Many in the (United Church of Christ) can “understand and appreciate her insistence that she must follow a God of love, justice and inclusion.” The United Church of Christ is trying to get Anne Rice to join its flock after the Interview with the Vampire author announced her highly-publicized decision to “quit being Christian” this... Continue Reading

In other security measures, all-night prayer rallies and crusades, which are popular with Pentecostal and evangelical churches, will now end at midnight. Ugandan church leaders are asking Christians to produce identity cards and agree to security checks before entering some churches after two terrorist attacks at World Cup viewing parties left more than 70 people... Continue Reading

An official blessing would formalize what has long been an unofficial practice at some dioceses across the country. Armed with a new $400,000 grant and the support of the Episcopal Church, a Berkeley seminary is convening priests from across the country to craft the liturgical rite for same-sex couples to receive religious blessings. The new... Continue Reading

“The church cannot say, `We need to raise money for people in Haiti,’ when we have 500 people here who will live on the edge of poverty when they retire because they lost their pension…” As the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) fights to stay out of a legal battle over unpaid pension benefits,... Continue Reading

“Our conclusion is that the Church is confronting a ‘creeping crisis’ of both internal and external origin and that the crisis is primarily a crisis of ‘relevancy’ – both internal and external.” As United Methodists in the U.S. continue to count losses in worship attendance and membership, the denomination is re-evaluating its structures and making... Continue Reading

“The Church of England hierarchy allowed him to continue the weddings, which bolstered its ailing finances.” The brides’ outfits were borrowed, the bouquets garage-bought. Happy couples beamed for the camera, then minutes later went their separate ways. It was the same scene, week after week. Little did passersby suspect they were witnessing not the joyful... Continue Reading

“I have often felt that the Church should engage more in the business of tourism.” Scotland’s saints, whose miracles include raising the dead, curing the mad and even saving a queen from execution, could now be asked to perform another miracle – boosting the country’s tourist trade. With visitor numbers in decline as the recession... Continue Reading

The Rev. Deborah A. Block has been elected to serve as chair of the Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC), according to Presbyterian News Service. Block, a member of the PPC board since 2004, succeeds Kenneth Godshall. PPC is the denominational publisher for the Presbyterian Church (USA), but through Westminster John Knox... Continue Reading

You’ll almost always hear an exegesis of the books of the Bible. And if you knew what the word “exegesis” means you’re probably already Presbyterian. I had always looked at reformed Presbyterians as being kind of dorky. That’s because the denomination I attended years ago in California was extremely conservative on par with some Mennonite... Continue Reading

“It should be recognised for what it is: a corporation, not a church. Hillsong is really just a sales and marketing operation.” The tax office wants a special national body set up to monitor “not for profit” charities, admitting that churches – such as the multi-million-dollar phenomenon Hillsong – are literally “invisible” to it. And... Continue Reading