Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, (left)
wrapped up his three-year probe of lavish spending in evangelical ministries with no penalties for the groups that refused to cooperate; today the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability will launch an effort to draft standards to help government officials keep an eye on mega-bucks churches.
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a possible 2012 GOP contender, talks faith in his new autobiography, saying he doesn’t presume to know if “God is on my side in public policy debates.” The new GOP House majority in Iowa* has its eyes set on a bill to limit abortions at the point where a fetus can feel pain, which is the subject of debate among doctors . Fallen evangelical icon Ted Haggard is coming back to TV in a TLC special next week.
Associated Baptist Press looks at where we’ve been, and where we’re going, on religious liberty disputes. A federal appeals court in Denver ruled that Utah must take down a number of memorial crosses to honor fallen police officers. Illinois lawmakers voted to end the death penalty, sending the measure to the state Senate for (possible) approval.
B16 says the creation of the universe — Big Bang or otherwise — was no accident. A Long Island broker will pay $350,000 to an order of elderly nuns to settle charges of financial mismanagement of their accounts.
The Green Bay Press-Gazette looks at the pros and cons on a Catholic diocese filing for bankruptcy; Milwaukee filed for Chapter 11 this week, and Green Bay might not be far behind. New York City‘s abortion rate — twice the national average — has Archbishop Timothy Dolan and other clergy concerned.
The Orthodox Church in America has told a Vancouver parish to stop collecting funds to defend disgraced Archbishop Seraphim, who was removed for suspected abuse; apparently the immigrant parish couldn’t read the first cease-and-desist letter in English.
Egyptian Muslim leaders asked their followers to stand as “human shields” with Coptic Christians as they celebrated Christmas against the backdrop of continued violence; the NYT says the attacks on the Copts have been a wake-up call for the government in Cairo.
Over in Pakistan, human rights activists fear for the life and safety of a Christian woman who was sentenced to death for allegedly violating the country’s anti-blasphemy law; the woman had met with Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer before he was gunned down for his opposition to the law this week. CNN tries to make sense of what it all means here.
* (An earlier version mistakenly identified this as the U.S. House, not Iowa. Thanks to Christianity Today’s Ted Olsen for pointing out the error.)