The artificial intelligence arm of Facebook parent company Meta has turned to widely translated religious texts like the Bible to provide data for its Massively Multilingual Speech project, which aims to expand text-to-speech and speech-to-text technology to underserved languages.
Read MoreThe daughter of former Hillsong Church leader Brian Houston and her husband have resigned as global pastors of Hillsong Young & Free, the Australia-based church’s youth ministry. The resignations of Peter and Laura Toganivalu, nicknamed “The Toggsys,” were announced by Phil Dooley, the recently appointed global senior pastor of Hillsong Church, May 7 during a worship service, Church Leaders reported.
Read MoreFive women in California have filed a lawsuit alleging that the International Churches of Christ perpetrated a “systemic scheme of abuse” that included the sexual abuse of children as young as three years old and financial abuse of its members.
Read MoreA Dallas-area church, St. Andrew United Methodist Church of Plano, with more than 6,500 members said it will disaffiliate with the United Methodist Church and will remain independent while it investigates alliances with other Methodist denominations.
Read MoreAccording to the 2022 Bank of America Private Bank Study of Wealthy Americans, most well-to-do people of all ages feel compelled to give to philanthropic causes. However, although 82% of parents believe their children share the same vision and goals when it comes to giving, members of younger generations feel the need to pave their own way in the world of philanthropy.
Read MoreThe U.S. State Department is investigating claims that Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, a refugee resettlement agency in the Washington, D.C., region, has mistreated Afghan refugees.
Read MoreThe FBI has raided four churches in connection with an investigation into alleged abuses of the GI Bill education program by House of Prayer Christian Church’s Bible seminaries. GI Bill benefits help veterans pay for college, graduate school and training programs.
Read MoreThree activists with a Texas pro-abortion rights group interrupted a service at Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch last weekend by stripping to their underwear and shouting, “My body, my choice,” “Overturn Roe,” “Hell no” and other epithet-laced slogans.
Read MoreA Washington, D.C.-area law firm has filed a complaint in a Virginia district court alleging Liberty University failed to properly investigate a student’s report that she was raped by another student and retaliated against her after she made the report.
Read MoreEmbezzlement will cost churches $170 billion in the year 2050 if current trends continue, according to Center for the Study of Global Christianity co-Director Todd Johnson. But while 1 in 3 churches will be victims of embezzlement, 27% won’t report the crime because members often have a hard time believing they have been victimized.
Read MoreResearch shows charitable donors prefer to give their time over money — even when it does less good for the cause — because they perceive it gives them more control over where their donation goes. But nonprofits, although they need both donors’ time and money to succeed, feel that financial gifts have the most impact.
Read MoreThe pastor of a New Hampshire church has been removed from his duties after being charged with possession of child pornography, but conditions of his bail require that he continue living at the church.
Read MoreThe University of Oregon plans to purchase the former Portland campus of Concordia University for $60.5 million and build a children’s behavioral health institute on the 13-acre site, funded by a $425 million gift from former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie, who is a University of Oregon graduate.
Read MoreA former member of John MacArthur’s megachurch says she was publicly shamed by the pastor in 2002 for her decision to leave her abusive husband and defy church counsel, according to The Roys Report. MacArthur told his congregation it was necessary for him to call out Eileen Gray, who had rejected church elders’ direction to reconcile.
Read MoreA network known for religious programming ranging from talk shows to music programs and preaching from celebrity pastors will join the news business later this month with a program hosted by former Fox News correspondent Doug McKelway and journalist Blynda Layne.
Read MoreAn upcoming Discovery+ documentary series on embattled Hillsong Church was produced to purposely hurt the church, interim head pastor Phil Dooley said in a Feb. 19 message livestreamed on YouTube. Discovery+ released the trailer for “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed,” on YouTube Feb. 16. The series is set to premiere March 24.
Read MoreStudents at Gordon College organized a rally “in solidarity with women and the LGBTQA+ community” after a speaker made what were characterized as misogynistic and transphobic remarks during a chapel service.
Read MoreA Chicago circuit court has dismissed an appeal from a former pastor in an Evangelical Covenant-connected church who said he lost his position after the ECC took too long to investigate a sexual abuse claim against him that was eventually dismissed.
Read MoreCapitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. has reached a $220,000 settlement with the District of Columbia and Mayor Muriel Bowser in a civil case filed over the District’s restrictions on gatherings at places of worship during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreA church that previously filed a fraudulent deed claiming ownership of Jeffrey Epstein’s Florida mansion is now claiming ownership of his Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe.
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