A More Depressing List

It's the end of the year and everyone's making lists. We gave you the big religion stories the other day, now on a gloomier note, we have Paul Raushenbush from Progressive Revival chronicling the worst.

Some Want to Ditch Rick, Others Attempt to Boot God

We knew someone somewhere was working on the lawsuit to remove prayer from the inauguration and the winner is... the guy from California who tried in 2001 and 2005. Yes, Michael Newdow and 17 other atheists have filed suit against the Chief Justice, some of the inaugural planners and BOTH praying pastors, Rick Warren and the much less controversial if not more interesting Reverend Joseph Lowery. The suit has failed in the past but imagine if it didn't, that'd be a whole different kind of controversy.

A Big Year

The Washington Post summarizes some of the big religious stories of 2008. We're hoping for fewer controversies and scandals in 2009. It'd be nice to see an end of the year news story that focuses on all the good accomplished in the name of God.

"Divine Recruits"

Here is Part 2 of the NY Times series on priests from abroad. The story profiles an African priest serving a parish in Kentucky. We were especially struck by the implications of the brain drain referenced in the story. When priests are in such short supply and needs are so great in developing countries, what are the ethics around US churches recruiting in Africa?

News Round Up

Our very favorite news story of the holiday season comes out of Kansas City, Mo where 400 people dressed up like Jesus. Why? To put Christ in Christmas! Yup, they went to work, drank lattes at Starbucks and did a little last minute xmas shopping at Target while wearing flowing robes and thorny crowns cause nothing says Christmas like a good,old fashioned crown of thorns. We'll post the YouTube video later.

Probably the most thoughtful thing we've seen on the Rick Warren invocation mess is today's op-ed by Frank Rich. We think we understand what Gene Robinson means when he says that Rick Warren prays to a God "he does not know" but we're not sure that it's anymore civil than Warren's ridiculous comments. We agree with Rich, everyone should just stop talking and pray, silently, for some humility and wisdom.

Also from today's NYT, a story about the Catholic church recruiting from abroad. The noted upside was it's easier to sack them if it doesn't work out. Some of the reason cited are eerily familiar to things American priests have, on occasion, been caught doing. "Some foreign priests had to be sent home. One became romantically entangled with a female co-worker. One isolated himself in the rectory. Still another would not learn to drive. A priest from the Philippines left after two weeks because he could not stand the cold. A Peruvian priest was hostile toward Hispanics who were not from Peru.

Another story on church foreclosures. There's a sin that's not covered in the Bible, oh wait, it is..

Finally, because enough ink hasn't yet been spilled on Rick Warren. Here's a rather tough Chicago Sun Times opinion piece. We find telling the Pom Juice tycoon (also FTD, Franklin Mint and almost every almond tree in California) that she's going to hell because she's Jewish a combination of bad manners, bad politics and really bad theology. God's chosen people, does that phrase sound at all familiar???

Merry Rick

Unexpected real life events have crowded out BC blogging but with a hopeful holiday lull, we can catch up a little. Today we find an LA Times reporter has actually attended a Rick Warren church service (more than we can say for most of the people writing and talking about him) to report on the lightening rod pastor. Rick's sermon focused on the challenges of unexpected events. We're not sure if Warren talked about the difficulties his family has faced this year. If not, it's well to remember that the man who almost lost his grandson and then a few weeks later, his daughter-in-law preaches from those experiences when he says, "Jesus said you don't understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later. That's the . . . thing you have to learn when God changes your plan. You have to learn to trust him." We still hate his position on gay marriage (and a few other issues) but we trust that he'll see the light eventually.

A New King's College

The King's College is reborn with a new emphasis on critical thinking and engaging diverse points of view. Bankruptcy is an interesting instrument of reform.

Prayer is Prayer

Rick Warren, Rick Warren, Rick Warren.. The guy's EVERYWHERE. And, on January 20th he'll be in DC praying. Our own Rick 4.O Warren has been selected to offer the inaugural invocation. There's a great deal of political uproar about the choice. The gay community is furious because of Warren's support of Prop 8. Conservatives Christians are grumpy because they feel like Warren shouldn't be blessing an Obama administration. We think everyone needs to be quite. It's not politics, it's not policy, it's prayer. Warren isn't giving a speech. He's not being offered the podium to talk about his views. He isn't being rewarded for his politics. Rick Warren is being asked to pray to God on behalf of the new President and the behalf of the country at a crucial moment. Yes, it's flattering but it really isn't about Warren. It's about God.

Too Many Cooks in the Crystal Kitchen

There are too many Robert Schuller's in the Crystal Cathedral. That's our diagnosis of what's gone wrong. This OC Register story made our heads spin as we tried to distinguish among the rival Reverend Roberts - H the senior, A the one who just quit and V the one who plans to leave with his father, the one who just quit the job that his father gave him. Maybe this is the best thing for the whole clan. Seems like having all the Schuller kids, kids spouses and grandkids run the place together isn't doing much for their familial relationship.

