(RNS) — At least half of Americans realize that churches feed and clothe the poor but far fewer are aware of other social services that congregations provide, a new study shows. LifeWay Research found that 60 percent of Americans know of churches that have fed the hungry in the last six months. Half knew of instances where they provided clothing to the poor. But scant percentages of the 1,000 Americans surveyed knew that church members teach job skills or help immigrants learn English (13 percent), volunteer to provide foster care (12 percent) or offer tax preparation assistance (8 percent). “Unless you’ve received help from a church — or been involved in serving others — these kinds of programs may fly under the radar,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of the Nashville, Tenn.-based evangelical research firm. About a third of Americans knew of churches’ work to help disaster victims (39 percent) and shelter the homeless (33 percent). But only a quarter were aware of … [Read more...]

LONDON (RNS) — After centuries of wearing flowing robes, cassocks and other vestments, Anglican priests can finally dress down. Under canon law, clergy have to wear traditional robes when holding Communion services, baptisms, weddings or funerals. But following a vote this week at a gathering in York of the General Synod, the Church of England’s ruling body, Anglican priests can now wear lay garments such as a suit instead, so long as their parochial church council agrees. The reasons given for the change included a more informal outlook in British society as a whole, but there is particular concern about young people being alienated by ornate accoutrements. One member of the Archbishop’s Council — the archbishop of Canterbury’s cabinet — also wants the abolition of bishops’ miters. Ian Paul, who writes the blog Psephizo wrote: “To most, and I would suggest especially the young, the sight of bishops in mitres puts them in another world. It is world of the past, a world of … [Read more...]

(RNS) — Residents of Portland and Auburn, Maine, aren’t just living in the far Northeast. They’re in the most “post-Christian” part of the country. So says Barna Group, a California-based firm that conducts research for businesses and Christian institutions. Researchers opted for a different way of measuring the state of belief than asking people to say if they are “Christian.” Those meeting nine or more of 16 criteria were labeled “post-Christian,” or secular. “These factors include whether individuals identify as atheist, have never made a commitment to Jesus, have not attended church in the last year or have not read the Bible in the last week,” Barna said about the study. Barna President David Kinnaman called the research a “more holistic look at the level of secularization of a particular market or city.” In all the top secular-leaning cities, half or more of the respondents met Barna’s secular criteria. After Portland-Auburn, Maine, which ranked first at 57 … [Read more...]