Protestant
A ‘prophetic’ force: Queer songwriter Spencer LaJoye finds resonance outside religion
By Kathryn Post — June 29, 2023
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (RNS) — Since their 2021 song ‘Plowshare Prayer’ went viral, LaJoye, who is spiritual but not Christian, has been invited to perform in churches across the U.S.
The Rev. Amos Brown, vice chair of California’s reparations task force, calls for action
By Adelle M. Banks — June 29, 2023
(RNS) — ‘We’ve got to act and stop just talking, not just saying we are sad,’ Brown said.
Maryland church, with $100,000 in vandalism damage, continues in faith
By Adelle M. Banks — June 27, 2023
(RNS) — On June 8, the red-carpeted sanctuary of the historically Black church was turned into a debris-filled space.
As the election cycle cranks up, Christians need to call out white Christian nationalism
By Kelly Brown Douglas and Bryan N. Massingale — June 27, 2023
(RNS) — White and Black Christians need to truly partner with God in building a more just future for all.
Southern Baptists say no to women pastors. But what does the Bible say a pastor is?
By Bob Smietana — June 27, 2023
(RNS) — The expulsion of Saddleback Church and other congregations for having women pastors led to national headlines. It’s also prompted questions about thousands of other churches where women serve in roles such as children’s pastor or music minister. Can the role’s title get a church in trouble with the SBC?
The search for gender identity, say trans seekers, brought them closer to God
By Emma Ryan — June 27, 2023
(RNS) — As opposition to recognition for transgender Americans has become politicized, so have clashes between people with transgender identities and faith leaders. But it’s not always the case that faith and transgender don’t mix.
Southern Baptists uphold expulsion of churches with women pastors – but the debate’s not just about gender
By Andrew Gardner — June 27, 2023
(The Conversation) — In Southern Baptist history, rules on women and sexuality are often entwined. A scholar writes about the first congregation to be expelled from the SBC over LGBTQ+ issues
Pence calls for his 2024 rivals to back a 15-week federal abortion ban on eve of Dobbs anniversary
By Will Weissert and Michelle L. Price — June 26, 2023
WASHINGTON (AP) — The exhortation at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual conference amounted to a challenge for the GOP front-runner, Donald Trump.
Meet Natalie Drew: Christian, trans woman, veteran and pacifist
By Kathryn Post — June 23, 2023
(RNS) — 'I get asked a lot, why do I stay?' said Drew, a wife and mother of two. 'I stay because I truly believe Jesus Christ came, died and rose again the third day.'
For church worship teams, Auto-Tune covers a multitude of sins. Especially online.
By Bob Smietana — June 22, 2023
(RNS) — The boom in livestreaming and the ubiquity of Auto-Tune and other technologies have led churches to up their game when it come to sound technology. But has it gone too far?
‘The Wicker Man,’ the classic horror film and pagan must-see, gets new life at 50
By Heather Greene — June 21, 2023
(RNS) — In anticipation of its 50th anniversary, the landmark film’s ‘director’s cut’ was released Wednesday in time for the solstice, a major pagan holiday.
Welcoming the stranger on World Refugee Day
By Bridget Moix — June 21, 2023
(RNS) — Accepting refugees professionally and compassionately is part of America’s history.
Mission trips are an evangelical rite of passage for US teens – but why?
By Caroline R. Nagel — June 21, 2023
(The Conversation) — Today’s short-term missionaries continue a long legacy, but in a very different way.
Poverty is a lethal epidemic. It’s time to address it.
By William J. Barber II and Liz Theoharis — June 20, 2023
(RNS) — Politicians who fail to act are complicit in the deaths of thousands.
A Black preacher ‘no longer at war with her body’ on connecting flesh with the divine
By Emma Ryan — June 20, 2023
(RNS) — In a new book, womanist theologian Lyvonne Briggs counsels women to ‘unlearn’ the shame the church has historically attached to their physical selves and ‘feel full, whole, at ease and at home in their bodies.’
