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Crystal Cathedral founder resigns from board
Rev. Robert H. Schuller preaches on March 11, 1998 at the Crystal Cathedral.

Crystal Cathedral founder resigns from board

By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) - The immediate plans of Rev. Robert H. Schuller, the founder of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries in Southern California, and his wife are unclear after they resigned from the church's board of directors over the weekend, their lawyer said Monday.

The Crystal Cathedral, a Protestant church that helped spark the megachurch movement in the United States after opening in 1970, entered bankruptcy procedures in 2010 after years of infighting among Schuller's family and church leaders.

The Schullers have been locked in a legal dispute with other board members. Talks to reach a settlement broke down last week, according to a statement from the Schullers over the weekend.

FULL POST

- CNN Belief Blog

Filed under: Belief • Catholic Church • Christianity • Church

Pastor Mark Driscoll on marriage, sex

(CNN)–Pastor Mark Driscoll discusses his new book "Real Marriage" with Piers Morgan.

Driscoll's book sparked controversy when it released earlier this year.  Read more about the controversy here from CNN's Belief Blog.

Read Driscoll's take on the controversy here on the CNN Belief Blog.

- CNN Belief Blog

Filed under: Belief • Christianity • Church • Faith Now • TV-Piers Morgan

Churches aid recovery in storm-hit town

By Eric Marrapodi and Athena Jones, CNN

Henryville, Indiana (CNN)– Church members held hands as they prayed among the pews at Henryville Community Church on Sunday morning.

"One week ago, we prayed, 'God use us in some way,' " pastor Rich Cheek said as he led the congregation in prayer.

"This morning, so many of you have lost everything," Cheek said, his voice cracking with emotion. "We asked God to use us, and he did."

Outside, a forklift off-loaded pallets of dry goods and bottles of water from a tractor-trailer. The church recreation center and basement have become a clearinghouse for supplies brought in from nearby Louisville, Kentucky, and trucked in by tractor-trailers from Convoys of Hope, a relief agency from Springfield, Missouri.

FULL POST

- CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

Filed under: Catholic Church • Christianity • Church • Faith Now • Houses of worship • Presbyterian

My Take: Stop supporting buffoonery in the pulpit
February 27th, 2012
12:52 PM ET

My Take: Stop supporting buffoonery in the pulpit

Editor’s Note: Rev. DeForest "Buster" Soaries is the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey. He is a former Secretary of State of New Jersey.

By Rev. DeForest B. Soaries Jr., Special to CNN

(CNN) – When I was a child, if a crime were committed, my grandmother would say, “I hope he wasn’t colored.” Her concern was that all African-Americans suffered whenever one of us was caught doing something wrong. In those days black people raised their children to abstain from behavior that would give credence to the stereotypes that society had used to characterize us and justify the injustices heaped upon us. And most of us embraced that ethic.

Read the full op-ed at CNN's In America Blog
- CNN Belief Blog

Filed under: Christianity • Church • Houses of worship • My Take

February 18th, 2012
05:38 PM ET

My Take: Houston funeral brings world inside black church

Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World," is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.

By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN

Whitney Houston gave a lot of gifts to the world. She gave us the best rendition ever of "The Star-Spangled Banner." She gave us “I Will Always Love You.”

But Saturday at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, where as a girl she sang in the choir, she gave us a church service — a chance for people of all races to see what church looks like inside the community that gave Houston (and us) her voice.

“There are more stars here than the Grammys,” said Houston’s music director, Rickey Minor, and the service did feature pop star Stevie Wonder and music mogul Clive Davis, among others. But so much of popular music started in the black church, and today the black church talked back.

CNN's Belief Blog – all the faith angles to the day's top stories

In other words, this was an unapologetically Christian service, replete with references to salvation and “amazing grace,” where even the pop stars were transformed into gospel singers. People crossed themselves. They raised their hands to heaven. And the congregation kept shouting back: “Yes!” and “That’s it!” and “Praise the Lord!”

