Religion

First, a quick physiology lesson.

Outdoor recreation in the Inland Northwest, and throughout the country, has never been more popular. Among the millions of Americans preparing to camp and hike this season are Spokane-based pastors, theology professors and young Christians seeking spiritual experiences.

A passerby trying to find Grace Bible Church located at 152 W. Prairie Ave. in Coeur d’Alene just might miss the building entirely because of its rather plain outside appearance. But in this case, looks are absolutely deceiving about what lies inside.

Thousands will congregate in the Spokane Arena Saturday for the evangelical wealth building conference Life Surge, an all-day star-studded event that many describe as spiritually and fiscally fulfilling – but that also faces mounting accusations of leveraging faith and a megachurch atmosphere to lull attendees to buy $38,000 classes while even encouraging them to go into debt to do so.

It was one of the first warm and sunny days after a cold and wet spring. Like others in our neighborhood, we were out working in the yard planting new flowers and testing the sprinkler heads – which we rarely use.

The streets of America have exploded with political protests in the past four months. Resistance is both persistent and growing against the actions and policies of the Trump administration, against the actions of state legislatures and even school boards. So, when does resistance become an act of grace? When does grace result in an act of resistance?

A Spokane congregation has won a first-of-its-kind federal approval to possess and partake of the powerful hallucinogenic drug ayahuasca that is central to its religious practice.

A small Latah County town violated a federal religious liberty law when it denied a conditional use permit application from Moscow, Idaho-based Christ Church, according to a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.

Pope Leo XIV used his first audience with news outlets Monday to appeal to journalists to help cool the heated language of today's media landscape.

If a movie is to be judged by the audience it attracts, then “Conclave” must be blessed.

Word of the new pope’s ties to Chicago spread quickly, and with bated breath, some Spokane residents hoped to hear Cardinal Blase Cupich’s name called. Cupich served as bishop of Spokane from 2010 to 2014, when he was tapped by Pope Francis to become Archbishop of Chicago.

In my backyard, life unfolds in small but meaningful ways. My wife and I tend vegetable gardens, care of aging chickens (10 years old!), harvest rainwater and recently welcomed our first honeybees.

Kindergartners would be taught to count to 100 and learn the concepts of virtue and sin. Seventh-graders would be taught about ratios and “God’s work in history.” High-schoolers would be required to read staples such as “The Great Gatsby” but could choose their own science electives, such as one that teaches the value of human life from conception.

The Inland Northwest is more than 5,500 miles from Vatican City.

I’m sure you know this cliché: “The first casualty of war is truth.” But here’s a twist on it that also makes sense: “The first casualty of certainty is truth.”

Despite three decades of steady decline, the majority of Americans report that they identify as Christian. However, for one demographic in particular, numbers show people steadily avoiding identification with this major religion – perhaps due to views promoted by Christians themselves.

Monday was a day of bittersweet mourning, reflection and anticipation for Catholics in the Inland Northwest after news arrived of Pope Francis’ death at 88 years old.

In June 2017, Lupita Gutierrez, a Spokane resident and active member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church, went to Rome for her 60th birthday, with members from the St. Patrick’s Church in Pasco.