Hymns, praise music, Negro spirituals, Christian rock, sacred harp and Gregorian chant may seem like starkly different styles with little in common, but they share one thing: they can all be heard in churches across America.

That’s what brought about 220 Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Mennonites and dozens from other denominations together for a five-day meeting of the Hymn Society, which ended July 15 at Samford University.

“We all sing,” said Deb Loftis, executive director of the Richmond, VA-based Hymn Society. “We embrace each other’s tradition. What we’re trying to do is embrace the widest variety of congregational music, …

The kitchen area of the one-room Hoonah Presbyterian Church bustles with activity as members prepare a pot-luck supper that will proceed the session meeting.

Two years ago, such a scene was unthinkable. "The church had imploded," says Kathy Ruddy frankly. Ruddy, an elder in Chapel by the Lake Presbyterian in Juneau — the state capital, which is four hours from Hoonah by ferry — has been serving on an Alaska Presbytery administrative commission for the Hoonah congregation.

Like many of the Alaska Native village Presbyterian churches scattered around the islands of southeast Alaska, the Hoonah church has relied on lay …

A Senate vote July 15 gave final approval to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act with a landmark provision requiring energy and mining companies registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose how much they pay to foreign countries and the U.S. government for oil, gas and minerals.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a central voice in this historic campaign, which works to give citizens in resource-rich countries the information they need to combat corruption in the oil and mineral sector and to demand government accountability for responsible resource use.

The House passed the same …

Faith leaders can play a key role in the fight against the HIV pandemic if their public statements help combat stigma and discrimination, a meeting of faith groups in Vienna in advance of the 18th International AIDS Conference has heard.

“Religious leaders have the trust and confidence of their communities and can help break these barriers and create a more supportive environment,” the Netherlands AIDS ambassador Marijke Wijnroks told a July 17 multi-faith conference in the Austrian capital.

Wijnroks acknowledged that faith communities have been “on the frontline of the response to HIV and AIDS.” Still, religious leaders through their …

What is the key to a healthy church? United Methodists have paid big bucks to find out.

As the sour economy and aging buildings wreak havoc on church budgets, United Methodists are trying to get ahead of the problem and assess the health of their congregations in a bid to reverse declining fortunes.

The church recently concluded a study of more than 32,000 Methodist congregations across North America, seeking the “key factors impacting vital congregations.” The study surveyed everybody from bishops to district superintendents to people in the pews.

Working with New York-based Towers Watson consultants, researchers constructed a “vitality …

The Rev. Jim Tebbe, vice-president of missions for InterVarsity Chistian Fellowship, has been named president of Friends of Forman Christian College (FCC) in Lahore, Pakistan,  and president-designate of the college.

Tebbe and his wife, Beth, will move to Lahore in the summer of 2011 to succeed Peter Armacost as FCC president, and complete the two-year leadership transition. His term as president of Friends began July 1.

For the first year of the transition, Tebbe will work in the United States, raising awareness and funds for the college, recruiting faculty and developing a communication strategy.

Tebbe, who was born in Pakistan …

The need for a "theology of healing" was the central theme of a recent international encounter between Orthodox women and Christians of both genders from other traditions.

Female leadership in the life of the church — be it in the area of worship, education, administration or social care — should not be “understood as seeking power and prestige but as a deeper commitment to love and service that responds to the sacrificing love of Christ,” stated the women and men who took part in the July 8-12 meeting at the St. Vlash Theological Academy in Albania.

The participants suggested seeing …

More than 1,000 delegates from the world YMCA are meeting in Hong Kong where the alliance has chosen a Norwegian who was once a teacher and an army chaplain to lead it.

The World Alliance of YMCAs on July 18 chose Rev. Johan Vilhelm Elvik who was ordained in 1981 to be its new Geneva-based general secretary.

At the meeting the world’s YMCAs have said the grouping aims to strive for global citizenship at a time when many challenge the negative influences of globalization.

Speaking to ENInews on July 19, Elvik said he was aware the YMCAs are “not the …

From his Old Testament beard down to his scuffed boots and battered Bible, Alan Farley looks the perfect picture of a Civil War chaplain.

On a dusty field five miles from where the Battle of Gettysburg was fought 147 years ago, Farley acts the part as well, thundering sermons from his home-made pulpit, praying with bedraggled soldiers, and handing out tracts with titles like “Everlasting Punishment.”

The thousands of soldiers and spectators at the Gettysburg Civil War Battle Re-enactment in mid-July could be forgiven for swallowing the chaplain’s performance — the tracts look aged, the religion old time.

But it …

— The sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church of Bayou Blue hosted a therapy session of sorts on June 27, as members spoke candidly about how the recent oil spill in the Gulf has affected their lives.

Bayou Blue sits very near to much of south Louisiana’s wetlands, and many of its members work in one of the area's two biggest industries — oil and seafood. The area, along with the rest of south Louisiana, has been hit hard in the past few years.

In addition to the April oil spill and hurricanes in 2005 and 2008, the Presbytery of South …