Click here to see Rev. Lowery’s benediction and here to see Rick Warren’s invocation.

Which prayer was most powerful? Why?

Earlier this month, the Indianapolis Star stirred up a hornet’s nest by eliminating the “daily prayer” from its pages. The Star had been running short invocations for more than four decades. It had paid a local minister $20 per week to create daily invocations such as:

“O God, in these cold months, so many are homeless. Give them shelter, warmth and hope. Bless them through your care and ours. Amen.”

Dropping the prayer wasn’t much of a money saver. But it sent a message that the Star prefers to keep religion out of the public square.

The decision to drop the daily prayer, predictably, caused an uproar. At first, Indianapolis Star editor Dennis Ryerson
defended the decision, basically arguing that he runs a newspaper, not a dial-a-prayer hotline. But eventually, Mr. Ryerson wisely backed down.

As of Friday, Jan. 16, the prayer is back on page A2 of the Indianapolis Star.

The controversy doesn’t surprise me. Newspaper reading is addictive. It’s habit-forming. And, for a lot of us, it’s a daily ritual. Drop any newspaper feature that’s been in place for 40 years, and chances are, somebody’s going to be pretty unhappy.

By targeting the daily prayer for elimination, Star officials wandered onto a culture wars minefield. Give the Star credit for listening to subscribers and responding.

This is a fascinating video clip. A BBC newsman, interviewing the Rev. Martin Luther King in 1964, asked him if he could envision a black man becoming president in the coming decades.

Click here to see how King replied.

HBO didn’t broadcast a prayer by openly-gay bishop Gene Robinson, unleashing an inauguration-week wave of outrage. (See post below)

Fortunately, Sarah Pulliam of Christianity Today was on the scene and captured the historic invocation for posterity. To view it, click here.

Gay activists [a vocal few, at least] are “outraged” at Barack Obama again, HuffingtonPost.com claims.

Initially, these gay activists were “shocked and outraged” to learn that Rick Warren was going to offer a benediction at Obama’s inauguration. Warren (like Obama and a majority of Americans) believes that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.

The “pain and outrage” subsided, somewhat, after openly gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson was invited to offer a prayer of his own at Obama’s inaugural festivities.

But outrage erupted again on Sunday.

Why?

Apparently, HBO failed to televise Robinson’s prayer during its inaugural weekend coverage.

Gay outrage at HBO’s failure to broadcast the prayer is so loud that it risks drowning out atheist outrage over the fact that the prayer was said in the first place.

My hunch: Most of these “outraged” activists are political novices. More seasoned and savvy activists are probably holding their fire. They know that bigger battles are ahead — most notably, the fight to end the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

If Paris is worth a mass, then [for liberals], a left-leaning administration is probably worth a televised Southern Baptist prayer on Jan. 20 or a non-televised Episcopal invocation on Jan. 18.

Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, a historic, predominantly African American congregation, welcomed the President-elect and his family to Sunday morning services, the Washington Post reports.

The church’s website can be accessed here.

The Obamas will be back in church Wednesday, for a prayer service at the National Cathedral. The service will be webcast on the Cathedral’s website.

The religion reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, Eileen Flynn, asks a puzzling question in her latest newspaper column:

Flynn’s question: How will Obama meet the needs of the nonreligious?

I don’t have an answer. One of Flynn’s word keeps tripping me up. Needs is the word that confuses me.

Ms. Flynn, in her syndicated column, suggests that nonreligious Americans have needs that are distinct from religious Americans and that it’s the federal government’s responsibility to meet these needs.

But do nonreligious people really have different needs than religious people? If they do, what are these needs? And which politician, precisely, is responsible for providing them?

Barack Obama sparked outrage in the gay community by inviting Rick Warren to give the invocation at the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. Why the outrage? Primarily because Warren defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Openly gay bishop Gene Robinson blasted the selection of Warren, telling the New York Times that “The God that he’s praying to is not the God that I know.”

Now Obama has invited Robinson to give the invocation at a pre-inaugural celebration on the mall on Jan. 18, according to an announcement on one of Obama’s websites.

School district in the Florida panhandle must stop promoting religion, a federal judge has ordered.

The influential Catholic priest, author and intellectual died Thursday morning at age 72.

First Things has more on Neuhaus’ life and ministry.

Rick Warren, the megachurch pastor and best-selling author, told his congregation that abused women should separate from their abusive husbands, but shouldn’t divorce them.

Associated Baptist Press has all the details.

Warren is scheduled to deliver a prayer at the inauguration of Barack Obama on Jan. 20. The decision to include Warren has infuriated some Democratic political activists.

StandFirmInFaith.com has posted videotape of evangelist Todd Bentley’s “Apostolic and Prophetic Commissioning” service.

Stand Firm In Faith, knowing that it caters primarily to Anglicans, included a viewer advisory: “Warning: The Video Below Will Freak You Out.”

Bentley, you’ll recall is a heavily-tattooed and metal-pierced preacher who suspended his ministry in 2008 after leaving his wife. The board of Bentley’s Fresh Fire Ministries announced on Nov. 28 that “Todd Bentley has demonstrated himself unfaithful to his wife by entering into a relationship with another woman while still legally married. He has consumed more alcohol on a few occasions than is prudent or becoming a Christian leader (or any believer for that matter).”

