"Rick" Warren who is an American evangelical Christian pastor and author;
LOS ANGELES - Nearly four months after his son's suicide, popular pastor Rick Warren has returned to the pulpit at the Southern California megachurch he founded.
At services Saturday and Sunday, Warren took the stage at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., with wife, Kay Warren. They were greeted with standing ovations by their congregation.
It was the first time Warren had taken the Saddleback pulpit since his 27-year-old son Matthew shot and killed himself April 5.
In the sermon, first in a series called "How To Get Through What You're Going Through," Rick Warren said he had the perfect role model for his struggles. He said, "God knows what it's like to lose a son."
Warren said he and his wife, who have worked to remove the stigma from AIDS, would now seek to do the same for mental illness, which their son struggled with all his life.
Youth Pastor, Wife, Chaperone Died in Bus Crash
INDIANAPOLIS - An Indianapolis church is mourning its youth pastor, his pregnant wife and a congregation member who were killed when their bus returning from a Michigan camp overturned a mile from home.
Colonial Hills Baptist Church Deacon Jeff Leffew says youth pastor Chad Phelps; his wife, Courtney Phelps; and chaperone Tonya Weindorf died in the accident. Chad Phelps is the son of the church's senior pastor.
Leffew said the Phelps' were in their mid-20s and expecting their second child. He said the 51-year-old Weindorf was a mother of five who accompanied her special needs child to the church camp.
The bus driver told Indianapolis police he was exiting a freeway when its brakes failed. The bus slammed into a barrier and flipped on its side, injuring most of the 37 people aboard.
Pope Draws Three Million in Rio for Youth Day Mass
RIO DE JANEIRO - Pope Francis is returning to Rome after celebrating the final Mass of his visit to Brazil in front of an estimated 3 million people.
Francis told the young people jamming Rio's Copacabana beach for Sunday's World Youth Day Mass that the church needs their enthusiasm and creativity. He urged them to go out and spread their faith, even to those who seem the most indifferent.
On Saturday, Francis lamented the Catholic Church's failure to keep its Latin American flock from straying to evangelical churches. He challenged the region's bishops to be closer to their people, to understand their problems and offer credible solutions.
The pope criticized the "intellectual" message of the church that characterized the pontificate of his predecessor, Benedict XVI. He told the bishops that ordinary people don't understand such lofty ideas and need a simpler message of love, forgiveness and mercy.
Francis announced that the next World Youth Day would be held in 2016 in Krakow, Poland, hometown of the late Pope John Paul II.
Street Preacher Says He's Being Silenced for Views
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A street preacher whose equipment was seized by police in downtown Springfield, Mo., says he has evidence that he's being singled out for his Christian message, not the volume of his amplifier.
But the city's police chief says Aaron Brummitt has repeatedly ignored warnings that his equipment is too loud. A week after his Bible, amplifier and other belongings were seized by police, Brummitt still doesn't have it back.
The Springfield News-Leader reports Brummitt was preaching just steps away from the Springfield Craft Beer Bash on the night of July 20 when officers took his equipment. He says video footage of that incident shows the music from the beer festival was louder than the 100 decibels allowed under city ordinance, but police ignored that while shutting him down.
Group asks Cullman Schools to Stop Prayer Caravan
CULLMAN, Ala. - A Wisconsin-based group has sent a complaint to Alabama's Cullman County Schools over a prayer caravan set for early August, claiming the district is forcing religion on students.
The Cullman Times reports that the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to Superintendent Billy Coleman this week asking that he cancel the Aug. 10 event, which involves a short prayer at each school campus before the school year starts.
The atheist group calls the event a violation of separation of church and state and claims the school system is breaking the law by endorsing a religious event.
Coleman told the newspaper the event will continue as planned, calling it unsponsored and voluntary.
Coleman, a Christian pastor before being elected superintendent, began the event shortly after he took office three years ago.
Court Rejects Pa. Firm's Health Care Law Challenge
PHILADELPHIA - A federal appeals court has ruled against the Mennonite owners of a Pennsylvania furniture manufacturing company who claimed that their constitutional rights were violated by the federal health care law's requirement that their employees' health insurance cover contraceptive services.
The 2-1 decision issued by a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a lower court decision that Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. does not qualify for the exemption because it is a for-profit company making a secular product with no formal ties to a church or other religious group.
Conestoga attorney Charles W. Proctor III said he'll file a request to have the case heard by the full 3rd Circuit.
Jury: Drug Raid Didn't Violate Pa. Church's Rights
PITTSBURGH - A Pennsylvania jury has found that a drug raid didn't violate the religious rights of a loosely organized church group that claimed to spread its message by holding musical concerts.
The federal jury unanimously ruled against the claims by The Church of Universal Love and Music and some of its members, who used a property about 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh for large gatherings.
Fayette County zoning officials didn't believe the group was a real church, and prosecutors said the concerts were a cover for illegal drug activity. The contested 2009 raid was conducted by the county's drug task force.
Fort Hood Suspect to Fox: US at War with Islam
FORT HOOD, Texas - The Army psychiatrist charged in the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting says in a statement to Fox News that the U.S. government is at war with Islam.
It's the first statement Maj. Nidal Hasan has put out to the U.S. media. In the past, he has spoken via telephone with Al-Jazeera, the transcript of which is evidence in his upcoming trial.
Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the November 2009 attack at the Texas Army post. His trial is scheduled to start Aug. 6. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
The American-born Muslim is serving as his own attorney and has made similar declarations during pre-trial hearings and jury selection.
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