In the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer, July 4th is an appointed Feast Day, though in truth it’s probably not observed by Episcopalians who aren’t American citizens, or frankly, by most Episcopalians. But for those that are keeping this Feast Day, may it be a blessed one for you.
About seven in 10 of those surveyed said they believed that many religions can lead to eternal life and that there is more than one true interpretation of the teachings of their own religion. A majority of the members of almost every religious tradition agreed with those positions — including Southern Baptists and Catholics.
Andrea Useem thinks she may have identified the wellspring of Barack Obama’s broadly acknowledged rhetorical brilliance. It isn’t so much that he is superb speaker but rather that he seems to have an instinctive ability to speak the patois of American Civil religion.
“I feel safer down here among the Christian savages along Narragansett Bay than I do among the savage Christians of Massachusetts Bay Colony,” wrote Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, shortly after his exile from polite society in 1635.
Commentary from USA Today this week posits that mainline megachurches might be the solution to declining mainline churches—or does it? Once you read past the lede, you’ll find the piece takes a closer look at the phenomenon and doesn’t buy the oft-touted explanation that all our mainline people have run away to more conservative havens. In fact, with all the attention raining down on mainline churches as a result of renewed focus on faith on the Democratic side of the political process, signs are pointing to hope for these churches.
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.
A new coalition of voices within the American Christian community is beginning to lobby in concert for a change in US environmental policy. The newest voices that are joining to the call for this change are coming from the traditionally politically conservative evangelical wing.
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.