Browse Archives
Check out news and opinion posts across the years
Vamos a la Iglesia … TravelBlog 2
Sunday in El Salvador was an all-day affair of visiting churches and meeting students who benefit from scholarships provided by Calvary Baptist Church's Shalom Fund. The fund provides tuition for about 10 university...
Study: Teens Leave Churches Seen as Judgmental, Unfriendly
(RNS) Why do young Christians leave the church? New research by the Barna Group finds they view churches as judgmental, overprotective, exclusive and unfriendly towards doubters. They also consider congregations...
GOP Campaigns Court Values Voters at D.C. Summit
WASHINGTON (RNS) Several GOP presidential candidates sought to kick-start their stalling campaigns on Friday (Oct. 7) by preaching a gospel of low taxes and conservative Christian values to a summit of Tea Partiers,...
New Orleans Bids Adieu to Legendary Archbishop
NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Thousands of mourners paid their final respects Thursday (Oct. 6) to legendary Archbishop Philip M. Hannan as his casket was slowly lowered beneath the sanctuary of St. Louis Cathedral to rest near...
Pro-Perry SBC Pastor Attacks Romney, Mormons
At an influential gathering of conservative Christian activists, a prominent Southern Baptist pastor endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry for president and then attacked the religious beliefs of one of Perry's main...
Panelists Urge Repair of Broken Immigration System
A Catholic priest told an ecumenical gathering at the First Baptist Church of Raleigh, N.C., for a screening of the documentary "Gospel Without Borders" that his faith tradition's social teachings call for a good...
Why Our Churches Are Filled with “Ill” People
My grandmother often used a word to describe herself or other people. It was the word "ill." She did not use it to describe someone who was sick with a cold or the flu. She used it to describe an attitude, demeanor or...
El Salvador … Travelblog 1
The plane seemed to float on the heavy air as it passed over a bank of jagged mountains, made a big U-turn over the ocean, and skimmed the sugarcane fields south of the San Salvador airport. After two hours on the...
Old scrolls, new view
You may or may not have seen recent news indicating that a partnership between the Israel Museum and Google Israel is making high-resolution images of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls available online. If you didn't...
Fair Tax Isn’t Fair to Lower, Middle Incomes
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain was interviewed Oct. 2 on "Fox News Sunday" and on "This Week." Cain was chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza from 1986-96. From 1995-96, he also was chairman of the board...
Without Compromise, U.S. Will Continue to Crumble
Editor's note: The column below is excerpted from the Rosh Hashanah sermon by Rabbi Fred Guttman at Temple Emanuel in Greensboro, N.C. This past summer during the debt crisis, I happened to hear Jackson Browne's...
Anti-Immigration Law Harms Georgia’s Farmers
Georgia's newly adopted anti-immigration law is credited with driving undocumented migrants from the state and costing the agricultural industry almost $400 million. "Georgia's economy is projected to shrink by $391...
Chosen People, Chosen Ways
A sermon delivered by Randy Hyde, Pastor, Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., on October 2, 2011. Exodus 20:1-21; Philippians 3:4b-14 They’ve been at this for about three months now. Actually, the word...
Beer, Wine not on Church’s List of Immoral Investments
BERLIN (RNS) New guidelines issued by Germany’s largest Protestant body advised parishioners to not invest in companies that make hard liquor, while beer and wine producers are fine. The guidelines, issued by the...
Civil Rights Icon Fred Shuttlesworth Dies at 89
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (RNS) The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, the driving force behind the Birmingham integration efforts that energized the national civil rights movement, died Wednesday (Oct. 5) at age 89. Shuttlesworth...
God’s Wisdom
A sermon delivered by Keith Herron, Pastor, Holmeswood Baptist Church, Kansas City Mo., on October 2, 2011. Exodus 20:1-20 Proverbs rule the day. They have the power to shape our thoughts and are the sound bytes of the...
Dead Cleric’s Videos May Find Eternal Life Online
(RNS) Radical American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki may be dead, but the power of the Internet means he won’t soon be forgotten. And that, experts say, could make him just as dangerous dead as he was alive....
The Proper Value of Our Past
A sermon delivered by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, Farmville Baptist Church, Farmville, Va., on October 2, 2011. Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost Philippians 3:4b-14 How many of you have had to create a resume as part of a...
Imitating Christ
A sermon delivered by Michael Cheuk, Pastor, Farmville Baptist Church, Farmville, Va., on September 25, 201 Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost Philippians 2:1-16 Who do you think is the greatest person of all time? What...
Chief Rabbis Show Support for Burned Israeli Mosque
JERUSALEM (RNS) Israel’s chief rabbis are among the Jews in Israel and abroad who have strongly condemned an arson attack on a mosque in northern Israel. The rabbis made a solidarity visit to the Israeli Arab village...
Dalai Lama Calls Off Trip for Tutu’s Birthday After Visa Standoff
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (RNS) An invitation to an 80th birthday party rarely causes ripples—unless it’s the Dalai Lama who’s trying to attend birthday festivities for fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond...