Ideas and resources for every journalist

Episcopalians gather amid divisions

Jul 7, 2009

Arguments over how far the Episcopal Church can go in extending rights to its gay members and clergy have divided the 2.1 million-member body for years, and they seem destined to continue. As bishops and deputies gather this week in Anaheim, Calif., they will again be debating the role of homosexuals in congregational life.

Full Story»

eMinders»

Southern Baptists face numbers crunch

Baptisms have dropped to a 20-year low in the Southern Baptist Convention, and membership and giving are down, too. The declines are causing hand-wringing in the nation’s largest Protestant body — and setting the stage for intense debates when SBC leaders gather on June 23-24 in Louisville, Ky., for their annual convention. What will they do?

Marriage & family»

A guide to covering same-sex marriage debates

A May 15, 2008, court ruling striking down California’s ban on same-sex marriage has rocketed the issue back into the national spotlight. Political, legal and religious battles over homosexual unions are continuing in California, other states and nationally.
Although the ruling directly affects only California, some predict it could play a role in softening objections to [...]

Medical ethics»

Abortion: updates, experts & organizations

Thirty-five years after abortion became legal in the U.S., the perennial hot-button issue is shifting in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. The nation’s abortion rate has fallen to its lowest level since 1974. The procedures that are performed are done, increasingly, at an earlier stage of pregnancy than in the past. Hollywood is releasing “life-affirming” films [...]

Religions & movements»

Pope addresses economic crisis in new encyclical

Pope Benedict XVI released his third encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate,” on Tuesday, July 7. The encyclical — an authoritative teaching document from the pope – applies Benedict’s ideas and the Catholic social justice tradition to the economic crisis. It also comes out as the G-8 summit convenes in Italy.

Science & medicine»

Science and Religion: Friends? Enemies? Frenemies?

Monday’s announcement that Bernard d’Espagnat, a French physicist and philosopher of science, has been awarded the 2009 Templeton Prize highlights once again the long-running debate over the relationship between faith and science. D’Espagnat has theorized that quantum physics could provide insights into alternate spiritual realities. He has said that recent discoveries in the field may [...]

Social issues»

The New Sanctuary Movement: Protecting and welcoming

Two key precepts have always found some form of expression in religious traditions across the ages: One is that we love our neighbor by welcoming the stranger, and the other is that the sacred ground of a house of worship cannot be violated by secular authorities. These two teachings came together in the United States [...]