By Jeff Brumley While the number of Americans who profess faith is in steady decline, there is evidence suggesting a steady devotion among those who remain religiously affiliated, new research shows. “Among the roughly three-quarters of U.S. adults who do claim…
Study: fewer young people see marriage, procreation prerequisites for sex
By Jeff Brumley Church isn’t the only institution Millennials are avoiding or abandoning in droves, new research by The Barna Group has found. The institution of marriage is increasingly shunned by younger Americans who in turn view sexuality as unconnected…
New study documents shifts in Latin American religious affiliation
By Jeff Brumley Latin America remains a mostly Catholic region and culture but its overall numbers have taken a huge dive during the past four decades or so, a new survey by the Pew Research Center has found. How steep…
RNC disinvites debate moderator after Trump takedown
Contributors to an online symposium on why conservatives shouldn’t support Donald Trump included SBC agency head Russell Moore. The Republican National Committee disinvited the National Review from moderating an upcoming pre-Super Tuesday debate after the conservative magazine carried an online symposium with…
Marketed faith fuels Millennials’ distrust of church, minister says
By Jeff Brumley American churches already struggling with ways to attract young people got more bad news this week: Millennials don’t like them very much. And worse yet, their esteem of religious organizations is dropping right along with that of…
Making resolutions for 2016? Give them to God, ministers say
By Jeff Brumley New Year’s resolutions are huge in the United States, where 45 percent of Americans commit to them annually. But fewer take them seriously, according to the Statistic Brain Research Institute, which tracks the trend. It reported that…
Religious leaders urge faithful to action in wake of Calif. mass shootings
By Jeff Brumley Wednesday’s shooting massacre in California was more than tragic news for Julie Pennington-Russell. It was personal. The former pastor of First Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., Pennington-Russell shared with Facebook friends on Thursday that a relative was…
People of faith explore upside of web: community building
By Jeff Brumley and Bethany Harper There’s a lot about the Internet and social media that’s good for humankind and religion, says Rabbi Joshua Stanton. “It demonstrates the creative potential of human beings and provides evidence that human beings are…
Ben Carson taps Baptist as Mississippi chair
Charles Pickering, a retired judge and Baptist layman, says the GOP frontrunner “has the integrity and moral authority to lead and bring America together.” A past president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention and member of a committee that attempted to…
Prayer could be performance enhancing. So should it be banned in sports?
By Jeff Brumley One standard the World Anti-Doping Agency uses to ban a substance is whether it enhances, or has the potential to enhance, athletic performance. Drugs aren’t alone in such scrutiny. The use of high-tech prosthetic limbs has caused…
Are Bible apps sapping the life from our faith?
By Jeff Brumley The Bible at your fingertips. A worship service in the palm of your hand and prayers and devotions streaming into your ears. The advent of the app has made all of that possible for any Christian with…
Opting for non-church weddings crosses age, religious categories
By Jeff Brumley Marriage isn’t what it used to be. That’s no surprise. But ministers and researchers are reporting getting married is rapidly changing, too, with Millennials getting much — though not all — of the credit. And the most noticeable difference…
Pope invokes MLK, a Baptist, as a Christian life to emulate
By Jeff Brumley Baptist scholar Steven Harmon was struck by something in Pope Francis’ address to Congress today that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention: its ecumenical message. The pontiff cited Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and Martin Luther King Jr….
Many young people shun cellphone use in church — even to read Scripture
By Jeff Brumley Young adults, known for using cellphones in just about every public setting imaginable, frown on the practice during worship services, a recent survey has found. The Aug. 25 Pew Research Center study found that only 9 percent…