Just weeks before the Boston Marathon bombing,Tamerlan Tsarnaev — the suspected mastermind of the plot — was still attending prayer services at a Cambridge mosque where he had previously caused disruptions and been threatened with eviction, a spokesman for the mosque said.

Yusufi Vali, a spokesman for the mosque, said that FBI agents have begun questioning members of the mosque about their interactions with the 26-year-old Tsarnaev, who was killed during a shootout with police last Friday, and his younger brother, Dzohkhar, who is still hospitalized and has been charged with helping carry out the attack.

As soon as mosque leaders learned of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s alleged involvement, “We immediately called law enforcement and said, ‘Listen, we’ve got folks who knew him and if you need any information, we’re here – and those folks have already met with the FBI.”

Read statement by the Islamic Society of Boston, operator of the mosque

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has told investigators he and his older brother acted alone, learning how to build the pressure cooker bombs by reading the al Qaeda propaganda magazine Inspire online. He said they plotted the bombing to defend Islam because of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, federal law enforcement officials tell NBC News. 

FBI agents have also begun reviewing the two brothers’ cellphone and email records and so far have found no sign of accomplices -- or connections to international terror groups, said a counterterrorism source who has been briefed on the investigation. 

But there are signs that Tamerlan had become radicalized — apparently from a friend in the United States named “Mischa” — described as a Russian of Armenian descent who was a relatively recent convert to Islam and who lived in Cambridge, according by Tsarnaev’s uncle, Ruslan Tsarni. Tsarni told NBC News that Mischa presented himself as an “exorcist” who specialized in “removing demons from people’s bodies.” He recounted hearing from his brother, Anzor, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar’s father, about an incident in 2007 when the father came home one night and found Mischa lecturing his son about Islamic ways. The father was outraged and ordered Mischa to leave the house. Shortly after that, he said, Tamerlan dropped out of school, telling his parents that music and the arts were incompatible with Islamic teachings.

Ruslan Tsarni said he has told the FBI about Mischa. NBC News has been unable to contact him, and Vali said that he is unaware of anybody in the mosque community who matches the description.

FBI agents are also trying to determine if there were other influences on Tamerlan Tsarnaev from people he may have met with during a six-month trip to Russia last year — during which he spent time in Chechnya and Dagestan, according to his father.

After the trip, a YouTube account was set up filled with postings of radical jihadi videos — including the sermons of Feiz Mohammed, a radical Muslim preacher from Australia who has been investigated by authorities for allegedly inciting violence. Authorities in that country have examined a series of sermons known as the “Death Series,” in which he describes Jews as “pigs” and encourages Muslim parents to offer up their children as soldiers to defend Islam.

Vali said that, after Tamerlan Tsarnaev was identified as a suspect in the Boston bombing last week, congregants reported two incidents in which he had disrupted services at the mosque. The most recent one took place on Martin Luther King Day in January, when Tsarnaev interrupted a talk by a speaker saying King could be compared to the prophet Mohammed.

 Tsarnaev stood up and called the speaker a “non-believer” and a “hypocrite,” he said. At that point, “the congregation yelled back, ‘You need to leave.” And then leadership had a conference with him, and told him, that you need to stay silent or you are not welcome here.”

Vali said that Tsarnaev returned to the mosque — as recently as last month — but there were no further disruptions.

 Related stories

• Boston Marathon bomb suspect charged with using weapon of mass destruction
• Doctors: All remaining Boston bomb patients likely to live
• Cops who cuffed bomb suspect: 'No time to be afraid'

This story was originally published on Mon Apr 22, 2013 6:52 PM EDT

Gregorio Borgia / AP

Pope Francis waves as he is driven through a crowd in St. Peter's Square prior to the start of his weekly general audience on Wednesday.

Twenty million Americans consider themselves lapsed Catholics, but Pope Francis is convincing many to test the holy waters again with his bold gestures and common touch.

After years of disenchantment with the church's hierarchy and teachings, former members of the flock say they are willing to give the Vatican a second chance under new leadership.

