A California judge has ruled against a conservative breakaway Anglican congregation in a property dispute between it and The Episcopal Church.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Kim G. Dunning ruled last week that the property of St. James Anglican Church of Newport Beach belongs to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

"As a matter of law, the Diocese is entitled to enforce the trust in its favor and eject the current occupants," reads the court order. "All the church property acquired by and held in the name of St. James Parish is held in trust for the Episcopal Church and the Diocese, which have the exclusive right to possession and dominion and control." more >>

Correction Apended

A Florida Pastor who recently left the United Methodist Church has started up a new congregation at a beach bar so as to reach out to those uncomfortable with the traditional church setting.

Pastor Jack Kale oversaw the first prayer service for Central Waterside Church at Bimini Beach Bar in Hemingway on Sunday. The congregation is part of a megachurch based in Las Vegas. more >>

Dwight L. Moody, the renowned evangelist, once said, "Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich, healthy blood to a sick man." A new study proves how right he was.

A study published in a recent issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry reports a positive connection between church attendance and clinical depression. Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan found a 22 percent reduction in depression among those who went to church at least once a month compared to those who never attend.

The authors of the study wrote, "Significantly fewer monthly attenders reported having episodes or a diagnosis of depression. This…suggests a protective effect of religious attendance." The researchers also noted that those who would identify themselves as spiritual but did not attend religious service experienced no health benefits. more >>

A former National Football League player has received an apology from a Wisconsin church that allegedly canceled a speaking engagement after the player praised NBA star Jason Collins on Twitter.

LeRoy Butler, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, stated that he was disinvited from a speaking event at an unnamed church for posting a tweet that commended Collins of the NBA for coming out as gay.

The church, which Butler has refused to identify, proceeded to apologize to him for the incident and thanked him for not mentioning their name to the public. more >>

A California megachurch pastor involved in the National Day of Prayer who has recently come under fire for his views on homosexuality has declared that he will not be intimidated.

At a prayer event held Wednesday morning at the Washington, D.C., office of the Family Research Council, Pastor Greg Laurie told those gathered, "I won't back down."

"They do not want me to pray. They describe me as 'homophobic' and so forth. How can you deal with such a situation? We're in a time in our country now where I'm attacked because I believe what the Bible teaches," said Laurie, ahead of Thursday's National Day of Prayer. more >>

Among various Christian groups in the United States, evangelicals were found to be the most "Christ-like," according to the findings of a recently released study on Christians.

Overseen by the Barna Group, the results, released Tuesday, showed that 23 percent of evangelical respondents exhibited both Christ-like actions and attitudes. The 23 percent number puts evangelicals above the other categories, which included "Practicing Protestant" (16 percent), "All Christians" (14 percent), "Practicing Catholic" (14 percent), "Non Evangelical Born Again Christians" (13 percent), and "Notional" (13 percent).

The findings were derived from 1,008 telephone interviews of which 718 respondents self-identified as Christian from Nov. 11 until Nov. 18, 2012. Respondents who identified themselves as Christian were asked 20 questions, ten of which compared their responses to Jesus' actions and attitudes and ten of which compared their responses to the Pharisees of the New Testament. more >>