NEWS

UNITED KINGDOM

Gov. to religious adopters:Do not be afraidWith more than 4,600 children waiting to beadopted, the British government surveyed4 million potential parents. It found thatmore than half were "actively practicing areligion." But most were not applying, in partbecause they feared they'd be rejectedbecause of their faith. In response, theUnited Kingdom has partnered with Homefor Good, a network of 15,000 churches, todebunk misperceptions. Its first step: adedicated information hotline, launchedshortly after British evangelicals celebratedtheir first nationwide Adoption Sunday.

United Methodistspunish pastorsIn order to stay united, the United Method-ist Church (uMc) is putting its own minis-ters on trial. More than 1,000 pastors havepledged to defy their denomination's banon celebrating same-sex unions. In turn,the UMc's Council of Bishops has pledged touphold church law. Both sides made goodon their promises in November. Retiredbishop Melvin Talbert, the highest-rankeddissident yet, conducted a same-sex cere-mony in Alabama, while Pennsylvania pastorFrank Schaefer lost his credentials for offi-ciating at his son's wedding. In 2012, the UMCdeclined to follow other mainline denomina-tions in allowing same-sex unions, thanks toits more conservative international arm. Andit seems unlikely to change. The latest datashows the United States branch recentlylost 81,000 members, while East Africa alonegained 68,000.

NIGERIA

After deadly stanipede,churches ban politickingAn all-night prayer vigil turned tragic afteran early-morning stampede killed dozensof worshipers. Investigators blamedovercrowding and a false fire alarm, butalso assessed the presence of Peter Obi.The state governor's entourage made anappearance at the vigil. In response, thesoutheast chapter of the ChristianAssociation of Nigeria banned politicalcampaigning at church events. "[It] causes

HOW CHURCHESATTRACT MILLENNIALS

The latest Faith CcmmunitiesToday report found that only16 percent of 11,000 religious

congregations nationwide have"significant"young-adult participa-

tion—that is, at least one-fifth ofadults are between ages 18 and34. Beyond electric guitars and

projectors, three of the strongestcorrelating factors are

IMenYoung adults are nearly twice as likely tobecome involved if women make up one-fourth or less of a congregation than if

women are the majority.

2 InstabilityCongregations experiencing rapid growth orrapid decline (more than 10-percent changeover the past decade) are more than twiceas likely to have high involvement by youngadults as slowly changing congregations.

3 Multiple pastorsYoung adults are twice as likely to attend a

church with multiple full-time leaders thanwith a more traditional solo pastor.

commotion and disrespect to one another,"said chairman Emmanuel Chukwuma. "Thisdoes not augur well for our spiritual growth."

ISRAEL

This year's hottesttablet display?Israel's supreme court has ordered its antiq-uities authority to return to collector OdedGolan his controversial Jehoash tablet. Theauthority claims the sandstone artifact—which describes repairs made to the First

Temple by King Jehoash in words similar to2 Kings 12—is a forgery, yet still belongs tothe state. In 2012, a court acquitted Golan offorgery charges after a trial lasting a decade.Golan plans to put the tablet, along with aneven more controversial artifact—the JamesOssuary, a burial box inscribed as belongingto "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus"—on display soon.

Pagan cover star returnsto ChristianityThree simple words prompted Teo Bishop(Matt Morris), an ex-Mouseketeer turnedWitches & Pagans magazine cover star,to return to Christianity. After a homelesswoman told him "God bless you" for feedingher, he experienced an irresistible "pulltowards Jesus, God, and the gospel." Bishop,who is blogging his journey, no longer writesfor the pagan magazine, but says he doesn'twant to be seen as a trophy convert. Instead,he remains "somewhat of a pagan [exploring]a call to return to the Church."

More evangelicals see suicideas moralNearly 1 in 3 evangelicals who worshipweekly now say a person has a "moral right"to suicide if in a great deal of pain with nohope of improvement. Fewer approve inother circumstances (incurable disease:27%; ready to die: 19%; burden on family:19%), according to the Pew Research Center.Among the general public, nearly 2 in 3 seesuicide as moral for sufferers—a modestincrease since 1990 that Pew attributes topeople who formerly said "1 don't know" nowchoosing a view.

R rating slapped onchurch-made movieChurches making movies are no longernews, thanks to Sherwood Baptist (.Facingthe Giants, Courageous). But Retta BaptistChurch in Burieson, Texas, made headlinesafter its own movie received an R rating. TheMotion Picture Association of America saidthe rating was for violence and drug use por-trayed in My Son; pastor Chuck Kitchensbelieves it was a reaction against the film'sfaith message, and that the rating will hurtword-of-mouth marketing among pastors.

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