Father seeking out the missing Sometimes, in my daily reading, I cross a news story of suffering so great, I can’t fathom it. This week I felt that way learning of the 80 Cameroon children rescued from the terrorist organization Boko Haram — children who’d been in captivity so long they no longer remembered their […]

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Senate gave decisive approval Thursday to a contentious “religious freedom” bill — one of a wave of measures surfacing in at least a dozen states that critics say could provide legal cover for discrimination against gays and transgender people. The Georgia bill would forbid state government from infringing on a […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Teachers and staff from four Catholic High Schools in the San Francisco Bay Area are urging their archbishop to remove morality clauses from the faculty handbook. Teacher Jim Jordan said Tuesday a petition with 355 signatures of teachers and staff collected in the past two days will be delivered to Archbishop […]

FREEPORT — Award winning Maine writer Lois Lowry will be speaking at a luncheon at South Freeport Congregational Church on Friday, March 27, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Lowry has written more than 30 children’s books, including “The Giver” and “Number the Stars,” each winners of Newbery Medals, as well as an autobiography. The luncheon is […]

LEWISTON — John J. Thatamanil, associate professor of theology and world religions at Union Theological Seminary, speaks about the pitfalls and possibilities of multiple religious identities at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, at Bates College’s Benjamin Mays Center, 90 Russell St. His lecture, “Church Upstairs, Yoga Downstairs: The Challenges and Promise of Multiple Religious Participation,” […]

BRUNSWICK — On March 1, First Parish Church, UCC, welcomed Dr. Mark Lapping, distinguished professor at Muskie School of Public Service and principal investigator for the Maine Food Strategy, for a talk titled, “What’s Eating Maine? What Does Maine Eat?” as part of its Windows On … Food educational series. Lapping shared the state of […]

Don’t nag. Pray. Ask. Believe. Having long worshiped in churches where prayer is preached as a means of healing and attainment, both for oneself and others, I’ve struggled to understand how it works. Do my fervent pleas change God’s mind, as did Moses’? God was so angry with the Hebrew people that he was about […]

PORTLAND — Bishop Robert P. Deeley has named Jim King as the new superintendent of Maine Catholic Schools, effective July 1. King, currently the interim director of elementary schools for the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA), JIM will succeed the Rev. KING Louis J. Phillips, Ph.D., who has served as interim superintendent since July 1, […]

FREEPORT — The South Freeport Congregational Church will be having its annual Cabin Fever Reliever barbecue on Saturday, March 7. Bingo will follow dinner. The barbecue buffet meal will include ribs, pulled pork, chicken, sides, two complimentary drinks and a dessert. After dinner, try Bingo or buy a 50/50 raffle ticket. Childcare will be provided […]

BRUNSWICK — The fourth week of First Parish UCC Church’s “Windows On … Food” series focused on two movies about farming in Maine. Conversation after both films centered around whether, and how, we as a society value our food producers. Filmmaker Bill Kunitz joined First Parish on Friday, Feb. 20, to watch and discuss his […]