GRANDVILLE, Mich. (RNS) — For years, Rob Bell closed his Sunday teachings at Mars Hill Bible Church with a simple statement: "Grace and peace be with you." Thousands would respond in unison: "And also with you." Rob Bell is leaving…
Carter’s new book based on 70 years in Sunday school
Jimmy Carter was president for four years, but his new book is based on a role that he's held for nearly 70 years: Sunday school teacher. Through the Year with Jimmy Carter: 366 Daily Meditations from the 39th President, offers…
Evangelicals are still reluctant to support Mitt Romney
The good news for Mitt Romney: he won the Iowa caucuses. The bad news for Romney: evangelicals remain reluctant to support him. Romney bested former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum by a mere eight votes Jan. 3 in first-in-the-nation voting. But…
Atheists’ political party faces long road to U.S. acceptance as majority express discomfort with a
How viable is a political party with the word “atheist” in its name? Troy Boyle, a corporate legal representative for a finance company, thinks very viable. Last March, he and a friend founded the National Atheist Party, which they believe…
As winter moves in, churches are helping Occupy movement
WASHINGTON (RNS) — As Occupy camps nationwide deal with police crackdowns and the inevitable onset of winter temperatures, religious communities of all stripes are stepping in with offers of shelter and solidarity, say church leaders and protest organizers. Soon after…
Churches engage Occupy movement
WASHINGTON (RNS) — As Occupy camps nationwide deal with police crackdowns and the inevitable onset of winter temperatures, religious communities of all stripes are stepping in with offers of shelter and solidarity, say church leaders and protest organizers. Soon after…
Billy Graham returns home after hospital stay
MONTREAT, N.C. (RNS) — Evangelist Billy Graham returned to his North Carolina home Dec. 6 after a six-day stay in a nearby hospital where he was treated for pneumonia. Billy Graham continues to write two years after his last official crusade….
What would Jesus occupy?
LONDON (RNS) — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says Jesus would have joined protesters from the anti-corporate Occupy movement who have been camped outside London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral for more than seven weeks. Protesters have been camped outside St. Paul's…
Archbishop says Jesus would be siding with Occupy movement
LONDON (RNS) — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says Jesus would have joined protesters from the anti-corporate Occupy movement who have been camped outside London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral for more than seven weeks. Protesters have been camped outside St. Paul's…
Religious lobbyists spend $400 million a year in D.C.
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…
Religious groups spend nearly $400 million on advocacy in Washington
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…
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…