The Pensacola revival lives on only in memory as the church and leaders that hosted the phenomenon have moved on or burned out, reportsCharisma magazine (July). The Pensacola revival, starting in 1995 and based at the Brownsville Assembly of God in that city, drew hundreds of thousands of people to its ecstatic services. The revival, which […]

The denominational conventions held so far this summer have not yielded dramatic results. But elections in the Episcopal and Southern Baptist bodies and rulings passed in the Presbyterian Church (USA) do signal shifts and impasses that will likely become more visible in the months ahead. The choice of Katherine Jefferts Schori as Presiding Bishop of […]

In May, beside 150 male imams, 50 female preachers graduated in Morocco after a 12-month long training course. While only males will continue to act as imams (i.e. to lead congregational prayer), female preachers (murshidat or guides) will especially turn their efforts toward women and children. They are expected to focus on poor classes in […]

The release of the Da Vinci Code did not cause much of an uproar in the U.S. or Europe, but the reaction and protests among Christians in the developing world were much stronger. The New York Times (May 21) reports that in the U.S., “many churches regarded the [film] as a threat, but chose to try to […]

Catholicism and capitalism have struck up a close relationship in Poland, thanks largely to American influence, reports The Tablet (May 20). Jonathan Luxmoore and Jolanta Babiuch write that “freemarket, neoliberal ideology” has prevailed in ruling circles in the church, often providing a unique interpretation of papal encyclicals. The writers cite a recent report noting that U.S. free-market […]

Citing the Da Vinci Code as an example, Moscow Patriarch Alexy II lamented the “erosion of Christian identity in Europe” (Pravda, May 30). Alexy added: “We have complete mutual understanding with the Roman Catholic Church on these issues.” Indeed, some wonder if such cultural concerns might drive both Churches to find common ground in order […]

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) is on the track toward reconciliation and unity with the Moscow Patriarchate, thus ending a 80 year old rift. The decision was made at the All-Diaspora Council meeting of the ROCOR in San Francisco in May, which gathered representatives of dioceses and church-related organizations, both clergy and laity. […]

The Orthodox Church in America, the largest non-ethnic Orthodox church in the US., is experiencing a drop in attendance and other problems, according to a candid report by one of its leaders. Official membership figures of Orthodox churches are often unreliable, making it difficult to track increases or declines in attendance and other membership trends. […]