(RNS) Mitt Romney was a lukewarm Mormon before leaving for a 30-month missionary stint in France at age 19. He came back on fire for his faith and a budding leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Romney's experience is common among Mormons, where the most ardent converts are often the missionaries themselves. By Daniel Burke.

ST. LOUIS (RNS) As Catholic theology has branched out, bishops have struggled to curb theological thinking they consider beyond acceptable boundaries. At the Catholic Theological Society of America meeting, the theologians were girding for a fight. By Tim Townsend.

ST. LOUIS (RNS) The board of the nation's largest association of theologians issued a statement Thursday (June 7) in support of Sister Margaret Farley, a Yale theologian whose work in sexual ethics was publicly criticized by the Vatican earlier this week. By Tim Townsend.

(RNS) Franciscan friars are throwing their support behind a group of American nuns, saying Vatican criticism of the women was "excessive" and is "polarizing" the Catholic Church. By Daniel Burke.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) While older serpent handlers were wary of outsiders, these younger believers welcome visitors and use Facebook to promote their often misunderstood -- and illegal -- version of Christianity. They want to show the beauty and power of their extreme form of spirituality. By Bob Smietana.

Lantern Floating Hawai’i 2012 culminated the day-long public celebrations of one of the largest Memorial Day observances in the US at the Ala Moana Beach Park near downtown Honolulu on May 28, 2012.

(RNS) For 50 years, hundreds of thousands of seekers have come to the Esalen Institute, the incubator of East-meets-West spirituality, looking for news ways to bring together body and soul. Now, the spiritual mecca is facing a bitter dispute over its future, and like the countless pilgrims who have come here, Esalen now faces its own midlife crisis. By Don Lattin.

CHICAGO (RNS) Every year about 100,000 pilgrims trek to the Taize community's headquarters in France, and this weekend the ecumenical group is bringing its message to the U.S. for the first time. By Simone Orendain. 800. With photos.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican has published the rules used to judge alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary as more and more sightings gather widespread publicity before the church has been able to judge them. By Alessandro Speciale.

(RNS) Some 15,000 Muslims are expected at this weekend’s 37th annual convention of the Islamic Circle of North America, the second largest Muslim convention in the country, where attempts to ban Islamic law are expected to take center stage. By Omar Sacirbey.

(RNS) Christian apologist N.T. Wright's insistence that Christianity has got it all wrong seems to mark a turning point for the serious rethinking of heaven. He's not another academic iconoclast debunking Christian myths, but rather takes his creeds very seriously. By John Murawski.

SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) In his new book, evangelical scholar and seminary president Richard Mouw argues that understanding Mormonism isn’t just about being nice, it’s a Christian mandate. By Peggy Fletcher Stack.

WASHINGTON (RNS) Americans marked the National Day of Prayer Thursday (May 3), with Christians gathered on Capitol Hill defending their rights to pray even as others marked the day as a “Day of Reason.” By Adelle M. Banks.

CANTERBURY, England (RNS/ENInews) The Anglican Book of Common Prayer, the liturgical and literary masterpiece that with Shakespeare and the King James Bible helped shape the English language, marks its 350th anniversary this year. By Trevor Grundy.

WASHINGTON (RNS) What do famous thinkers such as William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Martin Luther King Jr. and Helen Keller have in common? They were all influenced by a little-known Swedish scientist, philosopher and theologian named Emanuel Swedenborg. By Annalisa Musarra.