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Secular organizers say interfaith spaces should include atheists, nonbelievers
By Alejandra Molina — April 10, 2023
(RNS) — It is perplexing, some say, when interfaith leaders refer to the religious freedom movement as 'radically inclusive' while 'one of the biggest sections of society' is left out of the conversation.
Grassroots faith leaders navigate a Northern Ireland in flux
By Peter Smith — April 4, 2023
(AP) — The peace that came with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago has periodically threatened as Catholic and Protestants remain segregated in many ways.
Study: Religious attendance dips slightly after pandemic
By Yonat Shimron — March 28, 2023
(RNS) — The study found the share of U.S. adults who generally say they attend religious services at least once a month dropped from 33% in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak, to 30% in 2022.
Weeping in Nashville
By Scott Sauls — March 28, 2023
(RNS) — A Nashville pastor contemplates the ‘why?’ of this week’s shooting.
‘Purple church’ pastors mull leadership strategies in polarizing times
By Yonat Shimron — March 27, 2023
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (RNS) — The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina held a leadership forum to help pastors figure out how to speak out without alienating half of their members.
Judge rules immigration officials violated pastor’s religious freedom rights
By Jack Jenkins — March 27, 2023
(RNS) — 'The government’s approach — stalling, gaslighting, even lying — was entirely unconvincing to the court, and I am thrilled for the vindication,' said the Rev. Kaji Douša.
These are the schools the Global Methodist Church recommends for hopeful clergy
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 22, 2023
(RNS) — The fledgling Methodist denomination, which broke away from the United Methodist Church last year amid ongoing debate over the role of LGBTQ Christians, has announced a list of recommended educational institutions for candidates seeking ordination as a deacon or elder.
Judge dismisses lawsuit by 36 United Methodist churches
By Yonat Shimron — March 21, 2023
(RNS) — The North Carolina churches sued in state courts to leave a denomination they view as having strayed from its theological moorings on LGBTQ issues.
Bitter infighting threatens Kenya’s Methodist Church
By Fredrick Nzwili — March 20, 2023
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — At the center of a controversy that has been unfolding since 2015 is Presiding Bishop Joseph Ntombura.
Another religious leader marks 10 years of trying to find peace on LGBTQ
By Jacob Lupfer — March 17, 2023
(RNS) — Can the Archbishop of Canterbury hold the Anglican Communion together?
Divine dilemma: Who gets God’s nod in March Madness?
By Mark I. Pinsky and Rusty Wright — March 16, 2023
(RNS) — If two Christian schools’ fans pray for victory, which one gets God’s favor?
For United Methodists’ top court, 2024 is the new 2020
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 15, 2023
(RNS) — Three of the most recent decisions released by the Judicial Council dealt with resolutions that annual and jurisdictional conferences have approved regarding the denomination’s stance on LGBTQ inclusion.
Americans like Jews, Catholics and mainline Protestants. Evangelicals, not so much.
By Yonat Shimron — March 15, 2023
(RNS) — A new Pew Research poll finds that only 18% of nonevangelical Americans had favorable opinions of evangelicals; 32% had somewhat unfavorable views.
How a little-known editor made God a bestseller by helping Americans let go of religion
By Bob Smietana — March 13, 2023
(RNS) — A chance encounter at a party led religion professor Stephen Prothero to rediscover the story of Eugene Exman, a longtime book publisher who helped transform American religion.
Why the pronouns used for God matter
By Annie Selak — March 13, 2023
(The Conversation) — With the Church of England considering gender-neutral language to refer to God, a feminist theologian explains how Christianity has historically recognized many pronouns to refer to the divine.