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On Saturday Green Bay got three more priests, but those at the ordination service were likely doing a double take. Identical twins Ben and Joel Sember have different personalities. Ben thinks he’s a bit more confident but quieter, while Joel believes he’s the more outgoing and friendly Sember. Either way, both have the same passion for the priesthood.Read more of this story..
Intelligently designed and built in a humble garage owned by the parents of co-founder Steve Jobs, the early personal computer begat a family of products that won the hearts and minds of consumers for its user-friendly software, sleek design and an enticing, countercultural ethos.Stories about Apple’s most ardent users and their cultlike devotion to its products are legend. David Kuo, an editor at the religious Web site Beliefnet.com, contended in a blog post that the fervor over the iPhone showed the company had grown into a new religion, "Appleism."Read more of this story.
Diana Butler Bass knows all the gloomy statistics about declining mainline Protestant churches but believes in their future. She studies mainline churches that are thriving to see what sets them apart from those that are dying.Read more of this story.
DENVER — U.S. Roman Catholic bishops began a campaign Wednesday to strengthen the institution of marriage by encouraging spouses to perform simple day-to-day gestures for one another.Read more of this story.Black Church Movement Targets Families.
Think for a moment about your cellphone.How many phone numbers does it have? How many photos?If it were lost, how long would it take you to reconstruct your life? If it were found, how much would you pay to get it back?Read more of this story.
It takes unselfish people to grow a church, says Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in California. “Are you willing to do what is inconvenient for you in order to reach out to others?” he asked the participants attending the Urbana 06 Pastors and Church Leaders track.Read more of this story.
MEDJUGORJE, Bosnia — Nora McNulty, a Scottish grandmother, began climbing the hill at 5:50 a.m., having traveled 1,300 miles in search of something hard to find at home."Everybody is looking for peace, a calmness," she said. "Here I can take my mind off everyday living."Read more of this story.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a noteworthy speech on Saturday before 10,000 members of the United Church of Christ in Hartford, Conn., and every media account I’ve seen has ignored what I see as being the most significant part.Read more of this story.Obama Points to Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes as Models for Faith-Driven Action
NEWS RELEASEWashington, DC – Today, the United States Supreme Court in a 5 to 4 decision, rejected a challenge by a radical separationist advocacy group that sued to stop federal funding of "faith-based programs." The case of Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation challenged funding for federal faith-based programs as a violation of the Establishment Clause. Justice Alito read the Court’s opinion which held that taxpayers cannot challenge actions of the Executive Branch as violations of the Establishment Clause.Read more. Wisconsin State Journal Coverage.
COMMENTARYFor many Americans, Sunday is unlike any other day of the week. They spend its luxurious hours curled up in bed with the paper, meeting friends for brunch, working off hangovers, watching golf, running errands and preparing themselves for the workweek ahead. But Sunday is also, for many, the Sabbath–a special day for religious reasons. Not that you would notice."Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," we are told in Exodus. Of all the gifts Jews gave the world, that of a weekly day of rest is certainly one to be cherished. And yet the Sabbath is now marked…