Coronavirus
Jesse Jackson and wife Jacqueline hospitalized with COVID-19
By Jack Jenkins — August 22, 2021
(RNS) — The civil rights activist, who was vaccinated in January, has been a fixture at voting rights demonstrations in recent months.
‘Bracing for the worst’ in Florida’s COVID-19 hot zone
By Kelli Kennedy and Cody Jackson — August 20, 2021
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The patients at Baptist Health’s five hospitals across Jacksonville are younger and getting sick from the virus faster than people did last summer.
Priests navigate Catholics’ fears and consciences in vaccine exemption pleas
By Alejandra Molina — August 19, 2021
(RNS) — It’s unclear how many Catholics are seeking vaccine religious exemptions, but more and more of their bishops are urging their priests to decline such requests.
Synagogues hoped to be in person this year. Now they’re not so sure.
By Yonat Shimron — August 18, 2021
(RNS) — A flood of new cases fueled by the highly contagious delta variant is putting increased pressure on synagogue leaders to scale back High Holy Days services.
As US bishops reject exemptions, Pope Francis dubs COVID-19 vaccine ‘act of love’
By Claire Giangravé and Jack Jenkins — August 18, 2021
(RNS) — The declaration comes as U.S. Catholics debate religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Back-to-school time influences congregations’ decisions on masking and meeting
By Adelle M. Banks — August 16, 2021
(RNS) — ‘We're just trying to thread the needle and try to keep kids safe, trying to keep them mostly in outdoor environments and trying to keep them connected,' said one pastor.
California Catholic bishop tells priests to decline vaccine exemption requests
By Alejandra Molina — August 13, 2021
(RNS) — San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy said Catholic social teaching doesn't justify a religious exemption to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Feucht, Locke and the like are a sideshow — quit letting them distract you
By Ed Stetzer — August 12, 2021
(RNS) — Since both are quick to cite their First Amendment rights, I’m going to use mine now to call Christians to a better way and implore the media to resist making them representative of the Christian faith. They are not.
Russell Moore: Sickness, death from COVID-19 likely reducing some vaccine hesitancy
By Adelle M. Banks — August 10, 2021
(RNS) — Pastors are advocating for vaccines but misinformation has driven some evangelical hesitancy about getting COVID-19 shots, Moore told Washington Post Live.
As vaccine mandates spread, employers and colleges seek advice on religious exemptions
By Monique Parsons — August 9, 2021
(Interfaith America) — Secular and faith-based institutions alike are balancing religious protections against community health and safety, as well as the deep political divide.
Why file frivolous religious rights cases against COVID protections?
By Mark Silk — August 6, 2021
(RNS) — It's not about the law.
Warnock, Progressive National Baptists focus on voting rights during annual meeting
By Adelle M. Banks — August 5, 2021
(RNS) — The denominational meeting, which concludes Thursday, also featured discussions on equitable wages and on debates about critical race theory.
Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination, hosts biennial convening in Orlando
By Alejandra Molina — August 4, 2021
(RNS) — There are nearly 13,000 Assemblies of God churches across the U.S., according to the denomination.
Wade Morris, a popular Baptist youth speaker, dies after COVID-19 hospitalization
By Bob Smietana — August 3, 2021
(RNS) — Morris’ friends had asked for prayer on social media after he was hospitalized for an apparent case of COVID-19.
Court declines to hear church’s attack on COVID restrictions
By Associated Press — August 3, 2021
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a lawsuit by a Maine church that sought to take a preemptive strike against future COVID-19 restrictions.
