Campbell noted that the bookstore sold items such as a portrait of former President George W. Bush and Naomi’s Guide to Aging Gratefully, a best-seller authored by Naomi Judd, and that fitness center activities were not religious in nature. A South Nashville megachurch’s fight against paying a $425,000 property tax bill could have major implications... Continue Reading

They also raise issues about U.S. attitudes toward power and money. In all these areas, Weingartner said, what the international partners see “is often a cultural default that they experience as [American] arrogance.” The passage of Amendment 10-A deleting the “fidelity and chastity” standard has strained Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) relationships with many overseas partner churches.... Continue Reading

1860s-style worship service planned at Trinity Free Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Alabama and Glasgow Reformed Presbyterian in Bear, Deleware remembers fallen soldiers with thousands of flags From the Decatur (AL) Daily On Sunday morning, soldiers clad in Union blue and Confederate gray uniforms will gather to worship. As part of the Battle for Decatur’s September... Continue Reading

One person described the New Reformed Body (NRB) to me as a refugee camp just over the border. It is not where they plan to relocate long-term, but it is seen as a refuge on the way to a missional and evangelical connectional future they cannot yet describe, let alone see. They are simply fleeing... Continue Reading

But the proportion of New Yorkers who affirmed a more rigorous set of doctrinal beliefs – such as the literal truth of the Bible and the existence of Satan – dropped from 4 to 1 percent in that time Some surprising poll results are showing New Yorkers to be relatively more church-going and more Christian... Continue Reading

In the minds of the Orthodox, the Reformers should have sought a full church council (to include the Orthodox) rather than separate without the approval of a council. Although I’ve been on Cyprus for almost two years I haven’t made a habit of visiting monasteries – despite having a degree in church history and an... Continue Reading

Of the options presented to the like-minded pastors group by the flexible governing task force, the preferred one was the overlay presbytery option. “Presbyteries within presbyteries,” was one of several options discussed at the Fellowship of Presbyterians Gathering, held last week. Peter Barnes of Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, was the first to... Continue Reading

The way these North Korean Christians live out their faith has been eye-opening to Foley. These persecuted Christians have no church building, no paid pastors, no Bibles in the pew or available at the local Christian store – “literally no nothing that we in the West consider so essential to discipleship”… An American pastor has... Continue Reading

Editor’s Note: The ‘GAJunkie’ gives his armchair analysis of all the tweets he followed last week during the Fellowship of Presbyterians gathering in Minnesota. So far, this is the most comprehensive telling of the story. Last week was an interesting week for me, what with the Virginia earthquake on Tuesday and the two day Fellowship... Continue Reading

The widely reported decline in women’s church attendance is implausible (or Why Barna’s Studies Aren’t All That Swift) The national news media yawned over the Baylor Survey’s findings that the number of American atheists has remained steady at 4% since 1944, and that church membership has reached an all-time high. But when a study by... Continue Reading