WASHINGTON (RNS) — When President Obama was elected, some black pastors — fresh from a campaign that featured extensive outreach to their churches — expected meetings with the president, or at least to be enlisted as informal advisers. For better…
Michigan Hutaree militia a cult, experts say
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (RNS) — When militia expert Jack Kay first ran across a MySpace page for the Michigan-based Hutaree militia six months ago, he thought it was just another group wrapping itself in God and country. But following raids…
Barbie gets ordained, and she has the wardrobe to match
WASHINGTON (RNS) — With her careers as veterinarian, astronaut and U.S. president behind her, Barbie has at last found her true calling — as an Episcopal priest. Julie Blake Fisher, an Episcopal priest in Kent, Ohio, created Episcopal Priest Barbie…
Black Baptist pastor asks Southern Baptist Convention to repent of racism
ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — A prominent African-American Baptist pastor says the Southern Baptist Convention has not kept a promise made in 1995 to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone…
Christians outside the West view Bible differently from affluent westerners
RICHMOND, Va. — Christians in the developing nations read Scripture differently than their brothers and sister in the affluent West, according to missiologist Caleb Oladipo. “The way we read the Scriptures in the western world particularly is through empirical knowledge—that…
Churches wrestle with giving drop
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The number of churches that reported a drop in giving due to the sour economy rose nearly 10 percent last year, according to new survey. In 2009, 38 percent of churches reported a decline in giving, versus…
Reading the Bible through the eyes of poverty yields different interpretations
Status in society can influence how people read and interpret the Bible — and often how they will act on it, according to some Christian leaders. Miguel de la Torre, associate professor of social ethics at the Iliff School of…
BTSR to suspend operations of its continuing education component
RICHMOND, Va. — Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond will suspend operations of its School of Christian Ministry in July, a move the seminary’s president says will benefit both BTSR and its six-year-old continuing education component. The last group of classes…
VIRGINIA BAPTIST FORUM: Editor’s attack on Glenn Beck was unjustified
This is in response to the editorial by James E. White concerning social justice and the Glenn Beck show [Herald, March 18]. I watched that program and I did not understand it as the writer did. Glenn Beck never said…