A “global census” of Muslims who have become Christians estimates that the largest numbers are found in Asia, followed by Africa and North America, and totaling nearly 10 million. The census was conducted by Duane Alexander Miller and Patrick Johnstone and is published in the current issue of The Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion […]

While there is no mass conversion of Muslim refugees to Christianity in Germany, a few congregations are experiencing significant growth following their missionary work with them, Deborah Berlioz reports from Berlin in the French Protestant daily Réforme (Oct. 29). A Lutheran parish belonging to a small German denomination linked to Lutheran Missouri Synod in Berlin […]

While the fighters for the Islamic State may be devout Muslims, their motivations are far from being dictated by the radical movement and its dream of a worldwide caliphate, writes Lydia Wilson in The Nation magazine (Oct. 21). Wilson and her colleagues interviewed imprisoned ISIS fighters in Iraq and found that they were “woefully ignorant […]

Female preachers (vaizeler, singular vaize) are being employed by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), not merely as providers of social assistance and support but “most of all as spiritual guides to whom women can share problems and questions,” says the past president of the Diyanet in an article in Turkish Studies (Sept.). The […]

Several groups are currently pushing for Buddhism to become state religion in Thailand, writes Nanchanok Wongsamuth in Bangkok Post (Oct. 25). A previous attempt had failed during military rule in 2007; the constitution adopted at that time only required the State to patronize and protect Buddhism. Members of a committee to promote Buddhism as state […]

Mormon dissenters from church teachings on women and gay rights have been switching to their liberal sister denomination, the Community of Christ, reports the Guardian (Oct. 1). Formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints, the 250,000-member denomination changed its name in 2001 to reflect its increasingly traditional Protestant identity. The church accepts […]

Contrary to media reports, evangelicals are unlikely to change their attitudes on sexuality any time soon, writes Russell Moore in the magazine First Things (October). With the recent Supreme Court decision on gay marriage and the growing public acceptance of gay rights and other liberal positions on sexuality, several commentators have reported liberalization in some […]

A segment of megachurches are experimenting with ethnically homogenous small groups as a way to actually grow more diversity on the wider congregational level, reports Christianity Today magazine (September). These churches combine maximal inclusiveness in major Sunday worship services with smaller groups meeting during the week to allow members of various ethnic groups to worship […]

The growing Protestant house church movement in Cuba promotes a social ethic that is friendlier to the Cuban socialism than might be expected, writes Rose T. Caraway in the Journal of Religion & Society (Vol. 17). The number of Protestant house churches in Cuba has grown rapidly; a 2013 report from the U.S. State Department […]

Churches in Europe are being pulled in conflicting directions as they respond to the hundreds of thousands of people seeking asylum from war and persecution on the continent, according to The Economist (Sept. 6). The magazine reports that, “On one hand, European churches and religious charities have played a prominent role in supporting migrants and […]