religion matter? CNN reports that Muslims in Britain are “optimistic […]
Law would allow marriage to Catholics for U.K. royals
By Tracy Gordon — October 14, 2011
(RNS) Future British kings and queens would be permitted to marry Catholics for the first time in more than three centuries under reforms proposed by British Prime Minister David Cameron. Writing to his fellow heads of government in the British Commonwealth, in a letter published on Wednesday (Oct. 12), Cameron outlined several proposed amendments to […]
‘PopUp Sukkah’ helps Jews on the go celebrate Sukkot
By Tracy Gordon — October 12, 2011
(RNS) If you’re wondering why your Jewish neighbors built a hut in their yard, it’s because the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot began Wednesday night (Oct. 12), a sort of Jewish Thanksgiving that lasts through Oct. 21. The temporary hut is a “sukkah,” a place to eat and even sleep during the weeklong holiday, and […]
10 minutes with … Robert Lupton
By Tracy Gordon — October 12, 2011
WASHINGTON (RNS) Food pantries, clothes closets and mission trips have become unquestioned bastions of America’s charitable landscape. But do these well-intended services — many of them run by religious organizations — really help the poor? According to Robert Lupton, not really. His new book, “Toxic Charity,” draws on his 40 years’ experience as an urban […]
Jesus cell phone ad ruled `disrespectful’
By Tracy Gordon — September 8, 2011
LONDON (RNS) A newspaper ad that showed a winking Jesus giving a thumbs-up sign to a line of cell phones has been given a thumbs-down by a British government watchdog panel that called it “disrespectful.” The Advertising Standards Authority, which governs media advertising, ruled that the phone ads cannot be used again because they appeared […]
Dalai Lama, Nobel laureates tussle (gently) over violence
By Tracy Gordon — May 16, 2011
NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) The Dalai Lama says peace in the world begins with peace in oneself. Some of his fellow Nobel laureates, however, aren’t convinced. “It isn’t that I’m just an angry human being, it’s anger at injustice,” said Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work to ban land […]
Toxic Chinese drywall taxes Katrina relief groups
By Tiffany McCallen — April 27, 2011
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Relief organizations whose volunteers built or repaired hundreds of damaged houses after Hurricane Katrina have found they installed toxic Chinese drywall in more than 200 buildings, requiring hundreds of low-income families to move out for months while the houses are gutted anew and rebuilt. For many families, it’s a return to stress, […]
