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.

Megachurch Pastor Undergoes Surgery

The pastor of one of the largest churches in the country is recovering from triple bypass surgery. 73 year old Ed Young pastors the Second Baptist Church in Houston. He was hospitalized Wednesday after complaining of tightness in his chest and underwent the 90-minute surgery Thursday. In 1988, a stent was placed in Young’s heart to open a clogged heart artery. The former Southern Baptist Convention president hasn't said whether he will return to the pulpit.

Odd Religious Sties in America

WHAT: Don Brown Rosary Collection, the world's largest rosary collection
WHERE: Stevenson, Washington

WHAT: Richard Greene's ark replica
WHERE: Frostburg, Maryland

WHAT: The Church of God of Prophecy's Fields of the Wood including the world's largest Ten Commandments display, largest altar and largest New Testament
WHERE: Murphy, North Carolina

WHAT: Bill Rice's Cross Garden
WHERE: Prattville, Alabama

WHAT: Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens outdoor gallery
WHERE: Summerville, Georgia

NBC Anchor Mixes Up Colleges

NBC Today show anchor Ann Curry slipped up during her commencement speech at Wheaton College in Massachusetts this past Saturday. She mentioned that Wes Craven and Billy Graham had graduated from the school. Except, Craven and Graham actually attended the Evangelical Wheaton College in Illinois rather than the secular school for women in New England. Curry offered an apology on the Wheaton website: "I am mortified by my mistake, and can only hope the purity of my motive, to find a way to connect with the graduates and to encourage them to a life of service, will allow you to forgive me." The mistake has been edited out of the video of her speech posted on the site. She was awarded an honorary doctorate.

Gaga's New Release

Singer Lady Gaga has told interviewers in London that her next album will be different because "I recently had this ... miracle-like experience, where I feel much more connected to God... Religion is very confusing for everyone, and particularly me, because there's really no religion that doesn't hate or condemn a certain kind of people, and I totally believe in all love and forgiveness, and excluding no one."

Church Money Woes

Budgets for Protestant churches are down about 7% on average from the year before. A Barna survey this year showed one in 11 churches lost 20% or more in annual income, with 2% reporting drops of 35%.

Jews for Jesus Founder Dies

Moishe Rosen has died at the age of 78. He founded Jews for Jesus, the world's largest Messianic Jewish organization, in 1973. Rosen was born into an Orthodox Jewish family but converted to Christianity, prompting his parents to stop speaking to him. He was ordained a Baptist minister in 1957. A statement from him is posted on the group's website.

American Idol's Christian Connection

Read an extensive article about how church has affected American Idol contestants in the LA Times here.

Billy's Last Sermon

Billy Graham wants to give one more sermon. The 91-year-old evangelist could preach at Charlotte's Bank of America stadium, according to some reports. Franklin Graham says he's talked about videotaping a sermon with his father. Billy Graham's last crusade was four years ago in New York. President Barack Obama and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin have visited him in recent months.

PCUSA Cutbacks

The Presbyterian Church, USA has cut 49 positions at its headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. The denomination's governing board has agreed to cut the budget from this year's total of $93.8 million to just $82 million for 2011 and $80 million for 2012. The denomination has struggled with the issue of ordaining clergy in same-gender relationships.

Oregon Church Faces Scrutiny

A church that shuns traditional medicine for faith healing leads to numerous child deaths. CNN offers this video report.

American Missionary Freed

The woman who led American missionaries in attempting to take 33 children out of Haiti to the Dominican Republic, is now out of jail. A judge convicted Laura Silsby and sentenced her to the time she had already served in jail. The Idaho church leader had been in custody since January. Silsby was the last member of her group still being held in Haiti.

Megachurch Building

The First Baptist Church of Dallas has raised $115 million for a state-of-the-art campus in the downtown area. Church officials say it sets a record for the most money raised for a Protestant church. Construction begins in July and will take three years to complete.

Souther Baptist Numbers

Southern Baptist membership fell about half a percentage point to 16.16 million during 2009, according to a report from LifeWay Christian Resources. The nation’s largest Protestant denomination also saw a slip in giving to missions down to $1.33 billion, a decline of 1.8%.

Large Cross Stolen

A seven-foot-tall cross in the Mojave Desert that sparked a Supreme Court dispute has been stolen. Fox News reports.

Seminary President's Claims Investigated

The Jerry Falwell founded Liberty University has launched a formal inquiry into claim as to whether the head of its seminary made up parts of his testimony about growing up as a Sunni Muslim before converting to Christianity. Ergun Caner, president of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary & Graduate School, is accused in blogs as fabricating parts of his background for speaking engagements. One blogger says Caner was not born in Turkey but Sweden and he's been in the US since the age of four.

Police: Singers Stole from Churches

Authorities in central Georgia say two gospel singers face burglary charges for breaking into several churches and stealing $100,000 worth of equipment. The Washington County Sheriff's office says drummer Rico Blackshear from Dublin and Deshawn Thomas of Sandersville have been linked the pair to at least two dozen incidents beginning last November. The case was broken when officers received a tip about the pair performing with gospel bands at the churches where thefts occurred. They apparently went back and broke into the churches later.

Cable Show about Jesus

Comedy Central has a cartoon series in the works about Jesus called JC. The production company behind The Office and The Biggest Loser (Reveille) is behind the effort. According to producers, the program shows Jesus as a "regular guy" who moves to New York to "escape his father's enormous shadow." His Heavenly Father is portrayed as more interested in playing video games than listening to his son.

Atheists: Arrest the Pope!

Atheist authors Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are lobbying to have Pope Benedict XVI arrested for “crimes against humanity” when he visits Britain in September.

Writing in Newsweek, Christopher Hitchens says the Pope once sent a letter to all Catholic bishops instructing them to say nothing about rape or molestation allegations to anyone outside the church. Failing to report a crime is a crime in itself. There’s also evidence that Ratzinger was “lenient or negligent” with a number of priests known to be pedophiles.

Dawkins, in the London Guardian suggests thinking of the situation where a teacher is molesting pupils but the administrator simply moves the offender to a new school, explaining in a letter to colleagues that it would harm the government’s reputation to admit that a pedophile had ever been employed. If such a letter ever came to light, that official would “immediately have to resign in ignominy, and face prosecution himself.”

Gay Policy Remains

Michigan's Hope College will not change its policy condemning homosexual behavior and advocacy. The board of the Christian college voted Friday to keep things as they are, despite a petition from alumni, student and community groups asking for a change. The effort was triggered by a visit from the maker of the movie Milk which told the story of a gay San Francisco politician. The school would not allow the film to be shown last year. It's historically associated with the Reformed Church in America.