Small and medium-size churches can navigate the challenges of postmodern culture and the COVID-19 pandemic by capitalizing on inherent strengths, embracing the neighborhoods that surround them and by adopting scaled-down practices from megachurches, one of the nation’s leading religion researchers…
What American churchgoers heard in sermons prior to the election, during the pandemic and at other key moments
Three new research projects attempt to shed light on the nature of what American churchgoers hear in weekly sermons. The results are predictable, surprising and contradictory all at the same time. The largest of these surveys was undertaken by Pew…
Anthony Fauci: Faith leaders needed in the fight against COVID
Faith leaders are needed to help fight the coronavirus and its new variants, according to Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical adviser to the president. “Faith leaders have an enormous impact…
Facebook is stopping a stupendous amount of religious hate speech, but there are dangers in knowing what should be off-limits
The United States has a vital role to play in ensuring social media companies develop new policies and technologies to better protect religious freedom and human rights online, a federal agency reported. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom also…
Concerns over escalating Ethiopian conflict trigger memories of past wars in Africa and the need for warlords to embrace peace
As government and rebel forces in Ethiopia advance toward each other and continue to beat the drums of war, concerns continue to pour in from people around the world about the escalating violence and humanitarian disaster in the East African…
Conservatives hoping for a 6-3 ruling in favor of taxpayer funding for sectarian schools
Comments by justices of the United State Supreme Court Dec. 8 indicate likely support for parents of Maine high school students who want to use government funding to send their children to sectarian schools. During oral arguments before the court…
In second year of pandemic uncertainty, church leaders are watching year-end giving closely
With just three Sundays left in the year, it’s once again make-or-break time for most church budgets. And in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, amid noteworthy signs of inflation nationally, there are more questions than answers about how…
‘Bad theology’ on LGBTQ discrimination ‘destroys lives,’ panelists say
Faith leaders and their communities have a crucial role to play in ending the discrimination and persecution of LGBTQ people around the world, a panel of international activists and clergy said ahead of President Joe Biden’s Dec. 9 Summit for…
Brentwood Benson Music announces sudden closing and the end of an era
The owner of the world’s largest Christian music publishing catalog is closing its business, citing the effects of COVID-19 as the reason. Brentwood Benson Music — which reportedly owns about 60,000 copyrights and is a storied Christian music business based…
Religious freedom and human rights groups praise Biden for diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics
A broader-than-usual coalition of religious liberty and human rights groups are praising the Biden administration’s Dec. 6 announcement that the United States will not send a diplomatic delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Although stopping short of a…
Return of ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy called unnecessary and cruel
The Biden administration is facing withering criticism for resurrecting a Trump-era immigration policy that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their legal cases unfold in the United States. After being sued by the states of Texas and Missouri,…
Moral leaders need to speak the truth about COVID and vaccines, Griffen urges
Wendell Griffen seldom minces words. Especially when talking about the coronavirus pandemic and the role he believes former President Donald Trump — and his religious enablers — played in allowing it to spread rapidly and repeatedly across the United States….