Monthly Archives: May 2004
NEWS STORY: Divided Methodists Consider `Amicable Separation’
By Kein Eckstrom — May 7, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service PITTSBURGH _ Conservative United Methodists, frustrated by three decades of painful debates over homosexuality, unveiled a surprise proposal Thursday (May 6) calling for an “amicable separation” from liberals. Supporters of the plan, drafted by the Rev. Bill Hinson, leader of the evangelical Confessing Movement, said a mutual parting would allow […]
NEWS FEATURE: Author: `Soul of Church’ at Stake in Global AIDS Fight
By Timothy C. Morgan — May 7, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ With an estimated 46 million people in the world living with HIV/AIDS, some Christian communities say it’s time to step up their efforts in the fight against the global pandemic. Recently, the Rev. Donald Messer of Denver, Colo., a United Methodist minister and theology professor, issued his own […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 7, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Lay Activists, Greek Orthodox Church Continue Skirmishes Over Suit (RNS) Lay activists in the Greek Orthodox Church continue to skirmish with the church hierarchy over a lawsuit alleging the church imposed a new constitution in 2002 that ignores the will of parishioners and clergy. More than 30 parishioners filed suit […]
NEWS STORY: Images of Prisoner Abuse Perfectly Attuned to Assault on Muslim Values
By RNS Blog Editor — May 7, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) As soon as Ingrid Mattson saw the photo of the smiling American woman soldier pointing at the genitals of a hooded, naked Iraqi prisoner, she knew it would touch a deep, inner chord in Muslims, no matter where they are. That image and others like it assault on a […]
COMMENTARY: An Old Pastor’s Advice for Archbishop O’Malley
By Frances Kennedy — May 7, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (Eugene Cullen Kennedy, a longtime observer of the Roman Catholic Church, is professor emeritus of psychology at Loyola University in Chicago and author of “Cardinal Bernardin’s Stations of the Cross,” published by St. Martin’s Press.) (UNDATED) Boston’s Archbishop Sean O’Malley has now explained why he washed only men’s feet on […]
NEWS ANALYSIS: Are Methodists Headed for a Baptist-Style Conservative Takeover?
By Kein Eckstrom — May 7, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service PITTSBURGH _ The United Methodist Church, with congregations in all but 133 of the nation’s 3,350 counties, prides itself on being the quintessential American church. Its 10 million members are black and white, north and south, George W. Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton. As someone once said, if you want […]
COMMENTARY: Remembering D-Day
By James Rudin — May 7, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Leo University.) (UNDATED) The 60th anniversary of D-Day _ June 6, 1944 _ and the upcoming dedication of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., open the floodgates of personal memory. In the spring […]
NEWS STORY: Christian Peacemakers Report in January Previewed Iraqi Prisoner Abuse
By Rich Preheim — May 6, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Nearly four months before the publication of photos of Iraqi detainees abused by their coalition captors, a small Christian peace organization issued a report detailing incidents similar to those now sparking outcries from North America to the Middle East. “That (CPT) report reflects a pattern. That (Iraq) is not […]
NEWS FEATURE: From Boxer to Sailor, Artist Finds New Ways to Paint Jesus
By Anne Oconnor — May 6, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service ERLANGER, Ky. _ The congregation at the Erlanger Baptist Church listened in hushed silence as Stephen Sawyer gave his testimony about one of his portraits of Jesus holding a young boy that he painted at the request of the ill child’s mother. “When the boy saw the painting, he said, […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 6, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Priests in Nine Dioceses Form Celibacy-Petition Group (RNS) A petition drive that started last summer with 163 Catholic priests in Milwaukee asking for a discussion on celibacy has resulted in a new group of about 1,000 priests who want the church to consider married clergy. According to The New York […]
COMMENTARY: The Centrality of Forgiveness
By David P. Gushee — May 6, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (David P. Gushee is the Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn.) (UNDATED) The couple sits in front of me, weary with life and with each other. They barely glance at each other as we talk. Their problems are many, but their most central issue is […]
NEWS STORY: Methodists Leave Gay Policy Intact, Uphold Acquittal of Lesbian Pastor
By Kein Eckstrom — May 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service PITTSBURGH _ The United Methodist Church voted Tuesday (May 4) to keep its policies on homosexuality intact, while its highest court said it had no power to overturn the controversial not-guilty verdict of a lesbian pastor who was charged with violating a ban on gay clergy. In a series of […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service CAIR Report Finds Steep Increase in Anti-Muslim Incidents WASHINGTON (RNS) Complaints of harassment, violence and discrimination against Muslims in the United States rose 70 percent last year while reported instances of profiling Muslims in airports fell 10 percent, according to a report released Monday (May 3). The report by the […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service CAIR Report Finds Steep Increase in Anti-Muslim Incidents WASHINGTON (RNS) Complaints of harassment, violence and discrimination against Muslims in the United States rose 70 percent last year while reported instances of profiling Muslims in airports fell 10 percent, according to a report released Monday (May 3). The report by the […]
NEWS FEATURE: Relics of Sainthood Candidate Seelos Discovered
By Bruce Nolan — May 5, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS _ As often occurs in stories like this, Monte Kniffen was looking for something else in the regional archives of an order of Catholic priests in Denver when he happened on two folded paper packets bearing the precise, gorgeous penmanship of a 19th century hand. He knew the […]
