Tracy Simmons

A new voice is emerging in the evangelical community, and it’s turning away from the church’s vocal opposition to homosexuality in favor of a more tolerant attitude.

Researchers at Baylor University found that 24 percent of evangelicals were “ambivalent,” meaning they support civil unions or legal recognition of gay relationships, despite harboring a moral opposition to homosexuality.

ORLANDO, Fla. (RNS) The Assemblies of God, a denomination rooted in rural and small town America, appears to have leaped into the 21st century with dramatic results.

At its General Council meeting this week (Aug. 5-9), the denomination touted its formula for defying the seemingly irreversible decline of other religious groups: contemporary music, arts and high-tech quality communication, outreach to young people, immigrants and ethnic minorities.

A meditation marathon will begin at 8 a..m., Sept. 21 at the Spokane Buddhist Temple, and continue through 10:30 a.m., Sept. 22.

The marathon falls on the Fall Equinox, which is also the International Day of Peace.

It’s been six months since I last wrote a religion wrap-up. In that six months, though, I’ve watched our traffic climb higher and higher, so thought I’d give it another go. Spokane is a wellspring of religion news and although we do our best to report it all to you, there’s not enough time in the week to report everything. Here are some bits we thought you might at least want to know about.

In 2005, when I moved to a small town in the Pacific Northwest from the San Francisco Bay Area, I decided I would “get spiritual.” I had no clue what this might mean but I wanted to scratch it from my “To-do” list.

Beginning Sept. 12 Calvary Spokane will be offering a seven-week series on marriage, led by author and pastor Ken Ortiz.

The series, called "Marriage The Way It's Made To Be" will examine God's design for marriage.

Muslims celebrated the end of Ramadan on Thursday at the Spokane Islamic Center.