WASHINGTON (RNS) — The number of religious advocacy groups in the nation’s capital has more than tripled since the 1970s, with conservative groups seeing the biggest growth, according to a new report. Together, faith-based lobbying and advocacy groups spend $390…
Chaplain in Afghanistan sees close calls, reflects Christ’s peace
ANDAHAR, Afghanistan (BP) — Capt. Kevin Humphrey’s last quarterly report to the North American Mission Board’s chaplaincy group reads like the script of a Hollywood blockbuster. But the combat incidents are real — true wartime stories of battlefield death, horrific…
Congregations reach out to vets with PTSD, traumatic brain injury
NEWTON, Mass. (RNS) — Some wounds of war are all too visible — a missing leg, a shattered arm. The invisible wounds of mind and soul often are more difficult to spot and equally hard to treat. But those who…
Wounded Warriors: Returning veterans, families struggle to adjust
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Sitting around the kitchen table, the Riverses are a picture of the quintessential American family. Over a freshly prepared meal, they share stories of the day’s events. The room is filled with the warmth of smiles,…
Duke divinity school students aim to heal ‘unseen war wounds’
DURHAM, N.C. — Combat veterans, pacifists, pastors, and military leaders gathered at a Duke Divinity School event Nov. 11-12 to discuss how the church, the military, and academia can understand and begin to heal the unseen wounds of war. Initiated…
EDITORIAL: How could something so good have been such a bust?
I am scratching my head wondering how the New Baptist Covenant II, supported philosophically and theologically by so many Baptists, drew such meager attendance? Meeting Nov. 17-20 in Atlanta and seven other locations linked by satellite simulcasts, some NBC II…
HERITAGE: Big day at two churches
It was a crisp, cool, cloudless day on Oct. 2 for the 125th anniversary celebration at Big Island Baptist Church in Bedford County, Va. The distinctive temple-like church building had been spruced up for the big day. The menfolks had…
And the winner is ….
Anne Cole Aker, the winner in a recent contest sponsored by the Religious Herald, receives her iPad from Brian Clingenpeel of Roanoke, Va., president of the Herald’s board of trustees. RICHMOND, Va. — The Religious Herald has announced the winner…
High school students have chance to explore religion in 2012 campaign
WASHINGTON — Teenagers are being offered an opportunity to engage what has emerged as one of the most vexing questions in the 2012 presidential campaign: Is it fair to evaluate a candidate by his or her religious faith? The Religious…