Monthly Archives: September 2010
Judge returns infant to faith-healing parents
By Tracy Gordon — September 28, 2010
OREGON CITY, Ore. (RNS) A Clackamas County judge ruled Friday (Sept. 24) that an infant who faced blindness from an untreated medical condition can return home while her parents prepare for trial on charges of criminal mistreatment. Circuit Judge Douglas V. Van Dyk imposed several conditions on Timothy and Rebecca Wyland, who are members of […]
Small dedicated following keeps shape-note singing alive
By Tracy Gordon — September 28, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) The archaic sounds that fill the historic former church sanctuary echo, hauntingly, like a whispering ghost from the past. Inside the 1902 building that once housed the Second Presbyterian Church, the elaborate archways bounce back the sound of sacred harp singing. It’s a style of music that once dominated rural evangelical religion, […]
Churches find empty pews at Sunday evening services
By Tracy Gordon — September 28, 2010
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) Doug De Vries describes Sunday evening worship as “a lot less formal” than the morning service at Plymouth Heights Christian Reformed Church. It’s also a lot less crowded. Plymouth Heights is in step with a larger trend of declining evening attendance in evangelical denominations that long have cherished a heritage of […]
Monday’s roundup
By Daniel Burke — September 27, 2010
After a few days in Denver at the Religion Newswriters Association conference, the daily Religion Roundup now returns to its regularly scheduled broadcast. A list of the award winners (all deserving of the honors) is here. The Roundup gives a special shout out to Gustav Niebuhr, who received the lifetime achievement award, and whose work […]
Young evangelicals–not so liberal
By Mark Silk — September 27, 2010
Responding to my wish to separate out the views on same-sex marriage of under-30 “sectarians” (evangelicals), Sherkat has kindly run the numbers. What they show, as he points out on his blog, is that the gap between this cohort and its non-evangelical peers is actually greater than between sectarians and non-sectarians in older age cohorts. […]
Long denies `false allegations,’ plans to address church
By Tracy Gordon — September 25, 2010
(RNS) Atlanta-area megachurch pastor Bishop Eddie Long has decried the “false allegations” lodged against him by three young men who filed suit over alleged sexual misconduct. “The charges against me and New Birth are false,” said Long, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., in a Thursday (Sept. 23) statement. “I have […]
Bishops rebuke theologians’ book over views on homosexuality
By Tracy Gordon — September 25, 2010
(RNS) The U.S. Catholic bishops have issued a rare public rebuke of two Roman Catholic theologians, saying their 2008 book on sexual ethics marks a “radical departure” from church teaching and could be “harmful to one’s moral and spiritual life.” “The Sexual Person: Toward a New Catholic Anthropology,” challenges established Catholic orthodoxy on homosexuality, artificial […]
Court puts limits on German church’s ability to fire workers
By Tracy Gordon — September 25, 2010
BERLIN (RNS) The European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday (Sept. 23) that a church organist’s employment rights were ignored when he was fired by a Catholic church for remarrying outside the church. The court said German churches have some latitude in firing staff who violate the faith’s moral tenets, but said it must be […]
Young Christians seek intentional community among poor
By Tracy Gordon — September 25, 2010
GRESHAM, Ore. (RNS) In the two years since David Knepprath and Josh Guisinger moved into the rough-and-tumble Barberry Village complex, roughly a dozen young Christian men and women have made Barberry Village their home. Their goal: Create a sense of community in a chaotic neighborhood overrun with drugs, prostitution and gangs. Their work mirrors, in […]
Religious leaders see modest progress in anti-poverty goals
By Tracy Gordon — September 25, 2010
NEW YORK (RNS) Prominent religious, humanitarian and ethical leaders gave mixed grades this week to progress on meeting the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the global yardsticks on fighting poverty. The ambitious goals, established in 2000 with a target date of 2015, include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, reducing child […]
Justice Department: Land-use disputes often involve religious minorities
By Tracy Gordon — September 24, 2010
WASHINGTON (RNS) Religious minorities — especially Muslims — figure prominently in religious freedom investigations by the Justice Department, a new report shows. “Jewish synagogues and schools, African-American churches, and, increasingly, Muslim mosques and schools are particularly vulnerable to discriminatory zoning actions taken by local officials, often under community pressure,” the 14-page report stated. The department […]
AA co-founder scaled back references to God in training manual
By Tracy Gordon — September 24, 2010
(RNS) The basic text used for Alcoholics Anonymous programs, known as “The Big Book,” initially used stronger religious language but was reduced to appeal to a wider audience, The Washington Post is reporting. Hazelden, a nonprofit addiction treatment center, will release the working manuscript of the book written by AA’s co-founder, Bill Wilson, including hand-written […]
Embattled Philadelphia bishop says he won’t resign
By Tracy Gordon — September 24, 2010
(RNS) The embattled Episcopal bishop of Philadelphia is defiantly refusing to resign, saying his three years of “suffering” through various church trials has “strengthened” his ability to lead his diocese. Bishop Charles Bennison was removed from ministry in 2007 after being charged with “conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy.” He was found guilty in […]
Is burning a Quran an insult or intimidation?
By Tracy Gordon — September 23, 2010
(RNS) A few bullet holes may be the difference between a burnt Quran left at a mosque in Knoxville, Tenn., and one left at a mosque in East Lansing, Mich. On Tuesday (Sept. 21), Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings said the man who allegedly left a burnt Quran outside the Islamic Center of Lansing on […]
