chron.com Religion

Churches to deliver Christmas notes to Bethlehem

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:44:00 GMT

GENEVA — The World Council of Churches will help deliver Christmas messages and prayers of peace to the biblical birthplace of Jesus. Christianity's largest ecumenical movement says messages e-mailed before the Jan. 7 Christmas celebrated by Orthodox Christians will be printed and handed out at schools and places of worship in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Abbott: State should take action on human trafficking

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Attorney General Greg Abbott said Monday his office is ready, if the Legislature agrees, to take a more active role in fighting human trafficking, a fast-growing crime heavily practiced in Texas.

Most Texas profs back unlimited teaching of evolution

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:30:00 GMT

The verdict from Texas scientists is nearly unanimous: 98 percent favor the unadulterated teaching of evolution in public school classrooms, according to a report released Monday.

Clergy weigh in on immigration policy at TMO summit

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Church and social activists Monday took aim at the nation's immigration policies — laws they contended split families, criminalize undocumented workers and undercut America's reverential self-image as a land of opportunity.

Several D.C. churches are courting the Obamas

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:55:00 GMT

Churches in the nation's capital have started extending invitations to President-elect Barack Obama and his family, touting their African-American roots, their ties to presidents past and to Obama himself.

Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth 4th to secede since '03

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:01:00 GMT

The conservative Diocese of Fort Worth split from the Episcopal Church in a long-running debate over how to interpret the Bible.

Ancient Christian church remnants uncovered in Syria

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Archaeologists in central Syria have unearthed the remnants of a 1,200-year-old church believed to be the largest ever discovered in this Mideast country, an antiquities official said last week.

Houstonians join U.S. rallies against Prop 8 (w/video)

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:37:00 GMT

Gay rights supporters waving rainbow colors marched, chanted and danced in Houston and across the nation on Saturday to protest the vote that banned gay marriage in California and to urge supporters not to quit the fight for the right to wed.

Stressed? Here's how to be happy

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:10:00 GMT

Six hundred people threw their arms high into the air and laughed long and hard. Welcome to laughter yoga, one of many relaxation techniques used by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Singing trio of priests releases album

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:05:00 GMT

As priests, they're Catholic clergymen serving parishes in Northern Ireland. As the Priests, they're a singing trio that a major music company is promoting in dozens of countries.

Southern Baptists urge Obama to restrict abortion

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:13:00 GMT

A Texas Southern Baptist group this week urged President-elect Barack Obama to restrict abortion and called on Christians not to support charities or other groups that promote abortion or embryonic stem-cell research.

Fort Worth Episcopals set to leave national church

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:15:00 GMT

The Diocese of Fort Worth is on the verge of becoming the fourth U.S. Episcopal diocese to break from the national church. The vote expected Saturday.

Different faiths come together over dinner

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:11:00 GMT

Kristina Herrndobler talks about hosting an Amazing Faiths Dinner Dialogue in her home. She was one of 68 hosts Thursday night in Houston.

Disgraced pastor Haggard: I was abused as child

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:05:00 GMT

Disgraced evangelical pastor Ted Haggard says he was sexually abused as a child and that the experience "started to rage in my mind and in my heart" when he was caught up in a sex scandal involving a male prostitute. Haggard made the remarks in two recent sermons in Morrison, Ill., ABC's "Good Morning America" reported Wednesday.

Gay activists rally outside Mormon temple in NYC

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:29:00 GMT

NEW YORK — Carrying signs reading "Love not H8" and "Did you cast a ballot or a stone?", a large crowd of gay-marriage supporters gathered outside a Mormon temple to protest the church's endorsement of a same-sex marriage ban in California.

Grapevine pastor: Celebrate marriage -- have more sex

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Marriage is the only right place for sex, says Ed Young, senior pastor of Grapevine's nondenominational Fellowship Church. So he's encouraging married couples to celebrate by having sex every day for a week starting Sunday.

'Buddha reincarnation' draws crowd in Nepal

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:30:00 GMT

The teenager revered as a reincarnation of Buddha sat silently in the jungle as he blessed his devotees Wednesday with a light tap on the head, which they consider the touch of the divine.

Disgraced evangelical pastor says he was abused

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:30:00 GMT