Financial stewardship is increasingly a popular theme preached in churches year-round, reports Advance (Dec. 13), an e-newsletter of the Leadership Network. From interviews with 45 prominent churches from August through November, 2005, Leadership Network found that there is a move away from an annual stewarship season (usually in the fall) to a “more even and consistent treatment […]

The study of paganism is moving from an offbeat specialty involving new religious movements to a full-fledged academic field in itself, reportsReligion Bookline (Dec. 21). The change is most evident in the upcoming publication of “Introduction to Pagan Studies,” the first textbook in the field. The volume, edited by Barbara Davy and Wendy Griffin and published […]

A recently issued manual of Mormon doctrine for teaching and missionary purposes suggest new church efforts to reassert Mormon identity while taking a more flexible approach in applying the faith to different cultures, reports the independent Mormon magazine Sunstone (September). The missionary guide, “Preach My Gospel,” was claimed to be a “major change in direction” in LDS […]

Disputes between religious groups and state public school and university educational boards on the legitimacy of their teachings may be opening a new front of the “culture wars.” The most heated battle is between the University of California and the Association of Christian Schools, the largest organization of Christian schools in the U.S. The association […]

Activists and organizations that have long pressed for greater Christian presence in the entertainment industry are starting to see some tangible results to their efforts, reports Charisma magazine (December). Most of the impact has not come from conservative Christian protest against entertainment deemed immoral or blasphemous as much as through the influence of organizations seeking positive involvement […]

01: If Pope John Paul II’s death and funeral demonstrated the impact and respect the papal chair can still elicit, the election of Benedict XVI showed the Catholic Church’s concern to preserve and consolidate the conservative gains made by the former pontiff. But in the months since his election, Benedict has frustrated some conservative activists […]

Hindu nationalism, or “Hindutva,” has become a global force, but recent developments in India and the diaspora communities make this already- diffuse movement increasingly difficult to define. That was one of the conclusions made at a session on “post-Hindutva” at the late November meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Philadelphia attended by RW. […]

Italy is experiencing its own kind of “culture war” with a new breed of Italian “neo-conservatives” battling over questions of secularism and religious pluralism. Religion in the News (Fall) reports that the new “Italian culture warriors” call themselves “religious atheists” and “secular anti-secularists,” as they press for a greater public role for religion, even if they are […]