These are strange times. Strange times indeed!
MINNEAPOLIS — The Rev. Allen Kuss is a devout Catholic and the proud owner of a pug dog named Kiku-San.
On the first Sunday after the coronavirus began upending American life, some religious institutions – including two churches whose pastors are close to President Donald Trump – held in-person services amid public health worries over the pandemic. That picture already looks different this week.
HOLLAND — The Hope College Chapel Choir is scheduled to perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26, in the Concert Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts.
LOS ANGELES — At St. Frances X. Cabrini Roman Catholic Church in Yucaipa, California, the holy water fonts have been left dry. Parishioners must now bring their own water and ask the priest to bless it.
Update (Saturday, 1 p.m.): St. Mary's Catholic Church in Spring Lake has made the decision to cancel its Sunday morning service. According to its website, St. John's Lutheran will hold its service as planned.
Recently, I have been going through all of the books in my library. Having been in Christian ministry over 40 years now, most of the volumes on my shelf are Bible commentaries and theological books.
BALTIMORE — The leader of the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Maryland is asking congregants to alter some of their worship practices to minimize the chances of contracting or spreading COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus that was first reported in China in December and has sp…
NEW YORK — A rising number of churches across the United States are making changes in response to the coronavirus outbreak, including a decision by numerous Catholic dioceses to suspend the serving of wine during Communion.
Places near and far, people who have made history, and more filled St. John’s Lutheran School on Wednesday during its annual Social Studies Fair.
Places near and far, people who have made history, and more filled St. John’s Lutheran School on Wednesday during its annual Social Studies Fair.
By the time this column is published, we will know the results of the 14 states voting on Super Tuesday. Given the polling so far, it looks like Bernie Sanders seems likely to continue the momentum built in early contests. I had been leaning toward Pete Buttigieg, but now I’m pretty firmly i…
HOLLAND — Ways in which a free-market economy can be compatible with Christian concern for the poor will be the focus of an address at Hope College by the Rev. Dr. Richard Turnbull – who is director of the Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics based in Oxford, England – at 7 p.m. Wednesd…
GRAND RAPIDS — Steven Timmermans has resigned from his position at the helm of the Christian Reformed Church in North America.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Rev. Mike Lotzer became pastor of a Burnsville, Minnesota, church in 2017, and quickly discovered its Facebook page was wildly – and strangely – popular.
SPRING LAKE TWP. — There will be an organ recital at St. Matthew Lutheran Church at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 8, as part of the Music at St. Matthew music series.
HOLLAND — Dr. Theresa Farnan, who is a founding member of the Person and Identity Project, will join John Bursch, who is vice president of Appellate Advocacy for Alliance Defending Freedom, in a civil dialogue on “The Transgender Question: Theological and Legal Considerations” at 7 p.m. Mond…
Pat McGinnis knows fish.
Lent is upon us, but how much do we really understand about this age-old religious tradition?
This week, a local news station posted a story about abortion. As you can imagine, Facebook lost its collective mind and the sniping and self-righteous comments began immediately. They were often backed up with the pro-life movement being a reason to vote Republican, or, more specifically, t…
During his days on earth, the Rev. Richard A. Rhem embraced God, his family and all of humanity. Like the celery stalks he planted and harvested as a youth, he spent a lifetime tending to the tender.
I went to see the movie “1917” recently. I must say, it was quite a movie!
MINNEAPOLIS — The Rev. Doug Pagitt jumped on stage at his former Minneapolis church with a message that he and his entourage are repeating across the country: Evangelical voters, you can stay true to your Christian faith but not vote for President Donald Trump.
HOLLAND — Multiple area choirs will perform during a Gospel Choir Fest concert at Hope College on Friday, Feb. 28.
HOLLAND — Dr. Gregory Lee, an associate professor of theology and urban studies at Wheaton College, will present “An Augustinian Theology of Mass Incarceration” in Holland on Thursday, Feb. 27.
PHILADELPHIA — Time has weathered its pages to sepia, but the gold letters on the cover of the hardback Bible still shine when the light hits just so. On the first page, in cursive, an inscription reads, “Best Wishes, Martin Luther King Jr.”
