Church Politics

A group of churches in Texas that split from The Episcopal Church (TEC) is asking a civil court to dismiss a lawsuit that was filed against it last month by the U.S.-based church body and a diocese that shares its name.

In a 12-page motion, the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth asked the 141st District Court to take a “judicial notice,” arguing that a civil court lacks jurisdiction because in order to grant the plaintiffs’ requests it would be required to resolve an ecclesiastical dispute.

“If the legal and equitable relief sought from the Court can only be determined by deciding between competing interpretations of purely unambiguous ecclesiastical documents where plaintiffs seek to have the Court interpret ecclesiastical language, does the Court have subject-matter jurisdiction to grant the relief sought?” poses the motion filed Friday on behalf of the group. more >>

This year and the next few to come have many worried.

Though few economists expect the nation’s current economic downturn to become the sequel to the Great Depression of the last century, today's recession is already longer than all but two of the downturns since World War II, according to the economic research bureau.

And, as many pro-lifers and conservatives feared, President Barack Obama is on track to becoming the most pro-abortion president in the history of the nation, starting first with the repeal of the Mexico City Policy, which prohibited funding for overseas abortion providers, and most recently with his plans to lift restrictions on taxpayer-funded research using embryonic stem cells. more >>

President-elect Barack Obama has been without a worship community for about a year now and throughout that time, he says, it’s been difficult.

“Now, I've got a wonderful community of people who are praying for me every day, and they call me up and – you know, but it's not the same as going to church and the choir's going and you get a good sermon,” he said in an interview aired Sunday by ABC's "This Week."

Over the past year, Obama has been attending church sparingly and though it’s been nearly two weeks since he and his family arrived in Washington, the president-elect said they still don’t have a church to attend yet. more >>

Evangelist Franklin Graham delivered a message Sunday night at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., mixing a bit of politics into his call for repentance.

Reading from 2 Samuel 9:1-8, Graham recalled an event in the life of King David, in which the ancient ruler of Israel seeks to show God's kindness to the son of his childhood friend Jonathan.

“You see, David is a picture of God in Heaven.” Graham told service attendees at the megachurch of evangelist Greg Laurie. more >>

A popular pastor whose messages reach millions of homes worldwide told his congregants and viewers who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. Jesus.

At a time when pastors across the country are endorsing candidates in protest of IRS rules that prohibit nonprofit groups from intervening in a political campaign, Pastor Ed Young of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, threw off a pair of TOMS Democratic and Republican canvas shoes and urged, "Vote for Jesus!"

"What I'm talking about is much bigger than a donkey or elephant," Young said in his latest "Politicked" sermon. "This whole thing's about Jesus." more >>