Commandments Display Suit

A Utah judge has dismissed a Ten Commandments lawsuit. A group called the Summum wanted to put up a religious display alongside a Ten Commandments display in Pleasant Grove. The marker is in a public park, where it was dedicated a half a century ago.

Christian Singer Dies

Christian singer Dana Key unexpectedly passed away yesterday. A member of the pioneering Christian band Degarmo & Key, the 57 year old died from a blood clot. He served as senior pastor of The Love of Christ Church in Cordova, Tennessee which planned a DeGarmo & Key reunion this Sunday.

Newspaper Ad Upsets Muslims

Ads for the Granite City Baptist Church in St. Cloud, Minnesota is stirring controversy. Pastor Dennis Campbell suggestions Islam is a threat to America. The advertisement was placed in the St. Cloud Times and says Muslims "seek to influence a nation by immigration, reproduction, education, the government, illegal drugs and by supporting the gay agenda." Campbell has given interviews defending the ad, saying he is not a racist. See the ad here.

Clergy Glut

There are more than 600,000 ministers in the but only 338,000 churches in the US, according to the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. For instance, there are four Presbyterian ministers looking for work for every job that's available. At the same time, there are 300 churches that are members of the Tennessee Baptist Convention without a pastor. The average church has only 75 members, so many congregations cannot afford a full-time pastor. The Association of Theological Schools says seminary enrollment is down more than six percent in the last five years, so the number of pastors without churches is likely to fall over the next few years.

Spiritual but not Religious

CNN looks at "Are there dangers in being spiritual but not religious?" here.

Getting to Know.. Alice Cooper

Real name: Vincent Vurnier (legally changed his name in 1973)
Born: Detroit, Feb 4, 1948
Music: 28 albums
Beliefs: Became a Christian in 1990
Family: father a pastor, grandfather an evangelist, wife Sherley a ballet instructor, 3 children Other:
Radio host, Phoenix restaurant, Solid Rock Foundation (nonprofit Christian organization)

Suit: Pages of Bible Stolen

An Armenian church in California is suing the J. Paul Getty Museum over pages from an ancient Bible in the museum's collection since 1994. The Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America filed a $105-million civil lawsuit saying that the institution illegally bought the seven pages. The church wants the pages back because, the suit say, they were torn out of the Armenian Orthodox Church's Zeyt'un Gospels more than 100 years ago. But Getty says it obtained the legally and will fight the lawsuit.

The Roman Catholic Hall of Fame: Sainthood

WHAT?
• A saint is anyone whose "soul is in heaven"
• When the church officially declares someone a saint it means the Catholic Church has no doubts the person is in heaven
• The process recognizes lives of "great charity and heroic virtue"

STEPS
• Venerable: title given to someone recognized as having lived heroic virtues
• Beatification: person is declared "blessed" (need one miracle proven after death to qualify)
• Canonization: person is officially declared a saint (need 2 miracles attributed to their intercession, unless the person is a martyr)

WAITING PERIOD
• The investigation into whether someone might be saint material does not start (traditionally) until 5 years after death and often took centuries
• The pope can put someone on a fast track for sainthood (ex: John Paul II put Mother Teresa on the fast track- the process started one year after her death)
• First canonization was in 993 St. Ulrich, bishop of Augsburg, Germany
• Local bishops canonized saints in the early church (such as St. Nicholas and St. Patrick)
• Formal investigations by the Vatican began in the 13th century

Haggard to Start Church

Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard plans to start a new church in Colorado Springs, Colorado in defiance of his old church. His career was undone when his relationship with a male prostitute and alleged drug purchases were revealed in 2006. The nondenominational church will meet this Sunday for the first time at Haggard's home. KKTV offers this video of Haggard's announcement.

Texas Baptists Cut Ties with Church

The Baptist General Convention of Texas is taking membership in the group away from a Dallas church for accepting openly gay deacons. The state's largest Baptist group officially broke ties with Royal Lane Baptist Church by a vote of 63-4. Royal Lane had been a part of the Convention for decades. The church has not made an official comment yet. The church also has been cut off by the Dallas Baptist Association.

Social Justice on Campus

Time magazine takes a look at social justice on the campuses of Christian Colleges here.

Gay Music Artists On Tour

Ray Boltz kicks off a national tour at Covenant of the Cross in Nashville two weeks from Thursday (June 17), affirming his status as an openly gay Christian music artist. Boltz has three Dove Awards, two gold albums, one gold video, and a dozen number one singles to his name, having sold more than 4 million units. The singer-songwriter revealed he was gay two years ago. He will will tour with Azariah Southworth who "came out" about the same time. The revelation led to Southworth losing his position as host of a Christian music TV show called The ReMix which was seen by more than 200,000 each week.

Joel Osteen's Church

Location • Lakewood Church in Houston
Denomination • charismatic, nondenominational
Start • founded in 1959 by John Osteen in an abandoned feed store
Founder • Joel's father, John Osteen, who had been booted out of a Baptist Church for
speaking in tongues and for his views on healing
Current Pastor • Joel took over in 1999 when John died (the congregation was 6,000)
Growth • Now the largest and fastest-growing in the country (according to Church Growth Today)
Attendance • More than 30,000 visitors a week
Services • 3 major services including a Spanish-speaking service
Budget • more than $50 million
Location • The church moved into Houston's 16,000-seat Compaq Center (former home of pro basketball's Houston Rockets) after a $92 million renovation