Category: The Lead

More and more people are making their own sets of prayer beads and using them to structure their prayers. An article in the Grand Rapids Press, in Michigan, examines the phenomenon by talking to some of the beading faithful, including two Grand Rapids sisters who were running a small beading business. They watched demand for the beads grow exponentially after they started their shop in 2001, possibly as a result of the events of that September. Another of the women in the article, author Kimberly Wilson, recently wrote a book about prayer beads that traces the origins of rosary prayers as well as noting the near-universality of prayer beads as traditions in other faiths.

The Wall Street Journal reports on an effort by a Scottsdale based conservative advocacy group to create a legal test to the IRS’s interpretation of the limits of political speech within churches.

There seems to have been a small change in the board of directors of the Institute on Religion & Democracy (IRD). The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, who joined the board a few years ago, is no longer listed as a member.

Christine Wicker argues in a recent column (and in her new book) that the political power of the Evangelical vote in the United States is actually much less than we’ve been led to believe. And even what power there was is now decreasing.