Traditional college chaplaincy programs are making room for “peer ministry,” which consists of college students who help their fellow students on spiritual matters, reports the New York Times (Oct. 15). Modeled on campus resident assistants who help their fellow students with day-to-day life, peer ministers add a spiritual dimension to their work and are more often appointed […]

There is growing interest and even involvement among educators in adding the practices of contemplation and meditation to the college curriculum, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education (Oct. 21). Contemplative practices are now found in a range of college courses and programs–from economics to art history and music. As neuroscience has recently discovered the mental and physical […]

Hurricane Katrina revealed the efficiency of churches and other congregations in their role as “first responders” in the midst of local, state and national government delays and stalemates in providing relief. The swift response of congregations was noted by newspapers across the U.S. and Britain, with the New York Times headlining an article, “A New Meaning for […]

As suicide bombing has become a principle means of terrorism, specialists are trying to second-guess those who perpetrate such violence. But how predictable is terrorism, especially when it is motivated by religion? There is no one answer to that question as social scientists approach this new field. Science & Theology News (October) reports that researchers’ attempts to […]

Throughout Latin America, new church-state battles are heating up as pro-choice groups seek to implement more liberal abortion laws, reports Conscience (Fall), a liberal Catholic quarterly. Legalized abortion is almost non-existent in Latin America (with the exception of Cuba) and most of the pro-choice activists speak of “decriminalizing” rather than legalizing the practice, though there is little […]

New intentional communities are springing up in the U.S. among evangelicals that differ from their counterparts of a generation or two ago by their use of traditional spiritual and monastic practices in order to structure community life, reports Christianity Today (September). A movement called the “new monasticism” is made up of young single evangelicals increasingly dissatisfied with […]