By Melanie Ave ST. LOUIS — Thirty-two new career and short-term missionaries and educators began an 11-day orientation in St. Louis July 5 to help prepare them for service abroad later this year. The annual event, held this year for the…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — As the U.S. Supreme Court ended its 2010-11 term at the end of June, legal scholars say a decision issued two months ago is likely to resonate within church-state debates for years to come. On April 4,…

NEW YORK (RNS) — With cries of “Rebuild now! Rebuild Now!,” parishioners and supporters of a Greek Orthodox church that was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks rallied at Ground Zero on June 26 in hopes of resuming negotiations to rebuild…

(RNS/ENInews) — Churches in Liechtenstein, one of the world’s smallest countries, could face financial disaster under government plans to withdraw state subsidies under new legislation, according to a Protestant leader. “This will be a drastic change — we depend on…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — The U.S. Supreme Court announced June 27 that it will examine whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has the right to ban “fleeting expletives” on broadcast TV. The case will review last year’s decision by the 2nd…

(RNS) — Officials of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) say they were the victims of a hoax in which a group claiming to be the denomination’s Executive Committee announced it had started to support gay marriage. A website of the…

(RNS) — With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 looming, attendees at North America’s largest Muslim gathering this past weekend are told that the best way to deal with Islamophobia is not to lay low, but to get involved in politics,…

SALT LAKE CITY (RNS) — Mormon (LDS) officials are telling their top full-time leaders that they and their spouses should not participate in political campaigns, including making donations or endorsing candidates. However, part-time leaders — including local and regional congregational…

(RNS) — For Living Faith Lutheran Church, the name change was as much about the future as the past. On Sunday, June 26, the Rockville, Md., congregation formally bid goodbye to its old name, Crusader Lutheran Church. “We’re not saying…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Christian missionaries should renounce all “deception and coercive means” of winning converts, according to an agreement released June 28 by a broad coalition of evangelicals, the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican. The document, “Christian…

(RNS) — A United Methodist (UMC) minister was suspended for 20 days by a church court in Wisconsin on June 23 for performing a same-sex union in 2009, a breach of denominational rules. A 13-member jury of local United Methodist…

LUEBECK, Germany (RNS) — Residents of this north German city have long taken pride in four native sons — three Catholic priests and a Lutheran pastor — who were beheaded in quick succession on Nov. 10, 1943, by the Nazi…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — As President Obama prepared plans to bring a limited number of U.S. troops home from Afghanistan, a group of 40 religious leaders called for the president to “bring the war in Afghanistan to an end.” Signers of…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Americans are tougher on politicians for their financial misdeeds than their sexual ones, but men are more willing than women to tolerate sexual misbehavior in their elected officials. The findings, released June 22 in a detailed survey…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — The Saudi Arabian embassy on June 24 denied as “completely false” reports that U.S. Jews would not be able to travel to Saudi Arabia under Delta Air Line’s planned partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines. U.S. Jewish groups…

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) — Middle school is no picnic for a lot of students, but for Alec McGuire, it was intolerable. He transferred from one Catholic school to another in eighth grade to get away from another student whom…