For the first time in a decade, there’s a new lawsuit leader. (By Kate Shellnutt, Christianity Today). Child abuse is no longer the most common reason that churches go to court. For more than a decade, sexual abuse of a minor was the No. 1 legal matter involving US congregations. It made up more than 1…
(By Jennifer Berry Hawes and Adam Parker, The Post and Courier, SC). In a highly anticipated ruling, the South Carolina State Supreme Court decided Wednesday that 29 parishes whose congregations left The Episcopal Church in 2012 can’t take their valuable properties with them, a decision that could set the stage for a massive exchange of historic…
Can you be a Christian and a Scientologist? This emerged as the sticking question during my visit to a Scientology church in Clearwater, Florida. I’ll talk to anyone about anything and I’m interested in the truth. So, when Karen, a Scientologist for more than 40 years, called the radio show to confront my use of…
Fuller Theological Seminary has announced that it will be closing its regional campuses in Seattle, Menlo Park, and Orange County. It also will discontinue offering the MDiv, MAT, MATM, and MAICS degree programs in Phoenix, however the MFT program at Phoenix will continue to be offered. The closings, pending the approval of the Association of…
In Colorado, cake artist Jack Phillips declined to bake a specialty cake for a same-sex wedding. Why? Well, Jack Phillips is a Christian and the “what would Jesus do” question is real for him. That leads us to ask what Joy Behar asked Jack Phillips during an episode of The View last month. “Would Jesus have baked…
(By Jeffrey Walton, Juicy Ecumenism). More than 250 million Christians are suffering persecution of some kind around the world today, according to Baroness Caroline Cox of the U.K.-based Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART). Many live under the oppression of Communism, fundamentalist Hinduism, political Buddhism and, above all, militant Islam. Cox spoke June 30 before 1,400 clergy,…
Institutional trust continues to decline in surveys, but religious organizations still rank high. (By Kate Shellnutt, Christianity Today). While Americans’ confidence in various institutions dips, the church remains in relatively high regard—especially among Christians and Republicans. According to Pew Research Center, Americans view the impact of religious institutions more positively than colleges, labor unions, banks,…
(By Walter Fenton, Good News). Writing to churches and clergy in the Iowa Annual Conference about financial challenges the conference faces, new Bishop Laurie Haller wrote, “Some of our clergy and congregations are making the decision to withhold apportionment payments to protest those who advocate for full inclusion of LGBTQ people in The United Methodist Church….
(By John Lomperis, Juicy Ecumenism). [On Friday, July 7, 2017] I and others received official notification that our denomination’s [the United Methodist Church] supreme court, the Judicial Council, had unanimously decided to reject the request from the Western Jurisdiction bishops to reverse their April ruling against the attempt by this increasingly schismatic, numerically tiny region of…
(By Michael Lipka, Pew Research Center). Perhaps the most striking trend in American religion in recent years has been the growing percentage of adults who do not identify with a religious group. And the vast majority of these religious “ nones ” (78%) say they were raised as a member of a particular religion before shedding their…