The leading Pentecostal publisher goes after the Nehru-jacket-wearing faith healer.

Bottom line — Hinn, who is undergoing a divorce, was spotted holding hands with a woman not his wife (divorced evangelist Paula White) on the streets of Rome. And that extra-marital Public Display of Affection allegedly triggered a “morals clause” in Hinn’s book-publishing contract.

More details here.

Associated Baptist Press has an extraordinary story about a major-league theft at a Tennessee church.

After years of debate, the Presbyterian Church (USA) appears likelier than ever to drop its national ban on the ordination of sexually active homosexuals.

The church’s General Assembly voted 373-323 in July to stop requiring church leaders to uphold “chastity in singleness” and fidelity within the bonds of a heterosexual marriage.

But the change to the church’s constitution will only take place if a majority of the church’s 173 regional bodies, known as presbyteries, vote to approve the change.

As of early this week, 47 presbyteries had voted to scrap the chastity/fidelity language, while 35 had voted to keep it, the conservative Presbyterian Lay Committee reported. Ninety-one presbyteries were still awaiting their vote.
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By PETE YOST
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said Wednesday it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.
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The Roman Catholic Church is growing, but most mainline and evangelical Protestant churches are losing members, according to the 2011 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches.
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The number of families affiliating with conservative synagogues has plummeted over the past decade, according to the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

The Forward has the details. The drop is especially pronounced in the Northeast region — a stunning 30 percent drop.

Two Texas burglars who broke into an Assembly of God Church were subdued by the church’s pastor. More detailshere.

An armed robber who targeted a Baptist church also lived to regret it. Deacons reportedly tackled the man and held him until police arrived.