July 2009 Archives

Gerry Stoltzfoos made headlines recently when the Pennsylvania House refused to let him pray using Jesus' name. Rather than edit his prayer, Stoltzfoos pulled out.

"If you pray to no God, it's like a letter not being addressed to anyone," he told the AP.

The state Senate stepped in and invited Stoltzfoos to pray there instead, which he did Wednesday morning.

Check out a draft of his prayer here. Read an entry on the Pentecostal pastor's blog about the media attention the experience attracted. Read more at the jump.

What would Dumbledore do?

Read about the Harry Potter Alliance, which uses moral lessons from the beloved series to educate and mobilize fans around issues such as workers rights and fighting genocide.

Religion scholar Martin Marty's latest Sightings column looks at a recent report on charitable giving, which found the first decline in giving since 1987. Read more at the jump.

The former head of the Christian Coalition has a new startup, the Faith and Freedom Coalition, which Reed hopes to use social media to capture a broader, younger and more diverse audience, the AP reports. He's got a feed on Twitter, too.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, said Monday the church may have to accept a "two-tier" model for the worldwide Communion, in which believers can hold different opinions about gay clergy and same-sex unions, the AP reports.

Rowan Williams wrote on his Web site Monday that there are "two styles of being Anglican" and that both sides should work together to maintain unity. Read more at the jump.

In his latest Sightings column, religion scholar Martin Marty writes about the "lose-lose battles over the blessing of gay marriages and ordination of homosexuals" in Protestantism. Read more at the jump.

Today's word is inspired by the cab driver I had in Baltimore recently. He missed his calling to drive a firetruck.

jehu

noun

A driver especially of a cab or coach; specifically: one who drives fast or recklessly

Francis S. Collins, Obama's pick to head the National Institutes of Health, published a piece in the recent issue of Sojourners Magazine about science and faith. An excerpt:

I regularly get e-mails from young people in crisis: Having been raised to believe that the earth is 6,000 years old, they encounter overwhelming evidence to the contrary in a university class, and their world starts to come apart. What a terrible and unnecessary tragedy!

The former director of the Human Genome Project, Collins recently launched the BioLogos Foundation, which "promotes the search for truth in both the natural and spiritual realms seeking harmony between these different perspectives."

CT also has a Q&A with Collins on evolution and faith.

Lots of news out of the Episcopal convention in Anaheim, Calif., this week, where church members declared gays and lesbians eligible for "any ordained ministry" Tuesday -- a move likely to disappoint world Anglican leaders who wanted the U.S. church to forbid consecrating another gay bishop.

The Rev. Canon David W. Lovelace of the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist in York is attending the church's General Convention, which is a once-every-three-years legislative assembly. It concludes Friday.

Follow Lovelace's updates from the convention here.

Other members of the delegation from the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania are posting daily updates on the diocese's Middle Pew blog.

Podcast alert:

Christy Tennant of the International Arts Movement interviewed Byron Borger, co-proprieter of Hearts & Minds bookstore in Dallastown, about the vision behind his store, why it carries a wide selection on "culture-making" books (and other merchandise not stocked by "typical" Christian bookstores) and more.

Check out Borger's Booknotes blog here.

In the most recent Sightings column, Joseph Laycock discusses the theology behind a Kentucky church's recent Open Carry Celebration. Read more at the jump.

Stargazers and those who follow Roman mythology might be familiar with canicular.

Canicular

noun

Of or relating to the dog days of summer

Geneva is celebrating the "Calvin 2009 year," which marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of this formative figure of the Reformation. Calvin was born July 10, 1509.

Check out's an RNS story about evangelical Christians' interest in Calvin (Full disclosure: My husband wrote it). An excerpt:

Young evangelicals are scooping up books by neo-Calvinist authors, packing churches and conventions led by Calvinist preachers and studying at staunchly Calvinist seminaries. They're blogging their way through Calvin's behemoth "Institutes of the Christian Religion," setting up Facebook fan clubs and opening Twitter feeds.

Religious studies professor Kathryn Lofton reflects on Michael Jackson's divine parallels, brand identification and the ritual function of his music.

An excerpt:

Before the casket closes, take a moment, and download "The Way You Make Me Feel." Listen. See what you do. See what your five-year-old does. And think, briefly, about what sort of sublime work a pop song does.

That's the question asked by this recent Explainer on Slate.com. Great historical nugget here:

The prayer breakfast got started in mid-1930s Seattle, where traveling preacher Abraham Vereide held morning meetings for politicians and businessmen to pray about -- and try to combat -- poverty and the spread of communism. He decided on breakfast due to the Christian tradition of morning prayers and, it's said, as a nod to John 21 -- wherein Jesus appears to his disciples in the early morning by the Sea of Tiberias and helps them catch fish. Breakfast was also practical, since 7 or 7:30 a.m. meetings didn't interfere with the workday or with family obligations in the evening.

The Lancaster papers have a feature about a job-loss support group at a church in Ephrata, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity.

Have you heard of anything similar started by local congregations?