Latest Church Headlines
All the headlines from our Church Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Supreme Court to Review Religious Groups’ Claims Over Obamacare Birth Control Benefit
Nov 6 2015 // The U.S. Supreme Court scheduled a new showdown over Obamacare and religious rights, agreeing to hear contentions by faith-based groups that they shouldn’t have to facilitate what they consider to be immoral...
Man Charged in St. Louis-Area Church Arsons
Nov 2 2015 // Authorities charged a 35-year-old black St. Louis man with arson for two of the seven church fires in a predominantly African-American part of the St. Louis region, and federal investigators said there is no evidence of a...
Police: 7th St. Louis Church Property Torched in 2 Weeks
Oct 23 2015 // An arsonist set fire to the rectory doors of a 172-year-old Catholic church early on Oct. 22, marking the seventh attempt to burn a place of worship in the St. Louis area in two weeks, police said. Authorities said an...
St. Louis Police Increase Patrols in Wake of Church Fires
Oct 22 2015 // St. Louis, Mo., police are stepping up patrols and trying to develop profiles of possible suspects in a spate of fires that have damaged six churches in largely black neighborhoods during the past two weeks, the...
Fires at 5 St. Louis-Area Churches in a Week Deemed Suspicious
Oct 20 2015 // Fire officials say fires set at five St. Louis-area churches in little more than a week are all suspicious and likely are connected. The fifth fire was reported early Saturday at the New Life Missionary Baptist Church in...
Church Mutual to Acquire Penn. School Boards Association Insurance Holdings
Oct 15 2015 // Church Mutual Insurance Company, a Merrill, Wisconsin-based insurer of religious organizations, announced that it has agreed to acquire the insurance operations of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Terms of the...
Ohio Megachurch, Insurer Disputing Payment of Lawsuit Settlement
Oct 15 2015 // Lawyers for a central Ohio megachurch and its former insurance company are squaring off in the Ohio Supreme Court over payment of $3.1 million settlement in a lawsuit over the alleged beating of a toddler at the...
Catholic Mutual, Church Mutual to Offer Workers’ Comp Coverage
Sep 28 2015 // Catholic Mutual Group, a coverage provider for the Catholic Church in North America, and Church Mutual Insurance Company (CMIC), a nationwide insurer of religious organizations, have formed a strategic alliance under which...
Idaho Court Allows Boy Scout Suit to Move Forward
Sep 21 2015 // Idaho’s highest court has ruled that the 16 men who say they were sexually abused as youngsters by scout leaders in Idaho filed their lawsuit on time against the Boy Scouts of America and the Church of Jesus Christ...
Former California Insurance Agent Who Scammed Church Members Sentenced
Sep 18 2015 // Constance Gail Fortune, 61, pleaded guilty this week to one felony count of grand theft by embezzlement and one felony count of theft from an elder or dependent adult in a case in which she was charged with scamming...
Idaho Court Allows Boy Scout Suit to Move Forward
Sep 2 2015 // Idaho’s highest court has ruled that the 16 men who say they were sexually abused as youngsters by scout leaders in Idaho filed their lawsuit on time against the Boy Scouts of America and the Church of Jesus Christ...
Hackers Target Data of Catholic Workers in Michigan
Aug 31 2015 // Hackers cracked a computer network and got access to Social Security numbers and other personal information of more than 10,000 people who work for Roman Catholic churches or church affiliates around Michigan. “I...
Victims Seek Review of Wisconsin Clergy Abuse Claims
Aug 27 2015 // A group of clergy sexual abuse victims called for an independent commission to investigate molestation accusations that are sealed as part of a bankruptcy case involving the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The...
Authorities on Alert After South Georgia Church Break-Ins
Aug 27 2015 // Law officers are searching for suspects who burglarized two Georgia churches. WTOC-TV reports that the break-ins are believed to have happened August 22 at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Alston and Tabernacle of...
Milwaukee Archdiocese Settlement Plan Paltry, Victims Say
Aug 6 2015 // The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee would pay $21 million to more than 300 victims of clergy abuse in a settlement plan decried by advocates for those abused by clergy as paltry but praised by the archbishop as a...
10 Children Injured in Crash of Church Van on Oklahoma Highway
Jul 29 2015 // The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says a church van headed to Branson, Mo., crashed on the Will Rogers Turnpike in northeastern Oklahoma, injuring 10 children who were onboard. Trooper Dwight Durant says the van crashed just...
Connecticut’s New DUI Ignition Lock Law Targets First-Time Offenders
Jul 24 2015 // On March 9, 2012 Benjamin DeMond, a Norwich, Connecticut, firefighter, died at 33 from an accident caused by a drunken driver. Authorities said 50-year-old Willis Goodale of Groton, Connecticut, was trying to cut across...
Report: Low Incidence of Southern Church Fires Caused by Arson
Jul 20 2015 // As social media buzzed about church fires in the South, investigators said July 2 that weather caused a destructive blaze at a predominantly black church in South Carolina. The State Law Enforcement Division said in a...
Florida Fire Marshal Rules Church Fire an Accident
Jul 8 2015 // State investigators say a fire that destroyed a predominantly black church in Florida’s capital was accidental and not the work of an arsonist. Some reports had linked the fire last week at Greater Miracle Temple in...
Report: Arson Rarely the Cause of Southern Church Fires
Jul 6 2015 // As social media buzzed about church fires in the South, investigators said July 2 that weather caused a destructive blaze at a predominantly black church in South Carolina. The State Law Enforcement Division said in a...