A Family Affair

Joel and Vicky O. are on the road. A recent trip to the city of brotherly love included a night at the Wachovia Center and a little book signing in Rittenhouse Square. There are a few interesting details in this Philadelphia Daily News story. We love the description of the Osteens bouncer, the guy whose job it is to move the masses along while offering a kind of benediction in the process. We were also struck by not just one but two communications staffers quoted. Our favorite was "Although she seemed a little wary, Victoria couldn't have been nicer (her older brother Don Iloff, chief of communications at Lakewood, even went so far as to vet me by reading my stories on philly.com. He urged me to be nice to his sister)." This solves the mystery of the really snippy exchange with a reporter that Don got into last month. It seemed like a bit of an overreaction by a communications pro but as a defense of one's baby sister, it finally makes sense.

Stop the Presses

The Americans United for the Separation of Church and State has successfully sued to stop the release of religious themed license plates in South Carolina. We still object to their objections. Anything that potentially reduces those obnoxious Christian bumper stickers is a good thing. Wouldn't you rather look at the pastel stained glass window than read "Christians Aren't Perfect, Just Forgiven" one more time?

More Famous Than God

Simon Cowell beat out God and the Queen as the "most famous person in the world" in a survey of British pre-teens. The kids thought being fat was the worst thing and good looks were among the very best. They also want to ban divorce. An interesting and daunting social commentary from a bunch of 10-year-olds.

Encounters with God

We loved this moving op-ed from Roger Cohen in today's New York Times. Cohen may be a stranger to religion but we think he has more experience with faith than he lets on.

Faithful Party

This piece by Mike McCurry at The Daily Beast is a good read. We're all for Dems living their faith lives as publicly as they are comfortable doing. However, BC is so very tired of the breakdown of polling numbers by religious affiliations. Left or right religious math just seems wrong. The real question is, does McCurry have to take Greek in his program at Wesley Theological Seminary? We'd love to know how the former press secretary stacks up his Clinton spinning years against learning the nuances of the aorist and imperfect tenses.

BC is BACK!

Sorry for the break in post action. We are back, ready to report on all the sacred meets secular happenings we can find.

Stuff Christians Like

We're quite fond of the blog Stuff Christians Like. It often provides nostalgic reminders of a misspent youth in our little EVFree (that's Evangelical Free Church for the mercifully uninitiated) Church in Cresskill, NJ. It's also well written by a quick witted chap who isn't afraid to mix it up with the language of the day. This post on BC6 study subject, Andy "Zippy" Stanley, is as good as any intro to this happening little blog. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Coach Craig

It's the big guy's big day. Coach Craig Groeschel turns 41 today. His blog post at Swerve is all about passion. We've got to admit, we can't imagine this guy as a "lukewarm" anything. He is the definition of INTENSE. Here's to a blessed day for our man in Oklahoma and Florida and Texas and Arizona and New York...

Join the Campaign to Pay Audelia Wilson Back

As news of lawsuits between breakaway congregations and their denominational groups make headlines, we stumbled across a much less publicized fight between a denomination and a church member. The story is about an 83-year-old woman who was swindled out of 20K by her pastor. If the pastors actions were not sickening enough, we are confronted by the Church of God's response (non-response really), "Church of God International deeply regrets the situation. The local Church of God, which has had to be disbanded, and the Church organization also have issues with this former pastor, and it is the position of the Church that it, too, is a victim of his actions. All possible ecclesiastical sanctions have been undertaken. However, it is the position of the Church that Mrs. Wilson should seek legal recourse against the former minister directly.” The 83-year-old should deal with it herself? How about the Church of God taking responsibility for the fraud perpetrated by one of its own? If denominational organizations own the assets of the organizations that compromise them, they own the liabilities as well. They should pay this woman the 20K immediately. It's time for someone to do the right thing. Let's start with the church leaders, the ones who say that, "We commit ourselves to the challenge of being a church that genuinely cares for one another and for those who are lost, hurting and needy." If you agree, please join our campaign to Pay Audelia Wilson Back by going to the Church of God contact page and (politely!) ask them to take responsibility and pay her the 20K. Maybe the Church of God just needs a little help remembering what it means to act like a church of God. Let's give them a hand.

WORLD AIDS DAY

There are 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS. For every one person who begins antiretroviral drugs, two new people are infected with HIV. Every day 4100 men, women and children in sub-Saharan Africa die from AIDS. While the numbers seem overwhelming, change is possible. Today is World AIDS Day. Take a minute to see what you can do. Lend your voice at one.org or just drop by Starbucks for a (RED) drink. There's no such thing too little or too late when it comes to doing good. Choose faith, act, now.