Mark A. Kellner

Parole can’t be revoked for refusing faith-based rehab, federal court rules

A federal appeals court has ruled that parole cannot be revoked for a Colorado felon who refused to participate in a rehabilitation program that has a religious component.

August 9, 2021

Christian member of Finnish Parliament faces prison for questioning support of gay pride parade

A member of Finland's Parliament is facing two years in prison for tweeting a message questioning the alignment of her church with a gay pride parade and for other statements expressing what she said is the Bible's view on homosexuality.

August 6, 2021

Religious households give more support to charities than secular ones, study finds

Religious households are more generous than secular ones when they donate money to charity, but they are less likely to give anything at all, a new study has found.

August 4, 2021

Maryland to review state contracts with Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s boycott of Israel

Maryland officials said they will review whether the state has any contracts with Ben & Jerry's and its parent company, Unilever, and "respond accordingly" over the ice cream maker's decision not to sell its products in Israeli-controlled West Bank settlements.

August 3, 2021

Fredericksburg church asks Supreme Court for property-tax relief after city rejection

A Presbyterian church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to overturn a Virginia Circuit Court ruling denying property tax relief on housing used by the congregation's campus ministers.

August 2, 2021

Maine evangelical church asks Supreme Court to block delta-related COVID-19 restrictions

An evangelical church in Maine has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block any return of the state's COVID-19 restrictions on worship gatherings.

August 2, 2021

Biden nominates first Muslim to religious freedom post; Holocaust scholar as anti-Semitism envoy

President Biden on Friday announced his intention to nominate four people to religious freedom posts, including the first Muslim to serve in one of the top roles; a noted Holocaust scholar as a special envoy on anti-Semitism; an openly gay Jewish cleric, and a Muslim immigrant who famously clashed with former President Donald Trump.

July 30, 2021

Russian court sentences Jehovah’s Witnesses to six years in jail

A Russian court sentenced three Jehovah's Witnesses to as much as six and a half years in prison Thursday for religious "extremism," a spokesman for the religious group said.

July 29, 2021

Ex-Cardinal McCarrick charged with sexually assaulting teen

Former cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Wellesley, Massachusetts, court documents show.

July 29, 2021

Colorado web designer plans Supreme Court appeal to decline same-sex wedding clients

A Colorado web designer is taking her challenge of the state's anti-discrimination law to the U.S. Supreme Court, now that a federal appellate court has rejected her lawsuit claiming religious liberty in denying service to same-sex wedding couples.

July 29, 2021

Friendly persuasion: Religious push raises COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, survey says

America's religious communities have played an important role in upping acceptance of vaccines designed to thwart COVID-19, a survey released Wednesday morning revealed.

July 27, 2021

Local radio station named a ‘Best Christian Workplace’

For the second year in a row, WGTS-FM 91.9, a nonprofit radio station in Rockville, Md., is one of the nation's "Best Christian Workplaces," an organization announced Tuesday.

July 27, 2021

Help wanted: police chaplains

Pastor Claudio Consuegra wants to replicate himself, and quickly. A Seventh-day Adventist minister, he's the lead chaplain for the Prince George's County Police Department and he wants to boost the current ranks of chaplains from five to 17.

July 27, 2021

Former Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming dies following a bicycle accident

Former Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming died Monday "surrounded by his family" at a hospital in Loveland, Colorado, following a Friday night bicycle accident in Gillette, Wyoming, and a medical evacuation flight for additional treatment. He was 77.

July 27, 2021

Former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer assaulted, robbed in California

Former Sen. Barbara Boxer, 80, was assaulted and robbed of her cellular phone in the Jack London Square neighborhood of Oakland, her office announced via Twitter.

July 26, 2021

City accused of hostility to religion for barring Catholic vendors from farmers market

A Michigan family farmer will enter U.S. District Court on Tuesday hoping to gain a place to sell produce at the farmers market in East Lansing after the city stripped him of that spot over his religious opposition to gay marriage.

July 26, 2021

Recently retired GOP Sen. Mike Enzi hospitalized after bike wreck

Former U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, 77, Wyoming Republican, has been hospitalized in Loveland, Colorado, following a July 23 bicycle accident in Gillette, Wyoming, and a medical evacuation flight for additional treatment.

July 26, 2021

Sermon via hologram? California preacher ‘visits’ Auckland congregation using ‘teleportation’ video

The last time the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez Jr., pastor of New Season Church in Sacramento, California, spoke on the platform at City Impact Church near Auckland, New Zealand, he wasn't really there.

July 24, 2021

Cedar Park Assembly of God gets win from 9th Circuit in case on abortion coverage

An Assemblies of God congregation near Seattle is one step closer to being released from a Washington state law requirement that its employee health-insurance plans cover abortion if they also offer maternity care.

July 22, 2021

Pa. Supreme Court nixes lawsuits over decades-old attacks by priests

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a woman who said she was sexually abused by a Catholic priest cannot seek damages decades later.

July 21, 2021