The nation’s largest Lutheran body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or ELCA, took another step Sunday toward claiming a major place at the forefront of faiths heeding the call to inclusivity and openness to all.  What took place in San Francisco is a direct result of the actions taken a year ago to allow gay and lesbian pastors to serve regardless of whether they are celibate.  The action was taken in a special “rite of reception.” Several others are expected this fall in Chicago and Minneapolis.
At the Lutheran convention in …

What to do with the old pastor? Keep him around or ban him from the premises lest his presence stymies efforts to go forward under new leadership?
Denominations vary sharply over their policies related to ministers who resign, retire or are dismissed.  Pastors loom large in the life of a congregation.  The framework of the leadership model could  make them all-powerful heads of staff or more as teaching pastors amid a team of assistant/associate pastors with strong elders.  More often than not, the pastor commands such a major place in the …

Maybe you thought about the late stand-up comedian George Carlin when you learned today that a federal appeals court struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s so-called “fleeting expletive policy.” The iconoclast Carlin made a career  mocking rules against cuss words spoken in the public arena. He boldly talked about the “blue words” in everyone’s consciousness but blocked from public expression by over-protective censors.
The three-judge panel in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled today that the FCC policy was “unconstitutionally vague” and had a “chilling effect” on the freedom …

“The God Show,” hosted by Pat McMahon for many years on KTAR (92.3FM) on Sunday morning, is a one-of-kind show that I have followed from the beginning.  I, in fact, have been a guest on the show twice.  The hourlong show is aired at 6:30 a.m. Sunday, although night-listeners can get it 6  1/2 hours earlier, or at midnight.  McMahon covers a wide swath of American religion with penetrating and sometimes controversial guests.
If you never heard the Sunday show (July11), I suggest you listen to that podcast . McMahon’s guest was …

Stoning someone to death may be rare in the Toolbox of Inhumanity  in 2010.  That people on  this planet relentlessly exact a multitude of  cruelties on others in spite of our social progress cannot be wholly explained.  You might dismiss stoning if it were discovered in some rain forest among a remote tribe.
But Iran is regarded as the “cradle of civilization,” the heart of the Persian civilization and an ancient East-West crossroads where ideas could flourish over the millennia. How could stoning exist in 21st century Iran, but, then, how could the ovens of the Holocaust …

It is just hard to  believe that Robert “Dizzy” Disbrow is no longer out on the streets of Mesa praising Jesus and shamelessly on fire for the Lord.  A curiosity, a sideshow, a harmless eccentric, Dizzy didn’t care that he was scruffy and loud and, well, just weird.   Most of the regular drivers on East Main Street in the Stapley Drive area were used to Dizzy’s  clowning around for God.
Some thought he was a phony. Some thought his drug and alcohol abuse in earlier parts of his colorful life created a pathetic man …

One of the freshest, most engaging clergy I have encountered is Pastor Palmer Chnchen, who leads The Grove Bible Church in Chandler. He’s one of those handsome, articulate, attentive people who reminds you that relevant religion is out there.  Much older than he looks, Chincen  is one of those ministers of the Word who does what he preaches — leads his people to do hands-on, caring work in the world.
With a wide, natural smile, moussed hair and casual  dress, the 46-year-old clergyman draws from his rich global experiences to rally his congregation …