Dallas teacher Marilyn Rosa is one of them.

"It was a sign," Rosa, 57, said of the Argentine Jesuit's election as pontiff last month. "It was like a miracle."

Born and raised Catholic, Rosa attended parochial schools and had a church wedding for her first marriage. Over the years, she drifted away from the religion that had been such an integral part of her Puerto Rican family's life.

She questioned the relevance of church policies in the modern world. As a divorced woman, she felt cast out. The pedophile-priest scandals disgusted her.

Three years ago, she quit going to Mass and joined an evangelical church. But she didn't feel at home and she started to wonder how she could fill the void.

"The day the pope got elected, I turned on the TV and when I learned he was Latin, I went crazy at home," said Rosa.

"When they started to talk about how he lived by himself and didn't move into the archbishop's residence, how he took the bus to work, I said, 'I know God is talking to me. This is the man we needed.'"

On Palm Sunday, she and her second husband "reverted," attending services at Dallas' St. Pius X Catholic Church.

"It was packed. I had to stand up the whole time. But I felt so happy. It was like a revival," she said.

Ron Feldman

Father Peter Mussett of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center in Boulder, Colo., had five people tell him they were returning to the faith in a week because of Pope Francis.

Rosa has kept going to back to St. Pius, encouraged by what she's seen of the pope: from the simple white robe he wears to his rejection of the opulent papal apartment in favor of a spartan guest house.

"He's not letting himself be controlled by the rest of the church," Rosa said. "He's his own man."

Embrace of poor, emphasis on service
It's unknown how many others have joined Rosa around the country and globe and the vast majority of lapsed Catholics have not been enticed back. In the U.S., that's a huge pool of potential "new" members for an institution challenged by secularism and rival religions.

A 2009 report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimated one in 10 adults in the U.S. was raised Catholic but has broken with the church. Its teachings on abortion, homosexuality, birth control and treatment of women were often cited as reasons.

Pope Francis hasn't given any hint of radical change on those issues, but his man-of-the-people persona is appealing to some of the unfaithful.

Tom Peterson, president of Catholics Come Home, which airs ads aimed at the lapsed, said his website traffic tripled the day of the election, adding several thousand visitors. It's been double ever since.

Some interest could stem from the hubbub surrounding the selection of any pontiff, but Peterson thinks Francis' "love for the poor and his humility is exciting people to a great extent."

Father Peter Mussett, pastor of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center, which serves the University of Colorado at Boulder, agrees.

Slideshow: Pope Francis: His life before the papacy

Marcos Brindicci / Reuters

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected to lead the Catholic Church following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. 

Launch slideshow

"I had five people in a week who were saying, 'Pope Francis has inspired me to return to my faith,'" he said. "It's pretty remarkable."

Brian O'Neill, 48, an Irish-American cop from Washington State, went to Catholic elementary school and a Jesuit high school but hasn't practiced since graduating from a secular college. He says that could change soon.

The Vatican's stance on social issues, along with the gilded lifestyle of some higher-ups previously drove O'Neill away. Francis' embrace of the poor and his background as a service-minded Jesuit might bring the father of two back.

"I was shocked and amazed when he started doing those things -- you know, 'No Popemobile for me,'" said O'Neill, who wrote a column for his local newspaper about possibly returning to Catholicism.

He said that while Francis' views on church teachings might still be far from his own, his election heralds change.

"When the church says that's the guy we're going to put on St. Peter's throne, that says enough about where the church wants to go," O'Neill said. "Will I go back? I'm planning on it -- if I can find a good service."

'He's another retro pope'
Last weekend, when he was formally installed as bishop of Rome, the pope used the opportunity to appeal to defectors, urging them to come back to the fold.

The News Tribune (Tacoma)

Brian O'Neill, a cop and father of two from Washington state, is a lapsed Catholic who is considering returning to the church because of Pope Francis.

It will take more than an invitation for Kathy Budreski, though. The 70-year-old left Catholicism after the abuse scandal and has been attending a Unitarian church in Cape Cod.

