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President Obama has appointed a 26-year-old Pentecostal minister as his White House chief of faith-based initiatives. Himself comfortable with religious language, Obama's campaign appealed strongly to liberal-leaning Christians. Inevitably, self-professed "social justice" religionists will have White House access. Evangelical left activist Jim Wallis has already boasted of the administration's appreciation for his viewpoint. The National Council of Churches (NCC) has also boasted of its presence at recent Obama events. But the NCC, as primarily the organ of diminished Mainline Protestantism, is only a ghost of its former prestigious self. It's been decades since a U.S. President has addressed an NCC...

The National Council of Churches is partnering with the Committee on Outdoor Ministries to call on faith-based camps and conference centers in the United States to sign onto a pact agreeing to treat the environment with respect. Participating camps and conference centers are asked to make decisions about how to use their land while keeping in mind the “sacred nature” of God’s creation; to conserve energy and water; to recycle waste; to purchase environmentally sustainable products; and to continue to educate those who use the camps and conference centers about the preciousness of nature they are experiencing. “Camp and conference...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CEO of a company whose employee is accused of improperly looking at the passport files of presidential candidates is a consultant to the Barack Obama campaign, a source said Saturday. John Brennan, president of the Analysis Corp., advises the Illinois Democrat on foreign policy and intelligence issues, the source said. Brennan briefed the media on behalf of the campaign this month. The executive is a former senior CIA official and former interim director of the National Counterterrorism Center. He contributed $2,300 to the Obama campaign in January.

The National Constitutional Center in Philadelphia is dedicated to "increasing public understanding of, and appreciation for, the Constitution, its history, and its contemporary relevance." So naturally, it has named Bill Clinton its next chairman. In "Dereliction of Duty: The Constitutional Record of President Clinton," the Cato Institute examined Mr. Clinton's record: Though he "has expressed support for an 'expansive' view of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, he has actually weakened a number of fundamental guarantees, including those of free speech and the right to trial by jury and that against double jeopardy. He has also supported retroactive taxes,...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A leading United Methodist Church bishop is coming under heavy criticism for wanting to keep the Protestant denomination as a member of a pro-abortion coalition for religious groups. The UMC has been dogged from pro-life advocates within the denomination for decades.San Francisco-area United Methodist Bishop Beverly Shamana, the president of the church's Washington lobby office, is urging UMC officials to keep the group involved in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.The Washington-based RCRC defends unrestricted abortion in the name of its members and actively lobbies against pro-life legislation on Capitol Hill.The United Methodist Board of Church...

The “Win Without War Coalition,” including 40 Religious Left groups and secular allies, is imploring Congressman John Murtha to slash funding for the U.S. presence in Iraq. Murtha chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

Hundreds of Christian leaders marched to Capitol Hill to meet with their representatives and convey their message of social justice and peace to cap off a large annual ecumenical gathering Monday. Tue, Mar. 11, 2008 Posted: 16:20:04 PM EST Hundreds of Christian leaders marched to Capitol Hill to meet with their representatives and convey their message of social justice and peace to cap off a large annual ecumenical gathering Monday. The President of the National Council of Churches USA, Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, in preparation for Monday’s advocacy told participants of the Ecumenical Advocacy Days that Christians have a biblical responsibility...

In Discordance with the Scriptures: American Protestant Battles over Translating the Bible. By Peter J. Thuesen. Oxford University Press, 238 pp., $2 7. 50. THE VERSIONS of the Bible we choose to carry, display and read are good indices of who we are. Peter Thuesen presents a history of the creation of a translation that became a kind of badge for many, the Revised Standard Version. He explores the controversy that attended its publication and the aftermath of that controversy. He analyzes the attempts of the men who produced the RSV to respond to the criticisms it engendered, and the...

The financially and demographically struggling National Council of Churches (NCC) is mulling over a new “Social Creed for the 21st Century” that will succinctly articulate its left-leaning political activism. Many of the NCC’s heterodox officials and activist supporters could not affirm traditional Christian theological creeds. For them, political creeds are the desired alternative.

Declaring war "incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ," the bishops of The United Methodist Church called on leaders of all nations to begin an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The bishops also urged against deploying additional troops to Iraq and against establishing permanent military bases in the Middle Eastern country.

Religious Leaders Fast in Protest of Iraq War A number of religious leaders are participating in an interfaith fast Monday to call for the end of the Iraq war. Mon, Oct. 08, 2007 Posted: 13:28:58 PM EST WASHINGTON – A number of religious leaders are participating in an interfaith fast Monday to call for the end of the Iraq war. From dawn until dusk, leaders and adherents of Christianity, Judaism and Islam across the country will join in the anti-war fasting, which takes place as Muslims celebrate the “Night of Power” – the holiest night in Ramadan. “When you are...

