David Briggs
David Briggs is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by David Briggs
NEWS FEATURE: In a Small Ohio Town, Origins of Mormon Faith are Recalled
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service KIRTLAND, Ohio _ The rough upstairs room where Joseph Smith ran the School of the Prophets is as it was when the earliest group of Mormons reported seeing God and Jesus appear to them in the original Newel K. Whitney Store. The plain benches stand where they were more than […]
NEWS FEATURE: Mainline Protestants Going Back to Church Planting
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ The sign outside says St. Patrick Episcopal Church, and the architecture of the steepled brick building with a bell tower and the crushed-stone driveway next to a cemetery evokes a traditional small-town church. Walk inside on Sunday morning, however, and instead of pews there are metal chairs in […]
NEWS FEATURE: The Good Shepherds: With Friend’s Death, Elderly Priest Confronts Emptiness
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ The two-bedroom ranch house outside Cleveland looks as if Father Thomas Dunphy’s old pal will be home any minute. The Rev. John Kraker’s bedroom is just as he left it, from the handmade sign that says “Father John’s room” to pictures on the wall of his father and […]
NEWS FEATURE: Seminary a Beacon in Movement for Orthodox Unity in U.S.
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service CRESTWOOD, N.Y. _ Growing up in a Russian Orthodox Church in Lakewood, Ohio, where the Church Slavonic language and ethnic customs were integral to parish life, the Rev. Andrew Clements was taken aback his first few days at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. Everything was in English. “My jaw just […]
NEWS FEATURE: Church in the Mall: Shop and Be Saved
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Attention, Randall Park Mall shoppers: Your one-stop shopping place for clothes, food and electronic gear is adding praise and worship to its Sunday offerings. It’s a bit of divine intervention for a mall suffering because of an exodus from urban to suburban shopping centers. Mt. Sinai Baptist Church […]
NEWS FEATURE: A Bad Rap? Churches Debate Hip-hop as Bridge to Youth Culture
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Christian hip-hop artist Doc Harrill, a k a D.J. Doc, is working the turntables, setting up beats for the open-mike portions of his Tuesday afternoon show at radio station WCSB. As he listens through his headphones, D.J. Doc nods his head to the music and urges his guests […]
NEWS FEATURE: The Good Shepherds: Numbers Crunch Creates Crisis in Priesthood
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Each month, the Cleveland Catholic Diocese sends Father Thomas Dunphy a 2-inch-tall stack of documents _ resources for Catholic education; ways to integrate Hispanics, gays and ex-Catholics into parish life; updates on Lenten rules. Each month, the pastor of St. Martin of Tours in Valley City, Ohio, tosses […]
NEWS FEATURE: The Good Shepherds: For Middle-Aged Priest, 70-Hour Workweek Takes a Toll
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Father Frank Kosem’s head nods above a bowl of soup Sunday evening. A 70-hour workweek extended through two Masses and baptisms that day. He spent the afternoon at a family birthday party for his 96-year-old mother. In this moment of solitude, the fragrance of the chicken noodle soup […]
NEWS FEATURE: The Good Shepherds: For Young Priest, Youth Provide Energy, Satisfaction
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Father Mark Ott slips out of his shoes, steps over dozens of sneakers and scattered bodies, puts on his green-and-white stole and green liturgical robe and begins to celebrate Mass for 50 teenagers in a suburban living room. As teens read from Scripture, Ott takes a seat on […]
NEWS FEATURE: Priest Works to End the `Festering Sore’ of Child Poverty
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ The man was sitting alone on top of the hill, away from the several hundred people _ mostly children _ crowding around an emergency supply truck for a warm meal of chicken and rice. The Rev. Donald Dunson saw a deep sadness in the man’s face. He decided […]
NEWS FEATURE: Turn Up the Music: New Generation of Youth Rocks With Jesus
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio _ The lights dim. The first pulsating sounds of electric and acoustic guitars fill the room, cranking up until the hard of hearing in the outer hallway can enjoy the music. Hundreds of people in sweats, T-shirts and jeans stand up as soon as the band starts […]
NEWS STORY: Protestant Pastors Tell Why They Walk Away
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It’s not only the holy steamrollers in the pews who are driving Protestant clergy out of the pulpit. The people in the home office also are a major part of the problem, according to a study of why clergy give up local church ministry. In one of the first […]
NEWS FEATURE: Clergy’s Reading Habits Lack Some Diversity
By David Briggs — January 1, 2003
c. 2003 Religion News Service (UNDATED) America’s clergy are reading a broad range of theologians, Bible scholars and inspirational writers, at times crossing liberal-conservative and Protestant-Catholic divides to share spiritual writers from different traditions. What they do not put at the top of their reading lists, according to a national survey, are women and black […]
NEWS STORY: Woman Bishop Elected `The Old Fashioned Way’ _ With Politicking
By David Briggs — July 19, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service CINCINNATI _ In the euphoria last week over the election of the first woman bishop in a mainline black denomination, thousands of men and women at the African Methodist Episcopal General Conference immediately began chanting “Two! Two! Two!” in the hopes a second woman would be elected. What many did […]
NEWS STORY: Woman Bishop Elected `The Old Fashioned Way’ _ With Politicking
By David Briggs — July 19, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service CINCINNATI _ In the euphoria last week over the election of the first woman bishop in a mainline black denomination, thousands of men and women at the African Methodist Episcopal General Conference immediately began chanting “Two! Two! Two!” in the hopes a second woman would be elected. What many did […]
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