Religious Officials

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams suggested Monday that the Episcopal Church might have to accept a different role within the worldwide Anglican Communion amid U.S. leaders' decision to lift a de facto ban on gay bishops and to consider rites of blessing for same-sex unions. Williams outlined his concerns in a statement to leaders throughout the communion, saying "very serious anxieties have already been expressed" among the 77 million Anglicans. The Episcopal Church, the U.S.

The son of famed Orange County television evangelist Robert H. Schuller said Tuesday he had acquired cable network AmericanLife TV from the Unification Church in partnership with a private equity fund that invests in Christian media firms. The deal comes seven months after the older Rev. Schuller said he was removing his son, the Rev. Robert A. Schuller, as the only preacher of "The Hour of Power" three years after turning the long-running Christian television program over to him.

The winner of Iran's June 12 presidential election will enjoy only limited power in the nation's complex system. How does the Islamic Republic's political system work? It combines elements of democracy with unelected religious leadership. The elected president is technically subordinate to the appointed supreme leader.

Before the sermon Oct. 9 at the Islamic Center of Irvine, a member of the board got up and informed the congregation that the beloved and charismatic religious director, Sadullah Khan, had been dismissed, citing inappropriate conduct. No further explanation was given. Many in the congregation were stunned; some demanded more information. One called out, "We deserve to know the reason why," according to Khalid Abdurrahman, a college student who attends Friday prayers at the mosque.

After angering gay rights supporters with the choice of evangelist Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama has chosen the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church to pray at the kickoff event for the inaugural festivities Sunday. Bishop V.

A young man who formerly attended New Life Church says then-pastor Ted Haggard performed a sex act in front of him in 2006 and sent him explicit text messages. His hidden relationship with Haggard, the man said, was followed by a period of isolation, struggles with drinking, drugs and suicide attempts. The latest allegations against Haggard, once an influential national evangelical leader, were reported Monday night by KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs, which interviewed the man, now 25.

The nation's mainline Protestant denominations have quarreled for years over the role of gay men and lesbians in church life, but those debates promise to grow even more intense and acrimonious this summer. The conflicts, which come as California and other states wage legal fights over same-sex marriage, could well influence whether some of the religious denominations remain intact or splinter into smaller factions.