WASHINGTON (RNS) — Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa has concluded a three-year probe into alleged lavish spending at six major broadcast ministries, and asked a prominent evangelical group to study ways to spur “self-reform” among religious groups. Since 2007, Grassley,…

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (RNS) — Driving through downtown Port-au-Prince, it can be difficult at first to see much change from a year ago, when a 7.0 earthquake devastated this impoverished island nation. The presidential palace is still in ruins, with thousands…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The government of Egypt recalled its ambassador to the Vatican on Jan. 11 to protest a demand by Pope Benedict XVI that it better protect the country’s embattled Christian minority. The Egyptian foreign ministry said in…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Facing a backlash from conservative groups, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has ordered changes to a proposal to remove the terms “mother” and “father” from records of overseas births. “With Secretary Clinton’s input, we will be revising…

LONDON (RNS) — The British branch of the YWCA has dropped “Christian” from its official name because it “no longer stood for what we are or what we do,” the women’s charity has announced. After 155 years, the Young Women’s…

By Linda C. Hoops The students at Christ Community Lutheran School (CCLS) can truthfully say they helped build a school 8,000 miles away without ever leaving their campuses in Kirkwood, Webster Groves and Crestwood, suburbs of St. Louis. During the…

By Kim Plummer Krull One year after a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, nearly 1 million people still live in tents, 95 percent of the rubble remains and cholera has killed more than 2,500, according to news…

Dr. Dean O. Wenthe, president of Concordia Theological Seminary (CTS), Fort Wayne, since 1996, has announced his intention to retire.  Wenthe, 66, said he plans to step down from the post when his successor is installed. The process to name…

This year’s Lutheran Services in America  (LSA) Annual Conference will offer “something for everyone in Lutheran social ministry,” the registration brochure for the May 3-6 conference in Milwaukee states. Added to the array of activities for conference registrants this year…

By James Heine Synod President Rev. Matthew C. Harrison was installed Jan. 9 as assistant pastor at Village Lutheran Church, Ladue, Mo. The rite of installation took place during Village Lutheran’s 10:45 a.m. service. LCMS Missouri District Circuit Counselor Rev.…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — A federal appeals court ruled Jan. 4 a veterans’ memorial featuring a 43-foot cross on California’s Mount Soledad is unconstitutional. “The use of such a distinctively Christian symbol to honor all veterans sends a strong message of…

BANGALORE, India (RNS) — Church officials in Pakistan say the assassination of Salman Taseer, an outspoken critic of Pakistan’s blasphemy law, is a “setback” for the campaign to overturn the law that makes it illegal to speak against Islam. “This…

(RNS) — Seven in 10 Americans say religion’s influence on the country is waning, and 61 percent say they belong to a church or synagogue, equaling the lowest number since Gallup began asking the question in the 1930s. Opinions about…

(RNS) — Janine Winkler loves reading books to her 2-year-old grandson Judah, but instead of sitting on her lap at her home in Michigan, he’s usually half a world away in Nigeria, where his father works for Wycliffe Bible Translators.…

Stronger mutual understandings of doctrine, mission and charity among member churches of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) are among the challenges formulated by Rev. Hans-Jörg Voigt, who has assumed responsibilities as chairman of the confessional Lutheran association. Voigt is bishop…

By Paula Schlueter Ross Roy and Erna “Sue” Nolting, longtime members of Concordia Lutheran Church in Kirkwood, Mo., did not expect the New Year’s Eve storm headed for suburban St. Louis to endanger their lives. Roy, 98 and on oxygen…