Can gays become straight? For years, experts have said no, that homosexual orientation cannot be cured by therapy. But first quietly, now with national publicity, some Christians are saying yes, gays can change with religious counseling. The claims are controversial, the data elusive, but as Mary Alice Williams reports, the movement thrives. More →

September 25, 1998

  BOB ABERNETHY: For Jews around the world, sundown on Sunday begins Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish year 5759 and the first of 10 days of awe, a solemn time of prayer, reflection, and repentance. We celebrate these … More →

September 18, 1998

Christian music, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, is now more popular than jazz or classical, and still growing in popularity. Yet Christian musicians are under vigilant scrutiny from their fans over what they write, where they perform, and how they live their lives. More →

September 11, 1998

The Jewish holiday of Tisha b’Av is one of the saddest days of the Jewish year. On this day, Jews fast and grieve, sometimes sitting on the synagogue floor, remembering the destruction of ancient Israel’s first and second temples in Jerusalem and the 2,000 years of exile and suffering that followed. More →

July 31, 1998

An estimated 4 percent of Americans, according to the Princeton Religious Research Center, call themselves atheist, or nonbelievers in God or a universal spirit. We know what they do not believe in, but what does inform their beliefs, and how do their communities regard them? More →

July 24, 1998

As we cover the abuse of relationships between pastoral counselors and those who came to them seeking guidance and comfort, we hear personal tales of the sexual relationship that can develop between some clergymen and women in their congregations. This is a complex world in which the male pastor is often found guilty of abusing his power and the woman is usually, but not always, the victim. More →

June 19, 1998

  BOB ABERNETHY: Jews around the world are just concluding the eight days of Passover. At the Seder table on the first two nights, they read from a guide called the Haggadah, which tells the story of the Jews’ exodus … More →

April 17, 1998

  BOB ABERNETHY: Our story of Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and is told by three narrators: Monsignor John Meier of Catholic University in Washington; Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest in Georgia; and Reverend Charles Adams of Hartford … More →

April 10, 1998

  BOB ABERNETHY: If mainline Protestants could have elected a pope anytime over the last generation or so, that person would almost certainly have been Martin Marty, who retired this spring from the University of Chicago Divinity School, just a … More →

April 3, 1998

Women are a mainstay in black churches, except in the pulpit. Will the “stained-glass ceiling” limit the careers of the record numbers of women entering divinity schools? More →

February 20, 1998