Sarojini Nadar is a theologian and academic from South Africa who has work on the issues of gender, religion and health for many years.

She is currently serving as senior lecturer and director of the Gender and Religion program, School of Religion and Theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Nadar has been deeply involved with churches to raise awareness about women’s health in communities, challenging patriarchal values and working for gender justice.

He considered moving to a Zen monastery before shifting his sights to Silicon Valley, where he became a brash businessman.

He preached about the dangers of desire but urged consumers to covet every new iPhone incarnation.

“He was an enlightened being who was cruel,” says a former girlfriend. “That’s a strange combination.”

Now, we can add another irony to the legacy of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs: Since his death on Oct. 5, the famously private man’s spiritual side has become an open book.

Same-sex couples will be allowed to hold civil partnership ceremonies in houses of worship in England and Wales, Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone announced in Parliament on Nov. 2.

The Office of Theology and Worship in the General Assembly Mission Council is accepting applications for two grant programs designed to help pastoral leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) form “communities of theological friendship.” Mini-Grants are available to pastoral leaders across the PC(USA), and past participants in several Office of Theology and Worship programs are eligible for a Cultivating Grant. Associate for Theology and program administrator Barry Ensign-George says the communities of theological friendship funded by the grants will consist of small groups of pastoral leaders who meet together over a sustained period of time, worshiping and engaging in theological conversation when they meet. “So much of ministry today is done in the midst of isolation from one another,” says Ensign-George. “These groups that are forming will address the deep want of many pastoral leaders to be in significant relationship with their peers. They will both talk about the things of God and await God’s presence together.”

Meet Marie and Wilnor. The husband and wife live in a tent in the town of Léogâne, Haiti.  Léogâne, which had a population estimated at 180,000 to 200,000 people when the 2010 earthquake struck, was at the epicenter of the disaster.  It sits about 20 miles west of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. A majority of the homes and businesses in Léogâne were destroyed or damaged in the quake.

The land where Marie and Wilnor now live sits on the property of the “Faculty of Nursing Science of the Episcopal University of Haiti” which is the only nursing school in the area.

The last time members of the Presbyterian Haiti Response Team (see box) stopped by to see Marie, she was pregnant with her second child, and her husband was not around.  Now, months later, she is smiling and holding her baby girl, Wilderline, who was born in May of 2011. Her young son stands next to her and waves as Wilnor, watches over them all protectively.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission personnel assigned to Mexico and along the 2,000-mile U.S. - Mexico border still need support as they continue in deployment and discernment. World Mission is committed to continue to answer Christ’s call to serve alongside Mexican Christians in the wake of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico’s decision to sever ties. 

World Mission is also discerning new ways to work in Mexico and along the border, and expects to announce suggestions for future ministry in early 2012. “Because the issues of poverty among women and children, evangelism and violence have emerged as World Mission's highest priorities, our mission co-workers intend to continue serving our sisters and brothers in Mexico, and are excited about new possibilities that are opening up,” said Maria Arroyo, Area Coordinator for the PC(USA)’s mission with Latin America and the Caribbean.

At its meeting here Nov. 3-5, the Covenant Network of Presbyterians focused on reconciling voices, visions and vocations.

From Durban in South Africa to Busan in South Korea, water must be high on the agenda of international summits, conferences and church assemblies, according to participants in the Ecumenical Water Network Forum.

Human rights experts appointed by the U.N. on Nov. 1 called on China to stop repressive measures against Tibetan Buddhist monks, including arrests and enforced disappearance.

From rich housewives to hoarders to the Kardashian clan, practically every kind of family has received the reality TV treatment ― except for American Muslims.

That changes Nov. 13 with the premiere of TLC’s “All-American Muslim.” Advertised with the tagline “One Nation, Under Suspicion,” the eight-part series aims to be an antidote to Islamophobia, documenting five Muslim families in Dearborn, Mich., home to one of the nation’s largest Muslim communities.