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One Sunday in late March, Lynette Sparks stood at the altar of a Presbyterian church in upstate New York to sermonize about seven verses from Romans and the notion of transitions. Ms. Sparks talked about the early Christians waiting for divine revelation. She talked about the construction project under way near the sanctuary. She talked, as preachers sometimes do, indirectly about herself.Read more of this story.
WASHINGTON (BP)–A majority in the United States describes itself as pro-life on the abortion issue, marking a substantial change in public opinion in the last year, according to a new Gallup Poll.The survey results released May 15 showed 51 percent of adults said they are pro-life, while 42 percent identified themselves as pro-choice. It is the first time a majority of Americans have called themselves pro-life since Gallup began asking the question in 1995. Until now, no poll had shown more than 46 percent saying they are pro-life.
At 26, Joshua Dubois has already rubbed shoulders with more religious leaders than most religious leaders will in their lifetime. And he’s starting to do a lot more of the same as President Obama’s director of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.Read more of this story.
The entire population of evangelical Christians in the West Bank and Gaza could fit into one large church in the United States, one pastor from Jerusalem realized after a recent visit to the U.S.Read more of this story. Mideast’s Christians Declining in Influence – New York Times
The Rev. Mel Lawrenz, who helped extend the mission of Elmbrook Church in the Town of Brookfield from a single mega-church to a network of 13 congregations across the Milwaukee area, will retire as senior pastor next year to devote more time to Elmbrook’s global missions.Read more of this story.
WASHINGTON—The American bishop who heads the Vatican’s supreme court slammed President Obama Friday (May 8) for pursuing an “anti-life and anti-family agenda” and called the University of Notre Dame’s plans to honor him this month “the greatest scandal.” Archbishop Raymond Burke, who led the archdiocese of St. Louis until he was named prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura by Pope Benedict XVI last June, is known as a forceful critic of public figures who support abortion rights and gay marriage. Read more of this story.White House’s new GLBT language – The Brody File – CBN NewsObama to give…
Religious conservatives are more generous and altruistic than the rest of the country. At least that’s the central thesis of Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism, a 2006 book by Arthur Brooks, who heads the American Enterprise Institute.But Robert Putnam, the author of Bowling Alone and of the forthcoming book American Grace, says Brooks has it only half right.Read more of this story.
Why Tullian Tchividjian, the grandson of the Most Admired Man in America, thinks Christians need to become unfashionable.America’s most fashionable city fits Tullian Tchividjian like a glove. Tchividjian, 36, grew up in South Florida and exudes Miami’s cosmopolitan, comfortable cool. He relishes the region’s multicultural mix and loves to surf when he can find the time in his busy schedule as pastor of New City Church in Coconut Creek. When preaching in the summer heat, Tchividjian leaves the top of his shirt unbuttoned. This is not the kind of town that expects its pastors to suffer in dark suits.Read more…
May 7, 2009 — Although President Obama did not host a National Day of Prayer observance, two African-American ministers prayed outside the White House , even though it led to their arrest. Read more of this story.
COMMENTARY Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota is a congregation of the more conservative Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. It is not unusual these days to find families leaving the ELCA to join the church. However, a new member’s class at Bethlehem Lutheran is an unusual place to find young men from the ELCA’s Luther Seminary in Saint Paul. Pastor of the Church, Robert Krueger, says that he sees more ELCA students coming to his traditional and liturgical congregation. “They all have expressed a disappointment in the direction the ELCA is going, and its general disregard for the Bible…