With greater freedom for Christian and other non-governmental groups, Cambodian churches are growing. There are more than 1,000 evangelical churches in the country, up from about 50 in 1992, Religion Today (Oct. 25) reports. While there are about 120 Christian and Missionary Alliance churches and the Assemblies of God has about 1,000 members, congregations started by native […]

The elephant Ganesh, one of the most common among the Hindu’s pantheon of gods and goddesses, is increasingly being put to service of Indian nationalists, reports the Washington Times (Oct. 2). That Ganesh is becoming a vehicle for Hindu nationalism and political activism was evident in the recent elections in India, where images of  the god often led parades […]

Satanism is often viewed as either a teen prank that can not sustain an actual movement (particularly since the collapse of organized Satanism in the U.S. since the death of Anton LaVey), or by many conservative Christians as an active force often aimed against them and their faith. Recent incidents in northern Europe and Russia […]

While Vacation Bible School (VBS) has been a staple of American Protestant churches for decades, these summer religious education programs are now catching on even among synagogues and mosques. The evangelical digest magazine Current Thoughts & Trends (November) reports that VBS is experiencing a resurgence in popularity including interest from non-Christian groups. Over 20 religious publishers compete […]

Churches across the U.S. are starting marital-arts ministries and also raising questions about the limits of  using secular activities to draw converts and new members. The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 28) reports that the growth of karate and similar martial arts groups in churches has helped bring the unchurched teenagers to Christian services. Such ministries as Kicks for […]

The New Age movement will expand in the future because of its strong holistic health thrust, but the amorphous movement also needs to move toward greater social action to have more impact. Those are two of the forecasts made by New Age veterans in the 25th anniversary issue of New Age magazine (November/December). The magazine asked 25 […]

Among the many developments that have taken place within American Protestantism in the last three decades, the changes in the weekly sermon has often been left unstudied. In the journal Books & Culture (September/October), Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. of Calvin College surveys the field by reviewing twenty leading books by homiletics (or preaching) specialists. This leads him to […]

Amidst the widespread popularity of do-it-yourself, spirituality, the phenomenon of religion in the workplace continues to grow and is now filtering down to workers as well as producing positive results in productivity and job satisfaction. An in-depth article in Business Week (Nov. 1) reports that today’s business leaders are a part of a spiritual revival “sweeping across […]