(ESSAY) For veteran religion writer Bobby Ross Jr., an unexpected assignment to cover Pope John Paul’s 1999 visit to St. Louis planted a seed. Twenty-five years later, Ross reflects on that experience as the spark that launched the most important phase of his journalism career.
Read MoreCru, the $811 million international ministry formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ International, announced Monday that President Steve Sellers will step down in July. Sellers explained the move in a video posted Monday night, saying that God had led him to his post and is now leading him to leave it.
Read MoreA new report on “nones” — one of the largest ever conducted on this fast-growing demographic — attempts to drill down into what these Americans believe, their feelings towards organized religion and politics. The decades-long rise of the “nones” has been one of the most talked about phenomena in the United States.
Read More(OPINION) When it comes to the term “evangelical,” it is not so much that it is a potentially ambiguous term (like “Christian”) as it is a misleading term — a term that has become cultural and political more than spiritual.
Read MoreJoel Osteen, the longtime pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, was brought to tears last Sunday (Jan. 14) as he announced the church had paid off its nearly 20-year debt of $100 million.
Read MoreEvery year in mid-January, Livia Gao arrives at Mahayana Buddhist Temple in New York’s Chinatown at dawn to prepare 2,000 batches of congee, a soupy rice mixture, for the community. This special service is more commonly known as the “Laba Festival” by Mahayana Chinese Buddhists and celebrated by immigrants around the world.
Read MoreTributes to the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. took place on Monday across the country and included a mix of politics, faith and community service. This year’s observance — the 38th since its was made a federal holiday in 1986 — commemorated the Baptist preacher and Civil Rights Movement icon's importance to American history.
Read MoreThe group 3HO is currently made up mostly of white Americans converted to Sikhism, a 500-year-old religion with origins in Punjab, India. Members also regularly practice Kundalini yoga. They wear white and typically live in ashrams and abide by a lacto-vegetarian diet. Alcohol, drugs and sexual relations among the non-married is forbidden in the ashram.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Vatican’s decision to allow priests to bless couples in what they called “irregular relationships” continues to get lots of media attention, especially since it involves same-sex couples. Here’s how some Catholic priests who are active on social media and YouTube are explaining what it all means.
Read MoreHouston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud — one of this season’s rising stars in the NFL — isn’t just known for throwing touchdown passes and getting his team into the playoffs. Stroud also made headlines for his faith after thanking Jesus following his team’s 23-19 win over the Indianapolis Colts this past Saturday, earning the team a spot in the playoffs that start this weekend.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Religion is likely to play a big role in voters’ choices in the 2024 presidential election — much as it did in previous years. Despite an overall shift away from participation in organized religion in the U.S. populace, religious rhetoric in the political arena has intensified.
Read MoreHouses of worship with predominantly Black congregations suffered the most in terms of attendance and donations. At the same time, they did more to promote COVID-19 testing and vaccinations throughout the pandemic.
Read MoreReligion Unplugged’s former executive editor Paul Glader reported a three-episode narrative podcast for the Sony Entertainment Media show “Infamous” about GOP operative Paul Erickson who led a colorful life that included advising a presidential candidate, making a Hollywood movie and dating an alleged Russian spy named Maria Butina. Upon hearing the podcast, Butina reached out and agreed to an interview to share her perspective on her now ex-boyfriend.
Read More(EXCLUSIVE) The national spotlight turned on Paul Erickson in recent years when the red-haired, Russian national he was dating, Maria Butina, was accused of being a Russian spy during intense scrutiny on Russian connections to the United States during the Trump presidency. Butina was arrested in 2018 and deported in 2019 after she pleaded guilty for failing to register as a foreign agent.
Read MoreHarvest House now feeds an average of 300 families every week, providing them with about 5,000 pounds of food. That makes it the largest food pantry in Matagorda County, with a population of about 36,000 — nearly a quarter of whom live below the poverty level, according to U.S. Census data.
Read MoreThe 14-0 Colorado School of Mines, favored to win the game, jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. But the Orediggers wouldn’t score again. With its run-intensive “flexbone” offense, the Harding University Bisons dominated time of possession and scored 38 unanswered points, winning Harding’s first-ever Division II national title in front of more than 12,000 fans.
Read MoreThe Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy at First Liberty Institute, an organization dedicated to defending religious freedom, issued the report. In it, the group ranked all 50 U.S. states, from best to worst, as part of an annual religious freedom index.
Read MoreInitially, a symbolic gesture against racism, taking the knee evolved into a collective action. Orlando Magic’s power forward Jonathan Isaac chose a different path. Throughout 2020, he made a choice not to take a knee or wear a BLM shirt. This placed him among the few athletes who opted to stand during the national anthem.
Read MoreSome 9 million Americans can’t afford to buy the medications they have been prescribed. Meanwhile, nearly $11 billion worth of prescription drugs are disposed of every year in the U.S., according to KFF Health News. A ministry in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is trying to use some of that surplus to serve people in need.
Read MoreNearly 70% of U.S. adults call themselves "spiritual," or say they are "spiritual but not religious" or that "spirituality is very important in their lives," according to a new Pew Research study of spirituality. However, as vast as that tally sounds, no one knows if it signifies that spirituality is soaring – or simply being counted differently, and what people mean when they choose that label.
Read More
