Linda Byler, 63, is an Old Order Amish wordsmith who began writing out of financial desperation. With 39 published novels, she has captivated Amish and non-Amish audiences (called English)—readers from around the nation who sometimes drop by her farm just to meet the writer who captures the simple life of the Amish sect, more than 300,000 strong in the United States alone.
Read More(REVIEW) This unique sporting event is the focus of a new 69-minute documentary called “The Holy Game” by filmmakers Brent Hodge and Chris Kelly. The film, distributed by Gravitas Ventures, details what’s often called the “World Cup of the church” — but also takes a behind-the-scenes look at these young seminarians who love both playing the game and God.
Read More(OPINION) The Census Bureau reports the “unprecedented environment” during the COVID-19 pandemic fueled a boom in “pandemic pods” as well as parents considering virtual schools and home-school organizations beyond the neighborhood public school. The Census Bureau reported home-schooling among Black or African Americans increased by five times to 16.1% of households last fall.
Read MoreReligionUnplugged talked to a sex trafficking survivor in the U.S. about the Christian misconceptions of human trafficking: false, incomplete, misguided, unhelpful and even harmful ideas. She has both praises and criticisms of how American Christians are responding to prostitution… “I feel like the biggest misconception, especially in the Christian realm, is just that it's not the movie Taken in the United States. It can be, but that is the minority. The majority you know, looks very much like chosen prostitution. But it's not.”
Read MoreIn an unexpected move, the more than 16,000 “messengers” to the Southern Baptist Convention narrowly elected Alabama pastor Ed Litton, known for preaching racial reconciliation, as the new president of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Litton ran against the more conservative candidate Mike Stone in a runoff vote. The election signals an ideological divide in the SBC that is far from resolving.
Read More(OPINION) While The United Methodist Church debates societal issues — LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, welcome of refugees and the like — its congregations’ real estate is eating away at the denomination and threatening its viability.
Read MoreMore than 16,000 “messengers” of the gospel are gathering in Nashville this week for the first meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in two years. They’re expected to vote on several hot button issues, including women’s ordination, approaches to racial justice, resolving sexual abuse and electing a new president. As a temperature check from the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S, the results may be an indicator of the ideological direction of American White evangelicalism and will likely cause further division within the group.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Southern Baptist Convention will convene its annual meeting on June 15, 2021 amid hemorrhaging membership. Southern Baptists have lost over 2 million members since 2006, with over 400,000 defections in the last year alone. A data-oriented analysis of the SBC’s past resolutions gives insight into the group’s history and trajectory.
Read MoreDespite facing uncertainty about fundraising at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a Christian radio station that’s more than 90% listener supported is receiving more donations than ever before and even planning expansions to its radio signal and headquarters facilities.
Read More(OPINION) It's often said religious couples generally tend to have more children than non-religious ones. Journalists should ask local observers and national experts if that remains true, and why so, and what impact growing secularism in places like North America will have upon the looming Birth Dearth.
Read MoreIn Marshall King’s 21 years reporting on food and writing columns, he noticed the intersection of food and faith. His childhood growing up with Amish grandparents and attending conservative Mennonite churches with food-filled fellowship halls planted the seed for his career in food writing.
Read MoreMillions of cicadas, of a type called ‘Brood X’, are emerging from underground this summer from New Jersey to Indiana and Pennsylvania to Virginia. They’re known for casting off their shells and the humming music they create by rubbing their wings. But they also have a long history as symbols of death and rebirth in faith traditions from indigenous practices to Christianity that feels especially relevant as American life emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read More(OPINION) A Texas court ruling is sparking debates about an obscure First Amendment doctrine that exempts religious institutions from certain civil lawsuits to protect them from government interference in their internal matters. The ruling’s interpretation raises concerns about how lay people can hold these institutions accountable when abuses happen.
Read MoreCDC guidelines and relaxed regulations have allowed many houses of worship in the U.S. to return to in-person worship. But these churches will maintain a virtual presence even after the pandemic is over, from a hybrid church to a developer creating virtual reality church buildings.
Read MoreOn May 31-June 1, 1921, White mob violence destroyed Tulsa’s Greenwood District — an affluent African American community known as “Black Wall Street” — and claimed as many as 300 lives. For five years, the Broken Arrow Church of Christ, about 15 miles southeast of Tulsa, and the North Sheridan Church of Christ in Tulsa, have engaged their congregations in racial reconciliation work.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Recent polls comparing the news habits of Americans with their faith revealed interesting results, including that White evangelicals regularly watch Fox News, and Muslims and Hindus prefer CNN.
Read MoreTwo of the leading voices raising awareness about the Tulsa Race Massacre attend the same church, a predominantly Black congregation near Greenwood, the area historically called Black Wall Street that endured anti-Black deadly mob violence in 1921.
Read More“Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog” is a new movie that shows World War 2 and the Holocaust through the eyes of Kaleb, a loyal German Shepherd. We talked to director Lynn Roth about making the movie and why Jewish tradition is so important.
Read More(REVIEW) Christians of many theological stripes claim to follow Jesus Christ, but how many actually follow his life and teachings? That’s the central question behind Skye Jethani’s visual devotional book “What If Jesus Was Serious?”
Read More(OPINION) Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday is worthy of introspection, and a look back on a career of music influenced greatly by spiritual and religious influences.
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