The man behind the relaunching of the Katoomba Youth Leadership Convention (KYLC) under a new name - Next Gen – has warned that interest is so high that people should register now or risk missing out.

Economics hits National Cathedral, a monastery mourned, a seminary digging deeper - Episcopal institutions make the news. Washington Post: National Cathedral Cuts Jobs, Programs Read itNY Times: Monks Turn to Reflection With Monastery in Ruins Read itNY Times: Contemplating Heaven,... Episcopal News

Peter Owen made reference yesterday to the Q and A concerning the cost of the Lambeth Conference. The full text of the relevant Questions and Answers is below the fold....

Today's Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that a federal magistrate judge in Minneapolis has recommended that the court refuse to enforce an IRS subpoena for financial documents issued to Living Word Christian Center. The church argued that the subpoena for financial records was not approved by "an appropriate high-level Treasury official" as required by Internal Revenue Code Section 7611. IRS sought information about loans, lease of an aircraft and compensation paid by the Brooklyn Park (MN) megachurch to its pastor, Mac Hammond. (See prior posting.) The magistrate judge agreed with the church that authorization by the Director of Exempt Organization Examinations did not meet the Internal Revenue Code's standard. In United States v. Living Word Christian Center, (D MN, Nov. 18, 2008), the magistrate judge suggested that after a 1998 IRS reorganization, the authority to "halt over-zealous examination of churches" should have been given to the Commissioner of Tax Exempt and Government Entities.

As many Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Advent and Christmas in the security of their homes and communities, they are being invited to pray for justice, peace and security for Palestine and Israel - and to send a prayer or a peace message to Bethlehem.

Barack Obama's reported choice for Attorney General, Eric Holder, appears to have little record on church-state or religious freedom issues. The one aspect of his past record that arguably relates to these issues is his support for strong hate crimes enforcement and legislation. His biography on the Lawyers for One America website says that as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, he "supported a renewed enforcement emphasis on hate crimes so that criminal acts of intolerance would be severely punished." As Deputy Attorney General in the Justice Department in 1999 he presented testimony (full text) strongly supporting the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999. The Act however did not pass Congress. Holder's record gives little hint of whether or not he would continue the Justice Department's "First Freedom Project" launched in 2007 by then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The project, operated in the Civil Rights Division, emphasizes enforcement in religious discrimination and religious liberty cases.

In Southport, Indiana, 70-year old Charles Lynch objects to Mayor Rob Thoman's practice of beginning City Council meetings with a moment of silence instead of a prayer as was the practice before Thoman's election. At Monday night Council's meeting, Lynch began reading a prayer out loud during the moment of silence. When he was asked to stop, he began to pray louder. He also refused to leave the meeting and resisted police trying to take him out, despite the mayor's warning at the beginning of the meeting against such conduct. Lynch was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Yesterday's Indy Star reports that Lynch is now threatening to sue for false arrest. He said: "I'm not promoting any church or any religion. All I want is the way it was. Why take away our rights as citizens to have a word of prayer, because we've always had it."

In Indiana, for an added fee the Bureau of Motor Vehicles issues personalized license plates bearing the driver's selected combination of letters and numbers. Indiana Code Ann. 9-18-15-4 permits the BMV to refuse an application of the requested lettering would be "offensive to good taste and decency." A state regulation interpreting this statute (140 Ind. Adm. Code 2-5-2) prohibits vanity plates that refer to race, religion, deity, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or political party or affiliation" except for generally accepted references to race or ethnic heritage. Elizabeth Ferris applied for plates reading "BE GODS"-- which she explained was inspired by a Christian musician and meant "belonging to God." On Monday, Ferris filed suit in federal district court (full text of complaint) alleging that the refusal to issue her the requested plates violated the free speech, free exercise, equal protection and due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Alliance Defense fund issued a release announcing filing of the lawsuit. It pointed out that Ferris had been issued the plates for 9 years previously before this refusal, and that the state issues its own "In God We Trust" specialty plates. (See prior related posting.) Yesterday's Indy Star also reported on Ferris' lawsuit.

In Algeria, an appeals court yesterday upheld the convictions of three men for smoking cigarettes on the street during the Ramadan daylight fasting period this past September. However their sentences for offending religion were reduced from 3 month to 2 months in jail, and they are likely to be released this week. The court reversed the conviction of a fourth defendant who was smoking in private. AP reports that the men-- all of whom were construction workers-- were caught in an upscale Algiers neighborhood. Apparently they were charged under a 2001 law that punishes "denigrating the dogmas or precepts if Islam." Algerian secularists are concerned about growing government enforcement of religious rules.

In Bristol, Maryland, zoning officials denied Riverdale Baptist Church a permit to construct an expanded campus for its Arundel Bay Christian Academy. The Church in turn filed a RLULIPA lawsuit in federal district court charging discrimination. County attorneys negotiated a settlement under which the county would adopt legislation essentially permitting the project to proceed. Yesterday's Annapolis Capital reported that at Monday's South County Council meeting, some 50 residents urged Council to reject the proposed settlement and fight the lawsuit in court. They point to traffic, water runoff and urbanization concerns.

This week's issue of Newsweek carries an article titled Is Obama the Antichrist? The article reports on various signs pointed to by Christian millennialists leading them to the conclusion that the president-elect is the world leader who will usher in the great battle, the Rapture and the Second Coming. Among the portents is the fact that recently one of the winning lottery numbers in Illinois, Obama's home state, was 666 (the sign of the beast). The article reports that Liberty University's law school dean Mat Staver says he does not believe Obama is the Antichrist, but can see how others might believe it. A posting yesterday on Media Matters takes Newsweek to task for giving credibility in its article to the views of RaptureReady.com editor Todd Strandberg

Al Jazeera yesterday published an interview with Amal Soliman, the first woman in Egypt to be appointed as a Mazouna, or female marriage registrar. Registrars conduct wedding ceremonies, recite verses from the Quran at the ceremony and sign the official certificates making the marriage legally binding. They also officiate at divorces. The the Committee of Egyptian Mazouns had challenged Soliman's application, saying that it is inappropriate for a woman to hold the position. However Soliman, who holds a post-graduate degree in Sharia law, eventually won out over ten male applicants for the position. Local family court judge Khaled el-Shalkamy accepted Soliman's application last February, but it took until late September for the Egyptian Minister of Justice to formally sign off on the appointment. Soliman conducted her first wedding ceremony on Oct. 25. On Nov. 14, United Arab Emirates followed suit by appointing its first woman as a Mazouna.

Lawyers, charities and church workers have described as "extraordinary" and "deplorable" comments by UK Immigration Minister Phil Woolas suggesting that people seeking asylum should not have access to full British justice.

There are five different individuals on the BNP's list - which has now been removed from the site on which it was posted - listed with the title "Rev" or "Revd".

Great Britain’s top toilet habit is reading, with more than 14 million people choosing to look at books, magazines and newspapers to pass the time while they are on the porcelain throne, according to a survey published to mark World Toilet Day today.

Church leaders are being encouraged to help make 2009 ‘a year to remember’ for young people and the Church with the launch of an interdenominational Year of the Child, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the United Nations’ International Year of the Child.

Bill Fleener Jr has drawn attention on his blog Est Anima Legis to some earlier cases which are of interest now in connection with two dioceses which have recently voted to leave The Episcopal Church. Fort Worth moves from Devious...

Will U.S. diplomatic shift and Graham visit help Christians?

Recent remarks on birth control, why you can't sue God, and other news developments.

Westmont College rebuilds after fire destroys 20 percent of its campus.