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Across faiths, religious rules bent as virus alters worship

NEW YORK (AP) — Across the United States, religious leaders are taking unprecedented steps to shield their congregations from the coronavirus - canceling services, banning large funerals and weddings, and waiving age-old requirements of their faiths. For Roman Catholics, attendance at Mass is considered a sacred obligation. But bishops in numerous dioceses announced that they are canceling all public worship services for at least two weeks, in some cases indefinitely. Many other bishops - including all those in Pennsylvania and Ohio — said they were temporarily dispensing with the ...

King’s College to provide scholarships to Catholic students

Formalizing a decades-old relationship, officials from King’s College and the Diocese of Scranton recently signed a agreement that will guarantee admission and a renewable four-year scholarship up to a potential maximum four-year value of between $56,000 and $88,000 to seniors who attend any ...

‘We need help too’: Stresses multiply for many US clergy

Greg Laurie is among America’s most successful clergymen — senior pastor at a California megachurch, prolific author, host of a global radio program. Yet after a youthful colleague’s suicide, his view of his vocation is unsparing. “Pastors are people, just like everyone else,” ...

Various denominations share their take on Ash Wednesday

For many worshipers in the Christian faith, Ash Wednesday is a day of significance that means Easter is coming soon. Many Christian denominations celebrate the day with a service, some churches choose not to mark the day. Either way, the houses of worship that choose to mark the day invite all to attend. According to Rev. Canon Ken Wagner-Pizza, the rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, 844 W. Fourth St., Williamsport, Ash Wednesday falls 40 days before Easter (minus the Sundays). This year, Easter will be celebrated on April 12 — slating Ash Wednesday for this week. ...

St. Mark’s celebrates 60 years at current sanctuary

Founded in 1852, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 142 Market St., Williamsport, is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the dedication of its current sanctuary located at the foot of the Market Street bridge. It is only the congregation’s third church building in its 168 year history. A ...

Montoursville woman reports on recent mission trip

It was late 2019 that Christina Boughton, a Montoursville wife and mother of three, discussed her desire to spend the early part of 2020 in Mole-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti, where she would work with missionaries and teachers at a local orphanage associated with the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. ...