LGBTQ advocates react to the Traditional Plan being adopted at the UMC General Conference on Feb. 26, 2019, in St. Louis. RNS photo by Kit Doyle
Need to know: Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Adam Hamilton on ‘Methodists in the middle’ and what’s next for the denomination
As the United Methodist Church has spent decades wrestling over the inclusion of its LGBTQ members, the Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the largest United Methodist church in the United States, has emerged, as one local radio station put it, as 'the Pied Piper for Methodists in the middle.'
Urban oil well to be shut down, cleaned up after pressure from LA faith activists
The city of Los Angeles gave AllenCo three years to clean up an urban oil well in Los Angeles. The move comes after years of activism by local faith-based groups, who say the neighborhood well was a nuisance.
The complex role of faith in the women’s suffrage movement
Faith played a complicated role in the fight for women's suffrage. Some activists said their faith inspired them to fight for the vote. Opponents said suffrage was against God's will.
Woman accuses Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of dismissing sex abuse case
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, has been accused of covering up abuse by one of his chief aides.
Can witches and consumer culture coexist?
As long as millennials adapt rituals and spells as a force for change, companies will hawk those rituals and spells to preserve the status quo, writes Tara Isabella Burton.
The secret history of Catholic caregivers and the AIDS epidemic
The Catholic Church, both the institution and individual believers, responded to the intense suffering of the most marginalized during the AIDS crisis in the United States. For those of us who are too young to remember, the scope of that suffering can be difficult to comprehend.
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Southern Baptist leaders plan to remedy ‘insufficient’ approach to abuse claims
Their denomination’s Executive Committee may also vote to create a year-round Credentials Committee that will consider complaints about churches mishandling abuse or 'discriminatory behavior on the basis of ethnicity.'
Why a Boston church is stamping Harriet Tubman on all its $20 bills
Since May, the Jamaica Plain church has been stamping all $20 bills from its offering plates with abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s face. It is, the church's pastor said, a 'worthy replacement.'
Scholars fear Franklin Graham will cut off access to Billy Graham archives
Franklin Graham said plans are underway for a new research center, but no professional archivists or librarians appear to be in place.
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What is Eid and how do Muslims celebrate it? 6 questions answered
(The Conversation) — Muslims all over the world are celebrating Eid al-Fitr, one of the religion’s principal festivals.
When clergy ask themselves: does it really matter?
How important is our work? Whatever work we do? God knows, writes Jeffrey Salkin.
The Pacific Northwest is the American religious future
What a society dominated by Nones looks like, writes Mark Silk.