Pope Francis and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow spoke via video on Wednesday (March 16) to address the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and joint efforts to promote peace and provide aid to the Ukrainian people.
Evangelical Christians are politicizing the Jewish story of Esther
Over the centuries, the Esther story has come to represent a different sort of tale for many Christians — as other Jewish texts and rituals have been repurposed by evangelicals.
Study: Christians, Jews and Muslims encounter workplace discrimination differently
Christians, Jews and Muslims encounter workplace discrimination, but they experience it differently, according to a new report by Rice University’s Religion and Public Life Program.
$1.7M is approved for restoration of historic Black church
The federal government has approved $1.7 million for the restoration of one of the oldest Black churches in the U.S. that served as a northern sanctuary for the underground railroad and the abolitionist movement.
Study: Black Catholics in US are a tiny minority increasingly drawing on immigrants
Black Catholics, at about 3 million total, comprise only 6% of U.S. Blacks, most of whom are Protestant. And they’re an even smaller share of U.S. Catholics — 4%, according to a new analysis of Black Catholics published Tuesday (March 15) by Pew…
Russian American pastors combat propaganda in their churches
Evangelical pastors in the US, leading churches where Russian Americans and Ukrainian Americans worship side by side, see the stark but quiet tensions between those who believe Russian president Vladimir Putin’s justifications for the invasion and those who are decrying…
Thousands of churches close every year. What will happen to their buildings?
As congregations shrink and close, church leaders must decide whether to give their buildings a second life.
The rise and fall of evangelical influencers
In early 2021, social media influencer and pastor’s wife Caressa Prescott made the startling admission that she had just come out of rehab. Prescott told her followers on Instagram that her ongoing mental health struggles, including an eating disorder and…
Russian evangelical leader apologizes to Ukrainian Christians
In the highest-profile statement yet of its kind, the leader of the Russian Evangelical Alliance has announced his “bitterness and regret” over decisions taken by his government.
Russian Orthodox parishes in Europe pressured from both sides as war rages in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine has split Russian Orthodox parishes across Europe, forcing believers outside Russia to either stay loyal to the church leadership in Moscow despite its support for the invasion, leave the church in protest or seek a messy…
Longtime editor Presnall Wood dies at age 89
Presnall H. Wood, who was editor of the Baptist Standard through one the most tumultuous periods in Southern Baptist history, died March 10 in Dallas. He was 89.
Israel renews law to keep out Palestinian spouses
Israel’s parliament has renewed a temporary law dating back to 2003 that bars Israeli citizens from extending citizenship or even residency to Palestinian spouses from the occupied West Bank and Gaza.