John MacArthur’s defiance of California’s public health restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 has netted the church $800,000 — not because MacArthur told the truth about the pandemic but because the U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled that California couldn’t…
Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist is back and armed with data for parents to fight for masks in schools
Your Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist has come to the masking debate armed with new data, and she’s ready to help health-conscious parents advocate at their schools, school boards and churches. Emily Smith, assistant professor of epidemiology at Baylor University and a…
Pandemic has accelerated needed changes in churches, panelists report
The COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges to churches, but it also helped them sift through outdated programming and policies to reinvent ministry going forward, according to panelists of “Expanding Engagement in the Local Church,” an Aug. 25 workshop of the Cooperative…
Of sheep and goats, vaccines and conspiracies, biblical literacy and illiteracy
I’m not exactly sure when or how it happened, but calling someone a sheep is now meant to be an insult. In this new vernacular, being called a “sheep” or “sheeple” means you’re foolish and easily led astray. It means…
On COVID and praying for the sick
Our family got our first television set when I was 6 or 7 years old. I clearly remember the first afternoon coming home from school; we watched cartoons. Childhood memories stick with us because they touched something unique or special…
COVID has dramatically changed the experience of global missionaries
American missionaries serving in far-away places continue to endure significant challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including limits on travel and in-person ministry, a scarcity of international volunteers and in some cases feelings of guilt for being vaccinated in communities…
‘I don’t think I care about anything anymore’: How to be anxious and depressed during the end of the world
My son is 6 years old and in the first grade. He loves Lego, Harry Potter, outer space and finishing books as soon as he gets them. Inexplicably, my son maintains this stubborn inquisitiveness about the world around him even…
Flint congregation finds strength through Wellness Check Wednesdays
DeVontae Powell could see last summer that he and his Baptist congregation in Flint, Mich., would have to take mental health seriously if they were to get through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and two human-generated disasters afflicting the…
Church ‘religious exemption’ letters against COVID vaccination mandates likely won’t work
Churches in California and North Carolina are among those now offering congregants documentation for “religious exemptions” to the COVID-19 vaccine, a practice that is legally dubious and likely ineffective, according to labor lawyers. The practice has arisen as more employers…