minister news stories on Newser

Ex-Minister Opens Online Christian Sex Shop

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:14:16 CDT

If God gave us bodies, what's so sinful about lust? One former minister's answer to that question became his own website, Love Garden , which sells dildos, prostate stimulators, condoms, and much more, Der Spiegel reports. But Marc Angenent says he believed in the importance of lust even when he ministered...

Oh No! Michelle Touched Muslim Indonesian Minister

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:26:51 CST

Last year, Michelle Obama caused an uproar by touching the queen ; this year, she’s making headlines for shaking hands with the Indonesian information minister. Tifatul Sembiring, a conservative Muslim who makes it a point to avoid touching women not related to him, appears to reach out for the first lady’s...

Apprent ice 's Omarosa Takes Attitude to Seminary

Harry Kimball — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:58:01 CDT

Famed reality TV villain Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth has seen the light, E! reports. The Apprentice anti-hero will enter an Ohio seminary next week for 2 years of religious schooling on her way to becoming a minister. Her ambition is in line with her character, an official at the United Theological Seminary...

Mandela's Ex Poised for Return to Power

Matt Cantor — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 09:34:00 CST

Placed high on her party’s list of future MPs, Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is set to return to a central role in South Africa’s government, the Guardian reports. Such a position is already sparking controversy surrounding Madikizela-Mandela's past—including a 2003 fraud conviction when she was deputy arts minister,...

HBO Doc Unveils Down-and-Out Haggard

Rebecca Smith Hurd — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:47:00 CST

A new HBO documentary on Ted Haggard catches the disgraced minister at his most candid and vulnerable, Newsweek reports. Emmy-winning director Alexandra Pelosi shot the film impromptu, capturing Haggard the failed insurance salesman as he struggles with gay feelings and looks out the window at his old church. But hasn't...

We Aimed to Murder 5,000: Mumbai Terrorist

Matt Cantor — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:55:20 CST

The lone Mumbai terrorist captured alive said months of training had prepped him and his cohorts to kill 5,000 people, the Daily Mail reports. Describing the massacre to police, Azam Amir Kasab of Pakistan, 21, said his instructions were to “target whites, preferably Americans and British.” He was told...

Methodist Ministers Defy Ban on Marrying Gays

Katherine Thompson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:02:41 CDT

Methodist ministers in California are revolting against religious edicts that forbid them from performing same-sex marriages, the Los Angeles Times reports, in a struggle that many consider "the civil rights cause of their generation." Dozens of Methodist pastors have officiated at gay and lesbian weddings since they were legalized in...

For Internet Ministers, a Lark Becomes a Passion

Matt Cantor — Mon, 26 May 2008 09:02:03 CDT

It starts when friends asks you to officiate at their wedding, but it often doesn't end there. Many who become ministers with the click of a mouse—through the Universal Life Church or the Church of Spiritual Humanism—find themselves staying in the marriage business, the Chicago Tribune reports. Forging...