Giles Fraser looks at church membership and attendance in the UK and concludes that the Church of England is doing better than most people assume
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services panel has begun to consider whether to overturn a long-standing ban against accepting blood donations from gay men.
The Jumu’ah, the Friday communal prayers of Islam, were hosted by the Washington National Cathedral yesterday with an invited group of Muslims and Christians and heavy security. The event was organized by The Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean of the cathedral, and Ebrahim Rasool, a Muslim scholar and South Africa’s ambassador to the United States.
Churches are always insufficient for the formation of faith: they are also all we’ve got. Faith is both mundane and transcendent.
When Jesus spoke the parable of the lost sheep, I don’t think he had in mind that the one sheep represented the rich while the ninety-nine were the poor and even middle-class. But then, maybe that one lost sheep needs the shepherding because it is determined to go its own way while the ninety-nine stay together for mutual help and support.