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
Is the black church shifting on gay marriage?: Q&A with filmmaker Yoruba Richen
By Adelle M. Banks — June 25, 2014
(RNS) Filmmaker Yoruba Richen, director of the documentary “The New Black,” sees new conversations starting in black churches as her film about the intersection of race, religion and sexuality is screened across the country.
Growing coalition presses Obama to end policy on religious discrimination in hiring
By Adelle M. Banks — June 20, 2014
WASHINGTON (RNS) President Obama campaigned against a Bush-era discrimination policy for religious groups that receive federal grants. Now a growing coalition of groups is trying to hold him to his promise.
Southern Baptists’ Paige Patterson apologizes for Muslim student as other schools work across faiths
By Adelle M. Banks — June 12, 2014
BALTIMORE (RNS) While the move to admit a Muslim student at a leading evangelical seminary shocked some Southern Baptists, observers say students from other faiths at other Christian seminaries typically don't get much notice.
Southern Baptists pray for ‘favorable’ Hobby Lobby ruling
By Adelle M. Banks — June 11, 2014
BALTIMORE (RNS) “God, we ask for a favorable, favorable ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States for the cause of religious liberty,” prayed the Rev. Ronnie Floyd, incoming president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Southern Baptists oppose gender reassignment
By Adelle M. Banks — June 10, 2014
BALTIMORE (RNS) Southern Baptists voted to affirm "God’s good design" that gender is set by biology, "not by one’s self-perception.”
Ronnie Floyd: 5 fast facts
By Adelle M. Banks — June 10, 2014
1. Who: The newly elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Floyd was nominated before, in 2006, but lost to Frank Page. On Tuesday (June 10), he received 52 percent of the vote. He will serve one year and be eligible for another one-year term. 2. Age: 58, born in Gonzales, Texas 3. Seminary: Southwestern […]
Rick Warren to pastors: ‘There is no testimony without a test’
By Adelle M. Banks — June 9, 2014
BALTIMORE (RNS) Speaking of mental illness, Warren said: “If your brain doesn’t work right and you take a pill, why are you supposed to be ashamed of that?”
Southern Baptists meet as membership, baptism decline continues
By Adelle M. Banks — June 4, 2014
(RNS) All three of the candidates for Southern Baptist Convention president have ideas about overcoming the malaise in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.
Navy rejects request for first humanist chaplain
By Adelle M. Banks — June 3, 2014
(RNS) The Navy has rejected a request to commission its first humanist chaplain.
Jimmy Carter 3.0: Building a post-presidential legacy
By Adelle M. Banks — May 28, 2014
(RNS) No longer just a former president, he’s Jimmy Carter 3.0: The globe-trotting, Sunday school-teaching, house-building elder statesman is living out his faith through humanitarian causes -- seeking to conquer the abuse of women and eradicate global disease.
Christian leaders say Middle East Christians must not be forgotten
By Adelle M. Banks — May 7, 2014
WASHINGTON (RNS) “If history has any lesson to teach us about silence, it’s not a good one,” Cardinal Donald Wuerl said.
One more time, evangelicals head to Hill on immigration reform
By Adelle M. Banks — April 29, 2014
WASHINGTON (RNS) Trying yet again with new voices added to their cause, more than 250 evangelical pastors came to Washington on Tuesday to continue their push for Congress to enact immigration reform.
Army approves ‘humanist’ as religious preference
By Adelle M. Banks — April 22, 2014
WASHINGTON (RNS) The change comes against a backdrop of persistent claims from atheists and other nonbelievers that the military is dominated by a Christian culture that is often hostile to unbelief.
T.D. Jakes: ‘Heaven’ movie reflects ‘growing wonder’ about afterlife
By Adelle M. Banks — April 17, 2014
(RNS) "The notion of heaven captures people’s imagination regardless of their religious predisposition," said Bishop T.D. Jakes, a producer of the new film "Heaven is for Real."
President Obama mourns Kansas tragedy: ‘We’re all children of God’
By Adelle M. Banks — April 14, 2014
WASHINGTON (RNS) “We’re all children of God. We’re all made in his image, all worthy of his love and dignity,” President Obama said at his annual Easter prayer breakfast, adding that religious-fueled violence has "no place in our society.”
