Posts in North America
Restaurant Staff Refuses To Serve Christian Nonprofit Over Views on Abortion, Marriage

The Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization seeking to preserve and promote “the family in Virginia as God’s foundation upon which all free and thriving societies are built,” was denied service at Metzger Bar and Butchery, a restaurant in Richmond, this month on the basis of their stances regarding abortion and same-sex marriage.

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Vermont to Reimburse Families For Tuition To Private Religious Schools

In 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled its Town Tuition program could not fund tuition to religious schools because “it forced taxpayer support of religious worship.” But in the wake of Carson v. Makin, the state will now apply its tuition benefit program to families who choose to send their children to religious schools.

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Olasky Flashback: Back To The Evangelical Clashes Over Character And Two-Party Politics

(OPINION) The stakes are high since White evangelicals play a strategic role in GOP primaries and national elections. In 2016, the Pew Research Center found that 78% of White evangelicals planned to vote for Trump — but 30% said they backed Trump, himself. Trump’s evangelical numbers remained strong in 2020, after he filled several SCOTUS slots.

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Atlanta Megachurch Alleges Widespread Fraud Against African American Churches

Attorneys representing an Atlanta megachurch have filed a lawsuit alleging the bank and investors group that financed its property engaged in predatory behavior, taking millions of dollars from the church as part of a widespread conspiracy that also targeted other African American churches.

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How Nonreligious Americans Are Finding Ways Of Pursuing Meaning

(ANALYSIS) In her study of multiple SBNR identities, theologian Linda Mercadante found that the turn away from organized religion does not necessarily come at the expense of faith, ritual or practice. For “post-Christianity” seekers, Mercadante stresses how spiritual fulfillment moves from “religious and civic institutions to ‘gathering places.’”

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Chasing The Rothko Trail

(ESSAY) What is now the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas, has become a pilgrimage destination for some and an enigma to others. Mark Rothko has long been the mid-century artist whose work I thought had the most to say about the human condition. As a reader of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, Rothko often said that tragedy was at the heart of human experience — that in solitude our deep loneliness was palpable.

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California Megachurch Members Now Hold Majority On City Council

Members of Bethel — the 11,000-member northern California megachurch famous for elaborate healing services, Bethel Music and musician Sean Feucht’s nationwide worship protests against COVID restrictions — now hold the majority on the Redding City Council after November’s elections, according to nearly complete vote counts.

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A New Documentary Tries To Portray Johnny Cash As A Christian Role Model: Here’s Why It Fails

(REVIEW) Well-known Christian filmmaker Jon Erwin and friends have been on a bit of a kick in recent years to showcase the faith of the heroes of their youth. “Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon” is the latest, a documentary that shows how faith impacted the country star’s life. It’s solid, but it fails to serve as the testimony to God it thinks it does.

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Charity Affiliated With Sen. Raphael Warnock Subject Of Inquiry

The Ebenezer Building Foundation, whose principal officer is the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the U.S. Senator from Georgia facing a runoff election in December, is the subject of an inquiry by Georgia’s secretary of state.

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Women Better Represented At Largest Christian Ministries Than For-Profit Companies

About 18% of the leaders of Christian nonprofit ministries are women, according to a recent MinistryWatch survey of the country’s largest 1,000 ministries. The disparity in the business world is about three times greater. According to the Pew Research Center, only 5.4% of Standard & Poor’s 500 companies have women as their CEOs.

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Catholic Churches Across The US Lift Pandemic Restrictions In Time For Advent

The start of the pandemic in March 2020 forced churches across the world to shut their doors. Catholic churches followed suit and Masses were streamed via Zoom and Facebook. Nearly three years later and churches are trying to return to normal.

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Archbishop Timothy Broglio Elected USCCB President: What It Means For The Catholic Church

(ANALYSIS) The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops assembled in Baltimore to elect a new president. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Services, tasked with overseeing Catholic ministries to members of the U.S. armed forces, was elected to lead the USCCB. What does it mean for the Catholic Church in the United States?

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A Nordic’s Journey to Understand 2022 Christianity in America

Author and activist Shane Claiborne believes Christians astray are a bigger problem than secularization in the United States. The latest stop: Trenton, the capital of the state of New Jersey. It might sound nice. But it doesn’t look very nice.

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Premiere Of ‘The Chosen’ Season 3 Is A Triumphant Mixed Bag

(REVIEW) The premiere of “The Chosen” season three showcases both the good and bad of the smash-hit series with few signs that either will change as the show continues.

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A Nordic’s Journey to Understand 2022 Christianity in America

This is the second in a five-part series about a Norwegian journalist’s perspective on the changing dynamics of Christianity in America. New York is known for its diversity, including religious diversity. But among religious groups in the city, evangelical Christians are relatively few. In recent years, these churches have cooperated across ethnic and cultural boundaries.

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A Nordic’s Journey to Understand 2022 Christianity in America

This is the first in a five-part series about a Norwegian journalist’s perspective on the changing dynamics of Christianity in America. Alyson moved to protect her children against “dechristianization.” A pattern of flight from liberal to conservative states in the U.S. is building a greater concentration of evangelical Christians. Join us in Tennessee.

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Nashville Churches Break Record In Walk4Water Fundraiser For Wells In Africa

A recent fundraiser drew the most participants ever for a Walk4Water event benefiting the Nashville-based humanitarian aid organization, which is associated with Churches of Christ. Greater Together, a group of Nashville-area congregations that organized four rousing multi-congregational worship gatherings last summer, coordinated the Walk4Water.

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Church Of Christ Affiliated Universities Face Challenging Demographic Shift

Church of Christ affiliated higher education institutions — along with other faith-based institutions — face declining student pools as more high school graduates identify as religious nones. But many of these institutions are adapting to changing demographics through programs focused on nontraditional and distance students.

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