Articles from our E-Update

Browse great faith blogs ranging on topics from faiths and practices to health and community.

Visit Now!

Mission agencies rethink outreach to the world's illiterate masses.

Full Article

The 10-year Pluralism Project has documented how America became the most religiously diverse nation on earth. Now, in one of his most profound works yet, the award-winning sociologist grapples with these new realities, asking how to respect other faiths even if we feel our own is the one true way. 448 pages, hardcover. Princeton University.

Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and adherents of other non-Western religions have become a significant presence in the United States in recent years. Yet many Americans continue to regard the United States as a Christian society. How are we adapting to the new diversity? Do we casually announce that we "respect" the faiths of non-Christians without understanding much about those faiths? Are we willing to do the hard work required to achieve genuine religious pluralism?

Award-winning author Robert Wuthnow tackles these and other difficult questions surrounding religious diversity and does so with his characteristic rigor and style. America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity looks not only at how we have adapted to diversity in the past, but at the ways rank-and-file Americans, clergy, and other community leaders are responding today. Drawing from a new national survey and hundreds of in-depth qualitative interviews, this book is the first systematic effort to assess how well the nation is meeting the current challenges of religious and cultural diversity.

The results, Wuthnow argues, are both encouraging and sobering--encouraging because most Americans do recognize the right of diverse groups to worship freely, but sobering because few Americans have bothered to learn much about religions other than their own or to engage in constructive interreligious dialogue. Wuthnow contends that responses to religious diversity are fundamentally deeper than polite discussions about civil liberties and tolerance would suggest. Rather, he writes, religious diversity strikes us at the very core of our personal and national theologies. Only by understanding this important dimension of our culture will we be able to move toward a more reflective approach to religious pluralism.

Robert Wuthnow is Andlinger Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University. His previous books include Saving America? Faith-Based Services and the Future of Civil Society (Princeton); Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist; and Loose Connections: Joining Together in America's Fragmented Communities.

Novelist and Christian writer Buechner delivered a number of memorable sermons in over four decades of service as a Presbyterian minister. This collection contains 37 of them, all featuring the intricate stories, fascinating connections and personal touches that are Buechner's signature. By presenting them chronologically, the evolution of his favorite themes of listening to your dreams, finding your calling and the importance of home are evident.

From Publishers Weekly
Novelist and Christian writer Buechner (Brendan; The Alphabet of Grace) delivered a number of memorable sermons in more than four decades of service as a Presbyterian minister. This collection contains 37 of them, all featuring the intricate stories, fascinating connections and personal touches that are Buechner's signature. By presenting them chronologically, the evolution of his favorite themes of listening to your dreams, finding your calling and the importance of home are evident. Most touching are the sermons directed at youthful audiences (Buechner was a chaplain at two private boys' schools), such as The Calling of Voices," in which he pleads with young people to pay attention to the deep gladness in their lives, following it to their life's vocation. For instruction on how to read the Bible, readers should turn to "Love," which recommends that the rule of love, found in the "great commandment" (Matthew 22:36+

For many years, establishing a private foundation was virtually the only choice available. Even now, many lawyers, financial planners and estate planners will recommend a private foundation without thoroughly analyzing the needs of the individual or family. For many people it is just the right thing to do but it should be thought through carefully.

Foundations, on the whole, are set up to operate in perpetuity and as one man has said with great wisdom: "Perpetuity is a very long time." I think Curtis Meadows, a Gathering resource and former President of the Meadows Foundation in Dallas, Texas, has the best perspective on reasons for setting up a private foundation. You should be concerned about problems that are long term and you want to provide funding for long term solutions. You should be ready to meet the challenge of preparing your family, trustees and successors for the responsibility of the work. You should be willing to live with the likely possibility that the next generation of leadership will change the focus of the foundation after your death. Finally, the average corpus of the family foundation in the U.S. is $5,000,000 and the expenses of maintaining the foundation make it an unnecessary burden to start with less than that.

The Association of Small Foundations (www.smallfoundations.org) has a very comprehensive guide to starting a private foundation. The following is from their material.

Types of Foundations

The IRS distinguishes among different types of private foundations. If you determine that a private foundation is the appropriate charitable vehicle for you, consider the type of private foundation that most appropriately matches your long-term goals and capabilities. Although the initial foundation structure could be changed, it is a complicated process and should be done with the aid of an attorney and accountant.

Standard private foundations, also referred to as private non-operating foundations, are the most common form of private foundations. Standard private foundations vary in size and purpose. They typically obtain funding from a single bequest, or may receive annual contributions from an individual, group of individuals, or members of a family. The primary purpose of standard private foundations is to make grants to public charities, rather than operate any substantial programs. Standard private foundations must spend an amount equal to at least five percent (5%) of its net investment assets on qualifying grants and administrative expenditures annually. Private foundations can be structured as either a charitable trust or a nonprofit corporation.

A private foundation organized as a charitable trust is governed by a trust agreement that appoints the initial trustees, designates the trustees' initial powers and provides for the future selection of trustees to manage and operate the foundation.

A private foundation organized as a nonprofit corporation must normally file articles of incorporation with the Secretary of State.

A nonprofit corporation is governed by a board of directors that elects officers and carries out and properly records the foundation's activities. Each form has advantages and disadvantages.

A trust is typically simpler to create and operate than a corporation. They have fewer requirements concerning trustees, state filings, regularity of meetings, minutes, etc. Trusts also have lower taxes for any unrelated business income. However, trusts generally offer less flexibility than nonprofit corporations.

For example, court approval is generally required for any changes to the trust agreement. For some people, however, this inflexibility may be desirable to ensure their money stays directed towards a specific cause or charity. Corporations offer a tremendous amount of flexibility that is not present in the trust structure.

As well, a nonprofit corporation also generally provides directors with greater protection from personal liability. However, nonprofit corporations have more formal operating requirements than trusts and are therefore slightly more difficult to create. Many states also require regular meetings, minutes and annual reports.

Assoc. of Small Foundations

How a Nebraska native has become a leading advocate for the poorest of the poor. Meet Chris Heuertz at The Gathering Conference in Scottsdale.

Word Made Flesh

Full Article