But the board is trying to restore Bentley to the ministry and is asking people to consider Bentley’s achievements as well as his shortcomings: “His sins have been sins of the flesh and we do not defend them. He has, however, also seen over 1 million people make decisions for Christ in the 10 years of his ministry. ”

In hindsight, the board says, “Many early signs that something was drastically wrong were overlooked. ”

Watch the video of Bentley being commissioned as a Prophet and Apostle and see if you can spot any “early warning signs” for yourself.

Or this one where Bentley knees a man with colon cancer in the stomach.

Or this one where Bentley delivers a “Bam-Bam-Bam-Bam-Bam”, uh, “anointed head-butt” to a blind man.

Or this one where Bentley describes hitting an elderly woman who had requested prayer.

The scriptures, it is said, contain “all things necessary to salvation.” They also contain lamentations and appeals for divine help. But they don’t contain an Unemployment Prayer.

Fortunately, thoughtful Anglicans have been busy drafting one.

The Church of England, on its website today, unveiled a new “Prayer on Being Made Redundant.”

The prayer begins:

“‘Redundant’ – the word says it all -

‘useless,

unnecessary,

without purpose,

surplus to requirements.’”

But it closes on a more hopeful note. Also released today,  a new “Prayer for those remaining in the workforce.”

Editors at the Indianapolis Star have decided to ditch Christian prayer but keeping pagan astrology.

The Star had printed a prayer every day since 1963. But Indiana’s largest daily announced today it is scrapping the decades-old tradition.

The horoscope column will be retained.

The prayer was a front-page feature from 1968 until 2000, the year its parent company, Central Newspapers, was acquired by Gannett for $2.6 billion. In recent years, the prayer has run on page two.

Star religion reporter Robert King says editor Dennis Ryerson explained the change thusly:

“We appreciate that this has been a long tradition in The Star. But we are re-evaluating our mission and all that we do. I believe that prayer is a very personal thing and that offering prayers is something for individuals and their churches. We are a newspaper, not a church.

Also, we do live in a society in which there are many, many different beliefs. We respect all religions, and the prayer was written only from the Christian perspective.

Because of those issues, we have decided to drop the prayer. I’m confident that people will continue to offer their own prayers reflecting their own lives and faith needs.”

Eugene C. Pulliam is probably spinning in his grave about now. A preacher’s kid, Pulliam created a media empire that included, most notably, the Star and the Arizona Republic. And he chose a scripture as his paper’s motto: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

The paper’s professional star-gazer, no doubt, will be pleased by the change — especially if the prayer was axed by a Virgo. “The need for change is obvious,” today’s horoscope declares. Scorpios may even find that the “cancellation allows you the extra time to recharge your spiritual batteries.”

On New Year’s Eve, I reported that the Freedom Forum, a supposedly non-partisan organization devoted to promoting journalism, is also funding the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. In that post, I said the Freedom Forum “has close ties to the Gannett newspaper chain.”

This morning, New Year’s Day, I received the following note from Gannett’s top spokesperson:

“Gannett is an entirely separate entity from the Freedom Forum. We have no say or influence over what they fund.

– Tara Connell, vice president of corporate communications at Gannett.”

The two organizations may be separate entities, but I think it was accurate to describe them as having “close ties.”

The Freedom Forum is headed by former Gannett Chairman and USA Today founder Al Neuharth. According to the charity’s 1999 annual report , “The Freedom Forum traces its roots to 1935 when newspaper publisher Frank Gannett (1876-1957) endowed the Frank E. Gannett Newspaper Foundation with 1,500 shares of Gannett Co. stock.

The foundation began by supporting journalism, education and philanthropy in 14 New York cities
served by the 19 newspapers in Gannett’s company.”

Since its founding, the Freedom Forum has become a final [and well-paid] resting place for former Gannett bigwigs. Just two weeks ago, the editor of Gannett’s largest newspaper, USA TODAY, announced that he is resigning to take a top job at the Freedom Forum.

In its article describing the departure of USA TODAY editor Kenneth A. Paulson, the New York Times’ Richard Perez-Pena described the relationship between Gannett and the Freedom Forum succinctly: “The Freedom Forum is closely intertwined with the upper echelons of Gannett. It was created by Allen H. Neuharth, the former Gannett chairman and president who also created USA Today, and the group’s departing president is Peter S. Prichard, another former editor of the paper.”

According to a statement on the Freedom Forum’s website, “the foundation focuses on three priorities: the Newseum, the First Amendment and newsroom diversity.”

But the Gannett Blog reports that these well-paid Gannett executives also use the Freedom Forum’s funds to support other pet projects, including the U.S. Equestrian Team.

It probably won’t surprise a lot of Christian Right activists to learn that these folks are also using Frank Gannett’s charity to fund the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, an organization which has fought traditional Catholic, Evangelical and Latter-day Saint teachings on abortion for decades. But, as a journalist, it definitely surprised me.

It will be interesting to see how they justify using journalism money to support liberal abortion laws.