In 2008, a Special Offerings Advisory Task Force (SOATF) was appointed to address declining receipts for and participation by congregations in the offerings. The SOATF is proposing several dramatic changes in the offerings with a goal of increasing receipts to $20 million by 2020.
Pointing heavenward and wiping away tears, the Rev. Fred Luter was elected June 19 as the first black president of the predominantly white Southern Baptist Convention.
A three-day Christian-Muslim peace conference is underway in Beirut, with delegates citing chaotic Egyptian elections, armed conflict in Syria and tension between Israel and Iran contributing to a sense of urgency.
Augsburg Fortress Canada is delighted to become the official distributor in Canada for Feasting on the Word Curriculum: Teaching the Revised Common Lectionary.
Human sexuality and the church ― gay marriage, gay ordination and same-gender partner benefits ― are likely to be the most hotly debated issues later this month when the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) gathers in Pittsburgh.
Perched atop the rugged splendor of the California coast south of Monterey, the Esalen Institute is the mother church for people who call themselves “spiritual but not religious.” Over the last five decades, hundreds of thousands of seekers have come to this incubator of East-meets-West spirituality looking for new ways to bring together body, mind, psyche and soul.
Israeli archaeologists have said they have unearthed in Jerusalem the earliest artifact containing the name of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus according to the New Testament, in the form of a clay seal called a bulla.
Echoing the debate around legalizing same-gender marriage across the United States, the 220th General Assembly will consider the issue as well.
Overtures from four presbyteries — East Iowa, Hudson River, New York City and Redwoods — call for a change in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s definition of marriage.
The New Media Project at New York’s Union Theological Seminary has published six theological essays and four sets of recommendations about using social media in ministerial, congregational, and institutional settings.
Church activists from the Philippines on May 30 criticized the government of President Benigno S. Aquino III for failure to improve a climate of rampant human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and evictions.