entertainment & pop culture
COMMENTARY: Singing words we would never speak
By Dale Hanson Bourke — October 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Dale Hanson Bourke is the publisher of Religion News Service and author of”Turn Toward the Wind”.) (UNDATED) A few years back, when Tipper Gore and Susan Baker launched a bipartisan mother’s campaign to label record albums, I watched from the sidelines. My children were listening to nothing racier than Raffi, […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 23, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Blockbuster Music forms partnership to promote Christian music (RNS) Blockbuster Music has formed a partnership with McSpadden-Smith Music, a Nashville-based entertainment company, to promote contemporary Christian music in Blockbuster’s stores nationwide.”This is a new and exciting opportunity for contemporary Christian music record labels,”Ron Smith, a partner in McSpadden-Smith, told The […]
MEDIA STORY: HOLLYWOOD AND THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT: A cinematic battle between the reprehensible and the
By Steve Rabey — August 22, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It’s been a thrilling, chilling blockbuster movie season this summer, as films like “Twister,” “The Rock,” and “Independence Day” played to packed theaters and toyed with Americans’ fears about attacks from the violence of nature, well-armed terrorists, and space aliens. But the latest high-octane action-adventure film exposes a threat […]
DEATH AND DYING: Long before Kevorkian, Chicago doctor fueled death debate
By RNS Blog Editor — July 2, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service ANN ARBOR, Mich. _ Long before Jack Kevorkian helped his first patient die and even before his birth, another American doctor galvanized debate about physician-assisted deaths. In 1915, Chicago surgeon Harry Haiselden held a news conference to announce his refusal to operate to save a 4-day-old baby’s life. Haiselden withheld […]
NEWS FEATURE: REVIEW: Recordings offer many sides of spiritual music
By Buffy Spencer — June 12, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-If you’re looking for music with a distinctly spiritual flavor, here’s a sampling of CDs from Catholic, Orthodox and American-communal Christian traditions as well as others that stir the brain cells and alternately soothe and jangle the sensibilities. “Early Shaker Spirituals” (Rounder). American musicians from Aaron Copland to Richie Havens […]
NEWS FEATURE: “City of Joy”priest continues quiet work among the poor
By Tim Murphy — June 6, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service CALCUTTA, India (RNS)-In his classic 1985 work,”City of Joy,”author Dominique Lapierre profiled Polish priest Stephan Kovalski, who set out to live among the poorest of Calcutta’s poor. But Kovalski’s real identity is the Rev. Francis Laborde, who, more than 30 years after he eschewed the comforts of the West to […]
NEWS FEATURE: Film explores tensions within Southern Baptist world
By Adelle M. Banks — June 5, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Inspired by stories of his mother’s recent challenges at the Southern Baptist Convention’s oldest seminary, a California filmmaker has produced a documentary on the denomination and its views on women pastors.”Battle for the Minds,”a documentary that will have a Canadian premiere at a prominent film festival this fall, will give […]
NEWS FEATURE: Film explores tensions within Southern Baptist world
By Adelle M. Banks — June 5, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Inspired by stories of his mother’s recent challenges at the Southern Baptist Convention’s oldest seminary, a California filmmaker has produced a documentary on the denomination and its views on women pastors.”Battle for the Minds,”a documentary that will have a Canadian premiere at a prominent film festival this fall, will give […]
Gospel singer CeCe Winans `excited’ about first solo tour
By Madi Alexander — May 24, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Christian singer CeCe Winans has shared most of her recording career with her brother, BeBe. She’s best known as the female half of BeBe & CeCe Winans, the decade-old brother-sister gospel/R&B team that’s become one of the most celebrated duos in pop music. And she’s the eighth of 10 children […]
OP STORY: SOUTH AFRICA: Lembas of South Africa stake claim to Jewish heritage
By RNS Blog Editor — May 10, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (RNS)-In a wasteland in the northeast corner of South Africa called Venda and in the teeming township of Soweto outside Johannesburg is a scattering of people who claim they are a lost tribe of Israel. They are a hard-working, politically active group who place a high emphasis […]
Vocal ensembles star at Dove Awards ceremony
By RNS Blog Editor — April 27, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Vocal ensembles-rather than individual artists-walked away with many of the the big awards Thursday night at the Dove Awards, an annual event honoring Christian music. The modern-rock group dc Talk was named Artist of the Year, and group member Toby McKeehan won Song of the Year for”Jesus Freak,”with co-writer Mark […]
COMMENTARY: Do more than cheer for urban youths
By RNS Blog Editor — April 27, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rodolpho Carrasco, 28, is a writer in Pasadena, Calif., and a consultant to church groups nationwide on youth ministry and internet outreach. Contact him via e-mail at genxlatino(AT)aol.com.) LOS ANGELES (RNS)-Four thousand teen-age boys-black, white and Latino-burst into the L.A. Coliseum recently, to the cheers of 50,000 men. They had […]
NEWS FEATURE: Christian music industry sounds note of disappointment
By Steve Rabey — April 18, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Three years ago, leaders in the growing Christian music industry boldly predicted that gospel would follow in the bootsteps of country, emerging from the shadows to become a major pop genre. But today, gospel still accounts for only 3 percent of America’s $12 billion music industry, just slightly ahead of […]
COMMENTARY: Hooray for Hollywood
By RNS Blog Editor — March 28, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Charles W. Colson, former special counsel to Richard Nixon, served a prison term for his role in the Watergate scandal. He now heads Prison Fellowship International, an evangelical Christian ministry to the imprisoned and their families. Contact Colson via e-mail at 71421,1551(at sign)compuserve.com.) (RNS)-When Hollywood film mogul Frank Capra quit […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — March 23, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Christian music sales grow at faster rate than other genres (RNS)-Gospel music sales are growing faster than sales of other major forms of popular music, according to a study released Thursday (March 21) by the Gospel Music Association. Between 1991 and 1995, gospel music has averaged 22 percent growth per […]
