Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Ill. Photo courtesy of Google Maps
Need to know: Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Harvest announces executive committee will resign, more changes after MacDonald fired
The Chicago-area megachurch announced that the entire executive committee of its elders will resign over the next few months — one of several changes coming after the ouster of its founding pastor, James MacDonald.
British inquiry into church sexual abuse blasts UK’s papal nuncio
A face-off between Britain's papal nuncio and government panel on child sexual abuse is not the first time Vatican diplomats have clashed with their hosts' prosecutors.
Zimbabwe pastor who helped oust Mugabe returns to protesting — and jail
'We replaced Mugabe with another Mugabe,' said Pastor Evan Mawarire, who faces a 20-year prison sentence for his current protest activities.
Alexa responds to minister’s sermon, orders toilet paper
A sermon about the depersonalizing effect of technology became a case in point.
Marie Kondo and Kuyō: Is throwing things away really a religious experience?
Kondo’s joy-driven minimalism is just the latest iteration of a Japanese domestic management practice intersecting with religion, writes Hannah Gould.
Vatican’s secret rules for Catholic priests who have children
The Vatican has confirmed, apparently for the first time, that its department overseeing the world’s priests has general guidelines for what to do when clerics break celibacy vows and father children.
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Southern Baptists should investigate churches that cover up abuse, says SBC president
While blaming the abusers, SBC president J.D. Greear called on the convention as a whole "to repent of a culture that has made abuse, cover-ups, and evading accountability far too easy."
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, former refugee and Obama White House adviser, to head LIRS
Vignarajah, who was policy director for former First Lady Michelle Obama, is the second refugee and the first non-Lutheran to lead the Baltimore-based organization in its 80-year history.
Report: One in three in UK say Islam threatens British culture
A new report finds that about 35 percent of British people think that Islam is generally "a threat to the British way of life" in the wake of 2017 terrorist attacks.
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Religion’s role in the climate emergency
Time to start talking about sacrifice, writes Mark Silk.
A Howard Schultz platform that could energize faith voters
Any independent who wants to peel voters from the major parties in decent numbers should focus on religious voters who are economically progressive and socially conservative, writes Jacob Lupfer.
Don’t romanticize suffering following the Aurora mass shooting
WHEATON, Ill. (RNS) — People look for spiritual growth to come from tragedies like the Aurora mass shooting. But science tells us that the blessings of suffering are often different from what people expect.
