A rise in “anti-conversion” laws is causing greater persecution of Indian Christians in states ruled by India’s Bharatiya Janata Party. There have been targeted attacks on pastors and nuns, and churches and Christian schools have been vandalized.
Read MoreTwo Christian women, 18 years and a half-continent apart, faced painfully similar decisions — what to do about the baby. Yet, a generation later, their work with women and children confronting difficult circumstances has brought them to different conclusions about abortion.
Read More(ANALYSIS) K-pop group BTS is having its best year yet. The seven-member Korean boy band topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, broke 13 new Guinness World Records hitting a total of 23 and visited the White House. The band draws on the spirituality of self-realization, psychology, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Greek mythology and more to create its fictional universe.
Read MoreAfter years of persecution culminating in the assassination of its founder, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints migrated from Illinois to Utah in the mid-nineteenth century. Since then, the churchhas helped build the state into a religious and economic stronghold with Salt Lake City as its crown jewel. Now, the crown jewel is in peril.
Read MoreA political storm has erupted after Jammu-Kashmir’s Chief Electoral Officer Hridesh Kumar recently announced that anybody living and working or studying in the contested Jammu-Kashmir region, even temporarily, can vote in the assembly elections, likely next year.
Read MoreAs church attendance numbers shrink nationwide that was made worse by the pandemic, these sister congregations in Nashville see their future under the mantra “Greater Together.”
Read MoreWe visited one of the first churches in downtown Honolulu — Kawaiahao Church — that was made from white corral and dedicated in 1842. Nicknamed the “Westminster Abbey of the Pacific,” the church offers services in Hawaiian and English each Sunday. Unfortunately, my trip was from a Monday to Saturday, which meant I wouldn’t be able to visit a service. Everywhere we went in downtown and on the outskirts of Honolulu seemed infused with Houses of Worship and spiritual meaning.
Read MoreIndentured laborers from India brought their specific brand of worship under the overarching Hindu and Muslim traditions when they came to Guyana in the 19th century. Now, Guyanese people of Indian descent form a little over 44% of the country’s population. It’s no coincidence the country also has the largest population of Hindus in the Western Hemisphere.
Read MoreIn July, after five years of work, Father Francesco Patton inaugurated the multimedia exhibition “The Experience of Resurrection,” housed at the Franciscans’ Christian Information Center located inside the Old City of Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate. The 656-square-foot installation, spread over six rooms, takes 40 minutes to view.
Read MoreAmid increased attacks against migrants, faith-based groups around South Africa are launching several projects to counter xenophobia. The interfaith community has developed a national Hate Crimes Working group that is speaking out against violent attacks and providing practical help to victims.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As late as 1970, according to figures from the Cremation Association of America, only about 5% of American chose cremation over burial. But in 2020, more than 56% Americans opted for it. And by 2035, the he National Funeral Directors Association predicts nearly 80% of Americans will opt for cremation.
Read MoreChristine Eddy spent the last three years of her life fine-tuning the story she had kept secret most of her days. She had been married to, and raised a family with, a white supremacist. Her Catholic faith kept her fighting for her marriage and for her husband.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Crystals aren’t just eye-catching stones. Quartz is used in electronics because it possesses piezoelectric properties that cause it to release an electric charge when compressed. But, as skeptics are quick to point out, there is no evidence crystals can bring health, prosperity or any of the other properties that crystal enthusiasts may attribute to them.
Read MoreFrom the beginning of their journey into the Orthodox faith, Meghan and Michael Jones were metaphysically connected to Alaska. But their sense of calling to spread the gospel, expand the church and launch socially redemptive initiatives eventually led the couple and their four children to Fiji.
Read MoreThere has been an increase in crimes committed against houses of worship across North America, predominantly aimed at Catholic churches, since last year. Many of these incidents have taken place in the weeks prior and after the Supreme Court decision to roll back federal abortion rights.
Read MoreOrthodox Christians in North America and around the world already are venerating the Alaskan matriarch for her care and concern for abused women.
Read MoreLike many others, 66-year-old Mayan Rosalina Tuyuc has been scarred by Guatemala’s decades-long civil conflict that officially ended in 1996, but from which the country has yet to recover. Raised Catholic, she has now learned to also look to her ancestors’ Indigenous spirituality for healing and answers.
Read MoreEstimates vary, but many agree that at least 30% of the world’s population has no access to the gospel, often because of the hostile environment in which they live. The goal of 2414, a coalition of church planting movements including Beyond, is to reach those people groups with a model that will have a lasting impact.
Read MoreFor years, Fairfax church members — including older Christians such as Harrington, Jan Johnson and Juanita Wheeler — have connected in person with immigrants through FriendSpeak. But when the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown came in the spring of 2020, face-to-face studies with friends from China, El Salvador, Syria and elsewhere became impossible.
Read MoreWhile less than 1% of Americans identify as Orthodox Christians, 5% of Alaskans identified as Orthodox in 2014, according to Pew Research. And while the number of regular attendees at Eastern Orthodox churches in the U.S. has declined 14% from 2010 to 2020, the number of parishes grew 3% over the same decade, according to the latest data in the 2020 Census of Orthodox Christian Churches.
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