Kentucky

Are too many churches these days more concerned about saving the earth than saving souls?

A British sociologist and a prominent American theologian are among those who might say so.

Frank Furedi, who teaches at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom, suggested that churches have replaced theology with ecology, using ecological virtues as a platform to assert their authority in society. more >>

As Presbyterians set out for dramatic changes to turn around its decline in membership, church leaders say the outrage that erupted from a controversial vote last year has subsided.

"My gut tells me two things – the level of anger and confusion and mistrust that I think we all experienced after last year’s General Assembly has moderated greatly," said Joan Gray, moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly, "and I sense new energy coming up ‘from the bottom’ of the church."

The 2006 General Assembly, the denomination's highest governing body, had approved an "authoritative interpretation" of the church's ordination standards, allowing greater leeway for homosexual ordination. The PC(USA) has been in conflict over ordaining gays for decades and the controversial measure prompted a growing number of congregations to leave the denomination. more >>

Presbyterian leaders held their first major consultation since 1983 on Friday to map out the direction in which the denomination will engage with the wider Christian Church over the next decade.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has played an active role in the Protestant ecumenical movement over the past century but maintaining their historic leadership in religious unity "will require a major reorientation and recommitment," said PC(USA) head Clifton Kirkpatrick.

“We need to recapture a passionate vision in the PC(USA) for the unity of the church, which now seems to recede into the background," he said at a three-day gathering sponsored by the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations (GACER), according to the Presbyterian News Service. more >>

Letters revealing Mother Teresa’s half-century-long “crisis of faith” have many pondering what to make of the secret life of one of the most revered figures in modern history.

Yet as theologians and psychologists offer interpretations for her deep “darkness,” a preeminent American theologian used Mother Teresa’s struggle to remind believers to trust Christ and not their feelings.

Whether it be an average Christian or a saint, doubts on the existence of God and turmoil over the inability to feel His presence is something every Christian has wrestled with. more >>

Mormons believe in a false gospel and are not Christians, concluded one of the nation’s preeminent evangelicals in what appeared to be the close of an online debate over Mormonism.

“Here is the bottom line. As an Evangelical Christian – a Christian who holds to the ‘traditional Christian orthodoxy’ of the Church – I do not believe that Mormonism leads to salvation,” wrote Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, on Wednesday evening.

“To the contrary, I believe that it is a false gospel that, however sincere and kind its adherents may be, leads to eternal death rather than to eternal life,” he stated. more >>

The chosen defender of Mormonism in a much talked-about online debate avoided the challenges posed by one of the nation’s preeminent evangelicals Wednesday on why Mormons cannot be considered Christians. Instead, well-known science-fiction writer Orson Scott Card called for unity among believers of Jesus in his latest blog.

The former Mormon missionary spent an extensive amount of his essay detailing how he was seen as an outsider by some Mormons who considered a good Mormon to be a Republican and someone that holds a steady day job. Card, a democrat and writer, noted that these Mormons were from a town in Utah where 98 percent of the population was Mormons.

However, when he moved to the east coast where Mormons are the minority, fellow Mormons there embraced him and accepted his differences. more >>