The health of American religious life benefiting may be under debate, but most indicators from economic downturn suggest that the study of American religion is flourishing. In particular, both the disciplines of history and sociology are drawing new scholars on religious topics as well assigning a more important role to religion, according to recent studies. […]
Faith-based social services endure in Obama era
Faith-based social services are not likely to be rolled back by President Barack Obama, even if he may put a more liberal spin on such policies, writes Lew Daly in the journal Policy Review (October/November). Daly notes that almost year after his election, Obama has not aggressively sought to “restore the pre-Bush status quo by […]
New Christian Science fellowships get cold shoulder from mother church
The recent formation of Christian Science fellowships is raising challenges to the standardized practices in Christian Scientist churches. The independent Christian Science newsletter The Banner (winter) reports that two unofficial fellowships that have formed in Chicago and Chesterfield, Missouri have been trying to get formal recognition in the directory of the Christian Science Journal, although […]
Charter schools continuing or competing with Catholic schools?
A growing number of Catholic schools are opting to become charter schools rather than close their doors permanently, reports Commonweal magazine (Dec. 4). The declining state of Catholic education, particularly in inner cities, is convincing bishops in the dioceses of Washington, DC, Miami and Brooklyn to convert up to 16 parochial schools to charter schools—and […]
Megachurches in the vanguard of desegregating churches
A gradual “desegregation of the megachurches” in the US is taking place, reports Time magazine (Jan. 11). While the proportion of American churches with 20 percent or more minority participation has remained at about seven percent for the past nine years, that figure for evangelical churches with over 1,000 attending has more than quadrupled (from […]
Financial crisis following in the trail of the prosperity gospel?
The prosperity gospel has been accused of many things, but being a significant cause of the financial crisis has not usually been among them—at least until Hanna Rosin’s much publicized cover story in The Atlantic magazine (December). Rosin found that the areas most affected by the housing foreclosure crisis are often the same places, mostly […]
Europeans groomed for red hats and papacy?
Europeans outnumbered other cardinals recently elected by Pope Benedict XVI, making it look “more and more likely that his successor will be a European, if not an Italian,” reports the British Catholic magazine The Tablet (Oct. 30). In late November, Benedict gave the red hat to 11 new European cardinals, as well as four Africans, […]
Current Research: November/December 2010
01: Megachurches have a significant impact on the growth and decline rates of other congregations, both inside and outside of their vicinity, according to a recent study by Jason Wollschleger of the University of Washington and Jeremy Porter of Brooklyn College. In a paper presented at the meeting of the SSSR in Baltimore in late […]
On/File: January/February 2010
01: There are not many conscientious objectors in Turkey (although the numbers are said to be rising), but 33-year-old Enver Aydemir is one such dissenter who refused to serve due to his Islamic beliefs. Already arrested and detained a first time in 2007, Aydemir was rearrested in late December and is considered to be the […]
Findings & Footnotes: January/February 2010
01: Operating in multi-faith contexts abroad poses new challenges to military chaplains, writes Dennis R. Hoover (Institute for Global Engagement) in the introduction to an issue of the Review of Faith and International Affairs (Winter 2009) devoted to “The Past and Future of Military Chaplaincy.” Besides their traditional roles, should chaplains contribute to the training […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- …
- 199
- Next Page »