Wireless Mic Change Deadline

Churches are scrambling to replace wireless microphones and devices by Saturday, a deadline set by the FCC. The agency is required users to switch wireless microphone systems between 698 and 806 MHz to make room for use by fire, police and emergency services. Many churches across the country us these frequencies. Failing to make the change could lead to a fine of $100,000. The change is costing many churches $10,000 or more.

Column on Gay Parents Controversy

A Boston Catholic paper is apologizing for a column that has stirred gay rights advocates by linking same-sex parents with pornography. Michael Pakaluk, writing in The Pilot says one reason the children of gay parents should not be admitted to Catholic schools is the danger they would pose of bringing pornography into school. He once taught philosophy at Clark University in Worcester and served as a visiting scholar at Harvard. He now teaches in Virginia. Pakaluk has told reporters he would not make the same point if he were writing the article again. Read the column here.

Getting to Know.. David Cerullo

Here are some facts about televangelist David Cerullo.

Runs The Inspiration Network
Salary $1.5 million a year
Married to Barbara Cerullo who got $198,000 in total compensation from the ministry in 2007
Lives in Charlotte, NC
12,000-square-foot lakefront home
His children receive large salaries from his ministry (nearly $400,000)
Building a 93-acre campus in South Carolina
The state gave Cerullo incentives worth some $25 million
Attended Oral Roberts University
ordained by the Assemblies of God in 1974
Father is evangelist Morris Cerullo
Morris Cerullo paid $7 million to buy The Inspiration Network in 1990
The network has more than 300 employees
More than 2 dozen employees make more than $100,000 a year
Not a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability

Premarital Sex Leads to Firing

A former teacher at a Florida Christian school is suing for her losing her job because she got pregnant before getting married. Jarretta Hamilton was a 4th grade teacher at Southland Christian School in St. Cloud when she admitted her child had been conceived about three weeks before her wedding last year. The school issued a letter to its staff explaining the firing by saying in part, "Jarretta was asked not to return because of a moral issue that was disregarded, namely fornication, sex outside of marriage."

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.