Monthly Archives: June 2006
Religious Broadcasters Fear Viewers, Given the Choice, Will Tune Out
By Piet Levy — June 14, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Evangelical Christians are on the front lines in the battle over indecency on cable television, calling for a pick-and-choose pricing plan that would allow viewers to keep certain channels out of their homes. But on the opposite end of the battlefield is an opponent familiar to and even […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — June 14, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Cardinal Warns Church of England Against Women Bishops LONDON (RNS) One of Pope Benedict XVI’s top envoys has told Church of England bishops that if they go ahead with the ordination of women as bishops, any hopes of Roman Catholic-Anglican unity would become “unreachable.” Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the […]
South Carolina Pastor is Surprise Choice to Head Southern Baptists
By Adelle M. Banks — June 14, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service GREENSBORO, N.C. _ Southern Baptists elected a little-known South Carolina pastor Tuesday (June 13) in an unusual three-way race for leadership of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Frank Page, the 53-year-old pastor of First Baptist Church of Taylors, S.C., was elected in the first day of the two-day annual meeting […]
Reading Group Studies Bin Laden for Understanding
By Ashbel S. (Tony) Green — June 14, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. ÆÂ? Some reading groups choose mysteries, others fiction. Here at Vanderbilt University, one group of professors chose Osama bin Laden as their focus. For nearly a year, these professors of religion, politics, history and law have gathered as a critical audience to bin Laden, a man who looms […]
Suggestions for Reading Bin Laden
By RNS Blog Editor — June 14, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ You don’t need a doctorate in Islamic studies to make sense of what Osama bin Laden has to say. “People can understand this,” said Douglas Knight, co-director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for the Study of Religion and Culture and part of a reading group at the university […]
Group Says Reconciliation Trips for Congressmen Are Agenda-Free
By Piet Levy — June 14, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Despite some perceptions, not all of the congressmen traveling at the expense of private interest groups get treated to rounds of golf and bottles of champagne. Take the approach of the Faith and Politics Institute, a self-described nonpartisan, interfaith organization that helps “public officials stay in touch with […]
COMMENTARY: Blame U-Haul for Shrinking Church Memberships
By Tom Ehrich — June 14, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The leading cause of declining church membership isn’t heresy, poor leadership, conflict or inadequate facilities. It’s mobility. The same is true on the upside. Churches grow when they respond effectively to geographic mobility and help the new wanderers find a church home. Those who cite church statistics in waging […]
SBC convention; Bin Laden study groups; Faith and Politics Institute
By RNS Blog Editor — June 14, 2006
In Tuesday’s RNS report Senior Correspondent Adelle M. Banks reports from the Southern Baptist Convention in Greensboro, N.C.: Southern Baptists opened their two-day annual meeting Tuesday (June 13), prepared to elect their next president in a contested race that reflects other divides within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Controlled by conservatives for more than two […]
Rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina
By Tracy Gordon — June 14, 2006
Quote of the Day: New Orleans Pastor and Activist Michael Jacques “We’ve had senators, we’ve had representatives, congressmen come in. We’ve had the president come down 12 times. And I say to myself, what part don’t you get? Why aren’t you releasing money?” -The Rev. Michael Jacques, pastor of St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in […]
Christian Reformed Church to Vote on Women’s Role in Church
By Charles Honey — June 13, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. _ As 188 delegates gather for the Christian Reformed Church Synod, Karen Norris wishes she were one of them. But Norris, of Grand Rapids, cannot be part of the annual conference because she is not yet ordained _ and because she is a woman. That could change […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — June 13, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service Anglican Archbishop Says Civil Partnerships Erodes Traditional Marriage LONDON (RNS) Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams claims the British government will undermine the institution of marriage with its plans to give similar legal rights to couples who choose to live together but not get married. Law advisers to Prime Minister Tony […]
Jack Hayford on Pentecostalism, Women and Culture
By Adelle M. Banks — June 13, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (May 29-June 1) held its annual convention in the nation’s capital. The Pentecostal denomination has about 300,000 members in the United States and 5 million worldwide. The Rev. Jack Hayford, 71, president of the Los Angeles-based church body, recently sat down […]
GUEST COMMENTARY: The Clergy Shortage, and What it Means for Churches
By Sean Carroll — June 13, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When laity describe their ideal pastor, they often prefer “a nice young man with a family,” as one denominational official said. Nice young men and women do become pastors, but they are a minority in the pool of American clergy. I concentrate here on the word “young.” Whether male […]
Congressional candidate Keith Ellison
By Tracy Gordon — June 13, 2006
Quote of the Day: Congressional candidate Keith Ellison of Minnesota “Perhaps it would be good for somebody who is Muslim to be in Congress, so that Muslims would feel like they are part of the body politic and that other Americans would know that we’re here to make a contribution to this country.” -Congressional candidate […]
Rev. Jack Hayford; the CRC debate on women
By RNS Blog Editor — June 13, 2006
In Monday’s RNS report: The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel recently held its annual convention in the nation’s capital. The Pentecostal denomination has about 300,000 members in the United States and 5 million worldwide. Religion News Service Senior Correspondent Adelle M. Banks interviewed the Rev. Jack Hayford, 71, president of the Los Angeles-based church […]
