Christianity
The bottom line: Weiss (a liberal Jew who is married to another woman) has demonstrated a strong belief that real religious believers, acting on real religious beliefs, can shape real news events in the real world.
(ESSAY) In a world where sports and spirituality don’t often intersect, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt stood as a remarkable exception. Best known as the chaplain and No. 1 fan of Loyola University Chicago’s men’s basketball team, Sister Jean captured the hearts of millions during the team's improbable March Madness runs.
Next year, a new feature-length presentation of the Crucifixion will hit the big screen. It’ll mark the culmination of the much-anticipated Season 6 of the worldwide phenomenon “The Chosen.” What should viewers expect? Will it be similar to — or different from — “The Passion” version?
The ongoing federal government shutdown furloughed 57 members of The Commonwealth of Faith Church in Michigan, where a third of the 350 attendees are federal workers, including bivocational Pastor Torion Bridges and his wife Jasmine.
(ANALYSIS) A reporter asked the Pope about the decision to give a U.S. Senator Dick Durbin a lifetime achievement award. The problem: Durbin consistently backs abortion rights and remains barred from receiving Holy Communion in Springfield, Illinois, his home diocese.
(ANALYSIS) The question of whether Christianity is under attack, especially in the United States, is a complex and deeply polarizing one. Is it discrimination? Is it part of an overall decline? Is it a cultural shift? It could very well be a combination of all three.
Most pastors are confident their churches are helping people grow as Christians. Just don’t ask them how they know that. In the second part of the State of Discipleship study from Lifeway Research, U.S. Protestant pastors describe their congregations’ discipleship approaches and reveal data behind some key spiritual growth metrics.
La historia de la Iglesia San Francisco en Valparaíso está tan entrelazada con la ciudad portuaria chilena que, cuando un incendio destruyó el edificio en 2013, una vecina sintió que estaba perdiendo a un amigo.
(REVIEW) “House of David” is the flagship title of the newly launched “Wonder Project,” and Season 2 is the biggest launch title for its new subscription platform. The series delivers on epic battles, complex characters and biblical themes. It recounts the ascent of the biblical figure David, who eventually becomes the most renowned and celebrated king of Israel.
(ANALYSIS) If Charlie Kirk’s movement accomplishes its ambitious goals, it would rival America’s significant evangelical youth revival that erupted after World War II. “Parachurch” organizations formed during that era, like InterVarsity, The Navigators, Cru and YoungLife are all active today.
(ANALYSIS) Days after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi poured gasoline on raging national debates about social media chatter celebrating the 31-year-old activist's death. Prominent conservatives immediately rejected her words, noting that her use of the term “hate speech” is one that, historically, has been used by the hard left.
(ANALYSIS) The world went into lockdown in March and April of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic forced Americans to stay home on a scale unseen in our lifetimes. Now, nearly four years removed from the height of the crisis, it’s clear that if life were going to snap back to “normal,” it would have already happened.
(OPINION) “If you are there and you’re listening, I’d appreciate some help,” the writer prayed. The response was stone silence.
Dead Sea Scroll fragments and hundreds of other artifacts will be on display starting Nov. 22 at the Museum of the Bible’s “Dead Sea Scrolls: The Exhibition,” brought in partnership with the Israel Antiquities Authority.
(ANALYSIS) Young men have stopped leaving church in droves and are probably just as religious as young women at this point.
It’s time to play “spot the headline,” a game that I have — for decades — watched mainstream journalists play as they cover the papacy.
(ANALYSIS) The announcement that Bishop Sarah Mullally will become the next Archbishop of Canterbury marks an extraordinary milestone in the Church of England’s long and complex history — but also sets the stage for a challenging chapter ahead. Her appointment is as symbolic as it is strategic. It comes at a moment when the church is navigating both internal turmoil and a shifting role in British public life.
Robert Morris, the founder of Gateway Church in Dallas, on Thursday pleaded guilty to sexually abusing Cindy Clemishire in the 1980s, beginning when she was just 12.
(REVIEW) The online series does a solid job of translating the biblical story and characters into a sit-com workplace comedy format. But, like the Israelites looking for the promised land, it has a long way to go before it gets there. The first season of “The Promised Land” is available on YouTube now with new episodes releasing each week.
The Anglican Church of Uganda has unveiled a digital land information management system to curb rampant land grabbing that threatens its vast properties. Land grabbing remains one of the church’s most pressing challenges in Uganda. Illegal squatters and unscrupulous land dealers have deprived the institution of the property church leaders had planned to develop for religious schools and worship space.
(ANALYSIS) The question is whether Vatican leaders can build unity between bishops who back Pride Masses and those who approve Latin Masses.
(ANALYSIS) Many factors can shape how someone views abortion – gender, age and education, to name a few. Around the world, however, religious belief is the most powerful predictor that someone will disapprove, as I document in my 2025 book, “Fetal Positions.” Faith traditions’ teachings about abortion vary — and there is diversity of opinions within faiths, too.
(ANALYSIS) In our politically divided society, there are sharply differing reactions to the political rally combined with memorial tribute to Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on Sept. 10. But there is almost universal tribute to his young widow's moving testimony that she forgave his killer. There is also almost universal comment on the starkly contrasting words of President Trump immediately following.
Mike Bickle, former leader of International House of Prayer in Kansas City (IHOPKC), has “disqualified himself permanently from holding any such high and honorable office anywhere in the Body of Christ in his lifetime,” according to a Pastoral Recommendation Team report. Bickle “failed to live in a manner commensurate with the Gospel message.”
(OPINION) I went to sleep this past Saturday night with a heavy heart. Just before saying goodnight to my family, I had picked up my phone and saw an Instagram post stating that Russell M. Nelson, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had passed away just hours before. He had recently turned 101, so his passing was not wholly unexpected, but I felt a wash of grief hit me nonetheless.
(ANALYSIS) Russell M. Nelson, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2018 until his death, was a dynamic reformer despite his age. He streamlined church operations, pushed for gender equity and firmly reaffirmed conservative doctrines. His most far-reaching change was rejecting the term “Mormon,” calling it a win for Satan and urging use of the church’s full name.
Herbie Newell, the president and executive director of Lifeline Children’s Services — said the agency some U.S. families are using for their adoption — is cautiously hopeful that something can still be done to unite the 300 waiting children with their new parents.
Camp Mystic, a Christian girls camp where 27 campers and counselors died in the July 4 flooding along the Guadalupe River in Texas, has said it plans to host camps next summer. The owners said they plan to open Camp Mystic Cypress Lake to campers in the summer of 2026. The elevated Cypress Lake section of the campground opened in 2020 and operates independently from the older Guadalupe River camp, which was severely damaged by the floods.
Emir Caner’s tenure as Truett McConnell University (TMU) president ended on Friday. when trustees announced his firing from the Southern Baptist school in Cleveland, Georgia. The dismissal comes five months after it was reported that for years, Caner ignored allegations of grooming and sexual abuse by Bradley Reynolds, the school’s academic vice president. The woman alleging the abuse was TMU graduate and former soccer coach Hayle Swinson.
(ANALYSIS) I can’t imagine I will ever teach a course on Research Methods again, but it’s something that I actually really did enjoy at EIU. I led our incoming graduate students on a tour of how political science tries to answer questions every fall for at least eight years. It was a difficult course, no doubt. But I think that many of my students left with a lot of really practical skills and a much better understanding of research design.