Posts in North America
The King’s College Permanently Shuts Down Following Financial Woes

The King’s College, a private four-year Christian school based in New York City, will permanently close, the school said. “Despite a thorough search for such a partner, the Board has been unable to secure the support necessary to present a plan to resume operations by the July 15 … deadline granted to us by the New York State Education Department.”

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Angels And Witches: How Supernatural Beliefs Vary In The US

(ANALYSIS) As sociologists who research the social dynamics of religion in the United States, we conducted a nationally representative survey in 2021. Our survey posed dozens of questions to 2,000 Americans over the age of 18 on a wide range of beliefs in supernatural phenomena — everything from belief in the devil to belief in the magical power of crystals.

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Judge Partially Blocks Enforcement Of Planned Parenthood Defunding

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Monday partially granting Planned Parenthood’s request to prevent enforcement of the defund measure included in the recent budget reconciliation bill approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.

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Mamdani’s Last Name Reflects Centuries Of Cultural Exchange

(ANALYSIS) When Zohran Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City, political observers noted his progressive platform and legislative record. But understanding the Democratic candidate’s background requires examining the rich cultural tapestry woven into his very surname: Mamdani.

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Rails To Redemption: A 9,000-Mile Spiritual Journey Across America

On a summer night in 2023, Rajah Bose boarded the midnight train out of Spokane, Washington, with John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charlie” in his backpack and a burning question that he couldn’t articulate. The 45-year-old photojournalist and musician was embarking on a 9,000-mile journey across America by rail, from the Pacific Northwest to New York and, finally, back home.

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Does Religious Affiliation Make Someone More Resistant to Societal Changes?

(ANALYSIS) Things are moving in another direction, no doubt. Some people embrace that change and look forward to a more diverse America, while others pine for a country that they think existed five or six decades ago. But what portion is in each camp?

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Mainline Pastors Less Likely To Hold Historic Christian Doctrine

While there are likely numerous theological differences between evangelical, Catholic and Black Protestant pastors, they share core convictions that aren’t as common among mainline pastors.

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‘I Will Always Be a Jew’: Billy Joel On His Family’s Holocaust History

In the second installment of “And So It Goes,” HBO’s new two-part documentary about Billy Joel, the Piano Man explains why he wore a yellow Star of David in August 2017, during his residency at Madison Square Garden, in his most extensive filmed account of his family’s experience in the Holocaust. “No matter what, I will always be a Jew,” he said.

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Evangelical Pastors More Likely To Be Bivocational These Days

Working nine to five doesn’t cut it for many pastors. Neither does working strictly at one church. The National Survey of Religious Leaders (NSRL) report revealed 35 percent of all clergy in the U.S. serve bivocationally, holding an additional job outside of their congregational ministry.

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Welcome Back, Carter: Faith Helps Texas Rangers’ ‘Little Savior’ Overcome Setbacks

Evan Carter helped the Texas Rangers win the World Series in 2023. But Carter — still just 22 — has faced multiple challenges over the past two seasons. He talked to Religion Unplugged about his journey as a ballplayer and, more importantly, as a person of deep Christian faith. “Baseball is what I do, but I try and not make it, as the cliché goes, who I am,” he said.

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On Religion: After Justice Kennedy, SCOTUS Still Wrestles With Faith And Culture Wars

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy retired in 2018, but religious-liberty activists still want to know where he hoped to draw a bright line between religious freedom and the sexual revolution. Kennedy knew that the First Amendment's declaration that government “shall make no law ... prohibiting the free exercise of religion” was creating warfare in modern American law and politics. But he didn't know how to end the strife.

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Influential Evangelical Preacher And Author John MacArthur Dies at 86

Longtime pastor, author and teacher John F. MacArthur died July 14 after a short battle with pneumonia. MacArthur, 86, pastored Grace Community Church in the Los Angeles area for 56 years. “At the center of Dr. MacArthur’s ministry was an unwavering commitment to declare God’s truth, and Pastor John preached the Word in season and out of season,” the church said on its website. 

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100 Years Since The Scopes Trial: Evolution, Religion and America’s Classroom Conflicts

(ANALYSIS) One hundred years ago this month, Americans were transfixed as a Tennessee courtroom hosted challenge to the state’s new law barring “the teaching of the Evolution Theory” in public schools, including colleges. The prohibition covered “any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible.

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IRS Allows Churches to Endorse Candidates: Will Much Actually Change?

(ANALYSIS) A 1954 law barring churches and pastors from endorsing or opposing candidates for public office will no longer be enforced, the Internal Revenue Service said.

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Gateway Megachurch Reduces Number of Services, Hires Executive Pastor

The Dallas-area Gateway megachurch is reducing the number of services at its campuses each weekend. According to a Gateway spokesperson, it will be cutting Saturday services at all of its campuses, except its flagship Southlake campus.

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⛈️ Grief And Guilt: Parents Who’ve Lost Children Reflect On Texas Flooding Deaths 🔌

The grief. The guilt. The giant fog. Matt Collins can’t help but experience the catastrophic Texas flooding — especially the deaths of children in a sudden natural disaster — through a deeply personal lens.

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Following Pressure, Baylor Returns Grant To Study LGBTQ ‘Inclusion’

Baylor University’s president announced in a letter Wednesday (July 9) that the school has rescinded a grant toward the study of “disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals and women” in churches. The move came after Baylor’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work announced on June 30 that it had received a grant of nearly $644,000 toward its Center for Church and Community Impact, also called C3I.

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Bill Moyers Saw What Newsrooms Missed: Faith Still Matters

(ANALYSIS) Moyers died on June 26 at the age of 91, after a long and complex career in which he served as a speech writer and press secretary for President Lyndon B. Johnson, followed by decades of work with CBS, NBC and PBS. However, before that, the Rev. Bill Moyers was a Southern Baptist pastor in Texas towns like Brandon and Weir. He was proud of those roots and his convictions as a progressive Baptist.

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