Latest Church Headlines
All the headlines from our Church Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Illinois Presbyterian Minister Settles Sex Abuse Case for $150,000
Nov 17 2008 // A Presbyterian minister accused of having sex with a woman when she was a teenager kept working as a pastor and college administrator after the church’s insurance company paid the accuser $150,000. Rev. Ronald...
Maine Court Asked to Nix Church Immunity in Abuse Case
Sep 18 2008 // Maine’s supreme court is being asked to overturn the concept of charitable immunity in a church abuse lawsuit. A lawyer told the Maine Supreme Judicial Court that the Roman Catholic bishop knew the Rev. Raymond...
Jury Awards $5 Million to Victim in Sex Abuse Case in Southern Illinois
Aug 28 2008 // A jury awarded $5 million to James Wisniewski, a former altar boy on Wednesday, August 27, in a widely watched sexual abuse trial. Rev. Raymond Kownacki was convicted of sexually abusing Wisniewski and other youths and top...
Figures
Aug 21 2008 // $8.5 Million Amount of settlement reached with five insurers for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Mass. to pay claims filed by people who were sexually abused by priests. About $3.5 million will be used to pay...
Texas High Court Throws Out Jury Award for Girls’ Exorcism Injuries
Jul 3 2008 // The Texas Supreme Court threw out a jury award for injuries a 17-year-old girl suffered in an exorcism conducted by members of her old church, ruling that the case unconstitutionally entangled the court in religious...
Vermont Diocese with $8.7M Abuse Verdict Can’t Find Insurance Policy
Jun 23 2008 // Many Roman Catholics believe that the worst of the clergy sex abuse scandal is over. But in the Diocese of Burlington, it’s deepening. The case of one cleric, assigned to Vermont parishes in the 1970s despite...
Fire Does $1M Damage to Pennsylvania Church
Jun 17 2008 // Fire officials in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania say a blaze did an estimated $1 million damage to a church in Caernarvon Township early Sunday. Flames were shooting from the roof of the south wing of Conestoga Mennonite...
Civic Clubs Added to West Virginia Church Abuse Lawsuit
May 27 2008 // A West Virginia teenager suing a Roman Catholic Diocese claiming he was sexually abused has added a service organization to his lawsuit, his lawyer says. The Clarksburg teen, who was not identified in court papers, is...
Vermont Diocese to Appeal $8.7 Million Sex Abuse Verdict
May 22 2008 // Vermont’s top Roman Catholic clergyman has written to parishioners around the state, apologizing to the victim in a priest sex abuse case but saying the church will appeal last week’s $8.7 million verdict...
After Verdict in Abuse Case, Vermont Judge Puts Lien on Church
May 20 2008 // A judge has agreed to put a lien of more than $10 million on property including the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, to secure damages won by the plaintiff in a suit alleging sexual abuse...
Vermont Jury Awards Ex-Altar Boy $8.7M in Priest Abuse Case
May 15 2008 // A jury in Vermont has awarded $8.7 million in damages to a former altar boy who sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington over sexual abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a priest. The man, now a 40-year-old...
Vermont Statute of Limitations at Issue in Priest Abuse Case
May 12 2008 // A Vermont judge said a jury in Burlington can consider awarding punitive and compensatory damages to a former altar boy suing the state’s Roman Catholic diocese over sexual abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a...
100-Year-Old Baptist Church in Georgia Burns to Ground
Mar 3 2008 // State fire investigators were sifting through the charred remains of a central Georgia church that burned to the ground. “The only thing standing is the face of the church,” McIntyre, Ga., police Sgt. Bernard...
Oklahoma Fires Destroy Buildings, Vehicles
Feb 27 2008 // Several firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation, but no other injuries were reported as fires whipped by fierce winds charred thousands of acres of Oklahoma grassland and destroyed buildings and vehicles. At least...
Report: Free Smoke Detector Distribution Lags in Rural Areas
Feb 20 2008 // They’re among the most effective lifesaving devices a homeowner can have, cutting the risk of death from a fire nearly in half. But rural communities — where people are at greatest danger of dying by fire —...
S.C. Church Fire Causes $300,000 Damage, Arson Ruled Out
Feb 20 2008 // Sumter County, S.C. fire officials are investigating the origin of a church fire that caused about $300,000 in damages and destroyed the sanctuary. No foul play is suspected. Sumter Fire Captain Brian Horton said the fire...
People Flee as Fires in Rain-Starved Carolinas, Va. Burn Homes
Feb 12 2008 // Wind-whipped wildfires chased churchgoers from worship, forced hundreds of residents to flee homes and closed highways across the rain-starved Carolinas and Virginia on Sunday. Twelve small structures, including at least...
Georgia Pastor Charged for Arson in Church Fire
Jan 21 2008 // The pastor of an Albany, Ga., church has been charged with first degree arson in connection with a fire that did severe damage to the church, the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner’s office said. The Rev....
Latest Ala. Church Fire Accidental, Officials Look for Arson Link in 2 Others
Jan 17 2008 // Alabama investigators said a blaze that gutted a Blount County church on Tuesday was an accident, but they are still trying to determine whether there was a link between two church fires in Chilton County. Flames burned...
Two Charged in East Alabama Church Fires
Jan 8 2008 // Two Smiths, Ala., men have been charged on arson and burglary charges in connection with three church fires that occurred since Jan 1, State Fire Marshal Ed Paulk announced Monday. Geoffrey Parquette, 21, was charged with...
