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Emily McFarlan Miller

Emily McFarlan Miller is a national reporter for RNS based in Chicago. She covers mainline Protestant Christianity.

All Stories by Emily McFarlan Miller

‘An excuse for the feast’: Witches celebrate the summer solstice with cakes, mead — and salsa
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 18, 2021
(RNS) — For many pagans, spirituality is tied to nature, and eating local seasonal foods connects them to the earth and with a specific time and place.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, others encourage US to rebuild refugee resettlement ahead of World Refugee Day
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 17, 2021
(RNS) — ‘A system that took 40 years to build was devastated in just four years,’ said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

‘What Is God Like?’ Late author Rachel Held Evans’ first children’s book invites questions
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 15, 2021
(RNS) — 'This is the first book of hers that they'll read,' Rachel Held Evans' husband, Daniel Jonce Evans, said of the couple's two young children.

Liberty grad Nightbirde captures hearts, Golden Buzzer on ‘America’s Got Talent’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 11, 2021
(RNS) — What fans of the popular show may not realize is that Nightbirde's performance came from a place of deep faith.

‘Serenade’ album celebrates LGBTQ youth ahead of Queer Youth of Faith Day
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 8, 2021
(RNS) — ‘Serenade,’ released last week, is a genre-spanning compilation of original songs by various queer artists and allies celebrating and empowering LGBTQ people of faith.

A refugee agency rebuilds its pipeline after Trump: ‘We’re starting from scratch’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 7, 2021
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (RNS) — Hollowed out by four years of drastic cuts to the number of refugees allowed into the country, the faith-based agencies that resettle families in the U.S. are gearing back up.

New app, believr, aims to create a ‘home for LGBTQ+ Christians’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 4, 2021
(RNS) — Believr started out as a dating app but transformed into a broader community. 'I believe the LGBTQ+ Christian space is much bigger than people realize or think,' said the founder.

‘Green fluff’ brings the taste of church potlucks home during a pandemic year
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 3, 2021
(RNS) — ‘Like a church lady hug,’ green fluff and its many-hued counterparts have been a church potluck staple for generations.

PTL! Andrew Garfield, Jessica Chastain to star as Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in biopic
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 2, 2021
(RNS) — The biopic also will depict a number of other evangelicals who were prominent during the 1980s, including Jerry Falwell Sr., Jimmy Swaggart and Pat Robertson.

Wheaton College rewords plaque calling Indigenous people in mission field ‘savage’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 24, 2021
CHICAGO (RNS) — The plaque honors missionaries Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian and Pete Fleming who were slain in 1956 while attempting to share their Christian faith with the Waorani people in Ecuador.

Episcopal Diocese of Chicago postpones consecration of bishop-elect after brain bleed
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 24, 2021
CHICAGO (RNS) — The delay will allow Clark to assume her role as bishop in 'the healthiest and most wholesome way,' according to Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago reinstates Rev. Michael Pfleger after past sex abuse allegations
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 24, 2021
CHICAGO (RNS) — The Rev. Michael Pfleger, 71, will return to his position as senior pastor of the Faith Community of St. Sabina in Chicago on June 5, according to a letter from Cardinal Blase Cupich.

Meet the Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist encouraging her fellow Christians to get vaccinated
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 19, 2021
(RNS) — Written in epidemiologist Emily Smith’s friendly, informational voice, the Facebook page has grown to more than 96,000 followers.

Franklin Graham urges evangelicals to get vaccinated before it’s ‘too late’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 17, 2021
(RNS) — 'My father was a firm believer in medicine. He believed in it, so he would have been a supporter — no question,' said Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham.

Christian higher ed courses in prisons continue, adapt amid COVID-19
By Emily McFarlan Miller, Adelle M. Banks — May 13, 2021
(RNS) — Despite the elimination of most prison visitations for many months of the COVID-19 pandemic, some religious higher education institutions have found ways to stay connected with prisoners.
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