Yonat Shimron
Yonat Shimron is an RNS National Reporter and Senior Editor.
All Stories by Yonat Shimron
David French on Christian nationalism and evangelicals’ existential angst
By Yonat Shimron — February 3, 2021
(RNS) — The conservative writer said Christian believers need to be reminded of the toxic effects of fear.
Duke Divinity School dean tapped as Belmont University president
By Yonat Shimron — February 1, 2021
(RNS) — L. Gregory Jones, longtime dean of Duke Divinity School, will become the new president of Nashville's booming, nondenominational Belmont University.
Some Southern Baptist pastors are calling Kamala Harris ‘Jezebel.’ What do they mean?
By Yonat Shimron and Emily McFarlan Miller — January 29, 2021
(RNS) — Southern Baptist pastors are sharply critical of Vice President Kamala Harris. Now some are taking their insults to biblical proportions.
Their hopes dashed by a Texas judge, immigrants living in churches wait for a reprieve
By Yonat Shimron and Jack Jenkins — January 29, 2021
(RNS) — Now that a Texas judge has barred part of President Biden's deportation moratorium, immigrants living in church sanctuary are searching for solutions. Thirty lawmakers want to help.
Survey: Americans most likely to say pandemic has boosted their faith
By Yonat Shimron — January 27, 2021
(RNS) — Nearly half of white evangelicals in the U.S. (49%) said their faith grew stronger due to the coronavirus outbreak — more than any other group, according to a new Pew Research survey.
For many schools, the Master of Divinity degree is moving online for good
By Yonat Shimron — January 26, 2021
(RNS) — Duke Divinity School will begin offering a hybrid Master of Divinity degree with online classes and one-week in-person intensives — cementing what has become a growing trend among most free-standing seminaries.
5 faith facts about Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Southern Jew with a passion for racial justice
By Yonat Shimron — January 21, 2021
(RNS) — He wrote a letter to the Atlanta Jewish community saying his Jewish upbringing instilled in him ‘a conviction to fight for the marginalized, the persecuted and the dispossessed.’
With new executive order, this immigrant is leaving church sanctuary after 3.5 years
By Yonat Shimron — January 21, 2021
DURHAM, N.C. — Dozens of others who took sanctuary in churches after former President Trump’s aggressive deportation policies are now checking with their lawyers to see if it might be safe for them to leave.
In Biden’s Cabinet, Catholics and Jews dominate
By Yonat Shimron — January 19, 2021
(RNS) — One group not represented in Biden’s Cabinet picks? White evangelicals, the group most loyal to President Donald Trump.
On his way to prison, Catholic activist advocates for COVID-19 prisoner release
By Yonat Shimron — January 12, 2021
(RNS) — Patrick O’Neill will report to a federal prison Thursday for breaking into a nuclear submarine base to protest nuclear arms. Now he’s advocating for prisoner safety during a pandemic.
Samaritan’s Purse field hospitals much in demand as COVID case counts rise
By Yonat Shimron — January 11, 2021
LENOIR, N.C. (RNS) — The evangelical humanitarian relief organization has trained healthcare workers or treated COVID-19 patients in 30 countries. Its latest field hospital is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
How the shofar emerged as a weapon of spiritual warfare for some evangelicals
By Yonat Shimron — January 6, 2021
(RNS) — Shofar blowing, as in today's Jericho March, has become commonplace in many political demonstrations far removed from any Jewish or Israel-related themes.
117th Congress, like the old, is overwhelmingly Christian, heavily Protestant
By Yonat Shimron and Emily McFarlan Miller — January 4, 2021
(RNS) — Whereas about a quarter (26%) of US adults are religiously unaffiliated, only one member of the 117th Congress — Sen. Kyrsten Sinema — described herself that way.
Samaritan’s Purse to open a North Carolina field hospital for COVID-19 patients
By Yonat Shimron — December 31, 2020
(RNS) — The evangelical humanitarian relief organization headed by Franklin Graham will open a 30-bed field hospital to help five small hospitals in the western part of the state.
What to expect on the religious scene in 2021: Experts cast their sights on the year ahead
By Yonat Shimron — December 31, 2020
(RNS) — We asked scholars, faith leaders, activists and other experts to reflect on some of the issues they’ve seen on the religious landscape and what they anticipate for 2021.
