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Church Life
The Chios Rocket War, Where Two Greek Churches Fight With Rockets
Since the 19th century, a pair of rival parishes on the Greek island of Chios have celebrated Easter not with bunnies or eggs, but by launching thousands of flaming projectiles at each other's churches while congregants celebrate Mass inside. (Slate)
Breaking up is hard to do, especially if it's with your church
Whether you’re talking to someone who’s searching for a church, committing to a church or leaving one, the conversation sounds a lot like a love story. In many ways, it is. (AL.com)
Click 'Pray' to Pray: How Evangelical Megapastor Joel Osteen Is Saving Souls With Facebook
Increasingly, the road to Damascus is a hyperlink and the Epistle is a tweet. (HuffPo)
Why Do We Hate the Suburbs?
Here are a few of the most prominent Christian objections to living in the suburbs. How many of them hold up to even a slight bit of scrutiny? (Mere O)
Pastor leaves his flock and a failed expansion project behind him
At first glance, it seems like a tragic but familiar tale of a church getting too ambitious, growing faster than it ought. But Douglas Lay, a former pastor at the church, is among those who tell a different story. (Post-Dispatch)
Discovery Church pastor resigns after admitting to affair
David Loveless is the third pastor of a major Orlando-area church to resign within the past six months because of an affair (The Orlando Sentinel)
For some Baptists, the name of the church is hindrance to saving souls
A growing number of Southern Baptist congregations around the country are quietly moving away from their denomination’s historic namesake — worried that it conjured up images of pipe organs, narrow-mindedness or stuffy, formal services. (The Miami Herald)
Why Going to Church Is Good for You
Going to church is good for your health. The exact reasons are unclear, but there are several likely explanations (T. M. Luhrmann, The New York Times)
Trinity Church in Manhattan Is Split on How to Spend Its Wealth
The parish’s $2 billion in assets have become an issue in the historic congregation, which has been racked by infighting in recent years over whether the church should be spending more money to help the poor and spread the faith, in New York and around the world. (NYT)
Paving Way For John Paul II Sainthood, Vatican Doctors Proclaim Second Miracle
Canonization could occur as early as October. (La Stampa via WorldCrunch)
Denominations
Free Church in plea over 'Wee Frees' nickname
Calling the Free Church of Scotland "Wee Frees" is outdated and offensive, its moderator has said (BBC)
Assemblies of God tends to a rapidly growing flock
The Assemblies of God is the fastest-growing religious body in Minnesota at a time when other Protestant groups are shrinking. (Star Tribune)
Seven in 10 Americans Are Very or Moderately Religious
But Protestant population is shrinking as "unbranded" religion grows. (Gallup)
Catholicism
Pope Upholds Reprimand of Nuns’ Group
Pope Francis reaffirmed a plan to have three bishops supervise an overhaul of the nation’s largest umbrella group of American nuns.
Paving Way For John Paul II Sainthood, Vatican Doctors Proclaim Second Miracle
Canonization could occur as early as October. (La Stampa via WorldCrunch)
Giant John Paul II statute readied for unveiling
The 13.8-meter (45.3-foot) white fiberglass figure will tower over the southern Polish city of Czestochowa (Associated Press)
Megachurches
O.C. megachurch opens in old Boeing site
Eastside Christian Church, led by Gene Appel, paid $20 million for the former Boeing site and an additional $35 million to replace the office cubicles and test floors with concert lighting, a thundering sound system and 1,800 seats (The Orange County Register)
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)
The Singing Tree: How did megachurch Christmas spectaculars get so glitzy?
Hundreds of people! Thousands of lights! Flying angels! Fireworks! Sequins! The megachurch extravaganzas explained. (Slate)
Church Unity
Conservative reach
Conservative Anabaptists from across North America gathered for the first time at a ministry conference a month ago in a meeting seen by some as an indication of growing unity. (MWR)
UMC launches new ecumenical, interfaith office
On any given Sunday, more Christians are attending worship services in China than in the United States or Europe. That is one indicator of the challenges presented by a changing world of ecumenism as the United Methodist Church reorganizes how it addresses issues of Christian unity and relationships with other faiths. (UM Reporter)
Brutal Presbyterian Disunity
Anglicans get plenty of well-deserved attention for their efforts at disunity, but Presbyterians at least deserve an honorary mention in this game.
Clergy
Supreme Court rules that God is above the law
Court ruled that a former Methodist minister could not sue the church for unfair dismissal because, rather than being an employee, she was viewed as a “steward in the household of God”. (Telegraph)
Father Emil Kapaun to get Medal of Honor on April 11
His fellow POWs have lobbied for since the Korean War ended in 1953 (Wichita Eagle)
Myers Park Baptist pastor’s leave speaks to common crisis
In recent years, various groups – including denominations, universities and various centers and institutes – have tried to come to the rescue of clergy burnout. North Carolina is in the forefront of that move. (Charlotte Observer)
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