Colson Hospitalized

Chuck Colson had surgery today though it is unclear why. Prison Fellowship, the ministry he founded, says he is resting comfortably after falling ill during a conference in Virginia. He was attending the Wilberforce Weekend Conference.

School Ponders Name Change

Houston Baptist University is considering dropping Baptist from its name. The Texas school, founded more than half a century ago by Baptist General Convention of Texas, added board members last year who are not members of Baptist churches. Some have criticized the effort as leaving its Christian roots - though school officials deny the charge. Houston may be dropped as well, to avoid a geographical limitations.

Churchgoers subdue gunman

Church Stages Kidnapping

A mother of a teenager has filed a complaint with the police in Middletown, Pennsylvania against the Glad Tidings Assembly of God for putting her - and the church's entire youth group through a mock kidnapping - without telling the students or their parents that it was all pretend. The mother says the girl was traumatized by it. The two men burst into the meeting with guns, covered the heads of 17 students, put them in a van and interrogated them. There's a video report from WHTM-TV here.

2010 Membership & Giving

Giving to churches was down more than $1 billion in 2010. That's according to the latest Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches which is published by the National Council of Churches. Some of the findings:

•  The Roman Catholic Church is still the largest religious group in the US with 68.2 million members, but its growth was under one percent in 2010. 
• Membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America fell nearly 6% to 4.3 million members. 
• The Southern Baptist Convention, the second-largest religious group in the US, reported a membership decline of less than 1 percent - the 4th consecutive drop. Their 2010 membership is at 16.1 million people. 
• The Mormon church rose 1.6% and the Assemblies of God rose 4%.

Accusations Fly at TBN

Members of the family that started the TBN Christian TV network are accusing the organization of financial corruption. Many of the claims come from the granddaughter of Paul and Jan Crouch who founded the network. Brittany Koper took over last year as chief financial officer and has now filed a lawsuit claiming she was fired and forced to turn over her house and car after complaining about "illegal financial schemes" involving tens of millions of dollars. A TBN lawyer blames Koper herself, saying she and her husband stole money from the network and she is making up false claims to distract from what's she done. Joseph McVeigh, another family member, says the family uses 13 homes owned by the network. He claims TBN bought a $50 million jet through a "sham loan" and owns another $8 million jet that's used by Jan Crouch. McVeigh says a $100,000 recreational vehicle is used just for transporting Jan Crouch's dogs. TBN owns more than half a dozen TV networks, runs Trinity Music City USA in Nashville and an amusement park in Florida.

Tebow's Church

New York magazine takes a look at where new Jets quarterback Tim Tebow could attend church in New York here.

Bible Game Show

Jeff Foxworthy will host a new cable show called The American Bible Challenge. Foxworthy already hosts Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? which also appears on the GSN network (which once stood for Game Show Network).

What Brought Down a Megachurch?

Did sibling rivalry led to the downfall of Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral here.

The Hunger Games

There's a new movie opening tomorrow based on a best-selling series of books for teens. The Washington Post looks at the religious aspect of The Hunger Games here.

The Reason Rally

Atheists will gather on the National Mall this Saturday for the Reason Rally. Comedian Eddie Izzard, author and biologist Richard Dawkins, MythBusters cohost Adam Savage and comedian Bill Maher will be among the speakers. The punk band Bad Religion will perform. Organizers expect more than 10,000 people. Thier annual conference will take place afterward in the DC suburb of Bethesda, Maryland. The group was founded by Madalyn Murray O'Hair, who led the drive to the Supreme Court that pushed prayer and Bible reading out of the public schools.

7 year Trial Ends

The Jerusalem District Court has acquitted an Israeli antiquities collector. Oded Golan was accused of being part of an international forgery ring and forging dozens of priceless archaeological artifacts, including an inscription on the burial box, or ossuary, of James, brother of Jesus. The trial lasted seven years and the judge's verdict ran 475 pages. In it, he made a point of recognizing the disputes between scholars over the matter, commenting at one point, "If you, the world's leading experts in this field, cannot agree with each other on the authenticity or otherwise of these items, how do you expect me, a mere judge, to reach a conclusion?" Despite the acquittal, one of the prosecution experts says the verdict only indicates there was no legal way to prove the fraud, but doesn't change the minds of those who believed the items were faked.

Schuller Leaving Ministry

Robert Schuller is resigning from the board of Crystal Cathedral and his Hour of Power TV show, just a month after the church's sanctuary was sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. Last week, Schuller's daughter and two sons-in-law were removed from the board. Schuller retired in 2006 and the megachurch filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

Banks foreclosing on churches in record numbers

Many banks are no longer willing to grant struggling religious organizations forbearance. Read about it here.

Miley's Twitter Comeback

We told you Tuesday about a Tweet by celebrity Miley Cyrus that got Christian fans angry (read it here) After getting many responses, she wrote back, "How can people take the love out of science and bring hate into religion so easily?"and then "It makes me sad to think the world is this way. Like Einstein says ‘Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."

Christian Concert Promoter Sentenced for Ponzi Scheme

A Christian concert promoter will serve more than 4 years in prison for an investment scheme. Lauren Baumann of Los Angeles plead guilty to creating a Ponzi scheme involving nearly $1 million. She's been ordered to pay restitution to more than two dozen people including some from her church, Desert Reign Assembly of God. Baumann ran Stewardship Estates and promised to use the money for Christian battle-of-the-bands concerts. Prosecutors say she used the money to pay off previous investors and on her family. She didn't tell investors she had been convicted of securities fraud more than a decade ago in Texas.

Hour of Power Changes

Three relatives of Robert H. Schuller are out jobs at the Crystal Cathedral. The church's board voted to oust the Rev. Robert H. Schuller's daughter and two sons-in-law. They were involved in the production of the church's Hour of Power show. Old shows will run for a few weeks during the reorganization.

Miley: Forget Jesus

Below is a short video report on a controversial Tweet by singer Miley Cyrus.

To Get out the Vote

Data-mining the Evangelical vote. Hear the NPR story here.

Megachurch could leave PCUSA

The First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs will vote Sunday on whether to part ways with the the Presbyterian Church, USA. The 4000 member congregation may bolt for the more conservative Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians. The main source of contention is the definition of marriage. Regional bodies of the denomination allow the ordination of gay clergy who are part of committed relationships. Church leaders are considering a proposal to allow ministers to officiate at same-sex weddings.