Participating in the racial integration of Mercer University was not for the faint of heart when the process began in the 1960s, said Pearlie Toliver, one of the first Black women to attend the Macon, Ga., institution. Toliver, who also…
In Ukraine: ‘We cannot just preach like we did before the war’
Ukrainian pastors have radically adjusted their ministries to meet the physical and spiritual needs of church members and countrymen since Russian forces invaded Ukraine almost a year ago. So says Igor Bandura, a pastor and vice president of the All-Ukrainian…
Biden administration urged to remove Cuba from list of state sponsors of terrorism
Pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden to remove Cuba from the U.S. State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation the island nation received in the final week of the Trump administration. Among the latest to speak…
Panelists discuss how the Hamline University controversy could have been handled better in a diverse culture
Institutions of higher learning must hone flexibly to respond to campus divisions over religion and race that can escalate into the kind of public controversy currently embroiling Hamline University, a panel of experts said during a Jan. 31 webinar hosted…
National Prayer Breakfast gets new sponsorship but still looks like government-sponsored religion, BJC leaders say
Congressional leaders say they have split the National Prayer Breakfast from its longtime organizer to bring clarity and healing to the annual event, but constitutional experts Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman believe government leaders should get out of the prayer…
What happens when church and state merge? Look to Nazi Germany for answers
The potential consequences of a merger of church and state sought by Christian nationalists are frighteningly apparent in the history of Nazi Germany, according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer expert John Matthews. Matthews, a Lutheran minister and member of the International Bonhoeffer…
Faith groups must fight online hate, Interfaith Alliance urges
Sermons urging social media fasts or sabbaticals from screen time are woefully inadequate attempts to combating the racial and religious hatred individuals and faith groups are increasingly experiencing online, Interfaith Alliance President Paul Brandeis Raushenbush said. Religious leaders and communities…
For every critic of Jesus and John Wayne there are many more positive responses Du Mez says
Some conservative Christian leaders continue to blast Kristen Kobes Du Mez for writing Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, the Calvin University historian said during a recent webinar on evangelicalism in the…
165 religious leaders plead with White House to abandon immigrant travel ban
U.S. and international religious leaders have sent a letter to President Joe Biden and other government officials pleading with the administration to abandon plans to issue a travel ban and other severe restrictions on asylum seekers. Especially egregious to the…