Using his strongest language to date, Pope Francis told Italian Mafia members Saturday that they are excommunicated from the Catholic Church. “Those who in their life have gone along the evil ways, as in the case of the Mafia, they are not with God, they are excommunicated," Francis said. It is the first time a Pope has spoken of excommunication for the Mafia.

The nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination voted by a large margin Thursday to recognize same-sex marriage. Delegates meeting in Detroit at the 221st General Assembly of the 1.8 million–member Presbyterian Church (USA) voted 371-238 to allow ministers to perform same-sex marriages wherever legal, and 429-175 to amend the definition of marriage in its constitution.

After passionate debate over how best to help break the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted on Friday at its general convention to divest from three companies that it says supply Israel with equipment used in the occupation of Palestinian territory.

Fundamentalism will get more competitive, cozier, crazier and more creative. Click on the link to read more.

I detest church hopping. Yet I accept the fact that there are times when Christians transfer church membership. But there is a proper time and way to leave a church. What are the legitimate reasons for leaving a church? When is the right time to leave a church? How should one leave a church to join another?

A movement is growing that will radically shift this generation’s understanding of that perennially elusive word: church. Oddly enough, if you go looking for this movement on a Sunday morning you’ll probably come up empty. Searching online or attending the biggest conference won’t help you won’t see it either. To get a glimpse of what might be one of the most exciting movements in the Church you simply need to walk outside into your neighborhood and open your eyes.

Recent cases of high-profile pastors who have been accused of lifting others’ material are raising questions about whether pulpit plagiarism is on the rise — and whether it has become a more forgivable sin.

"Isn't it the staff's job to do all the ministry?" you'll hear laypeople ask. "That's what we pay them for!"

The number of very large churches continues to increase. And within that group, the biggest churches continue to get bigger. In the past I’ve written about everything from sanctuary sizes (very few new ones over 5,000) to the first megachurch to global megachurches (Korea and Nigeria are currently leading). But what about the people who attend really big churches? Fellow researcher Scott Thumma and I surveyed some 25,000 of them, with some fascinating discoveries:

After popular Florida pastor Bob Coy confessed to a 'moral failing' and resigned, his Fort Lauderdale megachurch took his sermons offline. It said it was preventing malicious use. But public demand for the sermons stayed strong. Should Christians stop downloading and listening to the sermons of fallen pastors? (Responses are listed on a spectrum, with answers closest to "yes" at the top and answers closest to "no" at the bottom.)