Spend a year — as I have just done — writing about a variety of religious beliefs and events for a major metropolitan newspaper, and one can be both inspired and depressed.
Inspired because the people who are on the front lines of faith-based activity are, well, inspiring. Pastors Rick Warren and Joel Osteen, entertainment innovators Mark Burnett and Roma Downey and World Vision CEO Richard Stearns immediately spring to mind as individuals who are making a difference in their communities and in the wider world. Rabbi Steven C. Wernick of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism is another standout, working, as he was last year, to revitalize a movement facing challenging demographics.
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