A Chicago bank owned by megachurch pastor Bill Winston and some members of his 20,000-strong Living Word Christian Center was shut down by federal regulators late last Friday after hemorrhaging millions of dollars since its founding in 2008.

A Chicago Sun-Times report said the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sold the assets of the failed Covenant Bank located on the West Side of Chicago to Liberty Bank and Trust Co. of New Orleans. The purchasing bank will continue operating Covenant Bank's single office.

Account holders at the bank, who were insured up to a maximum of $250,000 per account, will also be protected by the sale. But the banks owners, which include members of the Living Word Christian Center, will take a hit. According to the report, many of them are people of "modest means" who invested a minimum of $1,000 each in the venture. more >>

The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention has passed a resolution urging the Boy Scouts of America's leadership to not change their policy banning openly gay members.

SBC leadership unanimously approved the resolution Tuesday as the BSA continues to mull over the possibility of changing its controversial national policy.

"… we call on and urge the representatives of the approximately 1,400 voting members of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America courageously to stand strong on their moral convictions and vote to reject the proposed resolution from the national Scouting leaders, retaining the current policy of moral rectitude that has marked the Boy Scouts of America for more than one hundred years," reads the resolution. more >>

A rumor swirling around online claims that Pope Benedict XVI is stepping down because of legal action being taken against him over his alleged involvement in the Roman Catholic Church's priest sex abuse scandal.

Addicting Info, a left-wing website devoted to debunking right-wing ideas, posted a story last Thursday claiming that there was an arrest warrant from an unknown European country.

"…the Pope, whose given name is Joseph Ratzinger, has a meeting with the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano on February 23 to beg for immunity against prosecution for allegations of child sex crimes," wrote Shannon Barber of Addicting Info. more >>

If you're a member of a megachurch, chances are you are a part of something that's more business than ministry, according to former pastor and author Glenn Newman in his latest book, Pastors Move Over: Make Room for the Rest of Us.

Newman, who founded the Convenant Life Fellowship and Heartland Bible Institute in Texas, argues through scripture and other evidence that the current structure of church government with a single pastor at the helm is unbiblical and robs church members of the right pastoral care.

"Ephesians 4:11, 1 Corinthians 12-14 shows a clear system of all believers ministering to one another and worshiping house to house. The elders were the leadership of that day and servant leaders at that. But they also recognize each other's personal gift of ministry," said Newman in a statement Friday. "In the New Testament church there were no 'CEO' type leaders and in fact there were multiple pastors within the flock, ministering and nurturing those that needed it," he added. more >>

A California megachurch that serves as the founding congregation of a global Pentecostal denomination may have lost $2 million due to investing in a musical that flopped last winter.

The Foursquare Church of Echo Park, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, has been rumored to have lost the sum when it invested in a musical about its founder, Aimee Semple McPherson.

According to David Ng and Mike Boehm of the Los Angeles Times, two anonymous sources within Foursquare confirmed the financial loss for the church's Foursquare Foundation charitable arm. more >>

An American cardinal has told local media that he believes the pending decision to elect a new pope should not be a hasty one.

Francis Cardinal George of Chicago explained Sunday that time for consideration is of great importance in the decision-making rather than getting a new pope as soon as possible.

"You take the time needed to make a good decision … We will go into conclave when collectively the cardinals decide that we have [had] the conversations necessary to make a good decision," said George, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. more >>