Adelle M. Banks

Adelle M. Banks, production editor and a national reporter, joined RNS in 1995. An award-winning journalist, she previously was the religion reporter at the Orlando Sentinel and a reporter at The Providence Journal and newspapers in the upstate New York communities of Syracuse and Binghamton.

All Stories by Adelle M. Banks

John Lewis’ co-author talks faith, voting rights and their new graphic novel, ‘Run’

By Adelle M. Banks — August 2, 2021

(RNS) — ‘The lesson I hold with me most from John Lewis and his life and his example is that you have to be persistent,’ said Andrew Aydin.

Expert in faith-based disaster management new leader of Homeland Security center

By Adelle M. Banks — August 2, 2021

(RNS) — Marcus T. Coleman, the former interim director of the DHS Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships from 2017 to 2018 and a special assistant for it from 2013 to 2016, starts his new role on Monday (Aug. 2).

AME Zion leader Staccato Powell removed as bishop after facing financial accusations

By Adelle M. Banks — July 29, 2021

(RNS) — ‘The Trial Committee recommended Bishop Staccato Powell be disrobed, meaning Bishop Staccato Powell would no longer be recognized as consecrated to the office of Bishop,’ read trial minutes.

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church celebrates paid-off debts at major meeting

By Adelle M. Banks — July 28, 2021

(RNS) — ‘Livingstone College, Hood seminary, and Clinton College — debts have all been satisfied,’ announced AME Zion Bishop George Edward Battle Jr.

Billy Graham’s grandson Jonathan Lotz, son of Anne Graham Lotz, in hospital with COVID-19

By Adelle M. Banks — July 26, 2021

(RNS) — ‘Pray he will not have to go on a ventilator,’ his mother asked on social media, ‘and that his health will be fully restored.’

Reparations bill gains momentum as an interfaith cause

By Adelle M. Banks — July 23, 2021

(RNS) — ‘It is all about how can we repair the damage to those among us who have been hurt because of past practices,’ said an Evanston, Illinois, pastor.

At Tokyo Olympics, even faith events look different as COVID spikes. Here’s how.

By Emily McFarlan Miller, Adelle M. Banks — July 23, 2021

(RNS) — Religious services for residents of the Olympic Village will be provided virtually due to the pandemic, but Christian evangelistic organizations aren’t letting COVID-19 dampen their efforts at reaching the Japanese.

Former NBA player Stan McKenzie, husband of first woman AME Church bishop, dead at 76

By Adelle M. Banks — July 21, 2021

(RNS) — Less than two weeks before, his wife — Bishop Vashti McKenzie — thanked her spouse as she made farewell remarks at the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s General Conference.

Retiring Bishop Vashti McKenzie, first AME Church woman prelate, reflects on a groundbreaking career

By Adelle M. Banks — July 16, 2021

(RNS) — ‘Do I think that women can do this? Yes,’ McKenzie said. ‘Do I think the women that have been elected in my denomination have done an exceptional job? Absolutely.’

Gordon-Conwell seminary alumni and staff protest loss of Black professor

By Adelle M. Banks — July 13, 2021

(RNS) — ‘We understand that these are times of tight finances, but as Scripture says that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also,’ wrote his supporters.

AME Church bishops address COVID-19, critical race theory as major meeting opens

By Adelle M. Banks — July 6, 2021

(RNS) — ‘We acknowledge the current controversy around Critical Race Theory and acknowledge that healing can only begin when the traumas of the past are recognized,’ the bishops said.

Questlove’s ‘Summer of Soul’ documentary captures emotions of 1969 Harlem music fest

By Adelle M. Banks — July 1, 2021

(RNS) — Artists and experts interviewed and featured between the documentary’s clips of festival footage agreed that gospel’s role went beyond mere music.

‘Denomination matters’ in Black-focused faith-based health programs, scholars say

By Adelle M. Banks — June 28, 2021

(RNS) — ‘Faith-based health initiatives need to appropriately integrate the faith practices and norms of Black church members with denomination in mind,’ Duke scholars say.

Former megachurch pastor and presidential adviser Kirbyjon Caldwell enters prison

By Adelle M. Banks — June 23, 2021

(RNS) — Sentenced in January to six years, the judge allowed the onetime Houston pastor a five-month reprieve, likely due to COVID-19 and personal health concerns.

J.D. Greear’s legacy as Southern Baptist president: Grappling with abuse, pushing diversity

By Adelle M. Banks — June 17, 2021

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — ‘Wish we could have seen more progress on responding to abuse, and current revelations reveal we still have farther to go,’ he told RNS.

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