After the vote, some church members wiped away tears. Others said they were relieved it was finally over.

Members of Fremont Presbyterian Church — the largest Presbyterian Church in the Sacramento region — ended months of speculation Sunday when they voted to leave their national denomination and join one that church leaders said reflects more traditional beliefs.

Four years ago, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won Iowa's Republican presidential caucuses partly by locking up the support of evangelical pastors, the former Baptist minister's brethren and a potent voting bloc within the state's influential Christian conservatives.

Today, Iowa's increasingly political pastors are up for grabs, divided on whom to support from a GOP field that features several candidates who call themselves born-again Christians.

Three years after resigning as the executive director of Exodus International’s Love in Action ministry, John Smid admitted that he’s gay. In a recent blog post, Smid reflected on his updated views on homosexuality. Taken at face value, his new beliefs — that homosexuality is about more than just behavior and that sexual orientation is intrinsic — are by no means subversive. But considering the 22 years Smid spent preaching that GAY = EVIL, the acknowledgement of these basic facts could pave the way for change in evangelical and conservative Christian communities.

Iowa politicians offer a wide array of opinions on the role of faith in politics, with some saying they can’t be separated and others saying there must be a clear delineation between the two.

Faith plays an important role in politics across the nation, but maybe more so in Iowa. A recent poll from NBC News/Marist shows 91 percent of potential Republican caucusgoers in the state identify as either protestant or Catholic. Of those, 40 percent consider themselves fundamentalist or evangelical Christians.

Members of Kansas-based church upset by recent incident involving free speech and gay rights

A Topeka, Kan.-based independent Baptist church that is nationally known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities will be picketing in Missouri Valley Friday afternoon, Oct. 14.

Westboro Baptist Church will protest at Missouri Valley High School, 605 E. Lincoln Hwy., from 3:20 to 3:50 p.m. Friday. According to a Tuesday, Oct. 11, Westboro press release that is full of anti-gay language, including vulgar terms, the church's members are upset about a recent situation at the high school that involved free speech and gay rights.

Yom Kippur is the most important holiday in the Jewish calendar. It is a day when you can find even the most secular of Jews in synagogues. But I stayed home this year. If Jews believed in doing penance, my self-​inflicted torture would have counted; it was as excruciating as a hair-​shirt; almost as painful as the guilt inflicted by a Jewish mother. But, alas, we Jews don’t believe in penance as a vehicle for repentance.

The Archbishop of Canterbury began his "healing" visit to Zimbabwe yesterday by delivering a sermon as part of a tour designed to help close a rift within the Anglican Church.

Dr Rowan Williams addressed an estimated 15,000 people at an open-air Sunday service at the National Sports Stadium in the capital, Harare, before a possible meeting he has requested today with President Robert Mugabe.

Yet another ex-gay has come out of the woodwork and, surprise, surprise, she's friends with Michelle Bachman. Janet Boynes, the founder of Janet Boynes Ministries, told reporters that she was a lesbian for 14 years "until God called her back to men." (LGBT activists counter that they're not disputing that Boynes heard voices, but question whether it was really God on the line.) She later said gays, like pedophiles, make a choice to "do that."

Scott Anderson will return to a ministry he was forced to abandon decades ago because of his sexuality. He is to be ordained Saturday in Madison, Wis.

For decades, the Rev. Mark Achtemeier believed gays and lesbians were unfit to serve as leaders in the Presbyterian Church.

We met Samuel Brinton during our visit to Kansas State. Sam was raised in rural Iowa and shared his story of growing up gay in a conservative, Southern Baptist family. Brinton's easy-going smile and friendly demeanor stand in stark contrast to the horrors of an abusive father and forced Christian conversion therapy.