Kein Eckstrom
Kein Eckstrom is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Kein Eckstrom
Four Bishops, Including First Woman, Nominated to Head Episcopal Church
By Kein Eckstrom — January 26, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) One woman and three Southern men have been nominated to lead the Episcopal Church as the badly divided denomination faces an uncertain future and threats of schism after decades of fighting. The four bishops _ J. Neil Alexander of Atlanta; Henry Parsley of Birmingham, Ala.; Edwin Gulick of Louisville, […]
Catholic Bishops Urge Iraq Troop Withdrawal `Sooner Rather Than Later’
By Kein Eckstrom — January 13, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ America’s Catholic bishops on Thursday (Jan. 12) called for U.S. troops to leave Iraq “sooner rather than later,” and expressed concern that the war has drained funds from “pressing needs” at home and abroad. Bishop Thomas Wenski, writing for the bishops’ international policy committee, called for an “honest […]
Saucy TV Show Creates Public Relations Dilemma for Episcopal Church: With optional trims to 700 or 9
By Kein Eckstrom — January 12, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Episcopal Church, in a bid to double its Sunday attendance by 2020, has revamped its Web site, updated its logo and tried to bill itself as open to all at any point in their spiritual journeys. So you’d think that a prime-time television drama about an Episcopal priest […]
Mainline Churches Lose Overall on Budget but Emerge With Clearer Voice
By Kein Eckstrom — December 30, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ When mainline Protestant leaders came here last March to denounce President Bush’s proposed budget as “unjust,” they were received much like the Old Testament prophets they look to for inspiration. Another lonely voice, crying out in the wilderness. By year’s end, the budget they rejected as immoral had […]
Religion Year in Review: Death Loomed Large in 2005
By Kein Eckstrom — December 30, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) They say death waits for no one and makes no appointments. There was little or no warning for the 1,000 people killed by Hurricane Katrina, the 70,000 dead in October’s Pakistan earthquake, or the 181,000 lives claimed by the Asian tsunami that hit in late 2004, overshadowing the dawn […]
Year in Review: Death Loomed Large in 2005
By Kein Eckstrom — December 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) They say death waits for no one and makes no appointments. Just ask the 1,000 people killed by Hurricane Katrina, the 70,000 dead in October’s Pakistan earthquake, or the 181,000 lives claimed by the Asian tsunami that hit in late 2004, overshadowing the dawn of 2005. Death came suddenly, […]
Church Activists Arrested in Capitol Budget Protest
By Kein Eckstrom — December 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ More than 130 singing church activists were arrested Wednesday (Dec. 14) outside the U.S. Capitol in a dramatic confrontation with a 2006 federal budget that they reject as immoral. Protesters were arrested after they blocked the main entrance to the Cannon House Office Building during a carefully choreographed […]
Church Activists Arrested in Capitol Budget Protest
By Kein Eckstrom — December 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ More than 130 singing church activists were arrested Wednesday (Dec. 14) outside the U.S. Capitol in a dramatic confrontation with a 2006 federal budget that they reject as immoral. Protesters were arrested after they blocked the main entrance to the Cannon House Office Building during a carefully choreographed […]
Activist’s Boycott Ends After Macy’s Allows `Christmas’ Back in Stores
By Kein Eckstrom — December 7, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) About this time last year, Manuel Zamorano was making his list, checking it twice, and Macy’s department stores came up naughty, not nice. This year, the Folsom, Calif., grandfather is singing a different tune, something more like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Angry that the venerable department store […]
In Some Churches, Christmas Music Won’t Arrive Until Santa Does
By Kein Eckstrom — December 6, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Christmas tree is up and lit at Christ Lutheran Church in Marietta, Ga., and the Rev. Rusty Edwards just can’t wait to sing a few lines of “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” his favorite Christmas song. “`The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee […]
In Some Churches, Christmas Music Won’t Arrive Until Santa Does
By Kein Eckstrom — December 6, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Christmas tree is up and lit at Christ Lutheran Church in Marietta, Ga., and the Rev. Rusty Edwards just can’t wait to sing a few lines of “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” his favorite Christmas song. “`The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee […]
At Large Seminary, New Rules to Have Little Impact on Screening of Gay Men
By Kein Eckstrom — November 30, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service EMMITSBURG, Md. _ When Joe Yokum considered a call to the Catholic priesthood five years ago, the first thing a seminary official asked him was not his understanding of the Trinity or salvation, or even why he wanted to be a priest. “Do you consider yourself to be a homosexual […]
Bishops Condemn Death Penalty, Approve Guidelines for Lay Ministers
By Kein Eckstrom — November 16, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday (Nov. 15) issued a renewed call to end the death penalty, saying state-sponsored executions are unfair, unnecessary and unhealthy for America’s moral soul. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, meeting here, affirmed church teaching that allows capital punishment in limited circumstances, […]
Catholic Bishops Resist Changing Words of the Mass
By Kein Eckstrom — November 15, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops are showing surprising resistance to changing the words of the Mass in order to bring the liturgy in line with Vatican-ordered revisions. U.S. Catholic bishops, who are meeting here this week, said changing the well-known prayers used at Mass would not be accepted […]
Pope Echoes Arguments of Intelligent Design Advocates
By Kein Eckstrom — November 10, 2005
c. 2005 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed creation as the driving force of the universe Wednesday (Nov. 9), describing the natural world as an “intelligent project” and rejecting scientific thought that regards the history of the universe as random and directionless. The pope’s remarks on evolution came one day after […]
