The United Methodist bishop who filed a lawsuit against the largest church in his jurisdiction has written a letter to all members there urging them to return their church to the fold. Ruben Saenz Jr. serves as bishop of the…
CBF and Alliance join others in promoting safe and fair elections
Religious groups are pulling out all the stops with training and strategy-sharing events to promote and defend the right to vote in the coming midterm elections. “We’re all looking at how can we be authentic to our faith and still…
Appeals court to hear Arkansas Ten Commandments case
A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments Sept. 22 in a lawsuit filed to block Arkansas from implementing its law mandating Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms. The hearing stems from Stinson v. Fayetteville School District. No. 1….
JD Vance’s attack on Adam Hamilton draws rebuke from bishop
Vice President JD Vance mischaracterized the views of U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton and the work of his United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Sept. 14 drawing an unusual rebuke from the bishop of Hamilton’s conference. Vance appeared at…
Thomas Paine may get a memorial in DC
In a move supporters consider common sense, Thomas Paine is one step closer to getting his own memorial in Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, Sept. 16, the House Natural Resources Committee unanimously approved a bill to erect a memorial to Paine near…
Trump names three to religious freedom commission
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom now has its full contingent of nine members, with President Donald Trump naming three new members. USCIRF is comprised of nine private sector commissioners, with three selected by the sitting president, two by…
Two upcoming executions raise alarms
American death penalty abolitionists are raising concerns about two executions with troubling humanitarian and moral implications. One involves double-murderer Jeffrey Lee, an Alabama Death Row inmate scheduled to die by lethal injection Sept. 17. His jury’s 7-5 vote for life…
BJC sides with Orthodox Jew denied prayer meeting in his own home
An Ohio city was wrong in using zoning laws to bar a resident from hosting a Jewish prayer gathering in his home in 2021, says Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. “Being free to exercise…
Franklin Graham’s daughter nominated as ambassador
Franklin Graham’s daughter, Cissie Graham Lynch, has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as United States Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom. The post at the U.S. State Department requires Senate confirmation. The last person nominated by…
Supreme Court blocks Trump’s attack on voting by mail
The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked part of a Trump administration effort to interfere with the midterm elections by instituting last-minute complicated rules governing mail-in balloting. The Sept. 14 ruling upheld a lower court decision preventing the U.S. Postal Service…
Billionaire blamed for forcing Ed Sheeran to lose opening tour acts
The politics of U.S-Israel relations hit the concert stage this week as pop singer Ed Sheeran got caught in the crossfire between his opening acts and his concert promoters. All the opening acts lined up for Sheeran’s “Loop Tour” in…
A visit with Senate candidate Adam Hamilton
Editor’s note: BNG has developed a shared content agreement with UM Insight, an independent news service mainly covering issues related to The United Methodist Church. This article was published at UM Insight Sept. 9 and is used here by permission….