The COVID-19 pandemic dealt serious setbacks to many faith-based organizations, and the publishers of Sunday school and other spiritual formation curricula are no exception. For many of them, regardless of denomination, the shuttering of church buildings and other meeting spaces…
Despite COVID restrictions, faith-based agencies continue to improve lives in Africa
U.S-based humanitarian enterprises with long histories of service in Africa are continuing their work despite coronavirus and because of partnerships forged over years of ministry. Field personnel of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, for example, have been restricted in travel since…
I’m fearing the fear of fear itself
The last year has not been good for much, but it has been great for fear. Fear is having a banner year. We have stayed afraid that we will catch COVID-19. We are still processing the news that there are…
What we’ve lost
The losses we’ve experienced due to coronavirus are both horribly easy to count — 465,000 dead in the United States alone — and yet invisibly painful. Especially for communities of faith, the relational losses often go unreported. Yet in conversation…
Four viruses of the pre-COVID church and their vaccines
Romans 8:28 says God works all things together for good, not that God causes all things. I suspect God is even more grieved over this coronavirus afflicting this world than any of us, given God’s great love for humankind. So,…
5 things I learned from visiting 50 online churches during the pandemic
When the reality of not being able to meet in person hit almost a year ago, the small staff of our small Baptist church did what most small churches were doing —we started winging it. As a second-year seminary student…
Supreme Court again overturns COVID restrictions on houses of worship
In a sign of how long the coronavirus pandemic has gone on, the United States Supreme Court has been dealt enough cases on church closures during the pandemic now to have reversed itself and splintered further in its own opinions….
White Christian nationalists and Black Americans find common ground in vaccine wariness while some pastors try to set a positive example
Two communities seemingly at odds with each other are among the groups of Americans most likely to be skeptical of the new COVID-19 vaccines: Christian nationalists and Black Americans. The reasons why each group is skeptical are different, but the…
Americans more likely to say pandemic has strengthened their faith
A majority of Americans (68%) say the COVID-19 pandemic has had little effect on their religious faith, and just 4% say it has weakened their belief. But the 28% who report the coronavirus outbreak has strengthened faith far outstrip populations…