Jesse James DeConto

Christians have long found spiritual meaning in running. But the church has held this sort of personal experience at arm's length—until recently.

A new law in Durham makes standing in the highway median illegal. One night in March, six pastors broke the law by panhandling there.

Faith House wants people to engage other faiths—not by focusing on commonalities but by entering into a sacred space on its own terms.

Last year, Connecticut repealed the death penalty and California declined to. Americans are conflicted about capital punishment.

Vox Veniae began as a church plant growing out of the Austin Chinese Church's ministry to Asian students. But its members felt isolated.

Predatory lenders often exact fees at a rate equivalent to an annual rate of 300 to 800 percent. Grace Period offers an alternative.

Emily Scott had an idea: what if young adults got together for a weekly agape feast? Soon St. Lydia’s was born--but Scott was not ordained.

Vanderbilt was not the first school to offer theological education in a prison. But it did pioneer the approach of having seminarians learn in company with prisoners.

When Scott Sorrentino's church started talking about a new "debt annihilation" program, his ears perked up.

William Barber has a way of getting people arrested. Since he took charge of the NAACP in North Carolina, he's been inspiring followers—black and white—to engage in acts of civil disobedience.

Years before Brown v. Board, the North Carolina Council of Churches fought for integrated schools. Almost 75 years later, the council mobilized again for the same cause.

Mercy Seat spends about $27,000 a year on the arts—a quarter of its annual budget. At those rates, the church is one of the better-paying gigs in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Wild Goose was a weekend of fun and free spirits, as amateur musicians circled up to play, local beer flowed, Frisbees soared and people lingered around campfires. It was also punctuated by moments of intense reflection.

When Arcade Fire won a Gram­my for album of the year, Win But­ler came to the podium clinging to his identity as one of the band geeks. "We're gonna go play another song because we like music"—just in case anyone had forgotten about the music after Lady Gaga emerged from an egg, Katy Perry swung from the ceiling and Gwyneth Paltrow danced on a piano.

How will the ELCA hold gay pastors who aren't married accountable to the standard of monogamy and lifelong commitment? Do same-sex couples have to prove what is taken for granted with married heterosexual couples?

Members from more than 500 congregations marched in Charlotte, North Carolina, last October as part of the “10 Percent Is Enough” campaign. While conceding that careless spending is the chief cause of consumer debt and needs to be addressed, march organizers object to credit companies' enticing offers of easy credit, their increased interest rates and their profitable penalties. The "10 percent" campaign proposes a cap on interest rates.