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WASHINGTON (RNS) Under the bright stage lights, Daniel Staddon, an 18-year-old home-schooler from Salem, W.Va., squeezed his eyes shut as he methodically recited verse after verse from the Bible at the inaugural National Bible Bee. The concentration technique came in handy as he recited the first 20 verses of the fifth chapter of Ephesians and the 21 verses of Psalm 145 in the tie-breaker round on the stage of the JW Marriott Hotel ballroom. His skills paid off big-time, earning Staddon first place and a $100,000 prize.
LEIPZIG, Germany — St. Nikolai Evangelical Lutheran Church hasn’t changed much since the 16th century. Bach once played the organ here and the music remains alluring, but it is the church’s more recent history in the last days of the Cold War and its role in the fall of the Berlin Wall that draw tourists today.
West Allis — Less than two weeks before the release of her memoir "Going Rogue," former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was on message during a Friday night speech to anti-abortion activists at State Fair Park."Let’s simplify, we’re pro children," Palin told thousands of people who attended a $30-a-ticket fund-raiser for the Wisconsin Right to Life Education Fund.
On a Wednesday in late October, I and six other pastors and chaplains who have worked with Wisconsin Air National Guard (ANG) personnel were invited to join a refueling mission hosted by the Milwaukee based 128th Air Refueling Wing of the United States Air Force.
FORT HOOD, Texas (BP)–About a dozen Southern Baptist chaplains stationed at Fort Hood in central Texas began ministering in the aftermath of a shooting on post Nov. 5 that has left 13 people dead and 30 wounded.Also in the area, Southern Baptist churches rallied to pray for the victims and offer assistance.
Instead of helping poor people with charity that will eventually run out, it is more effective to lift people out of poverty through microfinance, says a Christian poverty expert. “If we give individuals food for today, what will happen tomorrow? They’re going to be hungry. If we give individuals clothes for today, they’re eventually going to wear out,” said Peter Greer, co-author of the new book The Poor Will Be Glad.
(RNS) In the world of faith-based social networking, evangelical Christian leader Mark Oestreicher commanded a huge chunk of cyberspace. Known as “Marko,” the technological hipster amassed 4,000 Facebook friends, 1,500 Twitter followers and 2,000 daily readers of his blog. But then he decided he’d had enough—and unplugged from his online circle of friends.
Planned Parenthood has been a part of Abby Johnson’s life for the past eight years; that is until last month, when Abby resigned. Johnson said she realized she wanted to leave, after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure.Johnson said she was told to bring in more women who wanted abortions, something the Episcopalian church goer recently became convicted about.
EDMOND, Okla. | Sunlight through a tall stained-glass window reflects off a donated casket as 350 people came to pay tribute to Dwite Morgan’s 54 years on earth. To hear First Christian Church senior pastor Chris Shorow tell it, Mr. Morgan was a fixture in this affluent Oklahoma City suburb — a man with a life worth celebrating … even if he was homeless and frequented the church’s free-breakfast program.
Influential conservative leader James Dobson is planning to go off the air, his ministry reported Friday. In an announcement, Focus on the Family announced Dobson’s intention to remove himself as the primary radio voice of his daily radio broadcast at the end of February but made clear that the move was not prompted by health concerns.