Monthly Archives: August 2007
10 Minutes With … Mother Mary Bryant
By RNS Blog Editor — August 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Mother Mary Bryant celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday (Aug. 12) by singing with her former choir, the New Jerusalem Mass Choir in Cleveland. The Tennessee native began singing gospel at age 4 in Nashville; she moved to Cleveland in 1947 and sang at New Jerusalem for 50 […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 16, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Missouri Synod Criticizes ELCA on Gay Clergy Decision (RNS) The president of a St. Louis-based Lutheran denomination said the recent decision by the nation’s largest Lutheran body to refrain from disciplining noncelibate gay clergy “troubles me greatly” and may strain relations among Lutherans. The Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, president of the […]
RNS Weekly Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 15, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Faith Leaders Praised for Spreading the `Eco-Gospel’ (RNS) The Dalai Lama, Pope Benedict XVI and the spiritual leader of the world’s Eastern Orthodox Christians were among 15 “Green Religious Leaders” cited by a Seattle-based environmental group. Grist, an environmental news and commentary Web site that also highlighted “green” actors, musicians […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 15, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Methodist Group Files Lawsuit Over Civil Union Flap (RNS) Luisa Paster and Harriet Bernstein of Ocean Grove, N.J., say they were not trying to start a federal case when they complained last month to the state’s civil rights agency. “All that we were trying to accomplish was to have our […]
Graham, Presidents Shared Deep Personal Bonds
By Adelle M. Banks — August 15, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Harry Truman: “Don’t worry about it. I realized you hadn’t been properly briefed.” _ Billy Graham, in his autobiography, “Just As I Am,” recalling Truman’s acceptance of his apology in 1967 for his actions during a White House visit years earlier. Dwight Eisenhower: “Billy, you’ve told me how to […]
Billy Graham’s Access to the Oval Office Spanned 11 Presidents
By Adelle M. Banks — August 15, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) It doesn’t take long to make a list of religious leaders who’ve made personal connections with each of the last 11 U.S. presidents. There’s really just one name: Billy Graham. The evangelist who has spent the last six decades preaching the gospel around the world also served as a […]
COMMENTARY: No More Whining!
By Tom Ehrich — August 15, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) “I am so tired of Microsoft products,” I muttered while waiting for my computer’s operating system to respond. Then I caught myself. Stop whining, I thought. You’re not helpless. Buy a different brand, or learn to live with this one. But enough whining. After 26 years of keeping television […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 14, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service S.C. Bishop Elected Again After First Ballot Thrown Out (RNS) The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina has again elected the Rev. Mark Lawrence as its bishop, less than five months after Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori nullified his previous election. Lawrence, 56, was re-elected at a special convention on St. […]
Monks Find a Home _ and a Hope _ in an Urban Neighborhood
By Jeff Diamant — August 14, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service NEWARK, N.J. _ The thin stream of blood extended the length of the sidewalk running by the Catholic monastery’s front door, trickled around the corner and ended midway down the block. The friars who live inside assumed a gunshot victim had collapsed. The monks gathered that night last summer and […]
Lutheran Debate on Gay Clergy Goes Down to the Wire
By RNS Blog Editor — August 11, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service CHICAGO _ The nation’s largest Lutheran denomination failed to resolve a debate on allowing noncelibate gay and lesbian clergy Friday, pushing a resolution on the divisive issue to Saturday, the last day of a churchwide assembly here. Delegates to the biennial assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 11, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Vatican Clarifies Meeting With Controversial Polish Priest VATICAN CITY (RNS) Responding to protests from Jewish groups in Europe and the United States, the Vatican on Thursday (August 9) issued a “clarification” regarding a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and a Polish priest accused of anti-Semitic remarks. Benedict met with the […]
Summer Camp Trains Kids for `Spiritual Warfare’
By Kristen Campbell — August 11, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service KELSO, Tenn. _ “What’s this?” roars “Sgt. Major” Henry Phillips. “There’s trash on the floor in here.” Inside the simple block cabin, teenage girls stand at attention at the ends of their bunks, each bed neatly made up with a Bible and study notebook placed on top of the pillow. […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — August 11, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service Assemblies of God Elect New Leader (RNS) The Assemblies of God have elected a veteran church executive as the new leader of the Pentecostal denomination. The Rev. George O. Wood, general secretary of the Assemblies of God since 1993, was elected general superintendent Friday (Aug. 10) during the denomination’s biennial […]
With Cremation Up, Quiet Cemetery Seeks to Cash In
By RNS Blog Editor — August 10, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service PORTLAND, Ore. _ If you wanted to be crass about it, you might explain River View Cemetery’s dilemma this way: People just aren’t dying to get in there anymore. They’re still dying, of course. But more and more, particularly on the West Coast, consumers are choosing cremation over burial. That […]
Cleaning St. Peter’s Requires a Careful, Acrobatic Touch
By Frances X. Rocca — August 10, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ As the tomb of the first pope and the principal church of most of his 264 successors, St. Peter’s Basilica is Roman Catholicism’s greatest shrine. It’s also a treasure trove of artistic riches, with works by such artists as Michelangelo, Raphael and Bernini. At over 600 feet […]
