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Bob Smietana

Bob Smietana is a veteran religion writer and national reporter for Religion News Service.

All Stories by Bob Smietana

Adam Greenway resigns as Southwestern Seminary president
By Bob Smietana — September 23, 2022
(RNS) — In resigning, Greenway said he was unprepared for the enormity of the 'legal and financial realities' facing the seminary.

Don Hinkle, longtime conservative Missouri Baptist editor, has died
By Bob Smietana — September 23, 2022
(RNS) — The longtime editor of The Pathway was known for his bowties, outspoken politics and his championing of conservative Southern Baptists.

Study: More than 3/4 of Republican evangelicals want US declared a Christian nation
By Bob Smietana — September 23, 2022
(RNS) — While some Christian groups would like the US government to make their faith the official religion of the US, a new poll shows most Americans know that would be unconstitutional.

Little churches still matter, says Martha’s Vineyard pastor of church that took in migrants
By Bob Smietana — September 16, 2022
(RNS) — Houses of worship on Martha's Vineyard have long worked together to meet the needs of their neighbors. So they were ready to spring into action when refugees arrived unexpectedly.

Brent Leatherwood, new ERLC president, says he won’t tell Christians how to vote
By Bob Smietana — September 16, 2022
(RNS) — A Southern Baptist ethicist and former Tennessee Republican staffer hopes to work closely with churches on their public witness.

Jules Woodson and tech exec team up to help abuse survivors get therapy and heal
By Bob Smietana — September 13, 2022
(RNS) — A new nonprofit called Help;Hear;Heal plans to fund counseling appointments for abuse survivors.

Fewer than half of Americans may be Christian by 2070, according to new projections
By Bob Smietana — September 13, 2022
(RNS) — A new report projects Americans' future — a future where Christianity, though diminished, persists, while non-Christian faiths grow amid rising secularization.

From shoeboxes to war zones: How Samaritan’s Purse became a $1 billion humanitarian aid powerhouse
By Yonat Shimron and Bob Smietana — September 9, 2022
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (RNS) — Now one of the largest US nonprofits, its growth has come largely through frontline work in public health crises and natural disasters around the world. 

AME bishops condemn leaders who took massive kickbacks from church sales in New York
By Bob Smietana — September 7, 2022
(RNS) — The kickbacks came from the sale of Black churches in New York, some of which had been in distress. Church leaders hid the transactions from church members and state officials.

At Dave Ramsey’s company, some sex outside marriage was OK, court documents show
By Bob Smietana — September 2, 2022
(RMS) — Newly released documents detail the Christian finance company's scrutiny of employee sex lives — and what it lets pass.

For a small Chicago church, closing down was an act of faith
By Bob Smietana — August 30, 2022
(RNS) — There is no way to resurrection without experiencing death, the Rev. Amanda Olson told her congregation on Sunday. Her church, Grace Covenant Church in Chicago, closed this week.

Matt Chandler, megachurch pastor and ACTS 29 leader, placed on leave
By Bob Smietana — August 29, 2022
(RNS) — Chandler sent overly familiar direct messages to a woman over Instagram, violating church policy.

The US Department of Justice is investigating the SBC. What does it mean?
By Bob Smietana — August 17, 2022
(RNS) — A former FBI agent, who later ran the USCCB’s office of child protection, suspects federal officials want to make sure they have not missed any crimes in an SBC abuse report.

Richard Dujardin, longtime religion reporter, dies in fall at 77
By Bob Smietana — August 16, 2022
(RNS) — Dujardin was remembered as a friend, mentor, devoted journalist and family man.

Interfaith summit dreams of America as a potluck, not a battlefield
By Bob Smietana — August 16, 2022
(RNS) — Hundreds of interfaith campus leaders gathered in Chicago to reimagine America as a potluck, where everyone is welcome — rather than a melting pot.
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