Religion

The sign sits propped on a wooden chair, inviting all comers: "Ask an Atheist."

More than 150 Christian leaders, most of them conservative evangelicals and traditionalist Roman Catholics, issued a joint declaration Friday reaffirming their opposition to abortion and gay marriage and pledging to protect religious freedoms.

More than 100 people gathered outside Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Milwaukee on Friday, and led by a veteran of the civil rights movement, raised their voices in a prayer for the passage of health care reform.

Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard said he will continue to hold weekly prayer meetings at his home, three years after he was ousted from the church he founded amid a scandal involving a male prostitute and drug use.

A fracture of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America became a real possibility Wednesday with the announcement by dissidents they will have a new Lutheran denomination ready for launch by August. That marks a speed-up in plans by Lutherans who oppose the ELCA's decision to allow gay clergy to be pastors.

Voices of faith: Should antiquated scriptural injunctions be changed to suit modern society?

Terverius Black believes in hip-hop gospel so much he sold his first home to get the money needed to start his Christian-themed entertainment company.

Are we doomed?

It's been a good year for J.I. Packer, one of the world's best-known theologians. In March, the Anglican pastor and Regent College professor won Bible of the Year and Book of the Year honors for editing the English Standard Version Study Bible. He also released two of his own books - "Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight," in June, and a yearlong devotional using his seminal work, "Knowing God," due out later this month.

Tree houses in a simulated rain forest are just one of the fun features that await thousands of Catholic youth attending a national conference next week in Kansas City, Mo.