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  • Judge: Child Abuse Laws Do Not Infringe Pastor’s Rights

    Christianity Today Liveblog
    Morgan Feddes
    14 May 2012 | 4:44 pm
    A Wisconsin trial court judge denied a motion to dismiss charges against a convicted pastor who instructed his church members to use wooden rods to spank misbehaving children, some as young as two months old. Philip Caminiti, pastor of Aleitheia Bible Church in Black Earth, Wisconsin, was convicted of eight counts of conspiracy to commit child abuse in March. He faces up to six years of prison time; his sentencing hearing is scheduled for later this month. Caminiti argued the convictions violate his right to religious freedom. But Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi disagreed, stating that though…

  • The Choir's Steve Hindalong: Celebrating Sobriety

    Christianity Today Magazine
    15 May 2012 | 1:00 am
    A Christian music veteran discusses a new album and his long-time struggle with alcohol.

  • Church Sues Former Member for Online Criticisms

    Christianity Today Liveblog
    Morgan Feddes
    14 May 2012 | 6:15 pm
    An Oregon woman’s online critiques of her former church could cost her $500,000. The pastor of Beaverton Grace Bible Church (BGBC) sued Julie Anne Smith, her daughter, and three other former church members for $500,000 in damages, alleging that Smith’s blog, Beaverton Grace Bible Church Survivors, amounts to defamation. Smith and her family left the church a few years ago and were subsequently shunned by their church friends, she told KATU News. "If I went to Costco or any place in town, if I ran into somebody, they would turn their heads and walk the other way," she told KATU. "All we…

  • Obama Campaign Taps Young Adviser, Michael Wear, for Faith Outreach

    Christianity Today Politics
    Mark Silk, Religion News Service
    14 May 2012 | 5:48 pm
    President Obama's re-election campaign has tapped a 23-year-old executive assistant in the White House faith-based office to head up its outreach to religious communities. Michael R. Wear, who has worked in the White House for the past three and half years, will move to Chicago to become the campaign's Faith Vote director next week, White House officials confirmed on Monday. "It has been an honor working with Michael Wear to create positive faith-based and nonprofit partnerships to serve people in need," said Joshua DuBois, executive director of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood…

  • Time’s Breast-Feeding Cover Adds Fuel to the Mommy Wars

    Her.meneutics
    Elrena Evans
    15 May 2012 | 9:46 am
    When I saw the cover of the May 21 issue of Time, my instant reaction was “Eeew. That's just not right.” An odd reaction, for someone who has gone on the record in support of so-called “extended” nursing. To parse my knee-jerk reaction, I started by reading what Martin Schoeller, the photographer who shot the now-famous (or should I say ubiquitous) cover, had to say. Schoeller's inspiration, he says, came from images of the Madonna and Child—with one significant twist: “When you think of breast-feeding, you think of mothers holding their children, which was impossible with some of…
 
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    Christianity Today Liveblog

  • Church Sues Former Member for Online Criticisms

    Morgan Feddes
    14 May 2012 | 6:15 pm
    An Oregon woman’s online critiques of her former church could cost her $500,000. The pastor of Beaverton Grace Bible Church (BGBC) sued Julie Anne Smith, her daughter, and three other former church members for $500,000 in damages, alleging that Smith’s blog, Beaverton Grace Bible Church Survivors, amounts to defamation. Smith and her family left the church a few years ago and were subsequently shunned by their church friends, she told KATU News. "If I went to Costco or any place in town, if I ran into somebody, they would turn their heads and walk the other way," she told KATU. "All we…

  • Plane Crashes En Route To Acquire The Fire, Killing Four

    Morgan Feddes
    14 May 2012 | 5:43 pm
    The daughter of the founders of Teen Mania Ministries remains hospitalized after a plane crash that killed four others. The plane was headed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, for Teen Mania’s Acquire The Fire youth event when it crashed Friday afternoon. Three graduates from Oral Roberts University—Luke Sheets, Garrett Coble, and Stephen Luth—were killed at the scene. The remaining passengers—Austin Anderson, also an Oral Roberts Graduate, and Hannah Luce, daughter of Teen Mania founders Ron and Katie Luce—managed to escape the wreck and get help, though both suffered serious injuries.

