A United Church of Christ congregation’s pro-gay stance puts it “at a higher risk” of litigation and property damage, a leading U.S. church insurer said in refusing to offer coverage to a Michigan congregation. Brotherhood Mutual, a Fort Wayne, Ind.-based insurance company, turned down the business of West Adrian United Church of Christ after learning the church “publicly endorses” same-sex marriage and gay clergy.
The funding of private religious schools, including members of Christian Schools International, became a major issue in provincial elections in Ontario. Ontario is the only jurisdiction in Canada not to extend any public funds or vouchers to private schools. The province has two taxpayer-funded education streams: a public system and a Catholic one, which enrolls more than 600,000 students.
More than two-thirds of young adults stopped attending Protestant churches regularly for at least a year when they were between the ages of 18 and 22, a new study by LifeWay Research shows. In the 23- to 30-year-old category, 70 percent dropped out of the church scene, researchers found, while only about 35 percent of them eventually returned to the fold.
Reasons cited for dropping out included changes in their life situations such as moving to college or moving away from home. Twenty-six percent said church members seemed hypocritical or judgmental, and 20 percent didn’t feel connected to people in their church.
Those who returned to church attributed their change in plans to family or friends who encouraged their attendance. (RNS)
