Healthcare ministries are increasing, with the fastest growing creating partnerships between congregations and established clinics and medical personnel, reports Advance, the online newsletter of Leadership Network (April 11). There are four models of healthcare ministries that churches have embraced: the traditional clinic, which uses the church structure or separate building to house an actual health clinic; […]
Covenant-marriage movement stalled at the altar?
Although the covenant-marriage movement has gained wide support among conservative churches, the national effort to safeguard marriages against easy or no-fault divorce has stalled, according to Chronicles magazine (May). The covenant-marriage movement began in the late 1990s under the leadership of Southern Baptist pastor Phil Waugh. The movement sought to encourage churches to promote extralegal covenant-marriages in […]
Activism, uncertainty sustain evolution conflict
Far from winding down, the controversy over evolution and intelligent design appears to be intensifying and spreading into new areas of American society, according to recent reports. The intelligent design movement suffered a significant loss after a court in Pennsylvania ruled against the public school’s curriculum citing the theory. But the movement is still alive […]
On/File: April 2006
01: Kazuko Hosaki has become Japan’s “lifestyle guru” who blends self-help advice with a spiritual system of divination with ancestor worship. Hosaki has become a well-known presence on Japanese TV and tabloids mainly through her fortune telling for celebrities, but lately has branched out to giving advice on Japanese mores and morals—from disrespect for elders […]
Findings & Footnotes: April 2006
01: There has been much written on the loss of identity of religious colleges and strategies to revive their purpose and missions. In her new book From Piety to Professionalism–and Back? (Lexington Books, $27.95), sociologist Patricia Wittberg looks at the matter of the religious identity of colleges and other organizations from a different angle. She finds that the […]
Vatican eager to establish diplomatic relations with China
The fact that Hong Kong’s bishop Joseph Zen was chosen as one of the new cardinals made by Benedict XVI in March is widely seen as one more indication of the Pope’s desire to reach out to China. Choosing a bishop either from Taiwan or from mainland China as a new Chinese cardinal would have […]
Hinduism shaping India’s pragmatic use of biotechnology
India is becoming a leader in biotechnology, not least because of its Hindu-based tolerance on such issues as stem cell research and cloning that has influenced even minority Christians, reports Science & Theology News (March). Along with its rising reputation in information technology, India’s biotechnology industry has also sprouted in the last few years Chhavi Sachdev writes […]
‘Islamic Calvinism’ joins piety and productivity in Turkey
A new entrepreneurialism sweeping across parts of Turkey has been dubbed “Islamic Calvinism” for its combination of Islamic piety with pro-free market and business attitudes. BBC News (March 13) reports that this trend particularly applies to Kayseri and a handful of other cities in the region of Anatolia that are industrializing at a rapid rate. Unlike the […]
Scholars turn to networks to study Islamic extremism
The New York Times Magazine (March 12) reports that counter-terrorism specialists, both in the government and academia, are using a theory known as network analysis to identify potential Islamic extremists. Network or “link analysis” involves searching for associations and other connections between seemingly disparate individuals and groups. Terrorists may be located by identifying “network hubs” or centers […]
Evangelicals changing the face of French Protestantism
The recent admission of evangelical churches into France’s mainstream Protestant federation shows the new influence of evangelicalism in the country. On March 11, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in France became a full member of the mainstream French Protestant Federation (FPF). At the same time, one Evangelical and three Pentecostal/Charismatic groups (including the Foursquare Gospel Church) […]
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