Mollie Hemingway

, , , , , , , , , ,

Here some stand

, , , , , , , , , ,

“Stories like this annoy me,” a Lutheran pastor wrote when he notified us of the following Chicago Sun-Times piece. Written by veteran religion reporter Susan Hogan/Albach, it’s about how the Metropolitan Chicago bishop-elect of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America views his denomination’s celibacy requirement for gay and lesbian clergy. The Lutheran clergy and GetReligion reader is a pastor in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, which does not ordain gay clergy. Though both Lutheran groups are large (and I’m a member of the LCMS), only the larger ELCA is mentioned in the story.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , ,

And don't wear white after Labor Day

, , , , ,

The intersection of religion and dress is most fascinating to me. I grew up with a mother who was far and away the most fashionable pastor’s wife I knew. And then I also had acquaintances and neighbors involved in the Christian modesty movement, which required women to wear large pieces of fabric that covered them extensively.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, ,

Catholics and Protestants still have doctrinal differences

, ,

I know this is old news, but a reader sent along another recent story about Pope Benedict XVI saying that non-Roman Catholics are outside the true church. I know we covered this already, but the media treatment of this story has been so horrific that it merits another post. For this week’s installment, let’s look at Steve Maynard’s piece in the Tacoma News Tribune. First the subhead:


Please respect our Commenting Policy
,

Saints without halos

,

In a country where the only Mormon story reporters can conceive of involves Mitt Romney, Salt Lake Tribune religion reporter Peggy Fletcher Stack is a treat. It seems as if she’s one of the only reporters who doesn’t view Mormons as a monolithic group. This weekend she has a story on Mormons’ views about their own history.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
,

Breaking: Indulgences offered in Pennsylvania

,

Last night I was having dinner with friends and neighbors and we got talking about GetReligion. Our hostess wondered whether local religion reporting was better than what you see and read at the national level. I suggested it was not — since flashes of truly horrific and uninformed local religion stories came to mind immediately. But one of my favorite religion reporters, who is at a significant Midwestern paper, sent along a really interesting local story. And it reminds me that sometimes local reporters are able to treat their subjects better than national reporters.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , ,

Is there more to Christianity than politics?

, , ,

Last week Michael Luo of The New York Times had a fascinating piece about the public piety of Sen. Hillary Clinton. After decades of losing socially conservative religious voters, Democrats are noticeably reaching out to religious folks. It’s wise for media outlets to track and analyze the move.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, ,

One nation under god(s)

, ,

I’m very interested in civil religion, as some of you may have picked up. People who share my confession of faith tend to dislike the mixture of politics and worship since it violates our understanding of the sacredness of worship. Besides, civil religion never seems to work out for us as we’re always outnumbered by other religious groups.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , ,

On the juicy story du jour

, , , ,

One of my worst traits is that I love to watch and read about things I shouldn’t love to watch or read about. I have successfully limited my intake of gossip mags to in-flight reading, and I’m doing better about avoiding gossip sites, I guess, but I still have a major problem.


Please respect our Commenting Policy