2 of 14

4. Pastor pleads guilty to felonies, denies his critics Communion
Here's one of those stories that's so outrageous, it's amazing it's not getting more circulation. Macedonia Baptist Church senior pastor John Henry Walker confessed to nine felony charges last week, including tax evasion, bank fraud, and lying to federal authorities. Then he preached on Sunday. And then, according to The Charlotte Observer, he denied Communion to church members that had been publicly critical of him when his misdeeds were made public.

5. Protest called off after Mark Driscoll apologizes
Mars Hill Church pastor Mark Driscoll has been under a fair bit of scrutiny after writing a Ted Haggard-related blog post on the role of pastors and their wives in avoiding sexual temptation. There was, in fact, a protest planned for Sunday at his Seattle church. But in a meeting with protest organizers and other local church leaders, Driscoll apologized, and the protest was called off.

"My theological convictions, even the most controversial ones, are as unwavering as ever," Driscoll says in a new blog post. "But I also learned that as my platform has grown, so has my responsibility to speak about my convictions in a way that invites other people to experience charity from me, which means inflammatory language and such need to be scaled back. I was also sad and sorry to hear that various things I have said over the years have been received very personally by some people who felt personally attacked."

Quote of the day
"I've got two friends here: a Republican and a Democrat. Why? Because you've got to have two wings to fly."

—Rick Warren, telling attendees at his Saddleback Church AIDS conference that they should listen to both Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

Wallis gives Democratic radio address | Church and state | Politics & law | Life ethics | Warren and Obama | Qur'an oath | Islam and Christianity | Pope Benedict in Turkey | Malaysia | China | Religious freedom | Christmas tea in N.H. | Christmas | Advent | Church life | Catholicism | Anglicanism | Same-sex marriage | More sexual ethics | Ted Haggard | Los Angeles abuse settlement | More abuse cases | Crime | Money and business | Media & entertainment | Atheism | Books | Art | Travel | History | Spirituality | People | Missions & ministry | Jews for Jesus | Education | Evolution | Evangelicals and Pentecostals | Other stories of interest

Wallis gives Democratic radio address:

• Democrats tap religious leader for radio talk | Democrats turned to an evangelical Christian to give their weekly radio address on Saturday, citing a desire to avoid partisanship after last month's elections that gave them control of Congress (Reuters)
  
  
• Rev. Wallis: Dems, GOP must cooperate | Democrats and Republicans should work together to find new ways to end poverty, curb government corruption and strengthen families, Rev. Jim Wallis said Saturday in weekly Democratic radio address (Associated Press)
  
  
• Transcript: Democrats' weekly radio response | What Wallis said (via Fox News)
  
  

Back to index

Church and state:

• Justices to decide if citizens may challenge White House's religion-based initiative | A lower court had blocked a lawsuit challenging conferences the Bush administration's religion-based initiative holds for the purpose of teaching religious organizations how to compete for federal grants (The New York Times)
  
  

next page... |  2 of 14

share this page

December (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50