NEWS STORY
RNS-Faith-Finance: God cares a lot about money, say faith and finance groups. Maybe you should too.
(RNS) – A growing number of faith-based financial ministries hope to give people the tools to better manage their money and the inspiration to but those tools to work. For them, making a budget is a spiritual disciple. By Bob Smietana. 1,500 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Schonfeld-Dorff: Faith and the COVID-19 vaccine: ‘I’m a member of a community with duties’
(RNS) — Nearly 9% of Americans have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and with the announcement of a third vaccine in Johnson & Johnson’s new single-dose version, the United States’ campaign is showing promise despite initial stumbles. But more than a third of Americans still say they have no intention of receiving the vaccine or are unsure. Rabbi Julie Schonfeld talks about the role of clergy in vaccine distribution with Rabbi Elliot Dorff, rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles and a theologian and ethicist specializing in medical ethics. By Julie Schonfeld. 1,095 words. (category: a)
NEWS STORY
RNS-Ash Wednesday: No touching! Churches get ready for Ash Wednesday in a pandemic
(RNS) — On Ash Wednesday, many churches mark the beginning of the penitential season of Lent with the imposition of ashes. That presents a problem in the midst of a pandemic when health experts have advised people to avoid touching their faces and coming in close proximity to others. Some churches haven’t met since the pandemic first upended life during the last Lenten season. Enter an ecumenical group of clergy, theologians, liturgical scholars and public health experts who have released guidelines for safely observing Ash Wednesday — which falls this year on Feb. 17. By Emily McFarlan Miller. 900 words. (category: a)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Prior-Oped: Still Baptist. Still evangelical.
(RNS) — Over the past few years, in the midst of the turmoil the church and the country are enduring, I have received countless messages of pain and lament from fellow evangelicals (and especially Baptists), asking me what to do, where to go, whether to stay in the church or to leave. I understand that many have been hurt or betrayed by the institutional church. And while my wounds are not as deep as those of so many are, I now count myself among them. I don’t always know what to say to people in their pain. But one thing I do know to say is, “The bride of Christ needs you. Don’t abandon her to those who exploit and abuse her. Christ loves his bride too much for us to let her go.” By Karen Swallow Prior. 1,125 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Thistlethwaite-Oped: This Lent, give up mixing faith with political terrorism
(RNS) — We need to expand our Lenten practice this year to include refusing any merging of Christian faith and advocacy of terrorism. This Lent we need to hear again Jesus’ message about the corruptions of Roman imperial power and wealth. Right now, that message needs to be applied to the types of Christians who have been seduced into using Christian faith as a justification for violence. By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite. 800 words. (category: k)
COMMENTARY
RNS-Riess-Oped: Mormons, submit your COVID-19 stories
(RNS) — An effort to mark Mormon life in a time of COVID is the driving force behind a new effort at Claremont Graduate University, which is to collect personal stories from around the world. “We are gathering photographs, texts, social media posts, stories,” said Matthew Bowman, the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont. By Jana Riess. 912 words. (category: k)