Eunice Kennedy Shriver, pro-lifer

Last updated on: August 24, 2009 at 5:59 am By tmatt

There is nothing particularly newsworthy about a coalition of pro-lifers releasing a public manifesto that criticizes politicos who support abortion rights. Nevertheless, a full-page advertisement in the New York Times during the 1992 Democratic National Convention raised eyebrows because a few prominent Democrats endorsed “A New American Compact: Caring about Women, Caring for the Unborn.” One name in particular jumped out in this list — Kennedy. “The advocates of abortion on demand falsely assume two things: that women must suffer... Read more

Wafer madness

Last updated on: August 17, 2009 at 5:19 am By tmatt

Editor’s note: Tmatt did not write a column for Scripps Howard this week, due to last-minute travel to Atlanta for the funeral of my wife Debra’s mother, Jeanne Bridges Kuhn. The following is a post written for GetReligion.org, which will interest many of my regular readers. To read the interactive version of this post, click here. * * * * There is no question what the Roman Catholic Church calls the holy bread that is consecrated during the Mass. It... Read more

Real, live, postmodern preacher

Last updated on: August 10, 2009 at 5:42 am By tmatt

The Rev. Gordon Atkinson had few specific goals when he started planning his 13-week sabbatical from his duties at Covenant Baptist Church near San Antonio. “I knew that I didn’t want to be in charge of anything,” said Atkinson, long known as the “Real, Live, Preacher” to those who read his intensely personal online journal (reallivepreacher.com). “Preachers talk and talk and I wanted to get away from that. I didn’t want to be a worship tourist, but I thought it... Read more

Catholic pain in health-care fight

Last updated on: August 3, 2009 at 5:00 am By tmatt

In Catholic debates, it always helps to be able to quote the official Catechism of the Catholic Church. Consider, for example, this reference to health care in its chapter on the biblical instruction, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” “Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God,” notes the catechism. “Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food... Read more

Why journalists (heart) the Episcopal Church

Last updated on: July 27, 2009 at 5:00 am By tmatt

On a typical Sunday, 4,281 Episcopalians attend services in the world-famous Diocese of New Hampshire, according to official church reports. This isn’t a large number of worshippers in the pews of 47 parishes — roughly the same number that would attend weekend Masses in two or three healthy Catholic parishes in a typical American city. Episcopal attendance in New Hampshire fell sharply between 2003 and 2007, which is the most recent statistical year available (pdf). Meanwhile, this diocese had 15,621... Read more

Chopping that Anglican timeline

Last updated on: July 20, 2009 at 5:00 am By tmatt

The resolution from the 1979 Episcopal General Convention in Denver inspired a small wave of headlines, even though it simply restated centuries of doctrine about marriage. “We reaffirm the traditional teaching of the Church on marriage, marital fidelity and sexual chastity as the standard of Christian sexual morality,” it said. “Candidates for ordination are expected to conform to this standard.” However, 21 bishops disagreed, publicly stating that gay sexual relationships were “no less a sign to the world of God’s... Read more

Signs along the Methodist trail

Last updated on: July 13, 2009 at 5:00 am By tmatt

Sex, sex, sex. That seemed to be the only thing United Methodists were talking about the year that the Rev. James V. Heidinger II took command at Good News, a national movement for his church’s evangelicals. That was in 1981. “Every time we turned around we were arguing about sex, and homosexuality in particular,” said Heidinger, who retired last week. “Frankly, I was already weary of it and that was a long, long time ago. We wanted to get on... Read more

Walking in St. Tikhon’s footsteps

Last updated on: July 6, 2009 at 5:00 am By tmatt

It didn’t take long for controversy to spread about the photograph taken after the consecration rites in 1900 for a new bishop in Wisconsin. Low-church Episcopalians called it the “Fond du Lac Circus” because of all the ornate vestments. Not only was Bishop Charles Chapman Grafton, who presided, wearing a cope and mitre, but so were the other bishops. Then there were was the exotic visitor on the edge of the photograph — Bishop Tikhon of the Russian Orthodox Church.... Read more

McChurch history 101

Last updated on: June 29, 2009 at 5:00 am By tmatt

In the beginning, revival preachers used their dynamic voices and dramatic sermons — framed with entertaining gospel music — to attract large crowds and to pull sinners into the Kingdom of God. This formula worked in weeklong revivals and, when tried, it started working in regular Sunday services. Big preachers drew big crowds and created bigger and bigger churches. Then along came the big media, which helped create a youth culture that exploded out of the 1950s and into the... Read more

Angels, demons & good Catholics

Last updated on: June 22, 2009 at 5:58 am By tmatt

Near the end of Dan Brown’s “Angels & Demons,” the beautiful scientist Vittoria Vetra clashes with a Vatican official who insists that the day researchers prove how God acted in creation is “the day people stop needing faith.” “You mean the day they stop needing the church,” she shouts, weaving together the novel’s main themes. “But the church is not the only enlightened soul on the planet! We all seek God in different ways. … “God is not some omnipotent... Read more