Here’s one more silver lining to the dark cloud of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic: “The level of new and intensified social outreach and community ministry undertaken by the nation’s churches is monumental.” So reports the Hartford Institute for Religion Research…
What the prophet Amos has to say about the Omicron variant
7,500 miles. That’s the approximate distance between Johannesburg, South Africa — the city where the new Omicron COVID variant first was detected — and the East Coast of the United States. It would be at least a 12-day drive or…
School boards are ‘local beacons of democracy’ and susceptible to national discord, panelists explain
Local school board protests targeted at COVID-19 mask mandates, transgender student rights and Critical Race Theory are inspired at least as much by state and national politics as they are by parental concerns about education and student safety, a panel…
In a world of haves and have-nots, America’s churches should capitalize on their strengths, religion researcher says
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…
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…
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…
Listening to the Spirit through the catch in the throat
This has been a hard year. Let me count the ways. In 2020, the ravages of COVID-19 forced Nancy and I to flee our home and move in with one of our children. As 2021 began, we were able to return,…
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….
Something doesn’t add up about the two Kentucky seminaries suing the federal government over vaccine mandates
“Pandemics unmask who we really are — our morals, our values, our ethics, our humanity. They test us in ways nothing else can.” — Sanjay Gupta, M.D., World War C, 2021 In a tutorial for doctor of ministry students at…