Monthly Archives: May 2007
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 18, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Gordon-Conwell Seminary President Resigns (RNS) The president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary has resigned “due to family considerations,” but will continue to serve as a professor on the school’s Charlotte, N.C., campus. James Emery White resigned effective June 30, the school announced Wednesday (May 16), “due to family considerations which resulted […]
Pews Slow to Follow the Pulpit on Immigration Reform
By Daniel Burke — May 18, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Lifelong Roman Catholic Raymond Ross and his church agree on one thing: The U.S. needs to change its immigration policies. From that point, their views sharply diverge. Strapped with a pistol and binoculars, Ross, 69, and a posse of fellow Minutemen spent four days last month patrolling an […]
Falwell Obit
By RNS Blog Editor — May 17, 2007
Jerry Falwell, Architect of Religious Right, Dies at 73 David Mark and Adelle M. Banks author this week’s full-text article (linked above), an obituary for Jerry Falwell. Quote: For many, Falwell represented the public face of evangelical Protestantism, particularly its involvement in politics. Falwell founded the Moral Majority in 1979 to lobby politicians to “reverse […]
Are We Ready for a Mormon President?
By Cathleen Falsani — May 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) As a teenager, spiritually educated in the Southern Baptist church and a conservative evangelical Christian school, I learned that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a cult, and that its members, the Mormons, most certainly were not Christians. I heard repeatedly about Mormons’ strange theological beliefs […]
House-Hunting Clergy Balance Personal, Professional Needs
By RNS Blog Editor — May 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service ASHTABULA, Ohio _ The basketball hoop bends forward in front of the two-story where the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton raised two children, sent them to public schools and lived while she pastored a small church. Leaving will be hard, but as the new Lutheran bishop of Northeastern Ohio, Eaton wants a […]
Brazilian Landowner Convicted in Killing of U.S. Nun
By Laura Turner — May 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Lawyers representing the family of a slain American nun say Tuesday’s (May 15) conviction of a Brazilian landowner was a key victory, but have already set their sights on one more conviction, a “bigger fish to fry.” Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura was given a 30-year sentence for ordering […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service EU Leaders Meet with Christian, Jewish, Muslims Leaders BRUSSELS, Belgium (RNS) Top leaders of the European Union met Tuesday (May 15) with Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders to urge interfaith dialogue and find ways to protect “human dignity.” The meeting was the first to bring together the presidents of the […]
Falwell’s Impact Felt Far Beyond Pulpit and Politics
By Adelle M. Banks — May 17, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The late Rev. Jerry Falwell was known most as a pastor and conservative political activist, but his influence actually reached further _ sometimes in unexpected ways. The Southern Baptist preacher, who died suddenly Tuesday (May 15), left his mark on a range of institutions and issues in American society […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service D. James Kennedy Shutters Two Political Centers WASHINGTON (RNS) Two conservative political centers founded by the ailing religious broadcaster D. James Kennedy have been closed, but one has reopened under new ownership. Kennedy’s Florida-based Coral Ridge Ministries closed the Center for Reclaiming America and the Washington-based Center for Christian Statesmanship […]
When It Comes to Church Membership Numbers, the Devil’s in the Details
By Ashbel S. (Tony) Green — May 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The Southern Baptist Convention, with some 16.2 million members on the books, claims to be the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. But the Rev. Thomas Ascol believes the active membership is really a fraction of that. Ascol, pastor of the 230-member Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Fla., points to […]
COMMENTARY: Expecting Too Much From Sunday
By Tom Ehrich — May 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Returning to Sunday parish ministry for four months has given me both a fresh appreciation of the basics and one caution to share with all who care about healthy churches. First the caution: I think many congregations expect too much from Sunday. They want Sunday to do all of […]
Some Ask if Atheists Are the New Fundamentalists
By Benedicta Cipolla — May 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Despite its minority status, atheism has enjoyed the spotlight of late, with several books that feature vehement arguments against religion topping the bestseller lists. But some now say secularists should embrace more than the strident rhetoric poured out in books like Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion” and Sam Harris’ […]
Jerry Falwell, Architect of Religious Right, Dies at 73
By David Mark — May 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Jerry Falwell, the conservative preacher whose television ministry helped fuel the rise of the religious right, died Tuesday (May 15) after being found unresponsive in his office at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. He was 73. Ron Godwin, an executive vice president at the university, said Falwell was transported […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — May 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Southern Baptist Nominated as Top Army Chaplain (RNS) A Southern Baptist has been nominated to serve as the next chief of chaplains for the U.S. Army. Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Douglas L. Carver currently serves as deputy chief of chaplains for the Army and would be the first Southern Baptist chaplain […]
Reactions to Death of the Rev. Jerry Falwell
By Adelle M. Banks — May 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Following are various reactions to Tuesday’s (May 15) death of the Rev. Jerry Falwell at age 73 in Lynchburg, Va. “Jerry Falwell was a close personal friend for many years. We did not always agree on everything, but I knew him to be a man of God. His accomplishments […]