Though global Anglican leaders have urged the U.S. church to unequivocally exclude gay bishops by next month, an openly lesbian Episcopal priest is among the five nominees for bishop of the Chicago diocese announced Tuesday. Rev. Tracey Lind, who followed Chicago Bishop William Persell as dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, is one of three women named as finalists to replace Persell, who plans to resign after his successor is installed. It is the first slate of candidates in the diocese to include women. "Since the day last winter when I was asked to make myself available to this nominating...

The National Council of Churches (NCC) is distressed that not all Christians share its animosity towards Israel. Preferring not to address its own demographic implosion, the NCC periodically lashes out at more demographically robust Christian movements, especially conservative evangelicals. In its latest fusillade, the NCC denounced the “Christian Zionism” of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which recently convened its second convention in Washington for pro-Israel evangelicals. Newt Gringrich was among the speakers. “CUFI's position of uncritical support for Israel separates it from the Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox, and traditional Protestant Churches, all of whom support Israel while at the same time...

A new generation of Christians has advanced itself into a 50-year-old ecumenical movement and is learning just how diverse faith groups are “being Christian together.” A hundred college students joined hundreds of participants from 80 Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal, Anglican, and Evangelical denominations and organizations over the past several days to discuss the progress of Christian unity and its future. "I think it's very good to see this fresh new wave of young scholars interested in talking with each other about what they find in common and what distinctives they bring to the understanding of Christian faith," commented Wesley...

"The Religious Left is far more “Left” than “religious” – they may look like a church on the outside, but on the inside, they’re a political organization advancing a leftist social agenda. And now, there’s hard evidence to back it up." NCC was a major player in the Elian Gonzalez criminal abduction, following are webpages I created throughout this illegal and disgraceful action on Easter Weekend 7 years ago...rto The Taking of Elian Elian Returns to Cuba

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday said Iran bore no hatred towards the United States as he held talks with American Christians in a rare official contact with visitors from Tehran's arch enemy. State television showed Ahmadinejad meeting with a dozen American representatives from various Christian orders who are in Iran for a week-long visit to promote peace and dialogue between the foes. "The Iranian nation does not have any feeling of hatred and opposition towards the American people and we believe that all people are respectful and given the common grounds people have, they could achieve peace and justice," Ahmadinejad...

Thirteen U.S. Religious Leaders Head to Iran, Feb. 17-25 Delegation Plans to Meet Religious and Political Leaders in the Hope of Improving Relations Between the People of Iran and the U.S. Philadelphia, PA [February 13] - A delegation of 13 U.S. religious leaders will visit Iran next week, Feb. 17-25, to deepen dialogue between religious and political leaders there in the hope of defusing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. During the weeklong visit the group is scheduled to meet with Christian and Muslim religious leaders, women serving in the Iranian parliament, former President Mohammad Khatami and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

NCC chief calls "barbaric execution of Saddam Hussein" President George W. Bush is promising a surge in troops in the war-torn country, ostensibly to help quell sectarian violence and stabilize Baghdad. Friday, January 12, 2007 Ekklesia The head of the leading US ecumenical body, the National Council of Churches USA, has described the call for more troops to be sent to Iraq as "morally unsupportable". President George W. Bush is promising a "surge" in troops in the war-torn country, ostensibly to help quell sectarian violence and stabilize Baghdad. "This escalation of troop presence only promises to guarantee an escalation in...

Carter and Clinton's "New Covenant" By Don FederGrassTopsUSA.com | January 30, 2007This column originally appeared on GrassTopsUSA.com.Its rhetoric notwithstanding, the left loathes diversity. Dissent drives it nuts. It’s forever scheming to eliminate, co-opt or undercut alternative institutions.It controls three of the four major networks, but obsesses about Fox News. It has The New York Times and the rest of the dominant print media, but agonizes over talk-radio and conservative websites.Even though the mainline Protestant churches are safely in its vest-pocket, it’s threatened by the success of conservative denominations. Hence the latest assault on the Southern Baptists, led by ex-Presidents...

The head of a large liberal religious organization is brushing aside a new report that says his group is being propped up financially by left-wing groups such as MoveOn.org and the philanthropies of George Soros and Ted Turner. Instead, National Council of Churches (NCC) general secretary Bob Edgar is focusing on church unity, social justice, and other global stewardship concerns. The report published by the Washington, DC-based Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) claims the NCC is kept afloat financially by leftist groups that promote liberal causes such as same-sex "marriage" and abortion. (See earlier story) But Edgar, who was...