  • Judge: Child Abuse Laws Do Not Infringe Pastor’s Rights

    Morgan Feddes
    14 May 2012 | 4:44 pm
    A Wisconsin trial court judge denied a motion to dismiss charges against a convicted pastor who instructed his church members to use wooden rods to spank misbehaving children, some as young as two months old. Philip Caminiti, pastor of Aleitheia Bible Church in Black Earth, Wisconsin, was convicted of eight counts of conspiracy to commit child abuse in March. He faces up to six years of prison time; his sentencing hearing is scheduled for later this month. Caminiti argued the convictions violate his right to religious freedom. But Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi disagreed, stating that though…

  • Refugee Board Criticized for Testing Religious Knowledge

    Morgan Feddes
    11 May 2012 | 4:13 pm
    Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) is under fire once again for its treatment of applicants for religious refugee status. Haixhin Zhang applied for refugee protection in 2008 after coming to Canada from China the year before on a traveler’s visa. He claimed he was first introduced to Christianity in China in 2005; he first joined a church while he was in Canada. At Zhang's hearing, IRB adjudicator Leonard Favreau ruled Zhang joined a church in Canada to support a fraudulent refugee claim because Zhang only knew the names of two of Jesus’ apostles, two of the gospels, and one…

  • Decade-Long Fight Over Mojave Cross Ends With Land Swap

    Morgan Feddes
    9 May 2012 | 12:54 pm
    A 10-year battle over a cross in the Mojave Desert has come to an end thanks to a federal judge’s final approval of a land swap. The World War I memorial cross, erected in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), was at the center of a long legal conflict that eventually went to the Supreme Court. The plan gives the acre of land where the cross has been located to two veterans’ groups in exchange for five acres of private property in the Mojave National Preserve. Congress had originally ordered the land swap in 2003, but opponents brought the case to the courts, arguing that the…
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    Christianity Today Politics

  • Obama Campaign Taps Young Adviser, Michael Wear, for Faith Outreach

    Mark Silk, Religion News Service
    14 May 2012 | 5:48 pm
    President Obama's re-election campaign has tapped a 23-year-old executive assistant in the White House faith-based office to head up its outreach to religious communities. Michael R. Wear, who has worked in the White House for the past three and half years, will move to Chicago to become the campaign's Faith Vote director next week, White House officials confirmed on Monday. "It has been an honor working with Michael Wear to create positive faith-based and nonprofit partnerships to serve people in need," said Joshua DuBois, executive director of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood…

  • After Meeting with Black Southern Baptists, Richard Land Apologizes Again over Trayvon Martin Comments

    Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service
    10 May 2012 | 5:08 pm
    Southern Baptist leader Richard Land has issued a lengthy public apology for his racially charged comments about the Trayvon Martin case, and said he has sent a personal letter to President Obama seeking forgiveness. Land, who leads the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, issued the two-page apology Wednesday (May 9), a week after a five-hour meeting with African-American leaders and other Southern Baptist officials. Because of that meeting, “I have come to understand in sharper relief how damaging my words were,” he wrote in the statement released…

  • Some Express Concern over Exclusivity in Politics and Prayer

    Tobin Grant
    9 May 2012 | 9:43 am
    Last week’s National Day of Prayer drew attention to the role of prayer in public life, but for some, it also raised questions about whether the event is too exclusive. In Congress, the only openly atheist Congressman called for a National Day of Reason to replace the National Day of Prayer. And in Michigan, the Catholic Church in Michigan called on state lawmakers to welcome “elected officials of any faith” into the legislature’s new prayer caucus. In Michigan, there were concerns about the Day of Prayer from the Catholic Church. Church leaders were concerned about the Michigan…

  • Why Mitt Romney’s Upcoming Liberty Commencement Address Fits the University’s Past Speakers

    Tobin Grant
    4 May 2012 | 10:16 am
    Mitt Romney will speak at next week’s commencement at Liberty University, an addresss that follows the university’s history of politically conservative speakers. For Romney, the speech is an outreach to conservative Christians who have been wary of him, both for his political positions and his Mormon faith. For Liberty, Romney will continue a long line of speakers who find common ground with Liberty on conservative politics, not religious affiliation. The Liberty speech is one of many events Romney has planned that will allow him to shore up support with conservatives while beginning to…

  • Oklahoma Supreme Court: Personhood Amendment is Not OK

    Tobin Grant
    3 May 2012 | 9:46 am
    The Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected earlier this week an initiative that would have defined a fertilized egg as a person, unanimously agreeing that the personhood initiative was “clearly unconstitutional.” The court's decision comes on the heels of the defeat of a personhood bill in the state legislature, where Republican leaders kept the bill from coming up for a vote before it adjourned last week. The decision is not binding on any other state, but it could be a bellwether for future court challenges. Compared to other state courts, the Oklahoma Supreme Court is a moderate court, far…
 
