Brother Roger, founder of the ecumenical munity, Taize, was murdered yesterday while praying. Details here. Brother Roger founded Taize in 1940. ...

In the current edition of The Weekly Messenger (no longer active), John H. Armstrong examines the role of pastor in the Protestant church. In “Getting the Role of Pastor Right Again,” he writes, For a long time I have had serious doubts about many of the models of pastoral ministry used and promoted in the West. These models range from academic and biblical teacher models to chief counselor and care-giver. In my estimation they all fail the biblical test at...

Oh, your lion eyes…Check out the two articles from this week’s journal Nature as reported on . (There must be an editor at work here with a sarcastic sense of humor.) In the first article, mentary by Josh Donlan, a plan is proposed for fighting the loss of endangered species: repopulate the American Plains with (among other things) elephants, wild horses, cheetahs, and yes, lions. The “rewilding” of parts of North America’s heartland could restore some balance to an ecosystem...

Zimbabwe churches form body to help demolition victims Harare (ENI). Church groups in Zimbabwe have formed a coalition to help victims of a clean-up drive that left hundreds of thousands homeless and drew condemnation from the United Nations and international aid organizations. “Churches have formed a broad-based ecumenical body in the aftermath of the clean-up operation,” the Rev. Charles Muchechetere of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe told Ecumenical News International. The prises EFZ the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the...

News from Los Angeles: Two homeless men were attacked with baseball bats and one of them critically injured, allegedly by teens inspired by videos of homeless people brawling that have sold hundreds of thousands of copies over the Internet. The alleged attackers told officers they had recently seen the DVD “Bumfights” and wanted to do some “bum bashing” of their own, police Officer Jason Lee said. I examine the intersection between the market, technology, and violence in this mentary. In...

A piece in the American Prospect Online by Chris Mooney examines the recurring “Frankenstein myth,” and its relation to contemporary Hollywood projects and the state of modern science. In “The Monster That Wouldn’t Die,” Mooney decries the endless preachy retreads of the Frankenstein myth, first laid out in Mary Shelley’s 19th-century classic and recycled by Hollywood constantly in films from Godsend to Jurassic Park. I’m sick of gross caricatures of mad-scientist megalomaniacs out to accrue for themselves powers reserved only...

Acton Institute’s Center for Effective Compassion is offering an intensive one-day event in Ft. Myers, Fla., on Oct 28, where nonprofits munity leaders will get practical, how-to skills to help them increase the “return on investment” for charity programs. Foundation grantees, munity and faith-based service providers, students and volunteers won’t want to miss this event. Read more about the event here. ...

“Zero-energy homes” are a new trend in what might be called environmental charity, giving energy back to the grid, at retail prices. Details here in this Marketplace report. ...

Today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required) brings a reminder that Liberation Theology (or more accurately, Marxism) is alive and well in Central America. A Canadian firm has set up shop in Sipicapa, Guatemala, constructing a gold mine that is currently employing around 1,300 local residents and providing a much needed economic boost for the area: The Glamis gold mine has already given an economic lift to this town and more so to neighboring San Miguel Ixtahuacán. Glamis took ownership of...

Remember that the next time you hear someone sing the praises of single-payer, government run health care programs. Canada’s system is often cited as an ideal model for the United States to emulate. The problem with that, however, is simple: if the US adopts a Canadian style system, where will Canadians go for their health care? Recognizing their failure to provide timely treatment through the national system, some provincial governments are sending backlogged patients to the United States rather than...

Given the discussion last week about the ONE campaign and it’s position as a “first step” in fighting poverty in the developing world, I thought I’d pass along this story about evangelical pastor and best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren. He clearly doesn’t view his participation in the ONE campaign as the last word on the matter. John Coleman blogs about Warren’s work “with his global network to turn genocide-ravaged Rwanda into the world’s first ‘Purpose-Driven Nation.'”...

In an interview on NBC’s Today Show with Matt Lauer, a Newsweek representative discussed the cover story for this week’s issue, “In Search of the Spiritual.” The feature is based on a Newsweek/Beliefnet poll focusing on spirituality and religious practice in America. The Newsweek guy (sorry, I didn’t catch his name) discussed the results of various questions, making passing reference to the importance for most spiritual people of viewing the “central myth” as real. Since 85% of those polled self-identified...