A panel of federal appellate judges wrestled on Dec 9 with the complex and conflicting legal claims over the fate of the Mount Soledad cross in the latest legal showdown in the long-running case. The 29-foot-tall cross in La Jolla has been the subject of litigation since 1989. After nearly 45 minutes of arguments, it... Continue Reading

In a story featured in the Thursday, December 17 issue of USA Today, Tim Keller, PCA minister and Senior Pastor at New York City’s largest protestant church, is one of several pastors featured in an article about Multi Site churches. The article explains how Tim and others have to dash between 2 or more sites... Continue Reading

A leading Church of England bishop has slammed a number of the world’s favorite Christmas carols, saying some have “nonsense” words that are embarrassing and others reek of “Victorian behavior control.” Bishop Nick Baines of Croydon said “all sorts of fantasies have grown up around Christmas” that leave many people thinking of the celebration as... Continue Reading

The Church of Sweden (Svenska Kyrkan) is bleeding members at an increasingly rapid pace, at the same time as membership rolls in Islamic, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Christian assemblies are on the rise. Between November 2008 and October 2009, nearly 72,000 people, or roughly 1 percent of the church’s 6.8 million members, asked to leave,... Continue Reading

The Kirk plans to ordain lay members because it cannot find ministers for one in six of its parishes.. Senior officials at the Church of Scotland yesterday confirmed what they called a “bold experiment” to turn parishioners into fully-fledged preachers for the first time since the Reformation. The move breaks with the centuries-old tradition of... Continue Reading

Taking another step toward schism, a national Lutheran group angered by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s August vote to allow gay clergy said that it is developing a proposal for a new denomination for congregations and individuals interested in leaving the ELCA. “We don’t feel we have a choice,” said Paull Spring, a retired... Continue Reading

When Baby Boomers were born, the Protestant landscape of America was dominated by the six major mainline denominations. (Those bodies are typically considered to be the American Baptist Churches in the USA; the Episcopal Church; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Presbyterian Church (USA); the United Church of Christ; and the United Methodist Church.)... Continue Reading

A Christian group in Boise, Idaho will once again camp out in front of City Hall and offer to pay off up to $10,000 dollars in parking tickets for any passers-by. Organizers say the Dec. 12 event is an example of how easy it is to receive God’s grace. The Grace Gift Parable giveaway was... Continue Reading

The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is suggesting that the Bible isn’t the last word on homosexuality. In a town hall meeting Sunday, Bishop Mark Hanson said, “the understanding we have of homosexuality today does not seem to be reflected at all in the context of the biblical writers.” Therefore, he... Continue Reading

Residents of the Hattiesburg Historic Neighborhood are busy folding paper bags and turning them into luminaries for the 33rd annual Victorian Candlelit Christmas, which will be held Dec. 12-13 in the 115-acre, National Register district just south of downtown. A portion of the activities will be at Bay Street Presbyterian Church, 202 Short Bay St.,... Continue Reading