As noted earlier in ChristianityToday.com Weblog, the Air Force deputy chief of chaplains, Brig. Gen. Lorraine K. Potter made a comment that African-American chaplains are good preachers, but poor at staff work. An official Air Force report says, "Analysis of that testimony using the preponderance of the evidence standard shows that [Gen. Potter] did not make an unlawful discriminatory remark." The report also noted that "recall of specific words and context varied greatly between witnesses."

Whether or not debates over homosexuality tear the United Methodist Church apart at its quadrennial general conference this week, writes Chicago Tribune religion writer Steve Kloehn, they certainly threaten to make the denomination look more a lot less like the Body of Christ. "Outside Cleveland's convention center, the Methodists' big-tent approach to Christianity threatens to wind up looking like a circus tent," he says. "Hundreds of protesters have vowed to perform acts of civil disobedience on Wednesday, seeking to be arrested, while others will parade oversized banners and perform street theater, with songs and chants for every imaginable stance on the issue." And the lobbying involved rivals any political machinery.

"I want to be a bishop for everyone," says Leo Frade, 56. "I won't come here only to minister to one specific ethnic group. When people ask me if I feel Cuban or if I feel American, I say I feel Anglican, I feel Christian. That is what defines me, being a follower of Christ. It just happens that I was born in Cuba."