Ex-communicated polygamist seeks custody

Up to now, most press reports about the polygamist sect in Texas have focused on the women and children living at the ranch. On Tuesday, an ex-communicated member of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints came forward to seek custody of his five children.
Arthur L. Barlow didn’t explain, nor was he asked, why he’d been [...]

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Charitable giving slows down

It seems that Americans have been slow in donating to international aid programs for victims of China’s earthquake and Myanmar’s cyclone, the Associated Press reports. Perhaps it’s because the disasters are simply so large that few imagine their donations will actually help, or it could be that they’re saving all their pennies for their own [...]

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Columbia’s Orthodox minister publishes book

It took the Rev. Emmanuel Hatzidakis nearly 20 years to find himself studying theology and training to be a priest in the Orthodox Christian Church. But it took much less time for him to start a second career writing. His first book, “The Heavenly Banquet” explains the Divine Liturgy, a crucial element of worship services.
Read [...]

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Seminary ordinations on rise in St. Louis

At a time when the Catholic Church is seeing a decline in ordinations, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis has ordained its largest class in 25 years. Nine men were ordained recently as priests in the St. Louis Archdiocese as one of the largest classes in the U.S.
The Post-Dispatch reports that the increase in priests for [...]

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Purity for parents and pre-teens

A new twist on the abstinence movement puts fathers at the heart of the effort. A story in the New York Times explains that the Purity Ball is an attempt to offer young girls an alternative to “what evangelicals consider a profoundly corrosive ‘hook-up culture.’”
Fathers make pledges to keep their daughters pure and to model [...]

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St. Louis archbishop named to two Vatican posts

Pope Benedict XVI named St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke to two Vatican offices Tuesday, increasing Burke’s already prominent stature in Rome.
Burke, a canon lawyer by training, was one of eight cardinals and archbishops worldwide who Benedict named to the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, which interprets canon, or church, law.
The archbishop was one of three [...]

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Bible theme park promoter has ties to Penthouse

A former photographer for the soft-core porn magazine Penthouse is now one of the driving forces behind a non-denominational Bible theme park, The Tennessean reported.
Amnon Bar-Tur, a co-founder of the investment firm backing the theme park, photographed covers and centerfolds for the magazine in the 1970s, the story reported.
The non-denominational park — which would feature [...]

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Gay rights protestors fail to change Methodist stance

An attempt by 300 protesters to redefine the United Methodist Church’s stance on gay marriage was thwarted at the denomination’s General Conference Thursday in Dallas, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The gay-rights protestors sang songs and caused leglislative action to be halted for 15 minutes.
However, the group’s motion to remove the church’s official stance that homosexuality [...]

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Fancy New Organ for a Columbia church

Trinity Presbyterian Church will hold a dedication service for its new organ on Sunday, May 4, as part of the church’s 50th Anniversary celebration. The public is welcome to come.
A new work for the choir and organ based on Psalm 121 will be a highlight of the event. “I Lift Up My Eyes to the [...]

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