DETROIT — Since its formation in 1836, no woman or openly gay priest has ever been elected to lead the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. That changed last Saturday, when the Rev. Bonnie Perry was ordained and consecrated as the body’s 11th bishop, overseeing more than 16,000 baptized members ac…
NEW YORK — It has become standard practice for U.S. corporations to assure employees of support regardless of their race, gender or sexual orientation. There’s now an intensifying push to ensure that companies are similarly supportive and inclusive when it comes to employees’ religious beliefs.
Couples spend decades doing everything together – until declining health prompts a move into an assisted living facility. They take turns caring for one another as their health ebbs and they prepare for their final journeys.
EUGENE, Oregon — An Oregon school board is looking to make changes to its religious holidays policies after local clergy members, parents and students asked the district be more inclusive to non-Christians.
DETROIT — A Michigan couple is suing American Airlines for discrimination after the airline claimed they smelled bad and kicked them off a flight last year.
In the wake of revelations that scores of Roman Catholic priests and religious workers credibly accused of child sexual abuse are living unsupervised in communities across the country, state officials face a quandary: Should they screen former clergy members who seek licenses for jobs that p…
The Methodist Church, the largest mainline Protestant denomination in the United States, is headed toward a divorce.
NEW YORK — Bernie Sanders is approaching next week’s Iowa caucuses in a position to become the first major-party Jewish presidential nominee in the nation’s history. And at a time of resurgent anti-Semitism, he’s talking in more depth about how his faith shapes his broader worldview.
VATICAN CITY — A Vatican cardinal at the center of a storm over a book about celibacy and the Catholic priesthood is denouncing the “brutality” of criticism directed at him and his collaborator, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.
SPRING LAKE — The students of a local parochial school spent time this week honoring people who play a role in their Catholic education.
SPRING LAKE — The students of a local parochial school spent time this week honoring people who play a role in their Catholic education.
As the 2020 election approaches in the United States, President Donald Trump is adding school prayer to the list of contentious issues up for debate. After Trump promised in early January to “safeguard students’ and teachers’ First Amendment rights to pray in our schools,” his administration…
MUSKEGON — Leaders and employees of Catholic Charities West Michigan broke ground Thursday on $4.5 million Muskegon facility that will include a second building to house a detox center.
It’s January. And January is always a hard month for me to get through. It’s so cold. The wind howls outside. The snow piles up and often I’d rather just stay inside.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Approximately 10-15 school districts in Kentucky are currently offering Bible literacy courses, but a bill introduced in the 2020 General Assembly would replace them with classes on “various religious texts” of the many religions practiced in the state.
“Guided by the Light,” the new exhibit at the Atrium Art Gallery of Second Christian Reformed Church in Grand Haven, contains the art collection of Donna Spaan.
There is a quiet parents’ movement afoot in Grand Haven right now, and it is one that could do irreparable harm to our kids.
LOS ANGELES — Once a month, a very particular Sunday service unfolds on a patio outside a Starbucks in El Monte, California. When jets fly overhead, members of the congregation have to shout across the table at one another.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — United Methodist Church leaders from around the world and across ideological divides unveiled a plan Jan. 3 for a new conservative denomination that would split from the church in an attempt to resolve a decades-long dispute over gay marriage and gay clergy.
ATLANTA, Ga. — Five years ago, the Rev. Charles W. Savage II joined more than 80 other United Methodist Church pastors and theologians from around the nation in thoughtful conversations and prayer for an amicable separation between progressives and traditionalists.
LAUGHLIN, Nev. — Charlie Urnick stands in a backstage hallway at Don’s Celebrity Theater, tucked inside the thrumming Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino. Smiling, shaking hands with well-wishers, he awaits the evening’s events with the knowing calm of a veteran headliner.
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis offered a Christmas message of hope Wednesday against darkness that cloaks conflicts and relationships in large parts of the world from the Middle East to the Americas to Africa.
Normal people are overestimating the value of Christianity Today’s editorial in which Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli called for President Donald Trump’s removal. In plain English: It’s not what it appears to be.
As we approach New Year’s Eve tonight, many people will commit themselves to new resolutions, commitments they have made to change something about their lives for the better.
Rabbi Velvel Belinsky says he’s always looking for fresh ways to promote the Jewish faith and its teachings.
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