The Church of Sweden (Svenska Kyrkan) is bleeding members at an increasingly rapid pace, at the same time as membership rolls in Islamic, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Christian assemblies are on the rise. Between November 2008 and October 2009, nearly 72,000 people, or roughly 1 percent of the church’s 6.8 million members, asked to leave,... Continue Reading

Every year, Covenant College spends about $60,000 operating deteriorating sewer lines from the Krupski Loop residential neighborhood, located a few minutes south of the college along Scenic Highway. Covenant is currently working with the city of Lookout Mountain, Ga., and Dade County Water and Sewer Authority (DCWSA) on a proposal that would rid the school... Continue Reading

For those who missed it, Clifford Longley’s column in the November 28 issue of the Tablet does a good job of teasing out the absurdity in Richard Dawkins’s insistence that it is wrong to “indoctrinate tiny children in the religion of their parents, and to slap religious labels on them” (as Dawkins puts in The... Continue Reading

A panel of federal appellate judges wrestled Wednesday, Dec 9, with the complex and conflicting legal claims over the fate of the Mount Soledad cross in the latest legal showdown in the long-running case. The 29-foot-tall cross in La Jolla has been the subject of litigation since 1989. After nearly 45 minutes of arguments, it... Continue Reading

The Supreme Court has refused to take up an appeal from former Guantanamo Bay detainees who say they were tortured and denied religious rights. The justices rejected the appeal without comment Monday. Four British men say they were harassed while practicing their religion, including forced shaving of their beards, banning or interrupting their prayers, denying... Continue Reading

At the urging of local clergy and anti-gambling advocates, Orland Park officials will vote early next month on whether or not to ban video gambling in the village. Trustee James Dodge made a motion at the Village Board meeting Monday to place the tabled issue on the board’s Dec. 7 meeting agenda. Clergy from 15... Continue Reading

For years, Christian radio stations in the United Kingdom were prevented from airing nationally, but a Christian broadcasting group has changed that. United Christian Broadcasters International operates on nearly every continent to make Christian radio and television available in closed countries. This week, the group put an end to the 23-year journey of Ian Mackie’s... Continue Reading

A bill proposed by the British government and now making its way through parliament would impose the most burdensome and intrusive regulation on homeschooling in the English-speaking world. “This bill is breathtaking in its scope and reflects a perverse level of suspicion towards parents who home-educate their children,” says HSLDA Staff Attorney and Director of... Continue Reading

When I was a child in the 1950s, the magic of Christmas was promoted in the schools. We sang Christmas carols in the classroom. There were cutouts of the Nativity scene on the bulletin board, along with the smiling, chubby face of Santa and Rudolph. We were all acutely aware that Christmas was more than... Continue Reading

Taking another step toward schism, a national Lutheran group angered by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s August vote to allow gay clergy said that it is developing a proposal for a new denomination for congregations and individuals interested in leaving the ELCA. “We don’t feel we have a choice,” said Paull Spring, a retired... Continue Reading