The pandemic was brutal on churches, but even the year before, the number of Protestant congregations in the U.S. had gone backward by approximately 1,500. The Southern Baptist Convention lost more than 1,000 churches in 2020, 2021 and 2022 each. Although the 2024 ACP survey also reported a loss, it was a significantly lower figure at 292.
Read MoreSpearheading one of a growing number of attempts among evangelicals to empower clergy and laypeople to reframe the political divide, the creators of “The After Party” hope to foster conversations that will not only promote healing but enable those engaged to participate in public life in ways that are constructive, rather than chronically divisive.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, Father Stephen Noll felt a sense of loss when he learned he would need a smartphone app to attend baseball games. Noll calls himself a “digital dinosaur, perhaps from the Jurassic period.” What he didn't expect, after 50 years of priesthood, was for this digital divide to affect his ministry.
Read MoreGordon College, a Christian school in Wenham, Massachusetts, could be required to pay back more than $7 million of COVID-19 relief funds. The school contested, arguing that its request for loan forgiveness was denied because of religious discrimination.
Read MoreAs the pandemic receded, churches discovered unexpected benefits to their newly adopted tech. Some even saw the forced change as an opportunity to reimagine church. They brainstormed how to enhance livestream service quality and deepen connections with congregants through online platforms. But others have cautioned against too much tech adoption.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This bitter divide resurfaced during the May 11 Benedictine College commencement speech by Harrison Butker, a three-time Super Bowl champion from the nearby Kansas City Chiefs. While remarks about women and family life dominated headlines, most of the placekicker's 20-minute address focused on divisions inside Catholicism.
Read MoreFears of AI are not the only things driving public concern about the end of the world. Climate change and pandemic diseases are also well-known threats. Reporting on these challenges and dubbing them a potential “apocalypse” has become common in the media — so common, in fact, that it might go unnoticed, or may simply be written off as hyperbole.
Read More(OPINION) I finally got the coronavirus. But thanks to the luck of not getting it in 2020, say, and thanks to the hard work of public health officials, and thanks to vaccines and antivirals, I knew I wasn’t likely to end up on a ventilator or in a coffin, even though I’m an at-risk patient.
Read MoreHouses of worship with predominantly Black congregations suffered the most in terms of attendance and donations. At the same time, they did more to promote COVID-19 testing and vaccinations throughout the pandemic.
Read MoreMany U.S. churches are rebounding from the pandemic, but many challenges remain, a new report reveals. The study, funded by the Lilly Endowment and led by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, offered a snapshot of this evolving landscape.
Read More(OPINION) The current state of the world creates a real feeling of insecurity and uncertainty, as if everything is old and crumbling, as if nothing is stable or trustworthy, as if no one is clean. This is where we step in, not to preach religion but to preach Jesus, not to sell a product or a personality but to point people to the only One who can truly save and deliver and forgive and transform.
Read MoreFaith helped a COVID-19 patient and his family survive life support, a double lung transplant and 330 days in the hospital. Nearly a year after going home, Danny Mills has some normalcy back in his life, but he still lives with constant reminders of what he went through.
Read MoreIn an email to parents on Feb. 6, The King’s College announced it was experiencing a “funding shortfall of approximately $2.6 million for the spring semester, due primarily to the timing of pending income.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops assembled in Baltimore to elect a new president. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Services, tasked with overseeing Catholic ministries to members of the U.S. armed forces, was elected to lead the USCCB. What does it mean for the Catholic Church in the United States?
Read MoreEven before the pandemic, a church in central Ohio struggled to increase its flock, much less match the area’s rapid growth. The past few years only exacerbated the numerical concerns as the congregation — like many churches — grappled with COVID-19 restrictions, George Floyd’s murder and the nation’s political polarization.
Read MoreChinese Cardinal Joseph Zen, an outspoken Catholic cleric arrested on national security charges earlier this year, and four others will stand trial starting this week in a Hong Kong courtroom. The 90-year-old activist and religious freedom fighter was arrested last May in connection with his role as administrator of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund.
Read MoreItalians will vote in national elections on Sunday. If polls are correct, then history could be made once the votes are counted. Giorgia Meloni, who heads the Brothers of Italy party, could become the country’s first female prime minister since the nation became a republic in 1946. Here’s everything you need to know about her faith and politics.
Read More(REVIEW) We are all consumers of news. Many have shunned the news altogether in recent years. Increasingly, Christians are those people — especially the mainstream media — because they don’t see in it the values that reflect their lives. If you’re one of those people, then a new book out now helps you understand why and how to fix it.
Read MoreDesperate to save a beloved older Christian, a North Carolina church ran an ad asking for a volunteer. A young woman hundreds of miles away responded.
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