Protestant
Beloved N.C. Baptist charity leader steps down over alleged misuse of $89,000 in donations
By Bob Smietana — September 21, 2023
(RNS) — Michael Blackwell, who had led the Baptist Children's Homes of North Carolina since 1983, spent tens of thousands of dollars in the past three years on personal expenses and used charitable funds to buy his wife a car, according to a forensic audit.
ELCA hears from Indigenous boarding school survivor ahead of National Day of Remembrance
By Emily McFarlan Miller — September 20, 2023
(RNS) — The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is one of several mainline denominations reckoning with the role they played in the federal boarding school system.
Jerry Falwell’s legal battle with Liberty University — and his brother — escalates
By Bob Smietana and Jack Jenkins — September 20, 2023
(RNS) — In an amended complaint filed in federal court last week, Falwell Jr. alleged several board members diverted university funds to private causes and overlooked sexual misconduct by former leaders.
From exorcist to monster: How Hollywood has recast Catholicism
By Tyler Huckabee — September 20, 2023
(RNS) — The latest movie in ‘The Conjuring’ franchise reflects horror’s loss of faith in faith.
Suspended UMC Latina bishop accused of financial malfeasance and retaliation
By Yonat Shimron — September 19, 2023
(RNS) — The trial of Bishop Minerva Carcaño is a first for a United Methodist bishop.
Despite remaining leaderless, SBC Executive Committee says it had ‘most unified meeting in some time’
By Bob Smietana — September 19, 2023
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — An unexpected withdrawal marks the second time this year that a nomination for leader of the Executive Committee has fallen apart.
Sarah Jakes Roberts, pastor and T.D. Jakes’ daughter, now Time100 Next honoree
By Adelle M. Banks — September 19, 2023
(RNS) — ‘When your father is T.D. Jakes and you follow his footsteps into the world of ministry, there’s a lot of pressure to find your own voice,’ said Tyler Perry in tribute.
The SBC was a train wreck 100 years ago and found a way through. Can it do so again?
By Bob Smietana — September 19, 2023
(RNS) — Meeting in Nashville, leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee look for a way past the denomination’s current woes.
Is a pastor’s sin a private matter? Johnny Hunt lawsuit makes that claim.
By Bob Smietana — September 18, 2023
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — The former SBC president and longtime megachurch pastor covered up his sexual misconduct for a decade. Now he's suing SBC leaders for revealing his sins.
Why do I still go to church? It’s a good question.
By Amy Julia Becker — September 18, 2023
(RNS) — There's more to it than community or spirituality or even wanting to raise my kids right.
African churches urge US Congress to reauthorize PEPFAR
By Fredrick Nzwili — September 18, 2023
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — The leaders are writing in response to a letter sent to Congress in June by religious groups and legislators asserting that the funds for the program were financing family planning and reproductive health programs, including abortion.
From ‘Nights on Broadway’ to ‘1963’: Candi Staton recalls 16th St. Baptist bombing
By Adelle M. Banks — September 15, 2023
(RNS) — ‘I was thinking about trying to protect my children. And we had to drive right through the worst part of the riots — downtown Birmingham,’ she said.
Once a baby-faced conservative revolutionary, Al Mohler is now an SBC institution
By Bob Smietana — September 14, 2023
(RNS) — For three decades, Al Mohler has been a powerful conservative voice in the evangelical movement’s theology and politics. His bolder statements have often overshadowed the reality that Mohler is a remarkably effective institutional leader.
Survey: Mainline clergy are more liberal than their congregants
By Yonat Shimron — September 14, 2023
(RNS) — Mainline clergy are more supportive than their congregants of LGBTQ rights, more likely to have opposed the overturn of Roe v. Wade and less likely to believe America is in danger of losing its culture and identity.
Mainline Protestants, though divided politically, make room for clergy’s views
By Melissa Deckman — September 14, 2023
(RNS) — America’s nonevangelical white Christians are cultivating healthy political discourse.
