(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo selection includes the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, rebuilding a historic New York City church and more.
Note: RNS is expanding Photos of the Week to include reader photos. Please submit current photos of your practice of religion, spirituality or beliefs HERE.
Lava erupts from a crater of Mt. Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, behind Santa Maria della Guardia church in Belpasso, near Catania, in the southern Italian island of Sicily, early Friday, June 18, 2021. Since Feb. 16, 2021, Mt. Etna has begun a series of spectacular eruptive episodes. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
The Rev. Amos C. Brown, right, and President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hug during a news conference Monday, June 14, 2021, in Salt Lake City. Top leaders from the NAACP and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced $9.25 million in new educational and humanitarian projects as they seek to build on an alliance formed in 2018. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Senior Minister Rev. Jacqueline J. Lewis rings New York’s Liberty Bell after a construction crew lowered it from Middle Collegiate Church’s bell tower on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in the East Village neighborhood of New York. The bell was discovered intact in the historic church after it was gutted by a six-alarm fire in December 2020. It will be displayed at the New York Historical Society while middlechurch.org/rising works on funding a campaign to rebuild the church and return the bell to it’s place. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
A Kashmiri Hindu lights earthen lamps during the annual festival at the Kheer Bhawani Hindu temple in Tulla Mulla, northeast of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, June 18, 2021. Hundreds of Hindu devotees attended the prayers in the historic Kheer Bhavani Temple during the annual festival dedicated to Hindu goddess Durga. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
Southern Baptist Convention messengers attend the denomination’s annual meeting, Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at the Music City Center in Nashville. RNS photo by Kit Doyle
The Rev. Ed Litton participates in a panel during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, Tuesday, June 15, 2021, in Nashville. Litton was elected as the new president of the SBC. RNS photo by Kit Doyle
Messengers vote during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting at the Music City Center, Tuesday, June 15, 2021, in Nashville. RNS photo by Kit Doyle
The Rev. Ronnie Floyd, president of the SBC Executive Committee, addresses the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, Tuesday, June 15, 2021, in Nashville. RNS photo by Kit Doyle
Messengers pray together during the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at the Music City Center in Nashville. RNS photo by Kit Doyle
Outgoing Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear is projected on screens around the Music City Center while addressing the annual meeting, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Nashville. RNS photo by Kit Doyle
Incoming Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton, center left, talks with outgoing President J.D. Greear, center right, at the conclusion of the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
A Buddhist monk washes the feet of a woman, praying for her longevity, during a service to mark Dano, a Korean traditional holiday that falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, at the Jogye Temple in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 14, 2021. The Korean holiday marks the beginning of the summer season and is a day to pray for favorable weather for farming and fishing and a good fall harvest. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Election officials open a ballot box for the presidential elections at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, early Saturday, June 19, 2021. Iranians voted Friday in a presidential election dominated by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s hard-line protege after the disqualification of his strongest competition, fueling apathy that left some polling places largely deserted despite pleas to support the Islamic Republic at the ballot box. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Mahmoud Abdulnabi builds an oud at his workshop in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, June 17, 2021. After years of taking their art underground for fear of Islamic State attacks, oud makers say the traditional handicraft is flourishing in Iraq once again since the extremist Islamic group was defeated. The oud dates back at least 5,000 years to southern Mesopotamia and is a staple of Middle Eastern music. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
