Swine flu fears have spurred the Church of England to revive a rule drawn up during the bubonic plague more than 450 years ago, says the Financial Times. Amid rising concern about the spread of swine flu, some Anglican churches are allowing “intinction” or dipping bread in communion wine rather than sharing the chalice, while others [...]

Pope Benedict offers a 79-point list of problems and recommendations on the economic crisis, drawing from previous popes and the Bible.  Philly Inquirer seeks financial book author comments.

An interesting twist to church-state separation occurred July 20, 1969 when  Buzz Aldrin, an astronaut but also an elder in the Presbyterian Church, served himself communion in space. But NASA asked him not to broadcast the service, due to an atheist lawsuit “after Apollo 8 astronauts read from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas.” [...]

CNS News notes President Obama has chosen a golf course numerous Sundays but has yet to settle on a DC  church.

From The Washington Times: mainline Protestant denominations adopt Madison Avenue techniques in effort to stem decades of membership losses and stay afloat.
The United Methodist Church recently released a $20 million rebranding effort aimed at attracting younger members to the large but diminishing Protestant sect. The new ads will appear over the next four years as part of the denomination’s “Rethink [...]

The Detroit Free Press surveys the faithful:
 
As an engineer for General Motor Corp.’s power train group, Scott Gendron, 35, of Ypsilanti depends on the auto company to make a living. But with the Detroit icon expected to file for bankruptcy by Monday, Gendron and others across the region say they are increasingly relying on a higher [...]

Graduating divinity students are feeling trepidation as the contracting economy has led congregations across the religious spectrum to cut or downsize clergy positions, according to The New York Times.
The anecdotal evidence collected by the Association of Theological Schools, which covers 250 graduate institutions in the United States and Canada, has found job listings for ministerial positions down by about one-third [...]

Advertising Age looks at ”American’s increasingly fickle relationship with religion”, as churches “scramble” for  consumers’ attention.
With more labeling themselves as having no religion or unaffiliated, the publication looks at recruitment efforts:
Look at the parallels between religion and marketing, and it’s almost identical. People become attached to a religion in the same way someone takes on a [...]

We’ve seen it in the U.S. Now, New Zealand reports increased church attendance pegged to economic downturn.

Apparently not. The Christian Post reports megachurches are faring slightly better in the recession than smaller churches, findings from a new study shows.
A Leadership Network survey of 555 mostly megachurch pastors found that only 7 percent of the executive church leaders said the economic downturn has had a “very negative” impact on their church.Forty-nine percent said [...]