I often scan Google News to see if our churches are in the news.

Typically, they are, and almost always, the news is good news.

There was an article yesterday about the youth group of the West Side church of Christ from Searcy, Arkansas coming to Portland, Oregon (my hometown) to help the Portland Urban Ministry Program (or PUMP church of Christ as it is usually called) with its summer program.

There was also an article about the Northwest church of Christ in Arizona constructing a new building after 52 years.

Its nice to see positive articles about our churches in the news.

Then, of course, churches such as the ultra-liberal “United Church of Christ” pop up in articles as well because of my search string.

These articles are typically not quite as positive. In one article a congregation of the UCC is leaving their denomination because of the fight over gay marriage.

Also, the Disciples of Christ are in the news. They are being blasted for putting up a vote to condemn Israel’s wall protecting itself from terrorist bombers, but then they refuse to let a Jewish man who is a survivor of terrorism speak at their General Assembly here in Portland.

I’m glad the church of Christ stays out of politics for the most part. I’m also glad that when I open up the news, that I don’t have to cringe when I see an article mentioning the church of Christ.

-Clarke