Protestant
COMMENTARY: The perp and the prosecutor were one and the same
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Samuel K. Atchison is an ordained minister who has worked as a policy analyst and social worker to the homeless. He currently is a prison chaplain in Trenton, N.J.) UNDATED _ The recent fall and ultimate demise of Nicholas Bissell Jr. bear a terrible irony: He became what he hated. […]
COMMENTARY: The legacy of Herod: Piety becomes a cloak for selfishness
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 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.) UNDATED _ As a minister, I often encounter people who feel it necessary to impress me with their piety. They seem […]
COMMENTARY: Modern morality tale sheds light on the value of life
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Samuel K. Atchison is an ordained minister who has worked as a policy analyst and social worker to the homeless. He currently is a prison chaplain in Trenton, N.J.) UNDATED _ It wasn’t supposed to happen to them. Young, attractive and intelligent, Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson Jr. were expected […]
COMMENTARY: Reclaiming the black church’s lost sheep
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Samuel K. Atchison is an ordained minister who has worked as a policy analyst and social worker to the homeless. He currently is a prison chaplain in Trenton, N.J.) (UNDATED) A recent incident in my prison congregation underscores the struggle for relevance currently faced by black churches. Made up largely […]
COMMENTARY: Sometimes it takes the wisdom of age to preserve a legacy
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In the film,”The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,”the movie’s protagonist (masterfully played by Cicely Tyson) waits expectantly for a young man to emerge who will help deliver African-Americans from racial oppression. As the years go by, each would-be deliverer falls short in his quest. Finally, it is left to […]
COMMENTARY: A pastor opens his heart to the Christmas church-goer
By Charles Austin — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Charles Austin is a journalist and a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Ridgefield Park, N.J.) UNDATED _ You are welcome; and yes, we know who you are. But be assured, that from where I stand in the pulpit _ as […]
NEWS SIDEBAR: Ballot initatives related to faith and morality
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Here is a rundown of the voting on ballot initiatives with moral dimensions or in which churches and religious groups played an activist role: PARENTS’ RIGHTS Colorado: Defeated a measure that would have amended the state constitution with a provision declaring that parents have ultimate rights in matters of […]
COMMENTARY: Too spoiled to be grateful, too comfortable to help
By Dale Hanson Bourke — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Dale Hanson Bourke is the author of”Turn Toward the Wind”and publisher of Religion News Service.) (UNDATED) By the standards of most of the world, Americans are extraordinarily fortunate. No wars threaten our borders, no famines claim the lives of our citizens. The vast majority of our population is employed, well […]
COMMENTARY: Soccer moms to candidates: We will not be wooed
By Dale Hanson Bourke — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Dale Hanson Bourke is publisher of RNS and author of”Turn Toward the Wind”.) (UNDATED) Seems like just the other day, everyone was intrigued with the angry white male. He was the one toppling politicians and determining the future of America. Now the spotlight has turned to women like me, the […]
TOP STORY: NO ROOM AT THE INN: As millennium looms, no room at the inn or anywhere else
By Elaine Fletcher — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service BETHLEHEM _ For centuries this town has resided in the hearts and minds of millions of Christians as a distant dream and symbol of the mysteries of Jesus’ birth, as a quaint Middle Eastern village sleeping under a starlit night. But as the year 2000 approaches _ and millions of […]
TOP STORY: AN HISTORIC BLACK CHURCH: An historic `Freedom Church’ marks two centuries of pain
By Adelle M. Banks — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service NEW YORK _ There was a time in the Methodist Episcopal Church that black members had to wait until white congregants took Communion before they could approach the altar. Black preachers were given limited opportunities to speak _ occasionally to other blacks, never to whites. Even at baptisms, whites were […]
Burned Churches: Giving and receiving
By RNS Blog Editor — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Here is a list of the major organizations that have raised money to rebuild burned churches and how the donations are being distributed: NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES Cash received: $4.7 million Amount allocated in grants: $2.3 million Pledges not yet received: $1.4 million In-kind contributions: $3.4 million The National […]
COMMENTARY: Can churches stop fighting long enough to attend to the young?
By Tom Ehrich — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Tom Ehrich is an Episcopal priest in Winston-Salem, N.C, an author and a former Wall Street Journal reporter. E-mail him at journey(at)interpath.com.) BOISE, Idaho _ Sitting in the home of an actual young American family in this city brimming with young people, learning about a new church focused on the […]
Now Falwell says he’s not a Southern Baptist
By Adelle M. Banks — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service UNDATED _ After proclaiming a week ago his solidarity with the Southern Baptist Convention and making a $1,000 contribution to a new Southern Baptist group in Virginia, Jerry Falwell now says he does not consider himself a Southern Baptist. At a Wednesday (Oct. 30) night service, Falwell told members of […]
COMMENTARY: Tidings of discomfort and joy
By Tom Ehrich — January 1, 1996
c. 1996 Religion News Service (Tom Ehrich is an Episcopal priest in Winston-Salem, N.C, an author and a former Wall Street Journal reporter. E-mail him at journey(at)interpath.com.) UNDATED _ I can tell Christmas is near: _ The obituary section in my local newspaper is longer. _ Reporters are tracking retail sales. _ Fund-raising appeals fill […]