STAFF CHANGES • Charles Stewart, to Haymarket Church, Haymarket, as pastor. • T. Kevin Schrum, Buckroe Church, Hampton, as pastor. • Jon Reed, resigning as pastor of Blairs Church, Blairs, to accept a pastorate in Tennessee. • Rupert Rose Jr.,…
RIGHT OR WRONG: Prayer in public school
In the spring, a mass e-mailing circulated at the school where I teach. It reports a teacher's presentation to a school board. She says all the things expected from the teacher on a relatively small salary, and closes with “……
How to ‘flunk’ retirement
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away,” Gen. Douglas MacArthur observed in the twilight of his long military career. Retired missionaries, on the other hand, just keep returning to the field — or finding new…
Care for the caregiver
DALLAS (BP)—No one likes to be labeled, but I am of the Baby Boomer Generation, born from 1946 to 1964. (You can just assume I am really close to the 1964 end of the spectrum.) We are mostly suburban kids…
OUTLOUD
“A convergent Christian, in many ways, is what [theologian] Don Carson calls a world Christian. Their allegiance to Jesus Christ and his Kingdom is self-consciously set above all national, cultural, linguistic and racial allegiances. Their commitment to the church and…
‘In God We Trust’ motto still mints controversy after 50 years
WASHINGTON—Fifty years after “In God We Trust” first appeared on U.S. paper currency, those four little words have proven to be the source of big debate in the courts. Michael Newdow, the California atheist known for trying to strip “under…
State Department reports Iraqi insurgency hurts religious freedom
WASHINGTON (RNS)—The continuing insurgency in Iraq is significantly harming the freedom of worship in that country, the State Department said in its 2007 International Religious Freedom Report. The recently released report lists Iraq among 22 countries it notes for either…
Move over She-Hulk. Make room for Samson
HARRISBURG, Pa. (RNS)—Jesus and Moses were sold out, but consumers still could line up at the checkout counter to pay for Mary, Noah, David and a ferocious-looking Samson, packaged with Delilah in hot pink. The world of posable action figures…
FAITH DIGEST
Game designed to foster understanding. A mechanical engineer from Lincoln, Neb., has designed a question-and-answer game to promote interfaith awareness. John Cooper created “7th Heaven,” a game that tests players' knowledge of Judaism, Islam and Christianity in a way intended…
Book reveals Mother Teresa’s prolonged ‘dark night of the soul’
WASHINGTON (RNS)—Ten years after her death, a new book of Mother Teresa's personal letters illustrates a profound and private spiritual struggle—much of it unknown to the world that would come to admire her for her work with the poor and…
Religious Right leader James Kennedy dead at 76
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (ABP)—Presbyterian minister James Kennedy died Sept. 5, little more than a week after he retired from the pulpit that helped him launch both evangelistic and political ministries. Kennedy, who was 76, had served nearly half a century…
Hearing the Call
Hearing God's call to vocational service may not be as easy in a Baptist church as it once was, but some congregations are determined to change that. Once upon a time, a public invitation at the close of the sermon…