Amy Butler’s new book, Beautiful and Terrible Things, is an effort to expose her own struggles as a woman, a mother, a Christian and a high-profile pastor without shining too bright a light on the failings of others, she said….
Candidates seek to increase LGBTQ representation in public office
A growing number of LGBTQ elected officials are pushing back against discrimination while encouraging more members of their community to seek elected office, according to a new study by the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute and Loyola Marymount University. “A record number…
Templeton Foundation funds first-of-its-kind research into the religious ‘nones’
A team of scholars is launching a new research project aimed at learning about religiously unaffiliated Americans, including how they find meaning in life and when and why they stopped being religious. Funded by a three-year, $339,000 grant from the…
U.S. immigration policies are harming persecuted Christians, evangelical leaders warn
The United States can help alleviate the suffering of persecuted Christians worldwide by restoring its refugee resettlement program to pre-Trump levels and restoring due process to its asylum system, World Relief and Open Doors US said in a new report….
Are Americans ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ or both or neither?
Only 2% of Americans describe themselves as both “religious” and “spiritual,” while most others claim to be one or the other, according to a new study that examines how U.S. adults envision their faith identities. “Nearly half of Americans (47%)…
Most Americans see immigration as a good thing, but Republicans disagree
Most Americans say immigration is a benefit to the nation and prefer it be kept at current levels or even increased, research by Gallup shows. “Two-thirds of Americans consider immigration a good thing for the country, while 27% consider it…
Finding a pastor today is nothing like it was 30 years ago, consultants caution
One of the biggest challenges facing congregations in pastoral transition is realizing how radically the search process has changed since the turn of the century, according to Bill Wilson, founder of the Center for Healthy Churches. He and his successor,…
U.S. urged to provide more support for persecuted faith groups in Myanmar
Governmental and faith-based pressure is building on Congress and the international community to hold Myanmar’s military junta accountable for its persecution of religious minorities and to assist the nations hosting Baptist, Muslim and other refugees who have escaped the ongoing…
Prior explores the origin of evangelicalism’s ‘empire mentality’
The allure of empire is so deeply baked into evangelical culture that it is expressed in compulsive and sometimes unconscious ways, author and scholar Karen Swallow Prior said. “We have this empire mentality,” Prior said during a Sept. 18 webinar…