For Once Mighty Megachurch, A Fast Fall

"With debt topping $43 million, the Crystal Cathedral filed for bankruptcy protection Monday. Church officials say the recession has forced it to order layoffs and cut the number of TV stations airing Hour of Power. But with characteristic optimism, they insist the church will emerge from this crisis."

Rev. Moon marries 7,200 couples in mass broadcast

"Some 7,200 South Korean and foreign couples exchanged or reaffirmed marriage vows in the Unification Church's second mass wedding this year."

Dead Sea Scrolls Going Digital on Internet

"Scholars and anyone with an Internet connection will be able to take a new look into the Biblical past through an online archive of high-resolution images of the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls."

Non Devotional Bible Study in Public Schools

"The average American can’t answer basic questions about world religion, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey, which prompted renewed calls for religious study in public schools. In many states, however, that education already exists."

Pope Takes Vatican's Biggest Step to Revive Christianity

"Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday outlined his most tangible initiative yet to try to revive Christianity, creating a Vatican office for re-evangelizing Europe and other traditionally Christian regions where the faith is falling by the wayside."

Cubans Flock To Evangelism To Fill Spiritual Vacuum

"Evangelism is among the fastest-growing religions in communist -- and formerly atheist -- Cuba."

Faith Can Provide Motivation for Exercise

"U.S. researchers say faith-based interventions helped encourage exercise in older African-American women."

Americans' Views of God Shape Attitudes on Key Issues

"Surveys say about nine out of 10 Americans believe in God, but the way we picture that God reveals our attitudes on economics, justice, social morality, war, natural disasters, science, politics, love and more, say Paul Froese and Christopher Bader, sociologists at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Their new book, America's Four Gods: What We Say About God — And What That Says About Us, examines our diverse visions of the Almighty and why they matter."

Tea Party Closely Linked to Religious Right, Poll Finds

"Nearly half of those who identify with the Tea Party movement are part of the religious right, according to a Public Religion Research Institute poll released today. Eight out of ten Americans who identified with the Tea Party were Christians and 47 percent said they were part of the Christian conservative movement, the poll found."

Study: Priorities May Drive Happiness

"But according to one of the first studies to look at long-term happiness, major life events, like a sudden cash windfall, are not what make us happy, rather, it's the priorities we set in life."

Most Tea Partiers Call America a Christian Nation, Study Finds

"Members of the Tea Party movement tend to be Christian conservatives, not libertarians, and are more likely than even white evangelical Christians to say the United States is a Christian nation, a detailed new study has found."