First-grade students, hands folded on their desks, watch a teacher write a brush-like stroke on a blackboard in their Tibetan alphabet. Outside, craggy mountains climb toward the brightest of blue skies. The air is clean and crisp at 2,800 meters…
Sierra Pacific Synod Bishop-Elect Talks About The ELCA’s Future And ‘Rebuilding Trust’
t was Jan. 20, 1990, and three seminarians — Jeff Johnson, Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart — were to be ordained extra ordinem, meaning contrary to the official church policy, in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Church of England Advances Plans to Bless but Not Affirm Same-Sex Couples
Church of England clergy could soon be authorized to pray for God’s blessing over same-sex couples, though not quite affirming their unions as they would a marriage, according to a controversial paper set to be debated at an upcoming meeting of the…
Mitt Romney, the public face of Mormonism, reckons with his alienation from a radicalized GOP and his role in enabling it
Riding high from his tenure as the moderate governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney was anxious to accomplish what his father could not: jump from state’s top job to the nation’s.
Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue melted down
Community leaders in Charlottesville, Virginia, have melted down a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, the removal of which spurred violent protests in 2017 that resulted in the killing of a counterprotester by a white supremacist.
Mother files wrongful death lawsuit against now-closed Christian boarding school in Missouri
A mother is suing a shuttered Christian boarding school in Missouri, blaming her son’s death on a gang rape and other abuse he endured there.
Hot-button topics may get public attention at the Vatican synod, but a more fundamental issue for the Catholic Church is at the heart of debate
High-ranking Catholics from across the globe have converged on the Vatican, where a landmark initiative is underway that will shape the future of the Catholic Church.
Texas Prisoner Who Leads Death Row Worship Faces Execution
The first death row prisoner to help lead a death row ministry in Texas’s Allan B. Polunsky Unit, a state prison with maximum security units, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, October 26. On Tuesday, Texas denied Will Speer’s…
Documentary on Black millennials depicts wide range of religion, rebellion
A new documentary from the National Museum of African American History and Culture explores the range of faith and spiritual expressions of Black millennials and the choices they have made to reject — or embrace — the religious rituals of…
BNG webinar will feature Greg Garrett and Anthony Reddie in dialogue about James Cone and James Baldwin
BNG’s next “Change-making Conversations” webinar will feature a dialogue with two leading scholars on the theological influences of James Cone and James Baldwin. Baylor University professor Greg Garrett, author of the new book The Gospel According to James Baldwin, will…
How ‘La Catrina’ became the iconic symbol of Day of the Dead
On April 13, 1944, thousands of people clashed with police on the steps of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The pope’s absolute power, and the problems it can cause, are on display in 2 Vatican trials
Two Vatican trials are coming to a head this week and posing uncomfortable questions for the Holy See, given they both underscore Pope Francis’ power as an absolute monarch and the legal, financial and reputational problems that can arise when…