She was heartened to see the cardinals pick a pope from South America, and loved seeing Francis hug a little boy with cerebral palsy after Easter Mass but says he's not a progressive.

"He has a big heart and he loves the poor people, but he's not going to do anything to change the stance of the church on birth control and gay rights," she said.

"I don't see him as a mover and shaker. He has some wonderful qualities but he's another retro pope."

Slideshow: The election of Pope Francis

/

Cardinals from around the world gathered in the Vatican to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Launch slideshow

Related:

Sex-abuse crisis: Experts draft to-do list for Pope Francis

'Peace to the whole world': Pope urges unity in Easter Sunday address

Pope chooses simple residence over regal papal apartment

Full coverage of Pope Francis from NBC News

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina have introduced a bill declaring that the state has the power to establish an official religion — a direct challenge to the First Amendment.

One professor of politics called the measure “the verge of being neo-secessionist,” and another said it was reminiscent of how Southern states objected to the Supreme Court’s 1954 integration of public schools.

The bill says that federal courts do not have the power to decide what is constitutional, and says the state does not recognize federal court rulings that prohibit North Carolina and its schools from favoring a religion.

The bill was introduced Monday by two Republican representatives from Rowan County, north of Charlotte, and sponsored by seven other Republicans. The party controls both chambers of the North Carolina Legislature.

The two lawmakers who filed the bill, state Reps. Harry Warren and Carl Ford, did not immediately return calls Wednesday from NBC News. 

The American Civil Liberties Union sued last month to stop the Rowan County Commission from opening meetings with Christian prayers. One of those prayers declared that “there is only one way to salvation, and that is Jesus Christ,” the ACLU said.

The bill does not specify a religion.

The North Carolina ACLU chapter said in a statement Tuesday that the sponsors of the bill “fundamentally misunderstand constitutional law and the principle of the separation of powers that dates back to the founding of this country.” 

North Carolina scholars also cast doubt on the bill.

“It has elements of not being American,” Gary Freeze, a professor of politics and history at Catawba College, told The Salisbury Post. “I think it goes far beyond religion and frankly doesn’t have a lot to do with North Carolina or tradition.”

Another professor at the college, Michael Bitzer, told the newspaper that the bill is based on discredited legal theory that the states can declare themselves exempt from federal law.

“We saw this in the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education,” he said, referencing the integration ruling. “The belief is that the states hold more power than the federal government. If the federal government does something, the states can simply ignore it.”

This story was originally published on Wed Apr 3, 2013 10:45 AM EDT

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has waded into a religious-infused campus controversy, asking the state university system chancellor to look into a classroom lesson at Florida Atlantic University in which students were instructed to stomp on sheets of paper that had "Jesus" written on them.

Scott said in a letter Tuesday to State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan that he was "deeply disappointed" by the recent incident in an intercultural communications class and said it raised questions about "the lessons being taught in our classrooms." He said he wanted a report on the incident and how it was handled, as well as a statement of the university's policies to ensure such "lessons" don't occur again.

"As we enter the week memorializing the events of Christ's passion, this incident gave me great concern over the lessons we are teaching our students," Scott wrote in the letter.

A FAU spokeswoman told NBC 6 that the university received Scott's letter and appreciated his perspective.

"Florida Atlantic University is deeply sorry for any hurt that this incident may have caused the community and beyond," wrote Lisa Metcalf, the school's director of media relations, in an email. "As an institution of higher learning, we embrace open discourse in our classrooms, but with that comes a level of responsibility. The exercise was insensitive and hurtful; it will not be used again."

She added that lessons learned from the incident "will help us ensure our educational opportunities always reflect the university’s core values."

Youngest Bachelor's Graduate at FAU Gets Master's

Scott cited news reports indicating students were told by the class instructor to write "Jesus" in large letters on a sheet of paper and to place the paper on the floor in front of them. The students were given a brief time of reflection and then were told to step on the paper and tell the class how they felt.

