Mormons on the Rise

The number of Mormons are on the rise in the U.S. and the number of mainline Protestants and Catholics is falling. That's according to the 2012 Religious Congregations and Membership Study. In the largest county in the U.S. Catholics fell 7% and Mormons rose by 55%. In fact, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fastest-growing religious group in the U.S. While 8 of 10 Americans call themselves Christians, only half have an affiliation with a local church.

Bible Reading Marathon

CNN reports on a Bible Reading Marathon on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

Campus Preacher Wins Appeal

An appeals court has sided with a preacher against a Tennessee school that said he couldn't give out tracts or speak on campus without a two week wait. John McGlone was forced to leave Tennessee Technical University. He filed a lawsuit and it was thrown out by a judge. But the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals says the state school's speaking permit rules are unconstitutional. The three-judge panel ruled campus sidewalks are a “public forum” and therefore any regulation on the content of speech is unconstitutional, unless justified by a “significant” government interest. Even the school's own lawyers admited the 14 day waiting period is burdensome and overly long.

From Minister To Atheist

NPR profiles a former pastor who turned atheist here.

Burning the Koran.. again

Evangelical leaders are condemning Terry Jones decision to burn copies of the Koran over the weekend along with an image of Muhammad. The Gainesville, Florida pastor says he's protesting Iran's continued imprisonment of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. About two dozen people showed up and the city gave the church a citation for violating burn ordinances.

Students Walk out on Speaker

Students walked out on a speaker at a high school journalism conference in Seattle following his derogatory comments about the Bible. Dan Savage told students at the National High School Journalism Convention - among other things - to ignore the “bulls--t in the Bible about gay people.” A conservative gay rights group said it was ironic that at a speech on bullying, the speaker would resort to name-calling. Savage called the students who were offended "pansy-asses." Video of what happened is posted below.

Written on the Heart

A new play about the Bible is getting positive reviews in London. The Royal Shakespeare Company production of Written on the Heart tells the story of the translation of the King James Bible. The play focuses the human cost of bringing God's word to the masses, including the execution of William Tyndale.

Reward for Jesus Costume

An atheist group is giving a scholarship to a Tennessee student for dressing up as Jesus. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is giving Jeff Shott of Springhill its $1,000 scholarship for "Fictional Character Day." Shott wore the costume to high school and his principal made him remove it.

Osteen in DC

Joel Osteen will preach tomorrow night at the Washington Nationals ballpark. Some 40,000 people have tickets to what he's calling America's Night of Hope. The megachurch pastor gave the opening prayers in both the House and the Senate this week.

Bible Translations under Review

There's an investigation into a Bible translation produced by Wycliffe Bible Translators following complaints the organization is trying to avoid offending Muslims. An independent panel from World Evangelical Alliance is checking on whether the concept of the Trinity is being downplayed by Wycliffe. The Assemblies of God is reviewing its relationship with Wycliffe over the issue.

Osteen: Romney is a Christian

Joel Osteen tells CNN that Mitt Romney is a Christian.

Noah coming to the Big Screen

Russell Crowe has signed on to play Noah in a new movie set to start shooting this summer in Iceland and New York. Darren Aronofsky's version of the ship-building animal rustler from the Bible will show up in movie theaters in Spring of 2014. Aronofsky says he will follow the Bible story.

On this Date...

It was on this date in 1864 that the U.S. Congress added In God We Trust to U.S. coins.

Colson Dies

Chuck Colson died today at the age of 80 at a Virginia hospital. Colson is best known to the public for his role in the Watergate coverup, though Evangelicals especially know him for his prison ministry. Colson was Richard Nixon's special counsel and known as the president's "hatchet man." He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the Watergate scandal and served seven month in prison. After his release, he founded Prison Fellowship, an outreach to prisoners, wrote more than 30 books and hosted a daily radio commentary. President George W. Bush awarded Colson the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2008.

More Millennials Unaffiliated

Religious affiliation is falling in the U.S. A quarter of young adults now say they are "unaffiliated" according to a new report from the Public Religion Research Institute and Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs. More than half of that group also say they went to church when they were young. The Catholic church have lost the most Millennials. The young religiously unaffiliated say abortion should be legal in most cases (82%) and they approve of same-sex marriage (59%).

Dove Winners

Jason Crabb won artist and male vocalist of the year awards last night at the 43rd Dove Awards show in Atlanta. The show will be aired April 24 on GMC (formerly the Gospel Music Channel). Natalie Grant won female vocalist of the year. Laura Story took home five awards including song of the year for Blessings. Jamie Grace won new artist of the year, Kirk Franklin took home contemporary gospel album of the year for Hello Fear. Rapper Lecrae won rap/Hip Hop recorded album of the year and rap/Hip Hop song of the year. NEEDTOBREATHE won group of the year award for the second consecutive time.

Megachurch Removes Pastor

A Maryland megachurch has kicked out its pastor. The board of trustees of Jericho City of Praise Church in Landover fired Joel Peebles after a two year fight over control of the church's finances. Peebles became pastor after the church's founder, his mother, Betty Peebles, died in 2010. Here's a video report from WUSA-TV.

Vandy Student Groups

Eleven student groups at Vanderbilt University are banning together to fight new rules at the school that requires them to accept people as members whether the person agrees with the group's values or not. And that includes leadership roles in the group. The Vanderbilt Solidarity handed out some 4000 MP4 players on campus with a video calling for changes. The student handbook contains a nondiscrimination policy, but the school only choose to interpret it this way when a gay student complained he was not allowed to be a member of a Christian fraternity.

Belief in God

The older you are, the more likely you believe in God. That's the finding of researchers at the University of Chicago. They waded through information from 30 countries provided by the International Social Survey Program. Here are some of the results.

Belief in God:
68 years old - 43%
27 years old - 23%
68 years old - 43%


Belief in God is on the increase in Israel, Slovenia and Russia.

The Philippines had the highest belief in God at 94%.

Western Europe had the lowest belief in God at 13%.

In the U.S., 81% say they had always believed in God.

Bible Classes in Arizona

Arizona will let high schools offer Bible classes to students. Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill into law today. The elective course will focus on the role of the Bible in Western culture.