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
Faith leaders ask Biden to mark Mother’s Day with prayer day against gun violence
By Adelle M. Banks — May 3, 2023
(RNS) — Fellowship of Reconciliation leaders, who organized the letter, also pointed out ties that have been found between Christian nationalism and opposition to gun control legislation.
Iran, 27 other countries critiqued by watchdog for religious freedom violations
By Adelle M. Banks — May 1, 2023
(RNS) — The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom decried Iran’s use of violence against protesters in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death.
60 years on, King’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ relevant as ever, say faith leaders
By Adelle M. Banks — April 28, 2023
(RNS) — King’s response to white clergy critics endures as a ‘road map’ for those working on justice and equal rights.
Most adults in US, 16 other nations say belief in God, morality not always linked
By Adelle M. Banks — April 20, 2023
(RNS) — Pew Research Center released the findings — that also hold true among most of those affiliated with a religion — from its Global Attitudes Survey.
Charles Stanley, TV preacher and Southern Baptist leader, dies at 90
By Adelle M. Banks — April 19, 2023
(RNS) — The author of dozens of books was recognized by people in the grassroots as well as in the highest echelons of American society.
Donald Lawrence: On taking the legacy of gospel music mentor Edwin Hawkins abroad
By Adelle M. Banks — April 14, 2023
(RNS) — ‘A lot of times people make gospel music so much about religion, they forget about the art of it,’ Lawrence said.
Can a teacher put John 3:16 in email signature? District says no; her lawyers say yes
By Adelle M. Banks — April 10, 2023
(RNS) — An official of a Virginia school district said its ‘determination is not based on any particular religious viewpoint.’
Half online, half in person: The state of Black churches now and possibly on Easter
By Adelle M. Banks — April 6, 2023
(RNS) — As Easter approaches, leaders of Black denominations use cautious language even as they hope for a resurrection in the numbers of people who return to the pews.
Church-state separationist Barry Lynn recounts his legal arguments in new memoirs
By Adelle M. Banks — April 3, 2023
(RNS) — 'It is people who are hurting, people who are outcasts, that appealed to me,' Lynn said.
From Senate subcommittee to Easter sermon: Raphael Warnock on life as a pastor-politician
By Adelle M. Banks — March 31, 2023
WASHINGTON (RNS) — ‘My life is a sermon, that I get to preach on Sunday and embody and make come alive in my work in the Senate,’ said the Georgia senator.
Public theologian Yolanda Pierce named next dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School
By Adelle M. Banks — March 24, 2023
(RNS) — ‘I look forward to building on the strong foundation that Emilie Townes and others have established to form this treasured community,’ Pierce said.
Princeton Theological Seminary students, alumni seek ouster of trustee chair
By Adelle M. Banks — March 21, 2023
(RNS) — ‘The seminary needs a deeper reckoning,’ they wrote, ‘with its current relationship to and investment in modern systems of enslavement.’
Baptist Joint Committee gains faith and justice center, grows religious liberty work
By Adelle M. Banks — March 6, 2023
(RNS) — ‘One of the things that we prioritized in our work was really reimagining religious freedom through the experiences of marginalized communities,’ said Sabrina E. Dent, the center’s president.
Biden administration seeks to rescind Trump-era rule about faith on campus
By Adelle M. Banks — March 3, 2023
(RNS) — An Education Department spokesperson said the more than 600 comments that had been received as of Friday (March 3) will be reviewed before a final rule is issued.
Faith leaders urge Biden to sign executive order for reparations study by Juneteenth
By Adelle M. Banks — March 1, 2023
(RNS) — They urged Biden to base an order on the structure of H.R. 40, legislation proposed for decades that has yet to pass on Capitol Hill.