The exercise has outraged religious leaders such as the Rev. Mark Boykin, who plans to lead a march from his Boca Raton church to FAU to condemn the assignment next week.

"We find this to be unconscionable, completely unprofessional and unacceptable," he said.

At least one student found it so unacceptable that he refused to participate. Ryan Rotela, a devout Mormon and a junior at FAU's Davie campus, claims he was punished for doing so.

His lawyer Hiram Sasser shared the notice of charges that Rotela received from FAU for violating the student code of conduct.

"You are requested to attend a Student Conduct Conference," the notice read.

"In the interim, you may not attend class (SPC 3710) or contact any of the students involved in this matter – verbally or electronically – or by any other means," the notice stated.

Dr. Charles Brown, FAU's senior vice president of student affairs, said that Rotela was never up for punishment for refusing to participate in the exercise, however.

"We apologize to all of our students and the community and people beyond the community who felt it was too sensitive," Brown said.

Scott applauded Rotela, whom he spoke with on Tuesday, "for having the courage to stand up for his faith."

"I told him that it took great conviction and bravery to stand up and say what he was asked to do was wrong, and went against what he believed in," Scott said in a statement.

Sasser said that Rotela is again in good standing with the university. He has re-enrolled in the class, but one that is being taught by a different professor.

Florida Gov. Scott to Universities: No More Tuition Hikes

State University System spokeswoman Kim Wilmath said officials would work closely with FAU in preparing a response to Gov. Scott's concerns.

"The State University System prides itself not only on its commitment to academic freedom, but at the same time, its awesome responsibility to the people it serves," she said in a written statement. "We are gratified to know that FAU has apologized for any offense the exercise has caused and has pledged never to use this exercise again. Clearly, there were things the university could have done differently by its own acknowledgement."

The governor didn't seem satisfied with the apology, saying it was "in many ways inconsequential to the larger issue of a professor's poor judgment."

"The professor's lesson was offensive, and even intolerant, to Christians and those of all faiths who deserve to be respected as Americans entitled to religious freedom," Scott said in his letter. "Our public higher educational institutions are designed to shape the minds of Florida's future leaders. We should provide educational leadership that is respectful of religious freedom of all people."

This story was originally published on Wed Mar 27, 2013 8:08 AM EDT

Los Angeles County Coroner’s officials on Sunday were examining a human skull and bones found at a burned makeshift backyard altar at the home of a woman who police said practices Santería.

The discovery was made Sunday before 1 p.m. when the Pasadena Police Department responded to a report of a possible trespasser in the 800 block of North Oakland Avenue, police said.

"Having human bones is a little disconcerting," said Pasadena Lt. Ed Calatayud. "We respect everyone's religious right to practice. Our focus is on the bones."

Calatayud said it is not always illegal to have human bones. He said those who study bones for science, for example, can have them legally.

The case was uncovered when police found what appeared to be a makeshift altar, adorned with burned artifacts, animal bones, incense and candles, police said.

Read more from NBCLosAngeles.com

Investigators and the personnel from the coroner's office responded to the home to collect the items for further analysis, police said.

Santería is a syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin influenced by Roman Catholic Christianity.

Pastor Rob Morris of Newtown's Christ the King Lutheran Church provided the closing benediction at an interfaith event following the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 16.

Published at 6:33 a.m. ET: A Connecticut Lutheran pastor has apologized for participating in an interfaith prayer vigil for the 26 children and adults killed at a Newtown elementary school in December because his church bars its clergy from worshipping with other faiths.

The December prayer vigil was attended by President Barack Obama, leaders from Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths, and relatives of the 20 first graders who were gunned down in their classrooms two days earlier after a gunman entered their school.

The Dec. 14 shooting shook the nation and led to calls for improved school security, gun control and better mental health care.

The pastor, Rob Morris of Newtown's Christ the King Lutheran Church, provided the closing benediction at the interfaith event on Dec. 16.

