Sebrena Williamson has been named director of programs and partnerships for Together for Hope’s work in Appalachia. Together for Hope is a rural development coalition engaging the 301 counties of persistent rural poverty in America. Launched 20 years ago by…
AI won’t be replacing your priest, minister, rabbi or imam any time soon
Early in the summer of 2023, robots projected on a screen delivered sermons to about 300 congregants at St. Paul’s Church in Bavaria, Germany. Created by ChatGPT and Jonas Simmerlein, a theologian and philosopher from the University of Vienna, the experimental church…
Who is Siggy Flicker, the ‘Real Housewife’ behind Trump’s Rosh Hashanah message condemning ‘liberal Jews’?
Siggy Flicker, a former Real Housewife of New Jersey, says she often finds herself apologizing when she hangs out with her friend Donald Trump, a fellow reality TV star turned Republican activist.
Ideological rifts among U.S. bishops are in the spotlight ahead of momentous Vatican meeting
Early next month, the Vatican will open an unprecedented gathering of Catholic clergy and laypeople from around the world. The synod is intended to be a collegial, collaborative event, though the agenda includes divisive issues such as the role of women in the church…
Two mainland China bishops to attend big Vatican meeting after tensions
Two bishops from mainland China are due to attend a major Vatican meeting next month, officials said on Thursday, a positive sign after recent tensions between the Holy See and Beijing.
This week’s BNG webinar: Amy Butler
“Pastor Amy” will be the guest on this week’s BNG webinar with Executive Director Mark Wingfield. Amy Butler has written a new book, Beautiful and Terrible Things. This Thursday at 3 p.m. Central time, she’ll discuss the book and her…
Nazi Germany had admirers among American religious leaders – and white supremacy fueled their support
Each September marks the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Laws, whose passage in 1935 stripped Jews of their German citizenship and banned “race-mixing” between Jews and other Germans.
How Japanese American Pastors Prepared Their Flocks For Internment
Many Japanese American Christians first heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, as they returned home from Sunday worship. Japanese students gathered with their faculty at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, to pray…
Belly dancers, terrorists or taxi drivers: Arab American comedians spoof stereotypes
Atheer Yacoub spent her childhood between the occupied territories of the West Bank and the heart of Alabama, a mix that never failed to get a laugh from friends in New York, where she moved in 2008 for graduate school…
Freedom struggles of China’s Christian rights lawyers
In 2008 or 2009, at an early stage of an extensive research program on criminal defense lawyers in China, I was asked a surprising question.
‘Holy Food’ explores American history and religion through food
As a kid growing up in rural Wisconsin, writer and food historian Christina Ward attended tent revivals even though she and her family weren’t practicing Christians.
Connecting With the Good News Generation
I have some bad news and some very good news for Red Letter Christians. Many of you likely already know the bad news, a growing number of those under 50, including many raised in the church, are no longer affiliated…