Author: Erica Noonan

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/12/19/church_plants_find_their_roots_in_greater_boston/

Within the walls of a traditional New England church that saw its longtime membership diminish and depart in recent years, a new band of faithful is growing quickly. 

Redeemer Fellowship Church started 14 months ago with fewer than 20...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Buddhist Channel/The Star

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=56,9762,0,0,1,0

A group of 40 Buddhist monks and novitiates displayed their spirit of giving and sharing by distributing food and provisions to elderly residents at Little Sisters of the Poor, Home for the Aged.

They were led by Mahindarama Buddhist Temple chief priest Ven E. Indaratana Maha Thera and Ven Dr K....

Author: Wendy Stueck

Source: The Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/highway-to-heavens-many-paths-to-salvation/article1834930/

If there are many paths to salvation, British Columbia's No. 5 Road can be seen as an open-air guide book.

The highway – which runs in a straight line through the city of Richmond, south of Vancouver – is often...

Author: Pam Tharp

Source: The Palladium-Item

http://www.pal-item.com/article/20101217/NEWS01/12170325

Franklin County's courthouse Nativity scene will stay in place this Christmas season, despite a complaint by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Franklin County Commissioner Tom Wilson said he won't end the 50-year-old manger scene on the courthouse lawn until a court orders it. The life-size Nativity scene is owned by the town of...

Author: Dylan Lovan

Source: The Houston Chronicle

Wire Service: AP

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7344501.html

An astronomer argues that his Christian faith and his peers' belief that he is an evolution skeptic kept him from getting a prestigious job as the director of a new student observatory at the University of Kentucky.

Martin Gaskell quickly rose to the top of a list of...

Author: Gordon Dickson

Source: The Star-Telegram

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/12/15/2708144/religious-ads-banned-from-fort.html

Two weeks after controversy erupted because the Fort Worth Transportation Authority accepted ads with the atheist message "Millions of Americans are Good Without God," the T board revised its policy Wednesday night to ban all religious ads effective Jan. 1.

Author: Jeff Parrott

Source: Sikhnet/The South Bend Tribune

http://www.sikhnet.com/news/lutherans-sikhs-break-bread-together-and-learn-what-they-have-common

It would have been easy Sunday for Kathy Coleman to dwell on the differences between the Sikhism religion and her own Lutheran faith.

After all, upon entering the Sikh Cultural Society of Indiana’s Gurudwara, or place of...

Author: Laura Isensee

Source: The Miami Herald

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/13/1971382/hialeah-churches-set-to-honor.html

Kneeling on a purple vinyl cushion, 22-year-old Vicky Valdez lit a candle and bowed her head in silent prayer before an image of San Lázaro, one of her beloved saints.

The statue of an old, sick man — robed in purple, leaning on crutches and flanked by two dogs —...

Author: Rose French

Source: The Minneapolis Star Tribune

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/111828634.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DU2EPaL_V_9E7ODiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

Buffalo hide adorns the altar. Sage is burned to help cleanse the heart, soul and mind. Ojibwe and Lakota languages are used in many of the prayers and songs. Traditional Indian elements like these...

Author: Carlos Conde

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/world/asia/10iht-phils.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=religion_and_belief

Surrounded by votive candles and flowers, the couple looked resplendent, both wearing Indian kurtas, holding a bouquet together, positively in love.

It was the wedding night, in the garden of a friend’s home in a Manila suburb, of...

Author: Douglas A. Hicks

Source: The Washington Post

http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/12/return_of_the_christmas_wars.html

Welcome back to the "December dilemma" death match -- the 2010 edition. In this corner are the self-proclaimed defenders of Christmas, ready and organized to denounce anyone who says "Happy Holidays." In the other corner are a more motley crew of retailers,...

Author: The Rev. Chuck Currie

Source: The Washington Post

http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/12/poverty_is_a_faith_issue.html

"Woe to him who builds his house on unrighteousness, and his upper room by injustice, who makes his neighbors work for nothing, and does not give them their wages." (Jeremiah 22:13)

President Obama's tax compromise with the GOP...

Author: Katie Glaeser

Source: CNN Belief Blog

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/06/nativity-scenes-sent-to-all-50-governors/

This supposedly peaceful time of year has the capacity to create tension - Christmas light rivalries and fights over whether religious decorations should adorn government spaces.

But the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights says it is just trying...

Author: Ben Terris

Source: The National Journal

http://nationaljournal.com/congress/inhofe-makes-big-picture-protest-of-hometown-holiday-parade-20101206

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and the Acres of Love Alpaca farm, are taking a stand. Neither will participate in Tulsa’s holiday parade this year after officials changed its name from the Christmas Parade of Lights to the Holiday Parade of...

Author: Alicia M. Moulton

Source: Bringham Young University Alumni News

http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=2701

Andrew J. Kosorok (BFA ’04) leans over a panel of glass, on which he etched an intricate floral motif. This piece is called Al-Mu’mim, Inspirer of Faith. It represents the growth of God’s creations as they react to trials and blessings.

The Harold B. Lee Library recently displayed eight of Kosorok’s...