Earlier this month, the president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Pastor Matthew Harrison, wrote a letter to church members saying he had requested an apology from Morris for his participation in "joint worship with other religions."

"There is sometimes a real tension between wanting to bear witness to Christ and at the same time avoiding situations which may give the impression that our differences with respect to who God is, who Jesus is, how he deals with us, and how we get to heaven, really don't matter in the end," Harrison wrote.

"There will be times in this crazy world when, for what we believe are all the right reasons, we may step over the scriptural line," he wrote.

Harrison said he had accepted Morris' apology.

This is not the first time a Lutheran leader has been chastised for participating in a community service in the wake of a local tragedy.

'False teaching'
David Benke, a Lutheran pastor in New York, was suspended for praying at an interfaith vigil in 2001, 12 days after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Benke, who had refused to apologize for the incident, was reinstated in 2003.

In his own letter to his church, Morris wrote that it was not his intent to endorse "false teaching" and apologized to those who believed he had.

"I did not believe my participation to be an act of joint worship, but one of mercy and care to a community shocked and grieving an unspeakably horrific event," he wrote. "I apologize where I have caused offense by pushing Christian freedom too far, and I request you charitably receive my apology."

Related:

Full coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting from NBC News

Fierce debate after Newtown school shootings: Where was God?

People of Newtown pray and grieve together

Dave Kaup / for NBC News

Eagle Scout Addison Jones, 15, holds hands during a hymn with parishioners of the Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ in Kansas City, Mo., on "Scout Sunday."

If prayer can't sway Boy Scouts board members as they vote whether to end the organization's ban on gays, it won't be for lack of trying.

The Boy Scouts of America announcement last week that it may eliminate the exclusion of gays from membership at the national level, leaving the decision to its local units, has drawn a harsh backlash from some of the organization's more religious conservative members, who are "gravely distressed," even as more liberal churches hailed the move.

With more than two-thirds of Scouting groups affiliated with religious bodies, faith plays a large role in the private youth organization.

"I think it’s clear that the Scouts have made a sea change in who they are and that down the road they will be a different organization than they are today,” said Roger “Sing” Oldham, spokesman for the conservative Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, whose leader, Frank S. Page, urged for a prayer to be held among congregations on Sunday that the board members would not allow gays.

“I think there are a lot of parents and students who will make the decision to look for other organizations that are more in line with the principles that they espouse,” he said. 

The Scouts' began National Executive Board and Committee meetings on Monday, and a decision on the gay ban is expected Wednesday.

The Scouting movement has heavy involvement from religious groups, with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the United Methodist Church and the Catholic Church together sponsoring more than 1 million Scouts, according to Boy Scouts data for 2011. Overall, faith-based groups sponsored nearly 70 percent of the more than 100,000 Scouting units that year, compared with civic organizations backing 23 percent and educational outfits 8 percent.

In the Scout Oath, youth pledge to do their "duty to God," and the organization holds special celebrations in tandem with churches, such as “Scout Sunday,” just ahead of the Feb. 8 anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts in 1910. This year, "Scout Sunday" was held Feb. 3 in a number of congregations across the country, and people on social media reported troops receiving their religious medals and posted pictures of Scouts in uniform at church. The BSA offers a guide to the church observance on its website.

“Boy Scouts are like baseball and apple pie,” said Rev. Chase Peeples of the gay-friendly Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ in Kansas City, Mo., which honored Scouts on Sunday and displayed on its front lawn a banner with a rainbow background reading, “We welcome ALL Boy Scouts.”

“And because churches have been the sponsoring organizations of most troops, that is why (allowing gays) is such a threat and the backlash has really been so harsh” by religious conservatives, he added.

For some who oppose gays in the Boy Scouts, the decision comes as an about-face just seven months after the organization said it was sticking with the policy following a confidential two-year review of the disputed membership guidelines.

That review was announced months after Jennifer Tyrrell was dismissed from her post as leader of her son’s Tiger Cubs den because she is a lesbian, and a few months before California teen Ryan Andresen was denied his Eagle award because he is gay.

