Spencer Cullom on the Duke University campus in Durham, N.C. RNS photo by Yonat Shimron
Need to know: Wednesday, April 24, 2019
What to do about ordination? A gay divinity school student ponders her future
Dozens of LGBTQ United Methodist seminary students will graduate next month from the 13 schools affiliated with the denomination. Like Spencer Cullom, who is a lesbian, they face an uncertain future.
Why United Methodists are watching the results of a denominational court meeting
What might United Methodists' top court decide this week about the Traditional Plan, and what would that mean for the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States?
Kanye West at Coachella was a substitute Easter for sinner-saints
Beyond his showmanship, some experts say, the God-obsessed rapper is offering something the church typically doesn’t allow for: a space where people are allowed to be saint and sinner.
Mick Mulvaney: Faith is driving many Trump administration policies
'The president has allowed us, Christians of all denominations, folks from all different faiths … to take their faith and work it into our policies,' the acting White House chief of staff said.
Three criteria to evaluate Francis’ reform of Vatican Curia
Six years after Pope Francis was elected, his proposals to reform the scandal-plagued Vatican Curia are ready to be released, writes Thomas Reese. Will they satisfy the critics of the Curia?
2020 election revives debate: should religious faith guide one’s voting?
Mayor Pete Buttigieg says Christian faith leads in a "progressive" political direction. Conservatives disagree. The debate reshapes old questions about the relation between religion and politics.
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Supporters of hospitalized Christian author pool funds to cover medical costs
Friends, family and supporters of prominent Christian author Rachel Held Evans are pooling funds to help cover her medical expenses after she was hospitalized over the weekend and placed into a medically induced coma.
In Mexico, Holy Week penitents continue bloody 16th-century traditions of absolution
The celebration of Holy Week in this colonial town southwest of Mexico City is one of the most dramatic and shocking in the country.
Refurbishing holy site, India’s Modi levels ancient spiritual landscape
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 'dream project' at an 18th-century shrine to Lord Shiva has swept up monasteries, old-age homes and shops that had existed for generations.
More views from RNS
What would the Cossacks say?
It happened in Ukraine, It probably could not happen in the United States.
World’s oldest marathoner, at 108, is a model of more than simply stamina
The 108-year-old's record-breaking running career traverses key issues like classism, racism, literacy bias, ableism and ageism, writes Simran Jeet Singh.
The hollowing out of American religion
(RNS) — The traditional pattern of young adults joining churches after they get married and have children has not been holding true.