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    Her.meneutics

  • Time’s Breast-Feeding Cover Adds Fuel to the Mommy Wars

    Elrena Evans
    15 May 2012 | 9:46 am
    When I saw the cover of the May 21 issue of Time, my instant reaction was “Eeew. That's just not right.” An odd reaction, for someone who has gone on the record in support of so-called “extended” nursing. To parse my knee-jerk reaction, I started by reading what Martin Schoeller, the photographer who shot the now-famous (or should I say ubiquitous) cover, had to say. Schoeller's inspiration, he says, came from images of the Madonna and Child—with one significant twist: “When you think of breast-feeding, you think of mothers holding their children, which was impossible with some of…

  • I'm Not Julia: Why Obama's American Woman Doesn't Speak for Me

    Gina Dalfonzo
    14 May 2012 | 9:26 am
    If you follow political news at all, by now you’ve probably heard of Julia, the character who made her debut recently on President Obama’s campaign website. The "Life of Julia" page documents this fictional woman’s life, from her entrance into the Head Start program at age 3, to her retirement and receiving of monthly Social Security benefits at age 67. Launched May 4, the chicly designed slideshow aims to demonstrate “how President Obama’s policies help one woman over her lifetime—and how Mitt Romney would change her story.” Thus, it’s stoked the ongoing national argument…

  • Mourning with Those Who Mourn on Mother’s Day

    Courtney Reissig, guest blogger
    11 May 2012 | 9:58 am
    Like a lot of doting children, I loved Mother’s Day growing up. The holiday usually involved eating out at a fancy restaurant (not the norm for our family), where we gave my mom carefully composed cards and handpicked gifts. Even into adulthood, Mother’s Day never caused problems for me. And then I miscarried. Last Mother’s Day was the first one where I felt deep down that I was supposed to be celebrating that day, yet my arms were empty. I should have had a one month old, not a spare bedroom filled with books and supplies we never used. Like many women, I dreaded the day, wishing I…

  • How Mother’s Day Hype Can Ruin Your Mother’s Day

    Nicole Russell, guest blogger
    10 May 2012 | 10:12 am
    Chocolate. Spa gift certificates. Flowers. Fruit baskets. These are some of the most popular Mother’s Day gifts. It’s easy to see why a conscious Dad and his loving children might want to spoil Mom. She does a lot. In fact, according to the Tenth Annual Salary survey by Salary.com, moms work almost 97 hours a week. When her duties—broken down into ten categories such as CEO, driver, housekeeper, and my favorite, psychologist—were evaluated together, stay-at-home moms “earn” a whopping $115,000 per year ($36,968 as a base salary and $78,464 in overtime). Moms that work outside the…

  • Death to the Perfect Christian Woman

    Amy Lepine Peterson, guest blogger
    9 May 2012 | 9:29 am
    “As Christian women, have we set the bar too high for ourselves? Are we striving to achieve our own version of the American dream, some sort of Focus on the Family all-star clan where the kids all love each other, while also reading above grade level and excelling in at least two extracurricular activities?” So asks Amy Spiegel in her new book, Letting Go of Perfect: Women, Expectations, and Authenticity (B&H Books), in which the Tennessee native aims to expose the “manmade construction of expectations and stereotypes that steal our joy and make us crazy.” Wife of 14 years to Jim,…
 
 
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    Managing Your Church

  • ManagingYourChurch.com Honored by Press Association

    Matt Branaugh
    15 May 2012 | 3:41 pm
    Today's post is a little different than the norm because we have some good news to share. ManagingYourChurch.com received a top honor Friday from the Evangelical Press Association during the organization's 2012 conference. The site received the Award of Excellence--the highest possible--in the Christian Ministry/Digital category. Judges said: "Top notch writing and editing; touches on SO many relevant, practical topics for church leaders—news, advice, legal, etc.; well-laid-out blog. Pleasing color palette. Easy to navigate; Follows many blog best practices, thus easy for new visitors to…

  • 10 Tips for Counting Cash

    Laura Brown
    10 May 2012 | 9:00 am
    When churches receive tithes and offerings, there’s more going on than meets the eye. Along with physically collecting people’s money and bringing it to the bank, you should be tracking how much comes in, who it comes from, what it's used for, and how much each individual gives during a year. This requires substantial record keeping and an effective internal control structure to ensure that the information is accurate and the money stays safe. Here are 10 ways to strengthen control of your cash receipts, and some tips on making cash disbursements: Continue reading ...

