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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: church

church stories: 68 news summaries

1 - 20 of 68 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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SIT, STAY, KNEEL

 LA Church Adds Dogs to Flock 

First service attracts quite a pack

Nov 7, 09 6:56 AM CST
(Newser) - A pastor looking for an idea to revitalize the sagging membership at his Los Angeles church found it by letting the dogs in. “Wherever there’s love, there’s God in some fashion,” says Tom Eggebeen of Covenant Presbyterian Church. “And when we love a dog and... More »

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church • dogs • Covenant Presbyterian Church • Tom Eggebeen

 Healthcare 
 Bill Boosts 
 Pay for 
 Prayer 

Insurance firms urged to cover praying healers

Nov 3, 09 5:34 AM CST
(Newser) - A little-noticed provision in a Senate version of the pending health care bill would require insurance companies to consider paying for prayer as a medical expense. The addition was inserted by Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch and backed by Democrats John Kerry and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, the home state... More »

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health care • health insurance • Senate • Ted Kennedy • Massachusetts • church • Orrin Hatch • prayer • shark attack • Christian Science

UNHOLY CAMPAIGN

 Atheist Ads to 
 Hit NYC Subways 

Coalition to launch godless monthlong campaign

Oct 21, 09 5:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - Eight atheist organizations are the creators of a unique month-long ad campaign beginning next week in Manhattan subways that will challenge the belief in God. "A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?" the ads will ask on posters featuring blue sky and clouds. Because the city's... More »

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New York • Manhattan • religion • God • church • advertisements • atheism • NYC Subway • New York City Subway • atheists • ad campaign • god is dead

 Crowds Flock to
Church's 'Porn Talk'

Former sex film producer among the speakers at Christian anti-porn forum

Sep 19, 09 6:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - Over a thousand people are descending on an Atlanta-area church this weekend for 3 days of talks on pornography, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The "Porn Talk" event, one of many put on by anti-porn Christian group XXXchurch.com, seeks to address the harm pornography is doing to children, families,... More »

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pornography • church • sex addiction • Christians • sex industry • porn industry

 'Reborn' Jesus 
 Leads Vegans 
 in Russia 

Known as Vissarion, former traffic cop preaches against war

Aug 29, 09 6:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - A former traffic cop in Russia has declared himself a reincarnation of Jesus and amassed a following of 5,000 devotees, including artists and intellectuals, the Daily Mail reports. Sergei Torop, "reborn" as "Vissarion" after losing his job in 1991, preached against the evils of war and harming... More »

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Russia • church • cult • Jesus Christ

(Newser) - The hallelujahs are strained in US churches these days as donations plunge at the same time demand for aid is skyrocketing, reports the Wall Street Journal. Congregations across the nation are slashing budgets and even laying off staff, including pastors. Churches and synagogues usually weather downturns well, but not... More »

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Catholic Church • Jews • religion • church • fundamentalism • Protestants • worshippers • donation • priest • synagogue • evangelicals • Baptists • pastor • baptism • temple • Catholic priest • women's issues • congregations • collection box • born again

(Newser) - The evangelical stress on abstinence until marriage is fantastic, writes Mark Regnerus—himself devout—in Christianity Today, "but promoting it has come at a cost." Doing so has "turned our attention away from the damage that Americans are doing to the institution of marriage by discouraging... More »

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marriage • church • Christians • evangelicals • abstinence • young males • Mark Regnerus

Churches
Put Faith
in Housing Biz

More launch own programs to provide affordable homes

Aug 8, 09 10:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Churches that have long called for an increase in affordable housing have started taking matters into their own hands, the Washington Post reports: A growing number of them have launched their own housing projects, partnering with developers to build whole communities. Their weekly flow of donations allows them to qualify... More »

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real estate • housing market • church • housing industry • parishioners • megachurches • women's issues

'Islamist' Bomb Kills 5
at Philippines Cathedral

45 injured in blast blamed on Islamic separatists

Jul 5, 09 8:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - A bombing outside a church in the southern Philippines this morning killed five and injured 45, Reuters reports. The military blamed the attack on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a militant separatist group, the BBC notes. “The rebels are getting desperate and they are no longer choosing their targets,... More »

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church • bombing • Philippines • Islamist • militant • separatist group • Moro Islamic Liberation Front • MILF

 Obama Picks a  
 Church: Camp David's 

Prez dodges crowds at non-denominational site

Jun 29, 09 11:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Though they were sought by most parishes inside the Beltway, the Obamas have chosen Camp David's nondenominational chapel for their place of worship, Time reports. The decision follows in the footsteps of President Obama's predecessor in opting for a more private churchgoing experience—especially after throngs arrived hours early to... More »

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Christianity • Michelle Obama • religion • church • Camp David • Malia Obama • Sasha Obama • President Obama • Evergreen Chapel

