Shelvia Dancy
Shelvia Dancy is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Shelvia Dancy
NEWS FEATURE: Episcopal Bishop Tries His Hand as a Capitol Hill Intern
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) _ Life as a congressional intern is a far cry from serving as leader of the nation’s third largest Episcopal diocese. But the Right Rev. M. Thomas Shaw can navigate both duties with ease. In February, Shaw took a break from his position as Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts and […]
NEWS STORY: Study Finds Words as Important as Acts in Passing On Beliefs
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Forget the maxim that says “actions speak louder than words;” words are just as mighty as the deed for parents who want to pass their own religious beliefs to their children, according to a Purdue University study that examined how parents influenced the religious beliefs of students aged 18 […]
NEWS STORY: Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Partial-Birth Abortion Case
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (WASHINGTON) _ Lawyers representing both sides of the abortion debate squared off before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday (April 25), presenting oral arguments in a challenge to Nebraska’s ban on late-term abortions. The hourlong session returned justices to a legal and moral battlefield they last visited in 1992 when justices […]
NEWS FEATURE: Churches Find A Way to Overcome Summer’s Fiscal Blues
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) _ Summer can be a tough season for churches. As temperatures inch upward, pews grow emptier with each service _ and so too does the collection plate. But for a number of Lutheran congregations around the nation “summer slump” no longer has to be a fiscal bane. Their peace […]
NEWS STORY: Pope, President Among Many Praising Life of Cardinal O’Connor
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) From the pope to the president, religious and secular leaders, Christian and nonChristian joined Thursday (May 4) in praising and celebrating the life of New York’s Roman Catholic Cardinal John J. O’Connor, who died Wednesday night after a long struggle with brain cancer. “The church in New York, and […]
NEWS FEATURE: O Little Town of … Nazareth? Scholars Debate Jesus’ Birthplace
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) _ The story, immortalized in pageants and song, is a familiar one. A messiah, sent to redeem humanity. Son of the peasant girl Mary, and Joseph, a widowed carpenter. Born in Bethlehem. Or was he? While evidence has been unearthed that verifies the existence of a historical figure named […]
NEWS FEATURE: Aid Groups Recovering from Rash of Disasters, Getting Ready for Next One
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Kenton Moody has never seen his home crumble in an earthquake. He has never watched flood waters sweep away his possessions, nor seen his neighborhood buried under avalanches of mud. But time and time again he has cast his lot with those who have. As director of international relief […]
NEWS FEATURE: Moringa Tree Could Help Fight AIDS, Malnutrition in Africa
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) After escaping slavery in Egypt, Israelites wandered in the wilderness, according to the book of Exodus, with little to eat and even less to drink. Their joy at finding a river was short-lived as they soon discovered its waters were bitter and undrinkable. But then Moses “cried unto the […]
NEWS FEATURE: Hillel Makes Haggadah Available for Non-Hebrew Readers in Russia
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Like their counterparts around the world, Jews living in the former Soviet Union will celebrate Passover on April 19, singing Psalms and eating a Seder meal of bitter herbs and unleavened bread to commemorate the Israelites’ freedom from slavery in Egypt nearly 3,500 years ago. But for the estimated […]
NEWS FEATURE: Moringa Tree Could Help Fight AIDS, Malnutrition in Africa
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) After escaping slavery in Egypt, Israelites wandered in the wilderness, according to the book of Exodus, with little to eat and even less to drink. Their joy at finding a river was short-lived as they soon discovered its waters were bitter and undrinkable. But then Moses “cried unto the […]
NEWS FEATURE: Buddhism Seen As a Growing Influence Among African-Americans
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. At first, the tongue-contorting Sanskrit chant seemed worlds away from the Roman Catholic prayers that had glided with ease from Michele Chargoais’ lips since childhood. But the Buddhist principles of cause and effect and harmony the words evoked were exactly what Chargoais felt was missing from the catechism […]
NEWS FEATURE: Passover Letters to Prisoners Remind That Not All Are Free
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) As he has done every year for more than half a century, Herb Rosenbaum will celebrate the Jewish observance of Passover on April 19, breaking matzo and reciting prayers to commemorate the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. But between the end of the […]
NEWS FEATURE: Buddhism Seen As a Growing Influence Among African-Americans
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. At first, the tongue-contorting Sanskrit chant seemed worlds away from the Roman Catholic prayers that had glided with ease from Michele Chargoais’ lips since childhood. But the Buddhist principles of cause and effect and harmony the words evoked were exactly what Chargoais felt was missing from the catechism […]
NEWS FEATURE: Crusading Preacher for Racial Justice Subject of PBS Profile
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) By his own admission, the Rev. Will Campbell never had “much truck in talk about differences.” “I don’t recognize the concept of racial differences,” said Campbell, 76,the great-grandson of a Confederate soldier. “There is no difference in our blood or in our souls. Race is a sociological concept that […]
NEWS STORY: Some Aid Groups, Resisting Rebels, Are Pulling Out of Sudan
By Shelvia Dancy — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Nearly a dozen international relief agencies have been expelled from southern Sudan after they refused to sign an agreement giving rebel groups in the area greater control of the agencies’ operations. World Vision, Oxfam, Care International and Doctors Without Borders are among the 11 groups who rejected the memorandum […]
