Inspiration Faith & Prayer Health & Wellness Entertainment Love & Family
Newsletters Special Offers

Beliefnet News

Associated Press – July 21, 2008 LAKE FOREST, California – Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama will participate next month in a question-and-answer forum at Saddleback Church, Pastor Rick Warren said Monday. Warren, who oversees the 22,000-member congregation, will question the presidential candidates on Aug. 16 during the church’s Saddleback Civil Forum on Leadership…

Associated Press SYDNEY, Australia – Pope Benedict XVI on Friday urged religious leaders of all kinds to unite against those who use faith to divide communities – an apparent reference to terrorism in the name of religion. Benedict met with representatives of Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist faiths for about 40 minutes during the Roman…

Associated Press MADRID, Spain – Representatives of the world’s religions on Friday ended a three-day interfaith conference called by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia which some hope could hail the beginning of a new relationship by denominations. The Madrid meeting brought together Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and representatives of other religions in what was…

Associated Press CANTERBURY, England – The spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans said he feels “great grief” that more than 200 bishops are boycotting the Lambeth Conference, calling it a wound to the once-a-decade meeting of the Anglican fellowship. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams expressed respect for the decision of church leaders who stayed away,…

By Ashly McGloneReligion News Service A new survey shows that “unchurched” Americans may be worshipping more, and “churched” Americans worshipping less, than many people might think. Numerous surveys track trends among “unchurched” Americans, but what does “unchurched” really mean? Does it mean never attending religious services, not attending regularly, or to simply be unaffiliated with…

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services An effort by some Methodists to block the George W. Bush Presidential Center from coming to Southern Methodist University failed Wednesday, though clergy and lay leaders wrestled with the issue for almost four hours at a regional conference in Dallas. The United Methodist Church’s South Central Jurisdiction, which owns SMU, has been…

Associated Press NAHARIYA, Israel – Thousands of mourners turned out Thursday for the burials of two Israeli soldiers returned in a prisoner exchange with Lebanese guerrillas, laying to rest the young men whose unknown fate had riveted the Jewish state for two years. Across the border in Lebanon, the five militants freed as part of…

By Dan Ring Religion News Service BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate on Tuesday (July 15) voted to repeal a 1913 law used most recently to prevent gay couples from other states from marrying here. The Senate on a voice vote approved a bill to abolish the law, which forbids clerks from issuing marriage licenses to…

Associated Press MADRID, Spain – King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia exhorted followers of the world’s leading faiths to turn away from extremism and embrace a spirit of reconciliation, saying at the start of an interfaith conference Wednesday that history’s great conflicts were not caused by religion itself but by its misinterpretation. “My brothers, we must…

By Daniel Burke Religion News Service For centuries, Anglicans have prided themselves on finding the cherished via media–the middle way–through theological and political thickets. But the decades-long debate on homosexuality within the worldwide Anglican Communion seems stuck in a cul-de-sac, many say. As Anglican bishops from around the world converge on Canterbury, England, for the…
archives most recent
search this blog
More from Beliefnet and our partners