RNS Updated Budget — Thursday, October 8, 2020

A day after a Jehovah’s Witness became the first to be acquitted in Russia since a 2017 ruling declared his faith group “extremist,” six Russian members […]

EDS: RNS-Church-Ladies will not be in today’s report but will come tomorrow.

NEWS STORY
RNS-Jehovahs-Witnesses: One Jehovah’s Witness acquitted in Russia as others get months of restrictions
(RNS) — A day after a Jehovah’s Witness became the first to be acquitted in Russia since a 2017 ruling declared his faith group “extremist,” six Russian members received suspended sentences for gathering for worship. By Adelle M. Banks. 500 words. (category: a)

NEWS STORY
RNS-College-Tuition: Gordon College cuts tuition to make Christian education more accessible
(RNS) — Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, announced a 33% tuition cut Thursday (Oct. 8), joining two other Council for Christian Colleges and Universities members that have reset their tuition in the last two weeks in an effort to make private Christian education more accessible. By Kathryn Post. 652 words. (category: k)


NEWS STORY
RNS-Rabbis-Statement: Rabbis’ statement: ‘We are deeply disturbed by what we have witnessed’
(RNS) — Some 400 rabbis and other Jewish religious leaders from across the spectrum of Jewish institutions have signed a statement in support of New York leaders’ efforts to shut down schools and limit synagogue attendance in Hasidic Jewish neighborhoods hard hit by COVID-19. By Yonat Shimron. 500 words. (category: a)

NEWS STORY
RNS-Debate-Faith: The top three faith moments in the Harris-Pence vice presidential debate
(RNS) — When the two major-party vice presidential candidates — a Black Baptist with Hindu heritage and a white, “born-again evangelical Catholic” — faced off on Wednesday night (Oct. 7), they largely talked past one another (and their moderator). But among their prepared arguments, Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris discussed their differences on faith matters that Americans may be hearing about for the remainder of the campaign season. (category: a)

NEWS STORY
RNS-Vatican-Moneyval: Pope Francis’ makes the case for Vatican financial reform to European experts
(RNS) – In what is the first major test of the ongoing financial reform at the Vatican, Pope Francis greeted members of the anti-money laundering body of the Council of Europe on Thursday (Oct. 8), and warned of the dangers that “can occur where, in touching money, we get blood on our hands.” By Claire Giangrave. 580 words. (category: i)

COMMENTARY
RNS-Lucado-Oped: Rattled by Trump’s COVID? Try the Bible’s anti-anxiety treatment
(RNS) — Last week, the president was diagnosed with COVID-19. Now more of his aides in the White House have been diagnosed. The Joint Chiefs of Staff are in quarantine. Yet another reason for anxiety and fear, right? Take a lesson from the biblical King Jehoshaphat. By Max Lucado. 600 words. (category: k)

COMMENTARY
RNS-Johnson-Oped: The difference between heroes and martyrs
(RNS) — Critics argue we should not be quick to treat these victims as heroes. Some of the claims they bring forward are slanderous; some are accurate. But all of them are irrelevant. A better understanding of martyrdom in religious traditions can help us understand why. By Russell P. Johnson. 957 words. (category: k)