Official and semi-official agencies dealing with “cults” in France and Belgium feel that much has been achieved over the past two decades, but they would like to see some additional legal regulations introduced. Both the French MIVILUDES (Inter-ministerial Mission of Vigilance and Fight against Sectarian Deviances) and the Belgian CIAOSN (Information and Advice Center on […]

The fundamentalist trend in the Southern Baptist Convention may be at an end as an influential group of moderates is “seeking to move the denomination to become less political,” writes James L. Evans in the e-newsletter Sightings (June 28). For the past three decades the SBC has moved steadily rightward in both doctrine and politics. While the […]

Churches and municipalities are clashing over land use issues, particularly due to the growth of megachurches, causing both local governments and congregations to look beyond the usual route of enforcing free exercise of religion legislation. World magazine (June 9) reports that clashes between politicians and churches over land use and resulting loss of tax revenue are […]

The significant growth of Unitarian-Universalist Buddhist (UUBU) groups bears witness to the eclectic approach of a segment of American Buddhism today, according to French researcher Molly Chatalic. She delivered a paper on UUBU groups at the 2007 conference of the CESNUR (Center for Studies of New Religions), which took place on June 7-9 at the […]

The issue of head coverings for women is becoming increasingly contentious in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries, with even the manner in which such Islamic attire is worn revealing trends in worldwide Islam. The Economist (May 12) reports that the controversy covers the spectrum–from Turkish secularists protesting the possibility of a Muslim candidate being elected because […]

On May 17, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia officially reestablished communion with the Moscow Patriarchate. The move has been hailed by some as finally marking the end of the Russian Civil War (Russia Profile, May 17). As reported by RW (June 2006), a Council of the Church Abroad had accepted unity as a matter of principle […]

There is a resurgence of atheist activism on the European continent, reports Alexander Smoltczyk in the German weekly Der Spiegel (May 26). The trend of a “new atheism’’ mentioned in the March issue of RW now appears to have crossed the Atlantic. Why “new”? Because the new wave of atheists seem driven by a previously unknown missionary […]

Women evangelists and church leaders are finding expanding roles in charismatic and Pentecostal bodies and are creating new mentoring networks for younger women, according to Charisma (June) magazine. Women clergy have generally found more acceptance in Pentecostal and charismatic churches than in other conservative bodies, usually serving as co-pastors with their husbands (though also including such famous […]

The practice of discipline, whether of clergy charged with sexual abuse or of unrepentant members, is receiving new attention in evangelical churches and particularly the Southern Baptist Convention. Recent cases involving clergy sexual abuse among Protestant congregations are also reviving the debate about which kinds of church structures enable or discourage such crimes. The SBC […]

The discipline of anthropology may be facing something of a paradigm shift as older models that neglected or disdained the importance of Christian beliefs are being challenged. The ferment can be seen in the February issue of Current Anthropology which features a special section on anthropologists and their problems in studying Christianity. The lead article by Joel […]