NEWS STORY
RNS-Abrams-Vote: Stacey Abrams’ family connects faith and voting, modeled by preacher parents
(RNS) — Former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams is just one member of her family who connects voter protection and other civic action to her family’s faith. By Adelle M. Banks. 1,500 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-O’Neill-Sentencing: Catholic worker who broke into naval base to protest nuclear weapons sentenced to 14 months
(RNS) — Patrick O’Neill, who together with the Rev. Stephen Kelly, cut a padlock to Kings Bay Naval Base in Georgia to protest its stockpile of hundreds of Trident nuclear weapons was sentenced Friday (Oct. 16) to 14 months in federal prison. O’Neill is the third of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 to be sentenced for the 2018 break-in. By Yonat Shimron. 600 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Catholic-Stats: Clergy shortage grows to more than 14k Catholics for every priest, Vatican data shows
(RNS) – Catholic missions struggle amid dwindling vocations and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released by the Vatican ahead of the World Mission Day this Sunday (Oct. 18). By Claire Giangravè. 600 words. (category: i)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Masked-Preachers: Masks keep churches from being superspreaders. But they make sermons tough
(RNS) — Masks and social distancing can help congregations keep safe during in-person worship. But they make it hard for preachers and worshipers to connect. By Bob Smietana. 900 words (category: a)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Butler-Oped: As political violence rises, we need peacemakers at the polls
(RNS) — In every election year, pastors wrestle with how to address hot-button issues and political divisions within our congregations. This year, we have a more urgent duty: preventing violence targeting people regarded as political adversaries. By Jennifer Butler. 803 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Collins-Oped: What does the Bible really say about abortion?
(RNS) — Given the importance conservative Christians, Catholic and Protestant, have granted abortion in recent years, some might assume that their own opposition stems, in some way, from biblical teachings. But in the entire corpus of biblical law, abortion is never mentioned. By John J. Collins. 1,191 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Riess-Oped: Suicide, complicated grief and the hidden darkness of the heart
(RNS) — Tom Kimball, a fixture in the Mormon Studies community, took his life yesterday. I’m speechless, essentially. And it feels like a triple shock: There’s the sudden death, and the fact that it was a suicide, and the additional bombshell that apparently Tom has been accused of abuse. Do we ever really know people? By Jana Riess. 914 words. (category: k)
