(REVIEW) While 83-year-old Pope Francis is in good health, that hasn’t stopped speculation over who will come next. In his new book, author George Weigel examines the problems affecting the church and what the next pope will need to do in order to address them. Think of it like a very long to-do memo for the next head of the Catholic church.
Read MoreThe data reveals a surprisingly complex picture of a religious group that can feel pulled in opposite directions on issues of policy and partisanship, still seeking to find an identity in American politics. While American Muslims support the Democrats by a landslide, they don’t agree on many progressive policy priorities.
Read MoreIn emails with Religion Unplugged, former editor of evangelical magazine Christianity Today Mark Galli explains the timeline of his recently announced conversion to Catholicism and how it overlapped with his last two years at the influential publication, including his viral 2019 editorial calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment.
Read MoreAt 93 years and 141 days old, Pope Benedict XVI became the longest-living pope in the Catholic Church’s history. His papacy was a tumultuous one, seeing a series of scandals brought to light involving the sexual predation of young boys by members of the clergy and a still on-going battle for transparency within the Vatican Bank.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Netflix will release Sundance 2019 winner “Cuties” on Sept. 9. Ahead of its release, Muslims have criticized the movie for glorifying a growth away from Islam. Muslims and others — including evangelical Christians — have called for boycotts against the movie because of its sexualization of children.
Read MoreThe son of evangelists, Floyd Brady left the church in his teens and hit the road touring with a metal rock band, singing songs filled with hatred for religion. Decades later, he’s welcoming “outcasts” at Michigan’s Victory Biker Church by embracing, not fighting, the road warrior culture he came to love.
Read More(REVIEW) Norman Lebrecht’s Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947 paints a complex portrait of Jewish figures and their relationships to each other. He points out that their brilliance and influence was the result of their collective anxiety.
Read MoreAlaska’s Episcopal diocese is America’s largest geographically, with 48 churches isolated across more than 500,000 square miles. Half are in Native communities only accessible by boat, plane or snowmobile. Church attendance is declining along with nationwide trends but for those spiritually hungry, an alternate model is needed to create and train clergy in a state where a college diploma, much less a seminary degree, is an impossibility for many Alaska Natives.
Read More(REVIEW) Bob Dylan was raised Jewish and explored Christianity for several years, and his work has been influenced by both. His first album of original music in eight years, “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” contains influences from both of these religions and provides greater insight on Dylan’s view of faith.
Read MoreAfter a shooting in 2019 that claimed the lives of two congregants, the West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas rebuilt their worship center. They have now returned to worship after the COVID-19 lockdown and completion of construction.
Read MoreAs greater numbers of Muslims in the West seek Islamic communities outside local mosques, the new website Imam Connect aims to connect the so-called “unmosqued” to Islamic services they want, from match making to art lessons, counseling and funeral and wedding rituals.
Read MoreProminent evangelicals Francis Chan, John MacArthur, Sam Rodriguez, Andy Stanley and religious freedom experts weighed in on how churches should navigate changing COVID-19 guidelines that some say unfairly target houses of worship.
Read More(OPINION) Governments have often overstepped their bounds in restricting religious gatherings more than other types of gatherings in restaurants, protests or casinos. Media has unfairly blamed churches for spreading COVID-19 cases when they make up a tiny portion of the overall case spread. But should churches defy orders and worship in-person?
Read MoreThese evangelical women say their faith called them to action to help end child-family separations of migrant families in immigration detention. The COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity for some to engage with legislators in the nation’s capital via Zoom.
Read MoreThe Sing! Conference kicks off Sunday, Aug. 30 and ends Wednesday, Sept. 2. The worship conference aims to help local churches adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and help their congregations connect with God through music.
Read MoreThousands gathered Friday for the March on Washington 57 years after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I have a dream” speech to condemn police brutality against Black Americans in the wake of Jacob Blake’s shooting this week in Kenosha, Wisconsin, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.
Read MoreThe Republican National Convention ended with a bang, literally, as fireworks lit up Washington to blasts of ‘God Bless America’ and ‘Hallelujah.’ President Trump talked about American exceptionalism and the God-given right to life of the unborn in his nomination speech. Franklin Graham, criminal justice reformer Alice Johnson, her life sentence in prison pardoned by Trump, and Carl and Marsha Mueller, whose daughter Kayla was killed by ISIS, also spoke.
Read More(OPINION) This post isn’t some esoteric exercise in press freedom or news judgement. It’s about something real that is plaguing the national press in this country at this very critical moment in time.
Read MoreThe third night of the Republican National Convention (RNC) opened with a prayer from Rabbi Shubert Spero and included White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Catholic nun Deirdre Byrne, a mother whose doctor told her to abort her son with Down Syndrome and former NFL player Jack Brewer all discussing their faith in God, and in Trump to keep his promises.
Read More(OPINION) Many of this week’s headlines about the resignation of Jerry Falwell, Jr. from his role as president of Liberty University, the world’s largest evangelical university, have centered on the salacious parts of his downfall. But those headlines don’t capture the most important part of the story.
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