HUNT, TEXAS — A decision by the Mo-Ranch Conference Center in Texas to allow an Islamic group to hold a retreat last month for Muslim teenagers drew a storm of criticism from some local Christians.
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The Southern Poverty Law Center is adding the Family Research Council and four other conservative religious organizations to its list of hate groups because of “falsehoods” in their anti-gay statements.
Leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have spoken out against a proposed immigration bill the Kentucky legislature is considering, sending a letter saying it would not hold national meetings or conventions in Kentucky if the strict Arizona-style legislation were passed.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is asking a Kentucky court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a man who alleges that he was a teenage victim of sexual abuse at a Presbyterian-run hostel in Africa in 1988, contending that the man did not file the lawsuit before the statute of limitations expired.
The More Light Presbyterians (MLP) recently placed an ad in The Presbyterian Outlook summarizing the change of mind experienced by Arlo Duba regarding ordination standards. Duba, Professor of Worship Emeritus, retired Dean of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, and PC(USA) Minister of Word and Sacrament, used to oppose the ordination of LGBT person, but now supports it.
LOUISVILLE — Cynthia Bolbach, moderator of the 219th General Assembly (2010) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has appointed the members of the last two special committees called for by last summer’s assembly.
Samuel Shamba Warlick, who had been accused of sexually abusing children of Presbyterian missionaries in the Congo in the 1980s, was arrested in suburban Orlando Jan. 14 on federal charges of possessing and distributing child pornography. If convicted, Warlick could face up to 30 years in prison.
BANGALORE (ENInews) — Churches in Pakistan have expressed frustration over the government's refusal to amend a controversial blasphemy law, as urged by Pope Benedict XVI and protesting civil rights activists.
LOUISVILLE – Officials at Ecumenical News International (ENInews) in Geneva have announced the appointment of veteran North American journalist Solange De Santis as interim editor of the news agency while a search is launched for a new editor who will oversee the operation for the remainder of 2011.
LOUISVILLE – The need to minister to the ever-growing population of Spanish-speaking people in the south central United States has resulted in a collaborative lay training program organized by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
LOUISVILLE – Top leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have sent a letter to the denomination’s partner church in Egypt expressing their “anguish” over the New Year’s Day terrorist bombing of a Coptic church in Alexandria.
Presbyterian pastor and hymn writer, Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, has released two hymn texts for congregations wanting to sing an appropriate hymn in worship services following the tragedy in Tucson last weekend (see story in news section of this Web site or by clicking here).
Washington, D.C. (ENInews/RNS) — Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas was thousands of miles away from the shooting rampage that rocked his Arizona diocese on January 8 but the emotional shock hit him hard.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (RNS) — About half of Muslims surveyed worldwide believe the West does not respect them, according to a new Gallup report, and many say not desecrating the Quran and portraying more “accurate” Muslim movie characters could improve a strained relationship.
SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) — For Mormons – or anyone else – who might be wondering, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes no stand on drinking Coca-Cola.
ROME (ENInews) — The head of the World Council of Churches in his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI has said he wants to strengthen cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (RNS) — First Lady Michelle Obama has expanded her “Let’s Move” initiative to reduce childhood obesity to include working with religious and community organizations.
(RNS) — Slightly more than half of Americans (53 percent) rate the moral values of priests, ministers, and other clerics as “very high” or “high.” That percentage is a slight bump from 2009, when only 50 percent of Americans said men and women of the cloth are ethical paragons, the lowest number in Gallup’s 32 years of measuring professional reputations.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Benedict XVI, while still a cardinal, sought in vain to expedite the process for defrocking priests guilty of grave crimes, according to a 1988 letter published in the official Vatican newspaper.
HUNT, TEXAS — David W. Jordan, the president of Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly in Hunt, Texas, has announced his retirement effective fall 2011, concluding 12 years of service.
MANILA (ENI) — Asian Christian leaders have challenged what they describe as a distorted interpretation of the Bible's Genesis story about God telling Adam and Eve to "subdue" the earth and to "have dominion" over other living species and non-living resources on the planet.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (RNS) — The Southern Poverty Law Center is adding the Family Research Council and four other conservative religious organizations to its list of hate groups because of “falsehoods” in their anti-gay statements.
