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By MICHELE CHABIN c. 2011 Religion News Service JERUSALEM (RNS) The international basketball federation has decided to permit an Orthodox Jewish basketball player to cover her arms during competitions in accordance with her religious beliefs. FIBA made the decision several weeks after point guard Naama Shafir, a member of the Israeli national women’s basketball team,…

By G. JEFFREY MacDONALD c. 2011 Religion News Service (RNS) When GOP presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty goes to church, he knows he’ll hear a 27-minute sermon — never longer, never shorter. But whether he’ll hear a biblical endorsement of the Republican platform is far less certain. Pawlenty gets his spiritual guidance from Leith Anderson, senior…

By NIELS SORRELLS c. 2011 Religion News Service BERLIN (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI has a lot of ground to cover when he heads back home to Germany this September, but thanks to a new popemobile from Mercedes, at least 30 of those kilometers (18.5 miles) will be on the greener side. The Vatican has contracted…

By TOM EHRICH c. 2011 Religion News Service (RNS) “Leave politics to the politicians,” an irate churchgoer said after his pastor waded into political issues. “Don’t write about something you know nothing about,” an irate reader said when a Christian blogger ventured into political issues. Another said the same when a preacher commented on shabby…

By A. JAMES RUDIN c. 2011 Religion News Service (RNS) It’s hard to escape the barrage of TV ads that praise the benefits of various medications and then conclude with a rapid-fire list of the drug’s potentially harmful side effects. But one widely used drug needs no advertising. Its use has spiked religious fanaticism throughout…

By AL WEBB c. 2011 Religion News Service LONDON (RNS) The Church of England has issued a set of “legal guidelines” that pave the way for openly gay clergy to become bishops — so long as they are and promise to remain celibate. Details of the internal report, entitled “Choosing Bishops,” were carried by Christian…

By ADELLE M. BANKS c. 2011 Religion News Service (RNS) Jack Van Impe, a popular End Times broadcaster, has ended his decades-long run on Trinity Broadcasting Network after a dispute over naming ministers that he accuses of mixing Christian and Muslim beliefs. Earlier this month, Van Impe named California megachurch founders Rick Warren and Robert…

By DANIEL BURKE c. 2011 Religion News Service (RNS) United Methodists will begin a trial Tuesday (June 21) against a Wisconsin minister who’s accused of breaking church rules by celebrating a same-sex marriage and being in a lesbian relationship. The Rev. Amy DeLong, 44, of Osceola, Wis., could be defrocked if the 13-member jury composed…

By BRUCE NOLAN c. 2011 Religion News Service NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Even before the Southern Baptist Convention elected the Rev. Fred Luter to national office, there was already widespread speculation that Luter is poised to become the denomination’s first African-American president. Representatives of 16 million Southern Baptists overwhelmingly elected Luter first vice president on June…

By STEVE MAYES c. 2011 Religion News Service PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) Gov. John Kitzhaber has signed a new law that removes the remnants of Oregon’s legal protection for parents who rely solely on faith healing instead of traditional medical care for their children. Kitzhaber signed the bill without comment on June 9, two days after…
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