Survey shows increase in Web surfers looking for spirituality online

"According to a major new survey on Internet use in the United States, more than a third of all Americans who are connected to the Web (in total 126 million people as of August 2003) have used it to access religious and spiritual information. This compares with 40 percent of American Internet users who have searched the Web for political information, and 66 percent who have sought health and medical data. But while the number of people using the Web for these last two purposes increased 57 percent and 59 percent respectively between March 2000 and November 2002, what the researchers call 'religion surfers' almost doubled in number over the same period, from 18 million to 35 million (or an increase of 94 percent). Moreover, there has been a significant increase in the daily use of the Internet to access religious information. While the overall numbers remain low, they nevertheless did climb from 3 million in 2000 to 5 million in 2002, an increase of 66 percent. The survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center of Washington, D.C., and the report of its findings was released just before Christmas.... What people make of the religious information they access on the Web untutored and unministered to, at least in the conventional sense, is anyone's guess. God may indeed work in mysterious ways."

Chris McGillion
"Click and ye shall be saved: More find their Gods in cyberspace"
The Sydney Morning Herald
January 6, 2004

PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA CREDITS HIS ADMINISTRATION'S SUCCESS TO PRAYER

"President Olusegun Obasanjo attended the Holy Ghost Congress of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and used the occasion to espouse his vision for the country.... The congress was an occasion for upliftment and God's intervention in the country and in the lives of the people of Nigeria. President Olusegun Obasanjo enthusiastically stormed the RCCG annual Holy Ghost Congress ... and specifically requested the Holy Ghost to take over the affairs of the nation.... Speaking on the success of his administration, Obasanjo explained that the success achieved so far by his administration is due to prayer. 'The success of this present administration is due to the prayers of the faithful, and I want to continue to count on your prayers, because we still have a long way to go in reforming Nigeria.' "

Jude Ubaka
"Obasanjo foresees new Nigeria in the hands of God"
This Day (Nigeria)
January 2, 2004

UNIVERSITY OF MONTREAL ESTABLISHES RELIGION CHAIR

"A chair of religion and culture has been established at the University of Montreal with a $700,000 donation from five businesses.... The chair will consolidate the sciences and religions sector, the research activities of professors in various faculties, and the activities of the university's Centre for the Study of Religions, said Prof. Jean-Marc Charron, faculty dean. The research of the chair 'will take a multidisciplinary and multicultural approach to the place of religion in culture and society,' said chair holder Solange Lefebvre. 'Better understanding of the new religious reality will give us a grasp on the major issues in our society.'"

"Religion chair established at University of Montreal"
Canadian Press Newswire
December 9, 2003

Samples of letters to Newsweek magazine, in response to a story on faith and healing

"We in traditional medicine need to acknowledge and embrace the healing power of spirituality in providing consolation and comfort during life's difficult journeys ('Faith and Healing,' Nov. 17). As a professor of medical oncology and as a board-certified physician in hospice medicine and end-of-life issues, I have for more than 30 years seen patients with far-advanced illnesses, and I can clearly document, as can numerous physicians, that there are many whose recovery cannot be explained by traditional medical interventions. Several clinicians have seen the CT scans, the biopsy reports, and the follow-up analyses that show the disease has simply disappeared or its rate of growth has slowed for reasons that we cannot explain. Most of my cancer patients acknowledge that spirituality and a belief in a 'higher power' are the source of tremendous peace and comfort during troublesome times."

Edward T. Creagan, M.D.
Professor, Mayo Clinic Medical School
Rochester, Minnesota

"We are taught in medical school to take a multisystem approach to the patient. We are spiritual beings; to focus purely on the physical to the exclusion of the spiritual is myopic indeed. As an orthopedic surgeon in private practice, I have been offering to pray with my patients prior to surgery for the past nine years. While my patients appreciate a good surgical outcome, most of the positive feedback pertains to the prayer offered on their behalf. Rather than feeling an invasion of privacy and sensing an increased burden of remorse and guilt, the vast majority have welcomed the prayer offered in humility."

Jordan Stoll, M.D.
Boulder, Colorado

"Those of us who serve as pastoral-care ministers at hospitals observe the moments of healing that prayer brings to the patients. Listening to their thoughts and feelings, holding their hands, or just tucking in the blanket can often replace the recitation of formal prayers."

Carol Ann Roberts Dumond
Prides Crossing, Massachusetts

"Mail Call: Praying for Health"
Newsweek Atlantic Edition
January 12, 2004