Series
How to fund ministry amid mainline decline? Get creative, say campus ministry leaders
By Emily McFarlan Miller — February 18, 2020
MADISON, Wis. (RNS) — When it came to the future of the historic Presbyterian campus ministry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, its co-pastors innovated by looking to the past.
Pres House provides spiritual home away from home for Madison students
By Emily McFarlan Miller — February 18, 2020
MADISON, Wis. (RNS) — A spirit of innovation has animated Pres House since 1907, when Christ Presbyterian Church in Madison hired its first campus pastor.
Jordan Peterson’s perfectly Petersonian health scare
By Tara Isabella Burton — February 18, 2020
(RNS) — The 21st century’s most vocal proponent of manly self-reliance is reportedly suffering from chemical dependence. It's telling that Peterson's family has carefully explained his illness in terms that agree with his self-help themes.
Cathedral light show is drawing those who normally don’t darken church doors
By Adelle M. Banks — February 17, 2020
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Cathedrals around the world are welcoming people in new ways with meditative light and sound shows.
‘Self-Care Barbie’ brings moral perfection to the younger set
By Tara Isabella Burton — February 12, 2020
(RNS) — Barbie's aspirational qualities here are neither those of beauty nor those of career success, but rather quasi-spiritual purity.
Fighting taboos, British Sikhs work to demystify organ donation
By Aysha Khan — February 10, 2020
LONDON (RNS) — A handful of recent initiatives are challenging taboos around death and organ donation among Sikh and other South Asian communities in the UK.
Canceling authors: The debate over who owns our stories
By Tara Isabella Burton — February 6, 2020
(RNS) — In the age of fan fiction, the age of memes, the age of mashups and YouTube compilations, we no longer take for granted that there is a single, fixed narrative — one that belongs to the author, by virtue of him or her having invented it.
At Muslim hackathon, techies build community and tools to access Islamic learning
By Aysha Khan — February 4, 2020
LONDON (RNS) — Led by local groups Muslamic Makers and Deen Developers, around 50 young British Muslims joined a two-day hackathon in the city to help build the future of Islamic education.
J. Dana Trent is on a mission to discuss death with the post-Millennial generation
By Yonat Shimron — February 3, 2020
RALEIGH, N.C. (RNS) — Her fascination with death is part of a growing movement whose adherents believe in wresting control of death from the funeral industry and breaking the silence around death through frank discussions.
A Muslim women’s netball team brings competition — and a sense of inclusion
By Aysha Khan — January 30, 2020
LONDON (RNS) — Two years ago, Muslim students founded a netball club for women in their university’s Islamic society. Since then, the team has grown to an interuniversity club, with Muslims at over a dozen U.K. institutions involved.
Making sense of Mr. Peanut’s senseless death
By Tara Isabella Burton — January 28, 2020
(RNS) — Greater love has no man than this, Jesus once said, than a man lay down his life for his friends. In 2020, it’s Mr. Peanut who makes this a thing.
Expanded travel ban gives world’s democracies more cover for anti-Muslim measures
By Simran Jeet Singh — January 28, 2020
(RNS) — Trump's Muslim ban is part of an alarming trend of ostensibly democratic nation-states targeting Muslims.
Controversial comedy ‘Faith Based’ pokes fun at Christian films — to a point
By Emily McFarlan Miller — January 24, 2020
(RNS) — ‘Faith Based’ is a new satirical film about the Christian film industry that premiered this past weekend at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Mandeep Rai’s book on business collects the spiritual wisdom of 101 countries
By Simran Jeet Singh — January 23, 2020
(RNS) — As banker, broadcast journalist and now a consultant to business startups, Mandeep Rai found universal values that synced with her Sikh faith.
Multiracial churches growing, but challenging for clergy of color
By Adelle M. Banks — January 20, 2020
KELLER, Texas (RNS) — 'Pain is a part of the growth,' said the black pastor of a multiethnic Southern Baptist church in Utah.
