In a widely anticipated decision, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago issued a ruling last week that brought an end to the suit where a lower federal court had declared the ministerial housing allowance unconstitutional.
The ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability) has announced in its 5th Annual State of Giving Report that annual cash charitable giving to ECFA-accredited organizations increased 6.9 percent between 2012 and 2013. It reflects total cash donations of $11.6 billion in 2013, an increase from the previous year’s $10.9 billion.
The first Muslim prayer service ever hosted at the National Cathedral, a landmark Christian church in the U.S. capital, was briefly interrupted on Friday by a lone anti-Islamic protester but the religious gathering continued with a theme of tolerance.
Since the United States’ founding, American civil and military leadership have taken deliberate steps to meet the religious needs of the military and to prevent it from becoming a purely secular entity. The founders were no strangers to government provision of religious support to the military.