(Newser) - Some 200 pistol-packing parishioners filled a church in Louisville, Ky., yesterday to celebrate the somewhat unlikely combination of freedom of religion and the right to bear arms, reports the Courier-Journal. Church members checked to ensure the weapons were unloaded and holstered before pastor Ken Pagano led the congregation in patriotic... More »

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religion • Kentucky • church • Second Amendment • freedom of speech • guns • gun rights

'Gay Exorcism' at Conn. Church Draws Ire of Rights Groups

Boy, 16, thrashes and vomits in YouTube clip

Jun 25, 09 1:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Connecticut church is under fire for performing a “gay exorcism,” WPIX-TV reports. A video posted on YouTube (since removed) by Manifested Glory Ministries shows priests commanding “homosexual demons” to leave the body of a 16-year-old boy. During the ritual the boy thrashes around, and even vomits.... More »

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gay rights • church • homosexuality • ritual • teenager • exorcism • Manifested Glory Ministries • demons

 Jobless Cling 
 to Their Faith 
 in Detroit 

Religions offer
comfort as jobless
face pain, hunger

May 31, 09 6:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Thousands of Detroit's jobless are coping with fear and desperation by falling back on faith, the Detroit Free Press reports. Houses of worship are increasingly fielding calls from people seeking jobs, food, and housing—but above all, congregants say, they find comfort. "When the tension comes and the pressure... More »

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layoffs • Detroit • religion • God • church • faith • auto industry • economic crisis

 Irish Church 
 Long Shielded 
 Pedophiles: Report 

Long-awaited report finds rampant abuses at reform schools

May 20, 09 12:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sexual abuse was endemic in Irish Catholic institutions until the 1980s, a 9-year government inquiry has found. Over a 60-year period, 2000 children—mostly boys, now over 50—suffered physical and sexual abuses at the rigid schools, the BBC reports. Church officials encouraged beatings and shielded pedophiles in their orders,... More »

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Catholic Church • child abuse • sexual abuse • church • Ireland • priest sex abuse • pastor controversy • Catholic priest • Cardinal Sean Brady

 Hipster Jesus Unveiled 

Jesus given jeans and a trim for British church's new statue

May 14, 09 2:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Catholic church in Britain has given Jesus a 21st century makeover, the Daily Telegraph reports. Uckfield Catholic Church's "Jesus in Jeans" sculpture, to be hoisted to the top of its bell tower this week, depicts a rockin' Jesus with a trim haircut and sporting baggy jeans. The design... More »

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church • sculpture • statue • jeans • Britain • Jesus Christ • Jay-ZTV

OPINION

US Youth May Yet Return to Religion, Despite the Right

The religious right has driven young people away, but a change in tone could lure them back: Putnam

May 8, 09 1:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Young Americans would likely become more religious if faith were disentangled from the polarizing practices of evangelical conservatives, Michael Gerson writes in the Washington Post. That’s a good thing, because research for an upcoming book found that religious Americans give more time and money—to secular and religious causes... More »

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Christianity • Jerry Falwell • religion • church • evangelicals

Japanese Say
'I Do' Stateside
to Save Money

Couples like marrying
in NY, Hawaii to duck $100K nuptials

May 3, 09 4:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Thousands of Japanese couples have chosen to marry in the US over the past decade to avoid pricey weddings back home, NPR reports. Favored destinations like Hawaii and New York City may not be cheap, but they're easier on the pocketbook than ceremonies that include hundreds of family, friends, and... More »

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New York City • Japan • church • wedding • Hawaii • Destination DC

(Newser) - Carrie Prejean, the controversial Miss California, defied state sponsors who asked her to apologize for her remarks about gay marriage, the AP reports. On the contrary, Prejean—coached by her San Diego megachurch’s founder, a former NFL player—has become more resolute in her beliefs. “I learned that... More »

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gay marriage • Miss USA • church • Carrie Prejean • Miss California

Calif. Sunday School Teacher May Also Face Rape Charge

Will be charged today; may face death penalty

Apr 14, 09 7:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - The California Sunday school teacher set to be accused of killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu may also face rape and child molestation charges, qualifying her for the death penalty, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Melissa Huckaby will be arraigned this afternoon; prosecutors will charge her with murder but are debating whether... More »

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California • crime • kidnapping • murder • child molestation • rape • church • arraignment • child rape • Sandra Cantu • Melissa Huckaby

 Obamas Head to Episcopal Church for Easter Services

St. John's, across from White House, also where family worshiped on Inauguration Day

Apr 12, 09 12:39 PM CDT
(AP) - President Barack Obama and his family celebrated Easter today at St. John's Episcopal Church, across from the White House. The Obamas left the White House at midmorning for services. St. John's is popular with presidents—it's where President George W. Bush often attended services. Obama hasn't attended public church services... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Washington DC • Episcopal Church • church • St. John's • Obama family

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