For four young adults from Russia, the Presbyterian Youth Triennium made for quite an introduction to the United States.

Andrey Chekalin, Anatoly Vdovenko, Elena Gumen and Evgenia Guseva arrived in Georgia from Moscow a few days before traveling to Purdue University to attend Triennium, July 20-24.

When the hit movie "The Bucket List" ended and lights came up, the Rev. Bill Humphreys asked for comments.

"In the end, the only thing that that really mattered was relationship," someone said, and the discussion took off.

The discussion took place in "God at the Box Office," a class led by Humphreys at the Synod of Lakes and Prairies' Synod School 2010 here during the last week in July. Described in its catalog as "a learning and personal enrichment experience," the annual event takes place each summer at Buena Vista University.

Humphreys' course was one of more than 65 …

The International Assistance Mission (IAM), a Christian development agency, has rejected Taliban claims that 10 of its staff killed in an attack in Afghanistan had been trying to convert Muslims.

“Our faith motivates and inspires us, but we do not proselytize. We abide by the laws of Afghanistan,” Dirk R. Frans, IAM’s executive secretary, said in a statement at an Aug. 9 media conference in Kabul.

The 10 workers — six U.S. nationals, a Briton, a German and two local Afghan staff — were killed on Aug. 5 as they returned from a trek through the Hindu Kush mountains, where …

When U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker struck down California’s Proposition 8 on Aug. 4, he said voters’ motivation for outlawing gay marriage was clear.

“The evidence shows conclusively that moral and religious views form the only basis for a belief that same-sex couples are different from opposite-sex couples,” Walker wrote in his sweeping, 136-page decision.

“These interests do not provide a rational basis for supporting Proposition 8.”

Religion, in Walker's reasoning, amounts to a “private moral view,” which should not infringe upon the constitutional rights of others.

While some legal scholars say Walker’s decision lands on firm legal ground — …

The first volume in Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible, a new series from Westminster John Knox Press, is the last book written by William C. Placher before his untimely death in 2008. Placher’s work on the Gospel of Mark sets the stage for the entire series, which aims to offer the theological importance of Scripture for the church today. Each commentary will interpret the biblical text with reference to its use in the church's creeds, practices, and hymns, as well as the history of faithful interpretation of the scriptures. The volumes will also consider contemporary theological writings …

The Rev. Howard Leland Rice, former moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly and San Francisco Theological Seminary chaplain and professor of ministry from 1968-97, died Aug. 8 in Claremont, Calif., at the age of 78. He was one of the earliest practitioners of spiritual disciplines and formation that led to the current renewal of those practices in the church.

As host for a multitude of participants, from infants to adults — some over 80 — Synod School 2010 here lived up to its promotion as "a learning and personal enrichment experience for people of all ages."

Sponsored by the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, Synod School drew 627 participants — a record for the event — when it ran July 25-30 at Buena Vista University. Enrollment typically runs in the high 500s.

As the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) fights to stay out of a legal battle over unpaid pension benefits, all sides agree on at least one point:

More is at stake than millions of dollars owed to some 500 pensioners of Augsburg Fortress, the ELCA’s publishing arm.

Last month, the ELCA asked a federal court to be dropped from a suit filed by stakeholders in Augsburg’s recently dissolved pension plan. The ELCA contends it bears no responsibility under the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act because Augsburg Fortress’ pension program is a “church plan.” Church plans are exempted from …

A church-linked environmental center in South Korea is urging the world’s Christians to pray for the protection of the country’s four major rivers, which they say are threatened by government development plans.

“We ... earnestly appeal to our Christian sisters and brothers throughout the world to join our prayer for preventing the destruction of the ecosystems of South Korea and for protecting the integrity of God’s creation,” the Eco-Community Movement Center of the Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea, said in a July 23 statement.

A Korean Buddhist monk burned himself to death at the end of May …

In a tiny church in Palm Desert, Ralph Waite has returned to his religious roots.

Waite, 82, an actor best known for his role as John Walton Sr. on the 1970s TV series “The Waltons,” is an ordained Presbyterian minister who left organized religion nearly 50 years ago.

Though busy with a new role playing Mark Harmon’s father, Jackson “Jack” Gibbs on the popular CBS series “NCIS,” Waite said he wanted to “get re-involved in some level in my religion,” and went searching for a congregation that shared his progressive religious and political views.