The nation’s criminal legal system fails to lower crime rates or bring healing to victims and communities because its chief aim is retaliation instead of restoration, according to an expert on alternatives to mass incarceration. Courts, jails and prisons utilize…
Ecumenical group gathers at border wall to share Communion and demonstrate unity
An ecumenical network of Caribbean, Latin American and U.S. religious groups expanded its commitment to serving migrants throughout the region during a four-day gathering in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Ruben Ortiz, Latino field ministries coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, served…
Not all Black Americans are highly religious, BJC podcast explains
The assumption that Black Americans are highly religious, and almost universally Christian, overlooks the theological and ideological complexity of the African American community, Anthony Pinn said on the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty’s “Respecting Religion” podcast. But a clearer…
Want to write? Write every day, book editor advises in BNG webinar
Writers must be rigorously blunt with themselves about the motivations and goals inspiring them to write and — hopefully — publish books, said Carey Newman, senior editor at Fortress Press and author of a newly published book on the art…
The saints will come marching in for New Orleans church’s 30th jazz worship this Sunday
In a way, St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans has two congregations, the one that shows up most weeks for worship and the one that attends its annual jazz worship service held the Sunday before Mardi Gras. The…
Anti-immigrant frenzy creates dangerous situation at U.S. border, advocates warn
Anti-immigrant bigotry is reaching a frenzied pitch as Texas continues to defy a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that grants U.S. border agents permission to remove razor wire Gov. Greg Abbott has erected along portions of the Rio Grande. Abbott has…
Yes, technology has become more critical for U.S. churches since pandemic
The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 prompted lasting changes in the ways U.S. religious groups use technology in congregational life, according to a new study by Hartford Institute for Religion Research. “The pandemic necessitated innovation in how congregations connect with…
Study finds America’s faithful are philanthropists
People and institutions of faith helped reshape American philanthropy in 2023 despite the nation’s daunting economic, political and social challenges, according to the latest “Giving in Faith” report from Givelify and the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving. The survey…
Immigration advocates offer blistering assessment of Senate immigration bill
Immigrant rights groups responded mostly with blistering condemnations to a new U.S. Senate supplemental funding plan that proposes major changes to U.S. immigration and asylum policies in exchange for military aid to Ukraine and Israel. While the $118 billion measure…