  • Five Lessons from The Journal’s Church Fraud Piece

    Matt Branaugh
    8 May 2012 | 9:00 am
    For the second time in less than a month, The Wall Street Journal featured a piece focused on the sensitive, but important, topics of churches, finances, and transparency. First it was columnist Al Lewis taking deceitful pastors to task for fleecing their flocks (a sentiment also shared in a recent house editorial by our sister publication Christianity Today). Then, this past Sunday, it was a feature article by The Journal’s Veronica Dagher, who covered the ways that donors can make certain churches honorably handle tithes. Her piece is a beneficial 10-minute read for any church pastor or…

  • Christian School Teachers Fired for Out-of-Wedlock Pregnancies

    Michelle Dowell
    3 May 2012 | 9:00 am
    Two female teachers at Christian schools in different parts of the country were recently fired for becoming pregnant out of wedlock, according to Cincinnati.com News and WFAA-TV. Both women are working with lawyers on separate lawsuits against the schools in Ohio and Texas. A January decision from the Supreme Court on ministerial exception plays a large role in whether or not a court will allow such lawsuits. In that ruling, the Court affirmed the ministerial exception, which bars courts from reviewing employment disputes between churches and ministers. The case involved a Christian school in…

  • Five Online Giving Lessons for Churches

    Matt Branaugh
    1 May 2012 | 9:00 am
    A report issued in February by a major provider of fundraising technology and consulting services offers some helpful insights for church leaders as it relates to online giving. In short: Use of online giving continued to grow in 2011, however, that growth remains small relative to total dollars given. Adding an online giving tool should be done to diversify options for givers and provide convenience for those who desire it. But it won’t provide an instant remedy to any organization struggling to get its vision funded. Before looking more closely at the 2011 Online Giving Report from The…
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    JamesPoulter.co.uk

  • POEM: Just one short life

    admin
    4 May 2012 | 9:51 am
    TweetCollected coffee cups on station platforms Left adrift amongst commuting agendas Sucked dry of their buzzing liqour Awaiting deposit into their new life One comes back here Years later as the cup he once was But the others never see this life again For them it is black. Americano. Coffee & A Kindle

  • Paying attention. And keeping it.

    admin
    26 Apr 2012 | 6:55 am
    TweetWatching Eye by James Poulter, using Paper by FiftyThree I’ve taken a few knocks recently. Nothing major. Always little things, stuff not quite working out, stupid blunders of my own making induced by either laziness or plain not listening. I suppose it happens to everyone, but when it does it’s often difficult to see it that way, let alone feel it. If you know me or have read the blog for any time you know I have a fascination with how technologies are changing the way we think, how they affect our attention spans and how we relate to one another. And I can only reconcile…

  • Thinking about God on trains

    admin
    14 Apr 2012 | 5:40 am
    Tweet I spend A LOT of time on trains. I know I am obviously not the only one. I accept that. But I do spend a LOT of time on trains. On average around 16 hours a week (including tube and train travel). That’s a lot. That’s 832 hours a year. If I were to commute to London as I do now from the suburbs, for the rest of my working life that would be a whopping 36,608 hours! Even if you are stripping out delays, travel at weekends, trips abroad and up the country and the hours spent going literally no where freezing my ambitions, work ethic, moral and bottom to pieces awaiting a…

  • Looking for better blogging

    admin
    4 Apr 2012 | 11:26 am
    Tweet When I originally started this blog under the title of Sunday Latte Lamentations, it was always meant as a little outlet. Somewhere for me to stow away my thoughts on the meaning of 42 and the secret to the universe. A place for contemplation, removal from the bustle of the day to day, and to frankly practice getting better at writing. To most ends in the early days it served that purpose. And in some aspects continues to do so now. However a number of changes have happened recently which is giving me second thoughts about how best to continue to document these thoughts and feelings. I…

  • Learning to do what comes naturally… first & the death of email

    admin
    9 Feb 2012 | 3:01 am
    Tweet I don’t really think I’m one much for a morning routine. Sure I get up roughly the same time most mornings (depressingly around 6:35 – but we set the clock 15 minutes fast (6:50) so it is less of a shock to the system… ask @HollyPoulter), the day doesn’t get started until the first cup of coffee and sometimes the second, and most mornings are kickstarted by something to get the creative juices flowing. For me it’s podcasts. I studied radio production, ran a podcast production outfit and worked on a few shows for stations, and still find the spoken…
 
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