Julia Duin

Recession impacts church donations

The nation's churches are staggering under the depressed economy, with more than one-third reporting decreases in giving last year, according to a survey.

March 25, 2010

DUIN: Religions face identity theft

There's this odd sleight of hand going on in the nation's capital.It used to be that you called the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) or someone at the Vatican to get the Catholic Church's side of things. With evangelicals - a far more diverse and scattered group - you could call a certain handful of organizations, magazine editors and pastors and pretty much get the drift of what the born-again crowd thought.

March 25, 2010

Health fight energizes pro-life movement

The battle over President Obama's health care overhaul has produced an unexpected beneficiary: the pro-life movement, which is summoning support and gathering contributions at a rate not seen since the partial-birth abortion debates of the mid-1990s.

March 23, 2010

DUIN: Faith-based aid championed

Just before he stepped down as a member of President Obama's Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Richard Stearns threw down a gauntlet.

March 18, 2010

DUIN: Proselytism ‘on the table’

Does everyone have a right to spread his religion to others?

March 11, 2010

DUIN: Lubavitch’s nerve center

The first people I saw when I climbed out of the Kingston subway station on Friday were men in long black coats, wide-brimmed black hats and beards.

March 4, 2010

DUIN: Confession of a Nazarene

I can't say I've run into too many Nazarenes in my life.

February 25, 2010

Va. Episcopalians backpedal on gay unions

The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia has backed away from recognizing same-sex unions, instead voting over the weekend to form a panel of laity and clergy that will set standards for church-sanctioned blessings of such unions should they be approved by the entire 2-million-member Episcopal Church.

February 22, 2010

Va. Episcopalians narrowly vote not to recognize gay marriage

The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia hedged on recognizing same-sex unions Saturday, instead voting to form a committee to set standards for church-sanctioned blessings of such unions once they are approved by the entire 2-million-member Episcopal Church.

February 21, 2010

Catholics end D.C. foster-care program

The Archdiocese of Washington's decision to drop its foster care program is the first casualty of D.C.'s pending same-sex marriage law that will obligate all contractors dealing with the city to recognize gay couples.

February 18, 2010

DUIN: Muslims here since slavery

Indiana University religious studies professor Edward Curtis' recent book, "Muslims in America," is, according to his publisher, the first single-author history of American Muslims from Colonial times to the present.

February 18, 2010

Breakaway Episcopalians get sympathy in England

The Church of England said it "recognizes and affirms" the aim of the fledgling Anglican Church in North America to be part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

February 11, 2010

DUIN: A prayer book for gay Jews

Not long ago, "Siddur B'chol L'vavcha," a prayer book (siddur) for gay Jews, arrived at my office. The blue cloth volume had its start in 1981 as a collection of typewritten pages with Hebrew lettering cut and pasted between the English text. It grew out of the life of Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, an 800-member gay synagogue near Manhattan's Chelsea district.

February 11, 2010

DUIN: ‘Baptism in the Holy Spirit’

Nearly 50 years ago, an Episcopal priest shocked his listeners during a Palm Sunday sermon at St. Mark's Church in Van Nuys, Calif. On April 3, 1960, the Rev. Dennis Bennett announced he had received a personal Pentecost or "baptism in the Holy Spirit;" an infusion of spiritual power that brought with it the gift of speaking in tongues.

February 4, 2010

Bishop to retire after lackluster tenure

Washington Episcopal Bishop John B. Chane's announcement that he expects to retire in the fall of 2011 wraps up nine years at the helm of a diocese he acknowledged had not grown or prospered during his tenure.

February 1, 2010

Washington’s Bishop Chane to retire

Washington Episcopal Bishop John B. Chane announced Saturday he will retire in the fall of 2011.

January 30, 2010

DUIN: March for Life draws 100,000

I spent last Thursday evening interviewing people lying on the floor. They were participants in America's largest religious pilgrimage: the annual March for Life from the Mall to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, whose ruling on Jan. 22, 1973, legalized abortion.

January 28, 2010

Christian radio star Parshall out at Salem

Janet Parshall, a syndicated talk-show host and the nation's pre-eminent female Christian broadcaster, is leaving the Salem Radio Network this weekend to start up a new show with the Chicago-based Moody Broadcasting Network.

January 28, 2010

Pro-lifers cheer health care bill’s demise

The mood among pro-lifers who were in town for the annual March for Life on Friday was ebullient and optimistic, owing to the failure of the Senate's health-care reform bill.

January 25, 2010

Thousands of pro-lifers storm D.C.

Activists rallied Friday to end abortion, buoyed by polls and a recent Republican victory in Massachusetts that they said show public opinion may be finally swinging in their favor.

January 23, 2010