- Former Lakeland Revival leader Todd Bentley married former intern Jessa Hasbrook after divorcing his wife, Shonnah, according to a statement released in early March by MorningStar Ministries founder Rick Joyner. Bentley is currently in a healing process with Joyner to prepare to reenter the ministry, a move criticized by Charisma editor J. Lee Grady.
- Oral Roberts University and Joyce Meyer Ministries were both accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability on March 12. The school and the ministry had both been under scrutiny for allegedly spending money injudiciously.
- A Vatican-sponsored evolution conference in Rome drew criticism from the Discovery Institute, an intelligent design think tank, for not inviting speakers representing the intelligent design movement, which holds that complex life forms are proof of creation by an intelligent higher power. The conference was held in honor of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and intelligent design scientists did not fit in the program, organizers said.
- The national headquarters of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Louisville, Kentucky, is enforcing weeklong unpaid furloughs in May for the majority of its staff—likely more than 300 of its 400 employees—and instituting a salary freeze for 2010. A furlough was one of the budget cuts most frequently suggested by employees, the denomination said in a statement.
- Academy Award-winning Jewish actress Elizabeth Taylor, 77, donated $100,000 to the Santa Barbara, California-based Alliance for Christian Education. The actress said she was inspired by President Obama’s call to break down barriers. The donation will fund scholarships to a high school in the alliance.
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