Megachurches are setting up multi-site campuses that are crossing state lines and, in the process, facing criticism that they are establishing churches as franchises, reports Christianity Today (July). A recent trend among megachurches is to extend “their brand of church to new communities,” often featuring live music and sermons piped in from the main campus, […]

A dissenting movement has mushroomed in the Baha’i religion thanks to the Internet and the way it  disseminates “reformist” proposals, according to Bei Dawei of Hsuan Chaung University in Taiwan. In a paper presented at a June conference in Taiwan organized by CESNUR, a research center on new religious movements, Dawei noted that the Baha’i […]

A fast-growing and influential network of technological thinkers and groups borrow concepts from religion and spirituality while often seeing themselves in competition with traditional faiths, according to Abou Farman of the City University of New York. At a Columbia University conference on spirituality in late May attended by RW, Farman presented a paper on what […]

Anti-Islamic sentiment has recently crossed the line from being confined to a largely apolitical and conservative Christian subculture to gaining a more active place in Republican politics and the conservative media, according to the libertarian magazine Reason (August/September). The magazine reports that the recent spate of campaigns against the building of mosques and efforts to […]

Following the July 22 attacks in Norway and first analyses of the writings of accused killer Anders Breivik, a discussion has started regarding his religious beliefs and whether such labels as “fundamentalist” and “Christian terrorist” apply to his actions. While the media and some scholars described him as a “Christian terrorist,” other scholars dispute suggestions […]

Deposits in Pakistan’s Islamic banks rose from $3 billion to $4 billion last year, reports Pamela Constable (Washington Post, April 30). According to business experts, the trend is a consequence both of turmoil in the Western financial systems in recent years and of a surge in religious feelings. Not only banks, but also all kinds […]

Evangelical churches’ involvement in running a large number of rehabilitation centers for substance abusers in Russia is bringing a new wave of participants into congregational life, but is also causing conflict with the more middle-class constituencies they are also reaching. Christianity Today (April) reports that this is particularly the case in Siberia, where visitors to […]

Due to support given to the church by the state, Greek Orthodox institutions are feeling increasingly under pressure in the crisis-hit country. According to Greek sources quoted by the Paris-based Service Orthodoxe de Presse (May 23), the Greek government intends to cut by half the budget used for paying the salaries of Greek clergy. Moreover, […]