“A church for hipsters”—that has been the tone of several media reports on C3 Church for the past few years, the latest one being an article about the Toronto branch in The Globe and Mail (January 18). C3 stands for Christian City Church, a neo-Pentecostal church launched in 1980 that now counts 450 churches around […]
Since the early 2000s, the emergence of women’s circles, small, intimate monthly gatherings exploring women’s issues, in Europe has also seen the growth of eclectic spirituality among participants, writes Chia Longman in the journal Religions (January 1). These circles “appear to be a growing phenomenon across the globe in recent years, as they have become […]
Facing a sociological decline as well as a shift of values, a number of practicing Roman Catholics in France have become more combative on the public stage, according to a new book by historian and political scientist Jérôme Fourquet, a leading expert at IFOP, a French survey firm. He finds that six percent of the […]
Although there have not been changes as radical as what some observers had expected to see in Polish religiosity and its connections to the dominant Roman Catholic Church, sociological research as well as surveys report stronger secularization and a changing attitude toward the church in Poland since 2008. Still, writes Fr. Janusz Mariański (Catholic University […]
Chabad, the outreach arm of Lubavitch Hasidic Judaism, shows significant growth in Russia and has successfully created the image of itself as the leader of Russian Jewry in line with Russian nationalism, writes Galina Zelenina of Moscow State University in the journal Contemporary Jewry (online January). Chabad entered the stage when traditional Russian Jewish communities […]
While the Islamic State’s attempt to impose a caliphate in Iraq and Syria may have ended, it seems the movement to fight for the religious freedom of Middle Eastern Christians is still gaining momentum. An early-December conference in New York on Middle East Christians, organized by the Anglosphere Society and attended by RW, shows a […]
Along with the decline of membership and congregations in the Churches of Christ, there is diminishing “brand loyalty” to the denomination’s colleges and universities. The Christian Chronicle (December 26) reports that universities associated with the Churches of Christ have seen a 51 percent decline in students who identify with the fellowship. At the start of […]
Despite reports of growing secularism in Europe, such a liturgical service as evensong is finding steady popularity—in both its birthplace of England and in the Netherlands. Evensong is an evening prayer service that is delivered mostly through song, offering a reflective and contemplative service that combines elements of a choir concert. The blog Church Leaders […]
Both their tolerant approach towards people of other faiths and their humanitarian and development initiatives contribute to a positive image of Ismaili Imami Muslims (also called Nizaris) in the West, while their spiritual understanding of Quranic rules, veneration for their current imam and openness to the Western way of life earn them criticism from more […]
Since the political changes that took place in 2011, dozens of Sufi sites (mosques, shrines, tombs, and libraries) have been destroyed in Libya, while a number of Sufi religious leaders have been kidnapped and killed, with little protection from authorities, according to a statement by Human Rights Watch (Dec. 7, 2017). Two historic Sufi mosques […]