FULL POST

- CNN Belief Blog contributor

Filed under: Celebrity • Christianity • Church • Death • Entertainment • Faith • Houses of worship • Inspiration • My Take • Uncategorized

February 13th, 2012
04:03 PM ET

NYC public school ban on church services

(CNN)–CNN's Susan Candiotti talks with a New York City church on last day of services before ban on renting space in schools.

- CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

Filed under: Belief • Christianity • Church • Church and state • New York • TV • United States

Mrs Obama urges faith based groups to join healthy eating campaign
February 11th, 2012
05:13 PM ET

Mrs Obama urges faith based groups to join healthy eating campaign

By Alexander Mooney, CNN

(CNN)–First Lady Michelle Obama made a stop at the Northland Church in Florida Saturday, bringing her healthy-eating campaign to a crowd that included religious organizations affiliated with a broad swath of faiths and congregations.

In her remarks at the Central Florida evangelical mega-church where Joel Hunter serves as pastor, the first lady made the case that religious organizations can be natural partners in her efforts to combat childhood obesity.

“Our faith communities don’t tend only to folks’ spiritual health but to their emotional and their physical health as well,” she said. “Think for a moment about the scripture that tells us that your bodies are temples given to you by God. That is a core teaching of so many of our faiths — a teaching that calls us to honor and nourish the bodies we’ve been blessed with, and to help others do the same.”

Read the full story from CNN's 1600 Report

- CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

Filed under: Belief • Christianity • Church • Church and state • Evangelical • Faith Now

Santorum talks faith with Texas pastors
Supporters pray over Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum during a campaign stop at the Bella Donna Chapel on February 8, 2012 in McKinney, Texas.
February 8th, 2012
07:26 PM ET

Santorum talks faith with Texas pastors

By Adam Aigner-Treworgy, CNN

McKinney, Texas (CNN) - The day after winning a three state primary sweep, Rick Santorum largely avoided politics during a visit to the Bella Donna Chapel and instead talked candidly about his faith before a crowd of more than one hundred local pastors.

Due to several last-minute TV interviews added to his schedule on Wednesday morning, Santorum arrived at the chapel nearly an hour late, which shrunk the amount of time his campaign set aside for midday fundraisers in this wealthy, predominantly Republican state. The delay forced him to rush out after his address, skipping a planned visit with several hundred supporters who had gathered outside the chapel, unable to get in to the invite-only event.

FULL STORY
- CNN Belief Blog

Filed under: Belief • Catholic Church • Christianity • Church • Faith Now • Politics • Rick Santorum

Romney says Obama infringing upon religious rights
February 7th, 2012
12:12 AM ET

Romney says Obama infringing upon religious rights

By Rachel Streitfeld, CNN Political Producer

Centennial, Colorado (CNN) – Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of infringing upon Americans’ religious rights in a fiery address to more than 2,500 supporters Monday in Colorado.

“The Creator gave every human being his rights,” Romney told the audience, to sustained cheers. “I’m just distressed as I watch our president try and infringe upon our rights.”

In recent weeks the GOP frontrunner has signaled he would attack the president over the charge his administration has rolled back the rights of religious individuals and institutions. Romney went further at his Monday rally and publicly detailed specific examples of Obama’s “violation of conscience.”

Romney cited a new policy from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that requires some religious institutions, including schools and hospitals, to provide coverage of birth control to their employees.

FULL STORY
- Dan Merica

Filed under: Church • Faith Now • Mitt Romney • Obama • Politics • Religious liberty

February 6th, 2012
11:02 AM ET

Bavaria's igloo of worship

Germany (CNN)–CNN's Diana Magnay reports on a snow church made famous by a postcard in a chilly Bavarian village.

- CNN Belief Blog

Filed under: Church • Faith Now

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About this blog

The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, with daily contributions from CNN's worldwide newsgathering team and frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.

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