Clergy & Congregations

Churches raise a stink about too-fragrant worshipers

By RNS Blog Editor — March 15, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service SAN FRANCISCO (RNS)-On bended knee and with folded hands, Christians traditionally worship their God. Many also come to church bearing unwelcome gifts of overpowering personal fragrance-Chanel No.5, Obsession, White Shoulders or Brut. Now, in the dawning age of”multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS),”a Sunday-morning ablution in after-shave or cologne could become a […]

COMMENTARY: Try a V-chip on the Bible

By James Rudin — March 15, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Installing V-chips in televisions to filter out objectionable programming is the latest idea to protect youngsters from programs containing violence and sex. Politicians-including President Clinton-may favor installing the device, but the V-chip won’t work because it’s another futile attempt to use technology to solve moral problems, something we can only […]

Federal investigators seek links in burnings of black churches

By Val Walton — March 9, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS)-Federal officials say they have found no evidence of any widespread conspiracy behind the many suspicious fires that have destroyed black churches across the South recently, although one investigator says some of the fires are “likely connected.” A 19-year-old white volunteer firefighter was arrested Wednesday (March 6) in […]

TOP STORY: THE TEMPLETON PRIZE: Campus Crusade founder wins $1 million prize

By Adelle M. Banks — March 7, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Bill Bright, who founded Campus Crusade for Christ 45 years ago and turned it into an evangelical ministry in 165 countries, won the 1996 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion Wednesday (March 6). The prize is valued at more than $1 million. Bright, 74, a former oil and specialty-foods executive, […]

A look at two ecumenical initiatives

By RNS Blog Editor — March 2, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-These are the major ecumenism proposals to be acted on before the end of 1997: Nine denominations, organized into a group called the Consultation on Church Union, plan to form a Church of Christ Uniting (COCU). Highlights of the plan commit the churches to: -Recognize each other as legitimate churches. […]

TOP STORY: THE CHURCH IN TRANSITION: New spirit of ecumenism taking hold among U.S. churches

By Carl Anderson — March 2, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-United Church of Christ minister Tim Downs remembers the day he suggested to a friend-the pastor of a neighboring Lutheran church in New England-that the two bring their congregations together for a joint Holy Communion service. The idea seemed logical to Downs. Both the UCC and Lutheran congregations believe in […]

Traveling in the footsteps of the prophet

By Cecile Holmes — March 2, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Jim Green looked across the Sea of Galilee and felt a strong connection to his spiritual ancestry. As he sat in the tourist boat, the Southern Baptist from Mobile, Ala., concluded the scenery didn’t look much different than it did 2,000 years earlier, when, according to Christian Scripture, Jesus floated […]

COMMENTARY: Women clergy face formidable challenges

By James Rudin — March 1, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the National Interreligious Affairs Director of the American Jewish Committee.) (RNS)-No one is neutral about feminism’s impact on contemporary Judaism and Christianity. Today, women rabbis, women priests and women ministers are increasingly doing the pastoral work once strictly the domain of men. Women are leading congregations, counseling […]

A covenant on racial reconciliation

By RNS Blog Editor — February 17, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service ATLANTA (RNS)-Leaders of Promise Keepers, an evangelical Christian men’s movement, signed an”Atlanta Covenant”at the close of a conference for clergy Thursday (Feb. 15). The covenant, cast as an agreement between God and the pastors, is an expansion of the seven promises members of the movement are asked to embrace. Many […]

Promise Keepers focusing on racial reconciliation

By Adelle M. Banks — February 17, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service ATLANTA (RNS)-For five years, the evangelical Christian movement known as Promise Keepers has preached a gospel of contrition and reconciliation, urging men to become better husbands and fathers and more committed members of their churches. Now the movement, which has drawn hundreds of thousands of men to stadiums and convention […]

TOP STORY: RELIGION AND RACE: Promise Keepers focusing on racial reconciliation

By Adelle M. Banks — February 16, 1996

TOP STORY: CHRISTIANITY: Was—and is—Jesus divine? Scholars clash over his identity

By RNS Blog Editor — February 6, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Notebooks ready, 1,000 students pack the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State University. The midweek, evening event isn’t required coursework, but the topic is so intriguing, only balcony seats remain. “Who is Jesus?” On the left of the stage, both literally and figuratively, stands OSU’s Marcus Borg, representing Jesus scholars […]

COMMENTARY: King’s legacy and the pursuit of a `relevant ministry’

By RNS Blog Editor — January 11, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service (Samuel K. Atchison is an ordained minister and has worked as a policy analyst and social worker to the homeless. He currently is a prison chaplain in Trenton, N.J.) (RNS)-On Jan. 15, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. celebrated his 39th-and last-birthday. Less than three months later, he was assassinated. But […]

TOP STORY: RELIGION IN AMERICA: World’s largest crucifix to be more tourist friendly

By RNS Blog Editor — January 9, 1996

c. 1996 Religion News Service INDIAN RIVER, Mich. (RNS)-Wielding a tiny shovel, Bill Brillinger carefully chipped snow off steps at the head of the pathway to the Cross in the Woods. The Manitoba resident was heading home after visiting relatives when he stopped for a look at the five-story wood-and-bronze crucifix billed as the largest […]

COMMENTARY: When piety becomes a cover for selfishness