In a Vatican Whodunit, a Punch Line of a Suspect An on-again, off-again scandal burst into the open with the arrest of Pope Benedict XVI's butler, suspected of leaking private letters addressed to the pope. (The New York Times)
Maine churches raising money to fight gay marriage Scores of Maine churches will pass the collection plate a second time at Sunday services on Father's Day to kick off a fundraising campaign for the lead opposition group to November's ballot question asking voters to legalize same-sex marriages. (Associated Press)
41%, a record low: Pro-choice view slides in Gallup polling Forty-one percent of Americans identify themselves as pro-choice -- marking a drop of 6 percent since July and the lowest percentage since Gallup began asking the public in 1995 to self-identify as pro-choice or pro-life. (Baptist Press)
Dismissal votes shear a third of Mississippi Presbytery’s members Unlike some PCUSA presbyteries, which have expelled pastors and filed lawsuits against churches seeking to leave, Mississippi has opted to make the process friendlier, officials say. (The Layman Online)
Concord: City wins church tax fight The church appealed the bill to the state tax appeals board, losing there in 2011, and then to the high court. Its lawyers argued that the entire church was eligible for a tax exemption as a house of worship and that the city wasn't empowered to decide, room by room, which parts of a church were and were not religious. (Concord Monitor)
Obama could have a prayer among Ohio's white evangelicals A recent gathering of religious leaders in Ohio indicates that churches don't necessarily march in lock step with the Republican Party. But certain social issues could still make it a tough sell for the president. (Los Angeles Times)
Colin Powell endorses gay marriage 'I don't see any reason not to say that [same-sex couples] should be able to get married." (Politico)
Ancient Bethlehem seal unearthed in Jerusalem Eli Shukron, the authority's director of excavations, said the find was significant because it is the first time the name "Bethlehem" appears outside of a biblical text from that period. (AP)
Southern Baptist committee head resigns in Richard Land ethics case In a move announced Tuesday, the Rev. Steve Faith, a retired pastor from New Albany, Ind., stepped down as chairman of the trustee board for the Nashville-based Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. (The Tennessean)
Scholarship Funds, Meant for Needy, Benefit Private Schools While the scholarship programs have helped many children whose parents would have to scrimp or work several jobs to send them to private schools, the money has also been used to attract star football players, expand the payrolls of the nonprofit scholarship groups and spread the theology of creationism. (NYT)
State Supreme Court rules 'personhood' initiative petition void The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Monday ruled that an initiative petition to have personhood declared at conception is void and called the measure unconstitutional. As a result, it will not appear on the ballot. (Tulsa World)
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to Resign at End of Year The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, announced on Friday that he will step down at the end of year to take up a position as master of Cambridge University’s Magdalene College. (The New York Times)
Sarah Palin's letter from God In her email Palin imagines a letter from God to the family about to launch on its challenging child-rearing experience together. (Los Angeles Times)
Minister's Path of Miracles The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez helped oversee a shift of Latino voters, disillusioned with the Republican Party over failed immigration reform, toward the Democratic Party in the November election. (The Washington Post)
Invoking a Presidential Revelatory Moment The discussion of evil at the Saddleback forum gave Americans a valuable glimpse into the president-elect’s soul--and quite possibly into their own (Peter Steinfels, The New York Times)
Controversial church with Southern Baptist ties moves headquarters to Louisville The Sovereign Grace Ministries relocation announcement comes just two days after an independent panel — brought in to review the conflicts surrounding leader C. J. Mahaney — faulted the group for an overemphasis on sin and a lack of emphasis on God’s grace and forgiveness. (Courier Journal)
Kentucky church sued over youth minister's deadly mistake Nobody would dispute that youth minister Derek Coulter committed a horribly irresponsible crime three years ago when he let a 13-year-old drive his SUV after a camp-out, resulting in an accident in which the boy died. But a jury will be asked to decide a more vexing question: Should the Big Springs Assembly of God church, Coulter’s former employer, be responsible for his misconduct and for Jamie’s death?
