The Crystal Cathedral would provide an instant, 3,000-seat architectural landmark at roughly half the $100 million that was estimated for construction of a new site in Santa Ana A new and intriguing prospect for the Crystal Cathedral emerged Wednesday when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange said it was considering buying the bankrupt church in... Continue Reading

An attendee from the Sudan agreed. “The PCUSA makes a big deal bringing us to these events,” he said, referring to Big Tent. “But the reality is not the case,” he added, pointing out the denomination had only made incremental moves in total diversity. Mainline Presbyterian churches are becoming more racially and ethnically diverse within... Continue Reading

Noblit noted that “probably” the most used and copied witnessing tool Southern Baptists have ever embraced is “Evangelism Explosion,” developed by the late Dr. D. James Kennedy, a Presbyterian and five-point Calvinist. Hundreds of Southern Baptists joined together last week for what was said to be a historic meeting on Calvinism. As leaders pushed for... Continue Reading

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, who started his ministry in an Orange drive-in theater more than five decades ago, has been voted off the board of Crystal Cathedral Ministries, which has been torn apart by debt and familial disharmony for the last several years. The church has not released information about the board meeting where... Continue Reading

“It’s about Jesus. It’s about a God who calls us by name.” Those words echoed throughout the opening worship service of Big Tent, a convocation of the Presbyterian Church (USA), last week at the JW Marriot in Indianapolis. In his keynote sermon, the Rev. Mark Labberton, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, urged the crowd... Continue Reading

In 1965, the denomination numbered 4,254,597 members. Today, the number is 2,016,091. Presbyterian Church (USA) statistics have been released by national church headquarters, revealing a massive membership hemorrhage. On December 31, 2010, the PCUSA recorded a loss of 61,047 members. At its current loss rate, the denomination will dead in less than 40 years. The... Continue Reading

“They hear a lot in Appalachia of, ‘Oh I want to help you,’ and then people show up for a week and never come back, and that is where a lot of disappointment and reluctance to open up comes from. So we have gone back consistently three to four times a year over the last... Continue Reading

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council on Inter-religious Dialogue (PCID) have released a statement on the ethics of Christian evangelism. “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct,” released June 28 at the WCC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, is the result of a five-year... Continue Reading

Gladd, a graduate of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Mass. calls himself “theologically conservative and socially liberal,” the latter informed by an internship at a poor urban mission in Tulsa, Okla A church congregation that can trace its roots back to the late 17th century has just called to the pulpit a 27-year-old pastor... Continue Reading

Some say the UUA is held back by members’ reluctance to proclaim religious tenets—a tricky task for an association that includes Christians, Buddhists, Jews, pagans, humanists and spiritual refugees from a host of more dogmatic faiths. A recent Sunday service at the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore ended with an apology. Laurel Mendes explained that... Continue Reading