Kellie Kotraba

The role of religious affiliation in the United States is changing.

According to a recent survey from the Pew Forum, one in five Americans is not affiliated with any religion. 

A small part of this growing group is made up of atheists.

Last weekend, hundreds of atheists gathered in the Bible Belt – Springfield, to be exact – for Skepticon, a national skeptics convention. Not all skeptics are atheists, but many of them are.

The presidential election is just a few days away, but that’s not what this week's faith and values update is about. 

Instead, we’re going to talk about something that was making news about 500 years ago in Germany: The Protestant Reformation. This past Wednesday was Reformation Day – the anniversary of the day in 1517 when the movement began.

During the day on Tuesday, Memorial Baptist Church in Columbia will function as a polling place. But after the polls close, Pastor Kevin Glenn hopes to bring voters from all different perspectives together.

  “People of faith have become known more for their political affiliation than for their proclamation of the way of Jesus and his ethic of unconditional love,“ he said.

Columbia’s Hispanic population is growing, and so are opportunities for worship in Spanish.

The majority of Columbia Hispanics are still Catholic, but a Pentecostal congregation and the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are among those reaching out by ministering in Spanish.

Columbia’s Hispanic population is growing, and so are opportunities for worship in Spanish.

The majority of Columbia Hispanics are still Catholic, but a Pentecostal congregation and the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are among those reaching out by ministering in Spanish.

Craig Roberts teaches plant science at the University of Missouri. But he also has another passion: music. He’s spent the past few years helping with a new project – a book of Christian hymns entitled “Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs.” If you appreciate poetry, there’s a good chance you’ll like this.

Looking at the big picture, hymns have always been an important part of church life -- at least, according to Mark Noll. He teaches history at Notre Dame University. He’s also co-edited books on the history of hymns in American Protestantism. 

In this week's Faith and Values update, we take a trip to the Museum of Art and Archaeology at MU, where the current exhibit explores the divine in Hindu art.

For just $1, congregants at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church could purchase a square of the old orange carpet that used to cover the sanctuary floor.

“People either hated the carpet or loved the carpet,” said Urb Molitor. He’s the head of the building committee for the church’s recent renovation. 

The congregation celebrated the completion of the renovation Sunday with an open house. They had food in the fellowship hall, a bounce house out back and music on the portico. Members mingled in the new narthex, admiring the extra space and new doors and windows.

Hundreds of volunteers packaged thousands of food packages to send to hunger-stricken countries during CRUSH Hunger on Sunday. 

Remember those old sayings about not talking religion and politics? Well, this week's faith and values update has both. We’re looking at the faith angle of Republican Congressman Todd Akin’s campaign.

Akin has been criticized since he made a comment about what he called “legitimate rape,” which he later apologized for. He recently made the news again for saying his opponent in the Senate race, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, was more “ladylike” in a previous campaign.