faith
National Religion Report
By RNS Blog Editor — January 18, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Following is a collection of domestic religion stories compiled from RNS staff, wire and denominational reports). Parishioners shun visit by female Episcopal bishop (RNS)-The Rev. Arthur Woolley of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Bladensburg, Md., an opponent of women’s ordination, vowed to”use every means at my disposal”to block a visit […]
NEWS FEATURE: Proposed time change in Britain upsets Jews, Muslims
By Robert Nowell — January 17, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service LONDON (RNS)-Some Orthodox Jews and Muslims are objecting to a proposal to advance Britain’s clocks an hour and put the entire country on Central European Time. Such a move would make carefully planned religious observances-early-morning prayers and sabbath observances for Jews, and mid-day prayers for Muslims-more difficult, the groups say. […]
NEWS STORY: Episcopal court breaks heresy case into two parts
By Carl Anderson — January 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Did retired Episcopal Bishop Walter Righter commit heresy when he ordained a non-celibate homosexual as a deacon in 1990? A nine-member Episcopal Church court was scheduled to decide that question Feb. 27-29 at a trial in Wilmington, Del. But now the church has announced that before the court can weigh […]
Appeals court strikes down Mississippi prayer law
By RNS Blog Editor — January 12, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-It’s not often that Jay Sekulow of the conservative American Center for Law and Justice and Elliot Mincberg of the liberal advocacy group People For the American Way agree on a school-prayer issue. But both men said Thursday they agreed with a federal appeals court decision this week that dealt […]
TOP STORY: A NEW BIBLE TRANSLATION: In the beginning, there were many different words
By Julia Lieblich — January 11, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service BOSTON (RNS)-Everett Fox was 21 when he decided to translate the first book of the Hebrew Bible into English, and he approached the project with the audacity of a graduate student undaunted by King James. The grandeur of the 17th-century King James Version-translated by a team of 47 scholars-had made […]
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
By RNS Blog Editor — January 9, 1996
c. 1995 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)-As a minister, I often encounter people who feel it necessary to impress me with their piety. They seem to feel […]
TOP STORY: RELIGION AND CULTURE: A church with ancient roots stays alive in the modern world
By RNS Blog Editor — January 6, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service NEW BRITAIN, Conn (RNS)-Jesus and his fellow Nazarenes would feel right at home at services here at St. Thomas Assyrian Church of the East. The Aramaic used in the liturgy isn’t exactly what Jesus and his apostles spoke but is believed to be close. Being familiar with Aramaic makes one […]
COMMENTARY: Some lessons from the real world are better left unlearned
By James Rudin — January 5, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.) (RNS)-A recent survey of Protestant ministers in the United States presents some depressing news: Nearly 25 percent have reported being dismissed or forced to resign from their congregations. While no precise data is available for the Jewish […]
National Religion Report
By RNS Blog Editor — January 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Following is a collection of domestic religion stories compiled from RNS staff, wire and denominational reports). Study finds high number of clergy fired or forced to resign during career (RNS)-A national survey of Protestant clergy has found that an unusually high number-22.8 percent-say they have either been fired or forced […]
Portrayals of Virgin Mary reflect cultural cross-currents
By RNS Blog Editor — January 3, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-In the Gospel of St. Luke, it is written: “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. “The virgin’s name was Mary.” Mary-the humble […]
“It was the right thing to do,“says Episcopal bishop accused of heresy
By RNS Blog Editor — January 3, 1996
c. 1995 Religion News Service (RNS)-Walter C. Righter is a white-haired grandfather who lives with his wife in a small hillside house in rural New Hampshire. He’s 72, an age when many people are enjoying retirement. But Righter is facing charges of heresy-the second bishop ever to stand so accused in the 206-year history of […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Leaders of Adventist, Orthodox church meet in Istanbul (RNS) In the first-ever visit by Seventh-day Adventist Church officials to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, headquarters of the worldwide Orthodox movement in Istanbul, Turkey, leaders from the two groups discussed tensions created by Protestants attempting to spread their faith in Eastern Europe.”The goals […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Muslim woman calls for release of Christian husband who faces flogging (RNS) A Muslim student in South Carolina is calling on officials of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to”unconditionally release”her Christian husband, who has been sentenced to a year in prison and a flogging after an Islamic court ruled that […]
