Veggies attack the funny gap

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:59 pm By tmatt

While flipping through TV channels the other night, VeggieTales writer Mike Nawrocki discovered an absolutely hilarious preacher. We’re not talking about the big hair, molasses and glitz humor that makes so many televangelists laugh-to-keep-from-crying funny. No, this preacher was using humor to communicate. He knew his people and he knew how to make them laugh. “It was very, very funny. But he was doing this in his own pulpit for his own people,” said Nawrocki, who is “Larry the Cucumber”... Read more

What is NON-religion news?

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:59 pm By tmatt

It is Martin Marty’s custom to rise at 4:44 a.m. for coffee and prayer, while awaiting the familiar thump of four newspapers on his porch. A week ago, America’s most famous church historian prepared for a lecture in Nebraska by ripping up enough newsprint to bury his table in headlines and copy slashed with a yellow pen. A former WorldCom CEO kept teaching his Sunday school class. A researcher sought the lost tribe of Israel. Believers clashed in Sudan. Mormon... Read more

My Big, Fat, Greek Mystery

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:59 pm By tmatt

To the faithful, there was nothing new about hearing an ancient litany in Greek. But it wasn’t business as usual for Gregory Waynick, who was planning to be a Southern Baptist pastor until his studies in history and theology led him into Eastern Orthodoxy. As a young deacon in Nashville, he was terrified the first time he tried to sing a few lines of Greek chant. “I’m sure my pronunciation was pretty sad,” he said. “But when I looked up,... Read more

Spirituality up, doctrine down

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:59 pm By tmatt

During the 1990s, pollster George Barna released many reports showing that Americans were growing less traditional on issues of sin, salvation and the scriptures. Church leaders found his data disturbing. On many occasions they asked: Could anything reverse these trends? What would it take to inspire significant numbers of Americans to repent and return to their roots? “I told people that I thought it was going to take something big, some kind of genuinely shocking event that would show that... Read more

High Holy Days, one year later

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:59 pm By tmatt

The ritual could not have been more familiar, but Rabbi Howard Shapiro found it almost impossible to say the usual prayers for the infant. It was only a few days after Sept. 11th. Suddenly, it was hard to talk about blessings, peace, goodness, faith and hope. “I remember what I said to the family that day,” said Shapiro, the leader of Temple Israel in West Palm Beach, Fla. “I said that we must force ourselves to say these words. We... Read more

Elvis, a prodigal son?

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:52 pm By tmatt

As the woman reached the stage, the musicians behind Elvis Presley could see that she was carrying a crown on a plush pillow. “It’s for you,” she said. “You’re the king.” Gospel superstar J.D. Sumner recalled that Presley took her hand that night in Las Vegas and replied: “No, honey, I’m not the king. Christ is the king. I’m just a singer.” Anyone digging through the mud of Presley’s sad decline can find many signs that he was crying out... Read more

Missionary cohabitating, Part II

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:52 pm By tmatt

From the pulpit, the typical pastor can see all kinds of people whose ears will burn during a sermon about what used to be called “living in sin.” There will be a few young adults who are cohabitating, as well as many moms and dads whose children quietly share street addresses with their significant others. There will be smiling couples the pastor married without asking many personal questions. There may be one or two divorced deacons with skeletons in their... Read more

Missionary cohabitating, Part I

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:52 pm By tmatt

Church people have a name for what happens when young believers get romantically involved with unbelievers. They call it “missionary dating,” usually with one eyebrow raised in skepticism. Most of these relationships involve a good girl who is convinced that, with time, she can help a bad boy see the error of his ways and learn to walk the straight and narrow path. Times have changed. According to new research, a surprising number of females have graduated from “missionary dating”... Read more

Topless culture wars in Idaho

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:52 pm By tmatt

Strange things happen when it gets hot in Moscow, Idaho. In the summer of 1998, three women stayed cool by going topless on a major street. They were arrested, but a judge ruled that the local indecent exposure ordinance was too vague. The issue stayed on a low boil. “That was a mini-tempest in a tea cup that just set the stage,” said the Rev. Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, a conservative Presbyterian congregation in a town dominated by the... Read more

Alchemy comes to Canterbury

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:53 pm By tmatt

In the halls of Anglican power, the leader of the tiny Church of Wales is respected for his skill at blending theology and poetry into sermons that are both impressive and mysterious. Archbishop Rowan Williams has been called brilliant, charming, “turbulent,” mystical, humble, brave and witty — a true ecclesiastical chameleon. His own website trumpets his “radical views” on sexuality and church-state relations in England. The 52-year-old Welshman speaks seven languages, has taught at Oxford and Cambridge universities, but has... Read more