Monthly Archives: December 2005
Guitarist Finds `God’s Grace,’ With Help From Jimmy Buffett
By RNS Blog Editor — December 13, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Pop guitarist and vocalist Peter Mayer was in India long before the Beatles made their famous trip there in 1968. Of course, his situation was different. Mayer was a child, living in Tamilnadu because his parents were Lutheran missionaries. Today, any self-respecting Parrothead, as devout Jimmy Buffett fans are […]
Rabbi Says Orthodox Jews Can Make Room for Gays
By RNS Blog Editor — December 13, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When Rabbi Steven Greenberg attends synagogue with his male partner, the two do not sit together to worship. That’s one way Greenberg deals with the seeming contradiction of being a gay Orthodox Jew. Respecting the Orthodox Jewish tradition of separating husbands and wives during prayer services allows him to […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 13, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Church Aid Still Flows to Hurricane Victims NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Storm-damaged New Orleans families continue to receive gifts of private, faith-based aid, including $400,000 that Catholic school children around the country raised. The $400,000 was New Orleans’ share of $1 million that children in Catholic schools raised for other children […]
“Winter program” lyrics
By Tracy Gordon — December 12, 2005
Quote of the Day: Secularized `Silent Night’ Lyrics “Cold in the night, no one in sight/winter winds whirl and bite/How I wish I were happy and warm/safe with my family, out of the storm.” -Lyrics to an altered version of “Silent Night” that will be sung during Ridgeway Elementary’s “winter program” in Dodgeville, Wis., cited […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 10, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Pope Invites Methodists to Join Catholic-Lutheran Agreement VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Methodist leaders on Friday (Dec. 9) to join a landmark 1999 agreement between Lutherans and the Vatican that overcame centuries of disagreement on the nature of salvation. In his first official meeting with top-ranking officials of […]
Ford Decision Shows Economic Power of Right-Wing Christian Groups
By Eboo Patel — December 10, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) As more companies adopt gay-friendly business policies, they risk the wrath of conservative Christian groups prepared to take action with their collective buying power. “People are willing to fight back with their pocketbooks,” said Tim Wildmon, president of the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association (AFA), a conservative group that […]
Churches Advertise in Bright Lights of Times Square
By RNS Blog Editor — December 10, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service NEW YORK _ Giant TV screens in Times Square barrage shoppers with hundreds of advertisements. Drink Diet Pepsi. Shop at Victoria’s Secret. Come to church? This holiday season, some religious groups are broadcasting their messages to the 1.5 million people who pass through Times Square each day in the bustling […]
COMMENTARY: Muslims Don’t Light `Trees of Illumination,’ and Neither Should Christians
By Christopher S. Taylor — December 10, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Newport News, Va., recently hosted its annual Christmas celebration, except city officials didn’t call it that. They called it Hollydazzle. And instead of lighting the Christmas Tree, they lit the “Tree of Illumination.” Who do they think they are fooling? Does anyone really imagine that American Jews have their […]
Turntables and Jesus
By Tracy Gordon — December 9, 2005
Quote of the Day: Hip-Hop Church Pastor Tommy Kyllonen “Hip-hop has what all corporate America wants-18-35-year-old employed adults with growing families. That’s why you see Russell Simmons producing clothes, Snoop Dogg hawking Chrysler. Everyone wants us. Why not the church?” -The Rev. Tommy Kyllonen, senior pastor of Crossover Community Church in Tampa, Fla., a hip-hop […]
With 21-City Christmas Tour, Chapman Promotes Adoption
By RNS Blog Editor — December 9, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Some Christian musicians don’t practice what they preach. Steven Curtis Chapman does. One of the most successful artists of his genre has become a leading spokesman for adoption. With his new Christmas album and 21-city tour with MercyMe, he’s using his celebrity to further the cause. The CD, “All […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 9, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service Pope Commemorates Anniversary of Second Vatican Council VATICAN CITY (RNS) A life free of sin is not “boring,” Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday (Nov. 8), marking the 40th anniversary of the end of the Second Vatican Council, which aimed to modernize the Roman Catholic Church. Speaking on the feast of […]
Some Churches to Close on Christmas Sunday
By Adelle M. Banks — December 9, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) On the last Sunday in December _ which happens to be Christmas Day this year _ Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis will hold four services instead of the usual six. Other megachurches, including Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., won’t be holding services at all. When […]
COMMENTARY: The Father of Our Country Speaks to the Hero of Hanukkah
By RNS Blog Editor — December 9, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) There are statues of both George Washington, the hero of American independence, and Judah Maccabee, the hero of the ancient Hanukkah story, at West Point, the United States Military Academy. It seems the two military leaders recently had a late night conversation with one another at the world-famous school. […]
Faith or family?; Steven Curtis Chapman promotes adoption
By RNS Blog Editor — December 9, 2005
In Thursday’s RNS report, Adelle M. Banks and Jason Kane look at another issue in the current debate about the religious significance of Christmas: When Christmas and Sunday occur on the same day-which last occurred in 1994-what’s a church to do? This year’s December dilemma has prompted serious thought, truncated services and, in some cases, […]
Taking “Christ” out of Christmas
By Tracy Gordon — December 8, 2005
Quote of the Day: Catholic League President Bill Donohue “They’d better address this, because they’re no better than the retailers who have lost the will to say `Merry Christmas.'” -Bill Donohue, president of the New York-based Catholic League, reacting to the 2005 White House Christmas card that includes “best wishes for the holiday season” but […]
