(ANALYSIS) On July 5, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is encouraging its American members to participate in a special fast: a day to “express gratitude for religious liberty and to pray that it be strengthened throughout the world,” in the words of its top three leaders.
Read MoreEighteen pastors and church workers, including Senior Pastor Ezra Jin, remain in detention. In an interview with The Free Press published May 11, Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, also disclosed previously unreported details of a 2021 incident in which she alleges her father was drugged.
Read MoreWhile many Christian colleges face financial challenges and closures, Biola University is expanding by acquiring Phoenix Seminary’s assets and establishing a Phoenix branch of Talbot School of Theology. The move will create one of the nation’s largest interdenominational seminaries and broaden Biola’s regional reach.
Read MorePhysical health and religious practice can help you live longer. Research points to religious involvement being positively correlated with longer life spans. Frequent religious attendance is associated with an average reduction in mortality risk of approximately 34%. In a nationwide BYU study, frequent religious attendees lived seven years longer than non-attenders.
Read MoreWho is AI for and who is it leaving behind? Those were the central questions of Pope Leo’s first encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” (“Magnificent Humanity”). By addressing the challenge and comparing it to the Industrial Revolution, the pope positioned the Catholic Church not as a casual observer of the tech age change, but an active participant in shaping its future.
Read MoreA grassroots movement to designate June as “Fidelity Month” is gaining support from faith leaders, public officials and advocates who say it promotes faithfulness to God, family, community and country, encouraging Americans to reclaim values they believe are foundational to a thriving society.
Read MoreLand of Milk and Honey Farms in Deep Gap, North Carolina — nestled in a mountainous region called the High Country — has found a niche: Faith-based agritourism, offering visitors nature, serenity and even cuddle sessions with lambs. The farm’s name was inspired by a Bible passage in which God promises his people “a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Read MoreMatthew Peterson speaks with reporter Joseph Maina about how African AI developers are using their skills to in church services and how pastors view the rise of artificial intelligence.
Read MoreA court in central China, issued verdicts on May 22 against 31 members of a house church fellowship in one of the largest coordinated prosecutions of Christians in recent years.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The United States is prepared to provide $100 million in humanitarian assistance to Cuba, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on May 13. But there’s a catch.
Read MoreOnline sports gambling is sweeping the nation, luring Americans with promises of harmless fun, easy money, and community. And Christians are not immune — many have embraced it as morally acceptable. But as addiction rates climb, few ministries or churches appear to be stepping in to help.
Read MoreGuns to Gardens has been turning unwanted firearms into garden tools and art for over a decade. Since 2013, this faith-based safe disposal movement has destroyed and repurposed an estimated 13,000-plus guns across the country. The guns are clamped to a table, cut apart and transformed into a pick mattock — a hand tool for loosening soil.
Read More(ANALYSIS) With the release of his encyclical letter “Magnifica Humanitas” on May 25, Pope Leo XIV has signaled that he wants the church to respond to artificial intelligence much as a predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, responded to upheavals during the Industrial Revolution over a century ago.
Read MoreA new Pew Research survey shows that at least some political messages emerge during sermons or formal teaching from clergy — but most churchgoers aren’t aware of their pastor’s political leanings.
Read MoreParents are open to Scripture engagement, but are stymied by challenges including work/family balance, fatigue and financial provision, the American Bible Society said in its latest release from the 2026 State of the Bible.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As Muslims gather for the annual pilgrimage of Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, they will circle around the “Kaaba,” a black cube draped in gold-embroidered cloth. A ceremonial textile — known as the “kiswah” — covers the Kaaba, around which Muslims will walk seven times in a ritual known as “tawāf.” It is the central act of the annual pilgrimage.
Read MoreAt the dawn of the new millennium in northern Nigeria, while a Christian man was petitioning God with his midnight prayers, his 19-year-old Muslim neighbor was calling upon Allah, also through prayer. What the Muslim teen didn’t know is that he would someday convert to Christianity, something that in the African nation can prove to be dangerous.
Read MoreThe new State of Theology in Canada Study surveyed more than 3,000 Canadians on 35 questions. Conducted by Lifeway Research and sponsored by Ligonier Ministries, the study sought to gauge the theological and cultural beliefs prominent in Canada.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In his first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV warned that artificial intelligence poses a profound threat to human dignity, labor and global stability if left unchecked. Calling for strong regulation and ethical oversight, he condemned AI-driven warfare, corporate concentration of power and profit-first development, framing AI as this century’s Industrial Revolution.
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