Church Bodies

Internet televangelist Bill Keller is not a fan of fellow evangelists Joel Osteen and Franklin Graham, President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Bill Keller, the founder of LivePrayer.com, which has over 2.4 million subscribers, says Osteen and Graham have a duty to expose Mormonism as a cult.

“They are looked up to as prominent Christian leaders,” Keller said in an interview with The Christian Post. “When you have someone like Franklin Graham going on CNN and saying he has no problem voting for a Mormon like Mitt Romney and Osteen saying Mormons are Christian, it is clear that politics are being put before the eternal soul of man.” more >>

A study released Monday found that about one-third of American adults who have attended church have never experienced “a real and personal connection” with God while in a church service, and those who have experienced the connection say it is rare.

The research was conducted by the Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif.-based research organization, and sought to examine what Americans experience in Christian churches.

Of the 1,022 adults surveyed, 66 percent said they had experienced a personal connection with God during a church service. Only 35 percent of those surveyed said they connect with God on a monthly basis, while 44 percent of people who attend church services weekly said they feel His presence every week. more >>

An interdenominational, citywide church service aimed at enhancing Christian unity and community building drew nearly 15,000 believers at a downtown hockey arena in the Canadian city of Winnipeg Sunday morning.

The city’s MTS Center was packed with members from at least 62 churches who worshipped together at the third annual “One Heart Winnipeg” mega-service Sunday.

“Today we are telling everybody, including the city of Winnipeg, that we are on the same team,” the Canada Broadcasting Corporation quoted co-organizer Pastor Bruce Martin as saying. “We are not in competition. We are not threatened by each other. We work together.” more >>

An interdenominational faith revival drew all kinds of churches to the Washington, D.C. area to kick off the New Year in unity.

"Even though our churches do things differently, we understand that for this season it isn't about that," said Lead Pastor John Jenkins, Sr. of Landover, Md.'s First Baptist Church of Glenarden. "It's about churches setting aside their differences and working together for the greater good of God."

First Baptist and D.C.'s Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church have gathered with visiting churches for several days of singing, sermons and devotion to God every year since 2003. more >>

A Michigan church has a very unusual ministry outreach – a tattoo parlor housed in its church building.

The Bridge, a non-denominational church in Flint Twp., Mich., opened a tattoo parlor within its building last month. Titled Serenity Tattoo, church members say it's showing people living an alternative lifestyles an avenue toward the Gospel. It's just one of many unusual ministry efforts that The Bridge's eclectic congregation believes is helping to evolve evangelism in the area.

"There's a huge misunderstanding in the American church today that the church is a building," said Steve Bentley, The Bridge's lead pastor. "It's not a physical location. The church is us. We use our space for whatever we can to serve the Lord and our community." more >>

A Catholic Archdiocese in Connecticut has created a pro-abstinence group specifically to help counsel gay worshippers struggling with the Roman Catholic Church’s stance on homosexuality.

Dubbed “Courage,” the ministry group launched by the Archdiocese of Hartford would offer confidential services to those trying to reconcile their sexual identity with Catholic teaching.

“The Archbishop asked the deacons to begin this chapter,” said Deacon Robert Pallotti of the Archdiocese of Hartford in an interview with The Christian Post, noting that other chapters of the Courage group can be found at other churches. more >>