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1. Ireland not very Catholic now, says Chicago Tribune
At a Dublin Catholic church, the Chicago Tribune's Tom Hundley writes, "you might expect to see Father O'Sullivan at the altar. Or perhaps Father O'Reilly or Father O'Flaherty. Father Owuamanam comes as a bit of a surprise." Ireland isn't turning out enough priests to minister to its churches, the paper reports, so it's importing them from places like Nigeria. But soon it might not be a problem: there might be dramatically fewer churches. "As recently as the 1970s, 90 percent of the Irish identified themselves as Catholic and almost the same number went to mass at least once a week; now the figure for mass attendance is closer to 25 percent, according to church officials in Dublin," Hundley reports. His chronicle of the reasons behind the exodus are worth reading—and adding to prayer lists. (One unanswered question is whether Ireland is becoming secular, or whether at least some of those Catholics are turning to evangelical Protestantism, as seems to be happening in Boston.)

2. Billy Graham preaches in Baltimore
You know the song—one of our favorites—so everybody sing along: Billy preached what may be his last public sermon to tens of thousands, and about four percent responded to his invitation to commit their lives to Jesus. His sermon drew heavily upon Scripture and pop culture references, and contained numerous allusions to whether his listeners were prepared for death. It's a great song, isn't it?

3. Church of England votes to allow female bishops
It's "a huge change in centuries of policy for a church that ordained its first female priest just 12 years ago," The New York Times explains. The vote itself argued, in essence, just the opposite: that ordaining women as bishops is "consonant with the faith of the Church." The Telegraph and The Guardian emphasize that the vote could damage the church's relations with the Vatican, while The Times says "traditionalists" in the church "are preparing for a possible breakaway over women bishops by taking legal advice on whether they could claim property worth more than £1 billion." Nigerian Anglicans are apparently upset about the synod's decision.

4. Rob Bell, cool dude
The New York Times's kingmaking story on Rob Bell and his current preaching tour is certainly an important read, not least because it guarantees that you'll be seeing his name much more frequently in the near future. And it also captures the zeitgeist of post-evangelical evangelicalism. Here's a section from near the end of the piece:

At the Chicago performance, a middle-aged Tom Fell and his friends were left cold.

"I thought it was very creative, but if it was targeted at Christians, he missed the point," said Mr. Fell, who considers Mr. Bell a celebrity preacher. "When I was 18, we'd get high and talk about stuff like that."

His friend John Duval, 42, agreed. "He didn't tell us how to go out and be disciples," Mr. Duval said.

But Alex Beh, 23, who lined up an hour early for the performance, said it had left him exhilarated.

"It's more like Jesus' teaching than the church's teaching," said Mr. Beh, adding: "I loved that there was beer available. The church needs to go more in that direction, more culture-friendly rather than sectarian, or dividing people."

5. Who hears God?
Kudos to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for examining the theological—not merely the political—issues involved in the intra-Christian debates on hearing God's voice outside of Scripture. "People of faith often talk about hearing God's voice in a dramatic situation or being led by an inner voice or a divine sign," John Blake writes. He continues:

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July (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50