Maine churches raising money to fight gay marriage Scores of Maine churches will pass the collection plate a second time at Sunday services on Father's Day to kick off a fundraising campaign for the lead opposition group to November's ballot question asking voters to legalize same-sex marriages. (Associated Press)
Obama could have a prayer among Ohio's white evangelicals A recent gathering of religious leaders in Ohio indicates that churches don't necessarily march in lock step with the Republican Party. But certain social issues could still make it a tough sell for the president. (Los Angeles Times)
Colin Powell endorses gay marriage 'I don't see any reason not to say that [same-sex couples] should be able to get married." (Politico)
Southern Baptist committee head resigns in Richard Land ethics case In a move announced Tuesday, the Rev. Steve Faith, a retired pastor from New Albany, Ind., stepped down as chairman of the trustee board for the Nashville-based Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. (The Tennessean)
Romney's Faith: Silent, but Deep While Mitt Romney has said little about his Mormon faith on the campaign trail, people who know him well call it a huge influence on his conduct and worldview. (The New York Times)
Monitor: What would Jesus hack? Cybertheology: Just how much does Christian doctrine have in common with the open-source software movement? (The Economist)
News: Fall From Grace Readers of The Banner, the publication of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, reacted instantly to the news in January that two religion professors at Calvin College had written scholarly papers suggesting that evidence of genetics and evolution raised questions about the traditional, literal reading of Genesis about creation, the story of Adam and Eve, and the fall of humanity out of an initial idyllic state. (Inside Higher Ed)
Evangelicals Without Blowhards Some televangelists have given evangelical Christians a bad reputation among progressives. But there’s another strain of evangelicals, extraordinary for their generosity and compassion. (Nicholas Kristof)
Reverend John Stott dies aged 90 The Rev John Stott, who helped lead a resurgence of evangelicalism in Britain, has died at the age of 90. (BBC)
Opinion: Bad Christian Art I’m convinced that bad art derives, like bad literary theory, from bad theology. (Tony Woodlief, Image)
Forces mobilize over proposed Florida amendment It sounds as appealing as apple pie: ensuring religious freedom. In reality, a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution facing the state's voters is a much more complicated, and combustible, combination of religion and politics. (Orlando Sentinel)
Obama administration says San Diego cross should stay The solicitor general, in an appeal to the Supreme Court, says the government should not be required to remove a war memorial atop Mt. Soledad because it is not an endorsement of religion. (Los Angeles Times)
Interfaith event traces views of salvation It isn’t every day that a prominent evangelical pastor stands up in a Tulsa Jewish synagogue and proclaims that the historical Jesus was the long-promised Jewish Messiah, the only way to God. (Tulsa World)
In the Footsteps of the Apostles They were unlikely leaders. As the Bible tells it, most knew more about mending nets than winning converts when Jesus said he would make them "fishers of men." Yet 2,000 years later, all over the world, the Apostles are still drawing people in. (National Geographic)
Denver Theology on Tap inspires controversy, venue change Bar tells organizers to find a new location after Bishop Conley's talk on “Atheocracy and the Battle for Religious Liberty in America" prompts protest from bar staff (Catholic News Agency)
Rev. Franklin Graham gets involved in "Justice for Trayvon" During a meeting Tuesday at the Billy Graham Library, evangelist Franklin Graham agreed to partner with the national NAACP in its efforts to fight for justice for slain Orlando teen Trayvon Martin. (WSOC-TV)
Are We Born With Some Notion of an Eye for an Eye? Our research shows that by 8 months of age, infants prefer to play with puppets who treat bad individuals badly, even over those who treat bad individuals well. (J. Kiley Hamlin, Science and Religion Today)
Bishops Criticize Tough Alabama Immigration Law A group of church leaders has formally denounced Alabama's new immigration law, calling it mean-spirited and un-Christian, and has vowed not to obey it. (The New York Times)
Opinion: Hiroshima’s lessons What the Air Force should remember about Just War and nuclear weapons. -(Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, The Washington Post)
Give us our daily passage: Reading Bible tied to social justice issues a new study by Baylor University researcher Aaron Franzen found frequent Bible reading predicted greater support for issues ranging from the compatibility of science and religion to more humane treatment of criminals (Ahead of the Trend, ARDA)
How much Christianity is hidden in British society? As Lent starts, the debate over secularism v cultural Christianity is raging. But just how much of British culture is inspired by religion, (Stephen Tomkins, BBC)
Many say 'So What?' to God, religion, atheism "The real dirty little secret of religiosity in America is that there are so many people for whom spiritual interest, thinking about ultimate questions, is minimal" (USA Today)
Religious but not spiritual: The high costs of ignoring personal piety Even though research shows spiritually alive churches are the most likely to grow, the percentage of U.S. congregations reporting high spiritual vitality declined from 43 percent in 2005 to 28 percent in 2010, according to the latest Faith Communities Today survey (Ahead of the Trend, ARDA)
Opinion: When Spirituality Kills How should society regulate New Age gurus or Christian Scientists? (Mitch Horowitz, The Wall Street Journal)
A Rabbi in the Wilderness Jamie Korngold has earned the right to be called an "Adventure Rabbi" both for her athleticism and her mission to use the outdoors to help Jews connect with their spirituality. (The Wall Street Journal)
Trust in the Lord…But Check Out the Church ways to make sure your donation goes to the right place and what else should you consider before giving to your church or other house of worship. (Wall Street Journal)
Parting With the Parsonage Many clergy members are opting to receive a housing stipend, which gives them the freedom to choose a place of their own to rent or buy.
