The Nagaland region of India is becoming a powerhouse of cross-cultural missions in Central Asia, reports Christianity Today (February). India’s northeastern state on the border of Burma had a history of tribal warfare and headhunting, but today some 60 percent of Nagaland’s population is Baptist. The state is rapidly changing from a mission field to a sender […]

At least one-third of the 60 million members of the Chinese Communist Party belong to a religious organization, reports the Catholic news agency AsiaNews (Feb. 28). Moreover, half of those believers are reported to be regular participants in religious services, despite the fact that a ruling issued last October prohibits cadres from participating in religious activities for […]

Islamic banking is thriving, even as it is becoming more standardized throughout the world, reports The Epoch Times (March 3). Recent surveys show there are 270 Islamic banks worldwide, holding more than $265 billion in assets. The need for Islamic financial institutions to comply with Shariah laws means that they must face greater obstacles than conventional institutions […]

Russian Protestant churches are encountering a new wave of religious restrictions challenging their ownership of property, according to Forum 18 (Feb. 20), a news service reporting on religious freedom in post-communist lands. While foreign religious groups have in the past registered the most complaints against the government for restricting religious freedom, today the complaints are also coming […]

The network of groups pressing for a dialogue between religion and science that has mushroomed in the U.S. is now spreading to Europe, reports Science & Theology News (February). Until recently, largely secular Europe and post-Communist Eastern Europe have resisted the movement that they say smacks of church-state collaboration. But today are several major initiatives that bring […]

There is a “Buddhist boom” in Brazil just as in the U.S., though Brazilian converts tend to blur the line between ethnic and convert Buddhism far more than their American counterparts. Anthropologist Cristina Rocha arrived at that and other conclusions in her book Zen in Brazil (University of Hawaii Press), a study of “elite Brazilans” adopting the […]

While still defying predictions of its demise, the National Council of Churches (NCC) has been significantly scaled-down and is finding new funding sources. An article in the conservative magazine Touchstone (March) notes that the NCC has escaped from near-bankruptcy by significantly trimming its staff and budget (from over $10 million ten years ago to $6.5 million today). […]

Baptist churches are observing Lent and even holding Ash Wednesday services– complete with putting ashes and sign of the cross on the forehead of the faithful, according to news reports. RW recently reported the rise of Catholic ideas in the US, but it seems that the observation can also apply to Catholic rituals. This trend should […]