interfaith
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 […]
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 […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — February 28, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service Lutherans in flap with China over Hong Kong assembly (RNS)-China has asked the Lutheran World Federation to postpone its 1997 world assembly scheduled for Hong Kong because the meeting is to be held just one week after the British colony comes under Beijing’s control. So far, the federation-which consists of […]
COMMENTARY: Purim’s festivity masks a dreadful reality
By James Rudin — February 23, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.) (RNS)-The biblical Book of Esther is a literary gem, a sweeping study of monumental conflicts, tremendous courage and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. It tells the 2,500-year-old story of how a villainous prime minister, Haman, […]
NEWS FEATURE: Book gives an irreverent look at Hasidic Jews
By RNS Blog Editor — February 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (RNS)-Robert Eisenberg urges you to imagine an America in which the only Jews will be Hasidim and other Orthodox. It’s not merely possible, he says. By the year 2075, it’s likely. The vision shapes Eisenberg’s new book,”Boychiks In The Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground”(Harper San Francisco), an irreverent, detail-packed […]
COMMENTARY: In search of a world in which religions can coexist
By James Rudin — February 16, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.) (RNS)-Many people think theology is a set of eternal beliefs etched in stone. Wrong. Theology constantly changes from generation to generation. In the past, theologians provided a strong religious sanction for believing that women, blacks, Jews and […]
TOP STORY: UNIFICATION CHURCH: Moon church takes a low profile in India
By Tim Murphy — February 15, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service MOOLAVATTOM, India (RNS)-It is a small, obscure town in India’s southern state of Kerala, in the heart of one of the nation’s largest, most conservative Christian communities. Yet Moolavattom is where the Unification Church, founded in Korea in 1954 by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, has set up its southern […]
COMMENTARY: A beginner’s guide to meditation
By RNS Blog Editor — February 14, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Aaron Zerah is an interfaith minister in Santa Cruz, Calif.) Blessed is the one who does not walk In the counsel of the unrighteous … But delights in the teaching of the Divine. And on this teaching meditates day and night. Such a one is like a tree planted by […]
Religious leader proposes major initiative on girls’ education
By Carl Anderson — February 13, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)-The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, is proposing an interfaith effort in the United States and abroad to promote education for girls, including training about sexuality. Girls have a right to education, Campbell said, but she added that such an effort also […]
COMMENTARY: In a standing-room-only synagogue, there’s dancing in the aisles
By James Rudin — February 9, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.) (RNS)-As the sun began to set on a recent Friday evening, the wind- chill factor on Manhattan’s West Side was minus 18 degrees. And even though bitter gusts were blowing in from the Hudson River, more than […]
National Religion Report
By Carl Anderson — February 8, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Following is a collection of domestic religion stories compiled from RNS staff, wire and denominational reports.) Metzenbaum quits Reform board over stricter school policy (RNS)-Former Sen. Howard Metzenbaum has resigned from the board of Reform Judaism’s main governing body over its recommendation that children who also receive formal training in […]
COMMENTARY: David, Deborah or Isaiah for president? What would the political gurus say?
By James Rudin — February 2, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.) (RNS)-The presidential primary season is upon us, and the political consultants, spin doctors, handlers and pollsters are covering the countryside like a plague of locusts. But no serious White House hopeful can afford to be without these […]
TOP STORY: RELIGION AND PEACEMAKING: Episcopal bishop pushes for a U.N. of religion
By RNS Blog Editor — February 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service SAN FRANCISCO (RNS)-After Episcopal Bishop William Swing of California was invited to lead last year’s interfaith service on the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, he suffered a sleepless night musing about how little religions have done for world peace.”Their role is that every 50 years they come in and […]
NEWS STORY: Luce Foundation funds study of Abrahamic religions
By RNS Blog Editor — January 31, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service HARTFORD, Conn. (RNS)-The Hartford Seminary’s center for the study of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations and the University of Hartford’s center Judaic studies are joining in a major project to promote understanding among the faiths. A $400,000, five-year grant from the Henry Luce Foundation of New York will establish”the Luce Forum […]
NEWS STORY: World Jewish population plummeting, study says
By Elaine Fletcher — January 26, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service JERUSALEM (RNS)-The Jewish population is plummeting around the world-with the exception of Israel, Germany, Canada and Panama-according to a demographic”State of the Jewish World”report issued during the World Jewish Congress annual convention held this week in Jerusalem. Only 13 million Jews are alive today worldwide-meaning that the community has not […]