Both cases made national headlines for several weeks, roiling the private youth organization. Some critics pointed to declining membership numbers as a sign that families were being turned off over the issue.

Greg Nelson, scoutmaster of Troop 754, chartered by the First United Methodist Church in St. Charles, Mo., said talk of sexuality had no place in the Scouts. He welcomed the change, saying it would have no impact on his troop, noting: “My boys are ahead of the curve on this, anyway.”

“Scouting does not have a Sexuality Merit Badge. We don't teach youth about their sexuality, and we aren't going to. It is too controversial, and we have a different job,” Nelson, 60, wrote to NBC News in an email. “When sexual issues come up in the troop we tell the boys that sexuality is private. It is not to be discussed in public. Scouting is a public organization. We tell them human intimacy is a gift from God and should be treated reverently and in this case, privately.”

Though the Southern Baptists have issued strong statements appealing the proposal, the Mormon church and the National Catholic Committee on Scouting have declined comment until the Boy Scouts make a final decision.

The United Methodist Men, which has as one of its missions to train youth to be leaders through ministries with the Boy Scouts, told supporters it knew there were “strong and legitimate concerns on both sides of this issue.” The group backed the Boy Scouts in a U.S. Supreme Court case opposing the inclusion of gays, which the BSA won in 2000.

“This is a BSA decision which we did not ask for,” Gilbert C. Hanke, general secretary of the General Commission of the United Methodist Men, wrote in a Jan. 31 statement posted online.

But the organization has endorsed the plan because it “will not change the way Scouting is conducted within our denomination,” he said, noting: “You choose the leaders, you recruit the Scouts, the leadership of your troop and pack reflects the traditions and values of your faith community.”

For some in that community, such an approach was welcome.

Karen Harrington, whose son is an Eagle Scout and whose husband is involved in Scouting through their Mormon-sponsored troops in Okemos, Mich., said she thought the BSA had come up with a “compromise that everyone can live with.”

“It would be wrong to force all Scout troops to accept gay leaders -- especially church-sponsored troops that object because of their religious beliefs,” Harrington, 54, wrote to NBC News. “The right to follow one's religious beliefs cannot be trumped by others' desires to express their sexual preference. There are multiple Scout troops in our little city -- plenty of room for variety of belief and interest.”

But for others, gays have no place in the Scouts.

Jordan E. Clay, a Mormon from Bloomington, Ill., who is an adviser to various local troops supported by his church, said he was saddened by the proposed change. He believed BSA was motivated by a fear of losing corporate sponsorship dollars, as it has in recent years from the likes of Intel and Merck, due to the policy.

“If the BSA abandons the moral and principled position it has defended, it will die on the vine,” Clay, 51, and an Eagle Scout, wrote. “It is only a viable organization today because it stands for something, and several large religious organizations throw their support toward the BSA precisely because it stands for something moral and good.”

After years of heartache, gay Scouts and supporters react warily over proposal to lift ban

Hanke and Page, of the Southern Baptist Convention, said the BSA had informed them of the proposal two weeks before it was announced publicly. Page said in an online statement he was “gravely distressed” when he first learned about it, and even more so when he learned that the recommendation to the full Scouts’ board had already been formalized.

When asked for comment on how some of the more conservative faiths were responding to the proposed policy change, Boy Scouts spokesman Deron Smith wrote to NBC News in an email: "We recognize, deeply respect and appreciate the sincere religious beliefs about this issue." He also said: "The process of this discussion was an internal dialogue, within the Scouting family, about what would be in the best interest of Scouting."

Jeff Swensen / for NBC News

Rev. Scott Thayer, a Boy Scout chaplain for the Ohio River Valley Council who is a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), supports changing the policy to welcome gays but has curbed his rhetoric at the local level to pastor to everyone, regardless of their stance on the controversial issue, during this emotional time.

