The National Council of Churches has announced that it will be shutting down its historic New York office as a means of consolidating its operations.

NCC announced Wednesday that it will leave its office at the Interchurch Center building in Manhattan, N.Y., known by many as the "God Box." Kathryn Lohre, president of NCC, said in a statement that the consolidation was part of the organizational streamlining process the group is undertaking.

"It is important that we honor this moment with reverence and respect for the Council's history as an iconic presence in the beloved 'God Box'," said Lohre. more >>

Meagan Good recently broke down in tears when describing how she identifies with Christians who are judged for their appearance while speaking with husband DeVon Franklin at Pastor Toure Roberts' One Church International in Los Angeles.

Good and Franklin both appeared at the Los Angeles church on the night before Valentine's Day to reveal how God united them in holy matrimony. However, Good became emotional when she spoke about people judging her appearance and assuming that she was not a woman of God.

"What's really exciting for me is a lot of people know the background or perception or persona of me as the sexy girl or whatever it might be. What I realize was interesting that God was doing is one, I do feel sexy and comfortable with myself," Good told the church. "But what I realized is God was making it so I could appeal to a certain type of person. And that person is the person that is often told that they're cut out of God's promise because they have too many tattoos, because they have their cleavage out. Because of this, because of that because they don't look like a Christian should look." more >>

Greg Boyd, a Christian theologian and author, is reportedly in the process of deciding how his Minnesota-based megachurch, Woodland Hills Church, will be affiliated with Anabaptism, a decision which has been in the works since May 2012.

Boyd, who is the author of The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church, is currently consulting with his pastoral team on becoming affiliated with the Mennonite Church USA or the Brethren in Christ.

"We've really been kind of growing in this direction since the church started, without knowing what Anabaptism was," Boyd, who co-founded his 2,500-person church in St. Paul, Minn., in 1992, told the Mennonite World Review. more >>

The president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod recently issued an apology after reprimanding a pastor for participating in a December interfaith prayer vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

This past weekend, Matthew C. Harrison, president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, issued both a video and a letter on the denomination's website, apologizing for how he handled the conflict with the Rev. Rob Morris of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Newtown, Conn., who took part in a nationally televised interfaith prayer vigil in December 2012.

Participating in interfaith prayer vigils goes against the denomination's rules of joint worship, as the denomination believes it gives the impression that theological differences among faiths do not matter. more >>

Pope Benedict XVI, who has served as head of the Roman Catholic Church since 2005, has announced that he will be stepping down.

In a statement released Monday morning, the 85-year-old Pontiff cited "advanced age" as the reason for his resignation, which will be effective at the end of the month.

"After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry," said the Pope. more >>

An Evangelical denomination in Ethiopia has recently announced that it is severing ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and it sister church, the Church of Sweden, because of its position regarding homosexuality in the church.

The denomination, known as the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, also announced that it will not be affiliated with any churches "who have openly accepted same-sex marriage," and from this point onward may not accept Holy Communion from ELCA pastors, nor are they allowed to distribute Holy Communion to ELCA members.

Another stipulation of this severing is that any leaders affiliated with the ELCA will not be invited to speak at the Mekane Yesus church, nor may they accompany the church on spiritual ministries. more >>