PBS movie on Amish faced many hurdles PBS filmmakers spent a year on "The Amish," getting to know the people and building trust that they weren't looking to exploit the church. They learned their way around the restrictions (Associated Press)
How much Christianity is hidden in British society? As Lent starts, the debate over secularism v cultural Christianity is raging. But just how much of British culture is inspired by religion, (Stephen Tomkins, BBC)
The Year of Magical Stinking: An Oral History of Tebow Time Not even Jesus can save his passing game, and yet Tim Tebow somehow dominated the league last season, captivating Denver and much of this God-fearing nation with his messianic confidence and fourth-quarter miracle work. Michael Silver talks to the kid's coaches, teammates, and opponents and asks them: How did he do that, and will it ever happen again? (GQ)
For Tim Tebow, an Example Set Long Ago - NYTimes.com At the orphanage his father founded as part of his missionary work in the Philippines, the children still toss around a football Tim Tebow left for them. (The New York Times)
Diversity rising: Census shows Mormons, nondenominational churches, Muslims spreading out across U.S. The 2010 U.S. Religion Census, released today on the Association of Religion Data Archives, found that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gained the most regular members in the last 10 years, growing by nearly 2 million to a total of 6.14 million adherents in 13,600 congregations. (The ARDA)
Holy High Roller When New Destiny picked Paula White to rebuild the megachurch’s congregation in the wake of Zachery Tims’ mysterious death, it put its faith in the jet-setting preacher’s redeeming qualities. (Orlando Magazine)
Tebow Draws Thousands to an Easter Service in Texas Tim Tebow fans embraced the opportunity to don their new Jets finery and celebrate Easter with him at an outdoor service that drew thousands of worshipers Sunday in Georgetown, Tex. (The New York Times)
Why I want all our children to read the King James Bible The good book should be read as a great work of literature – but it is not a guide to morality, as the education secretary Michael Gove would have us believe (Richard Dawkins, Guardian)
R.A. Dickey Joins Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin for a New York God Squad of Underdogs The New York Mets knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey has the most captivating story of the three, which he has penned in a page-turning memoir of sexual abuse, a marriage on the rocks, a near-drowning, and heaps and heaps of redemptive baseball reflection. (Bleacher Report)
Kenyan govt to work closely with church The Government and the Church have a collaborative role in tackling social ills and economically empowering communities, President Mwai Kibaki has said (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation)
YWAM Missionary Murdered in Kenya Charisma News has just learned that a Youth with a Mission (YWAM) missionary was murdered in Kenya just hours ago. (Charisma)
Religious Space for Crowded Schools: Godsend or Trouble? While the city tries to exorcise the influence of religion from the public school system by evicting churches that rent school space for worship services, it’s sending thousands of children to spaces rented from parochial institutions, where students often walk past crosses and other religious images to get to their secular classrooms. (NYT)
Scholarship Funds, Meant for Needy, Benefit Private Schools While the scholarship programs have helped many children whose parents would have to scrimp or work several jobs to send them to private schools, the money has also been used to attract star football players, expand the payrolls of the nonprofit scholarship groups and spread the theology of creationism. (NYT)
Why I want all our children to read the King James Bible The good book should be read as a great work of literature – but it is not a guide to morality, as the education secretary Michael Gove would have us believe (Richard Dawkins, Guardian)
College Students Opening Up Conversations About Sex This year, a new group called Undergraduates for a Better Yale College began offering an alternative to Sex Week called True Love Week. (The New York Times)
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