(ANALYSIS) Way back in the early days of this newsletter, I wasn’t very good at titling my posts. I know it seems like something an academic shouldn’t think about, but it really does matter. Here’s an example.
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This landmark five-day gathering — convened under the theme “Where now for visible unity?” — marks a significant moment in the century-long journey of ecumenical dialogue.
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(OPINION) After participating in multiple protests this year opposing authoritarianism, a Christian minister reflects on how people of faith can help sustain the growing No Kings movement — with hope, humor, and moral clarity. The “No Kings” movement, thank God, has only just begun.
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(OPINION) Among American churchgoers, roughly half are concentrated within a small fraction — less than 10% — of the nation’s churches, according to data reported earlier this year on church attendance and size. The other half of America’s churchgoers are most likely to attend one of the 70% of U.S. churches that have 100 or fewer people in their weekly services. That’s a lot of small churches dotted across our country.
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(OPINION) My grandkids are nearly grown, I’m afraid. Of the five, three are in high school now and one’s in middle school. Only the youngest is still a little guy.
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(ANALYSIS) With its pending case of Christian psychological counselor Kaley Chiles, the U.S. Supreme Court faces a potentially momentous choice between her claim of free speech during therapy, over against Colorado’s professional licensing standards that forbid so-called “conversion therapy” regarding homosexual orientation and transgender transitions.
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Morris H. Chapman, former pastor, former Southern Baptist Convention president, former SBC Executive Committee president and champion of the Cooperative Program, died on Monday at age 84.
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American attitudes about religion’s role in public life are shifting as a growing share of adults saying religion is gaining influence in society — with most viewing that trend positively, according to a new study. The percentage of U.S. adults who believe religion is gaining influence in American life jumped from 18% to 31%.
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When fans of the soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv were assaulted in the streets of Amsterdam after a game last November, the violence drew comparisons to pogroms. It even prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dispatch rescue planes to evacuate Israeli citizens. Once again there are fears of a repeat outbreak of violence, this time over a match in Birmingham, England.
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For thousands of devotees, the journey across the border is not just a trip; it is a reclamation of history, heritage and faith. As Prakash Purab approaches, the pilgrimage carries more than spiritual meaning. It represents the enduring resilience of a community whose beliefs and traditions transcend the walls of politics and conflict.
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(REVIEW) Like most mainstream, organized religions, Islam is a big tent. Corralling the various ideologies, sects, divisions, major players and developments over the course of some fourteen hundred years into a digestible narrative is no easy job, and Tolan’s effort is both daunting and admirable.
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In 2006, I was able to travel to Israel for the first time. Even as a child, I had learned from my father about the spiritual legacy of the Jewish people, the land God had given them, and how He had protected them. And, best of all, during that amazing year, I was able to set foot on the land myself. There I began to meet and come to know Israelis as friends and allies, and to see with my own eyes the biblical heritage I had inherited as a Christian believer.
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The 10:33 Initiative is a faith-based initiative to help lift Arkansans out of poverty by connecting the poor with local faith and community partners who can assist them in moving from crisis to career. It has already assisted over 7,500 families by helping clients create a personalized plan with achievable steps across 13 different areas, such as housing, employment, transportation, and education.
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A leading religious freedom advocacy group joined Christians in southern Mexico Oct. 17 demanding answers after the latest murder of a Catholic priest in the region torn by drug cartels.
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(ANALYSIS) The more I think about what religion means, the more that I think that there are just two camps of people in the United States.
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African bishops’ reactions to the appointment of Sarah Mullally as the first woman Archbishop of Canterbury have been mixed. On the conservative side, leaders in Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda and other nations have opposed the move. On Thursday, the bishops of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans announced they were cutting all ties with the Anglican Communion.
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Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo clashed sharply over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Thursday night, in the first televised debate for New York City mayor, their first major showdown since the young democratic socialist stunned the former governor in the Democratic primary.
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If the president of the United States boards Air Force One for a dramatic trip to Israel — in the larger symbolic region often called the “Holy Land” — please consider putting at least one or two skilled religion-beat specialists on the airplane.
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A reporting trip to middle-of-nowhere western Idaho got our Weekend Plug-in columnist thinking about the speck-on-the-map places that chasing stories takes him.
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(REVIEW) There's a part of me that can’t wrap my head around the purpose of “The Chosen Adventures.” It’s ostensibly a version of “The Chosen” for kids, but the original series is already largely family-friendly. Sure, it straddles the line between PG and PG-13, but it’s really only the youngest viewers who might find it unappealing.
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