Terry Howerton, who started the popular Scouting forum Scouter.com network in the mid-'90s, said there was a lot of “apocalyptic” chatter in the wake of the announcement, but he felt it was coming from outsiders trying to use the issue as a tool in the pop culture wars.

“There are enough current leaders … who I think love Scouting so much and understood that just as much as they would have argued in the past that this issue didn’t really affect their unit, they are kind of coming to the realization that a change in policy also doesn’t really affect their unit,” he said. “At the end of the day, that’s what’s great about this compromise, which seems so blatantly obvious.”

Obvious, he noted, because the Boy Scouts underwent similar passionate trials when the organization allowed African-American boys to join and women to serve as leaders –- all by letting the local units decide.

“Racially we went through this, and for women we went through this, and we’re going through the exact same thing with gays,” said Howerton, a 40-year-old entrepreneur from Evanston, Ill., who left the organization about five years ago over the policy but now is thinking of returning if gays are allowed.

Advocates on both sides of the issue have stepped up their campaigns ahead of the final decision: They’ve encouraged their backers to make their voices heard through a phone-in and email deluge, and Scout leaders ousted because they were gay will deliver petitions with more than one million signatures to Boy Scouts headquarters on Monday.

But the Rev. Scott Thayer, a Boy Scout chaplain for the Ohio River Valley Council who has quietly been working within the organization for years to change the policy to welcome gays, said as of late he has tried to stay out of the local conversation so he could “be the pastor for everybody, not just the ones who agree with me,” during this emotional time. (Bob Drury, a leader of the Ohio council to which Tyrrell also belonged, told NBC News that he has received positive and negative reactions to the possible change).

“There are people who are just, you know, hanging black crepe right now for the Scouts, and I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said Thayer, chaplain of Bethany College in West Virginia and a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which allows congregations to decide whether to welcome gays and sponsors some 35,000 youths who participate in the Boy Scouts.

“For the first time in a long time I feel really, really encouraged because of what’s going on,” he said. “I look forward to this year’s U.S. National (Scout) Jamboree and welcoming all kids and all adults who want to be in Scouting regardless of … who they love.”

If you are a current or former member of the Boy Scouts and would like to share your thoughts on how your troop, pack or council is handling the possibility of a change in the membership policy, you can email the reporter at miranda.leitsinger@msnbc.com. We may use some comments for a follow-up story, so please specify if your remarks can be used and provide your name, hometown, age, Boy Scout affiliation and a phone number.

Related stories: 

• Gay teen denied Eagle Scout: 'Change is happening' over Boy Scouts anti-gay policy
• Eagle Scouts return badges to protest policy banning gays
• Boy Scouts: We're keeping policy banning gays 

A Christian school in Thousand Oaks, Calif., is suing two former teachers who threatened a lawsuit over the school's requirement to provide proof of faith.

When the Godspeak Church bought Little Oaks Elementary in 2009, it started requiring employees to fill out questionnaires that asked whether they attended church, which church they attended and what the pastor had to say about their beliefs.

"We do believe their personal rights were violated," said the teachers' attorney, Dawn Coulson.

Coulson said Lynda Serrano and Mary Ellen Guevara received their questionnaires last summer. After they refused to fill out the form, they were not rehired. The teachers then filed paperwork saying they intended to sue.

The school's attorney, Rick Kahdeman, said the church exercised its constitutional right to freedom of religion. He said that trumps any claim the teachers may have under state equal employment laws.

"The teachers chose not to [fill out the paperwork], and they knew it was a condition of employment," Kahdeman said.

More from NBCLosAngeles.com

Coulson contends that California's employment laws protect her clients, in part, because the school northwest of Los Angeles was purchased by a church as a for-profit entity, not a nonprofit. She said employers can't require such questionnaires as a basis for employment, even if they are churches.

"That would be like the church buying shares in IBM, and IBM saying, 'We can now discriminate, based on religion,'" Coulson said.

"That issue is totally irrelevant because the rights of the school come from the First Amendment to the Constitution," Kahdeman countered.

Kahdeman is suing the two teachers and their attorneys in federal court.