Religious freedom ambassador sworn in. Suzan Johnson Cook, an American Baptist pastor, author and motivational speaker, was sworn in May 16 as Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom by Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero. Johnson Cook will serve as a principal advisor on religious freedom to the Secretary of State and to the President and will head the Office of International Religious Freedom in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. The new ambassador retired in 2009 as senior pastor of the Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in New York City. Before that she was pastor of the historic Mariners’ Temple Baptist Church in New York City.
ABP
Presbyterians open ordination to gays. The Presbyterian Church (USA) on May 10 entered the ranks of Christian denominations that allow openly gay, partnered clergy. The new policy, which was passed by the church’s General Assembly last summer, required approval from a majority of 173 regional presbyteries. Nationally, however, the momentum of the gay clergy movement may soon grind to a halt. The country’s largest denominations — the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, the United Methodist Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — which together count nearly 100 million members, show few signs of accepting gay clergy. By contrast, the four largest denominations that allow gay clergy — the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, along with the Presbyterians — together count less than 11 million.
RNS
Cathedral growth. In a challenge to conventional wisdom that church attendance is plummeting across Britain and Western Europe, the Church of England says attendance at its 43 cathedrals grew 7 percent last year. A report by Lynda Barley, head of research and statistics at the Archbishops' Council, said “attendance at services outside Sundays” was up 10 percent in 2010. About 15,800 adults and 3,100 children and young people attend Sunday services at cathedrals; over the course of a typical week, that figure rises to 27,400 adults and 7,600 children.
RNS
— Compiled by staff