California
New book spotlights influence of Pentecostalism on California’s Mexican farmworkers
By Alejandra Molina — January 20, 2023
(RNS) — 'Sowing the Sacred: Mexican Pentecostal Farmworkers in California' recounts how 'divine healing' was seen as a pragmatic way to care for impoverished workers who lacked regular access to medical care.
A California church attempts reparations for historic redlining of Black homebuyers
By Frances Nguyen — December 23, 2022
(Next City) — The Black Wealth Builders Fund offers zero-interest loans to Black neighbors looking to purchase their first home.
Not only Catholic churches celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
By Alejandra Molina — December 12, 2022
(RNS) — The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on Dec. 12, marks the appearance of Mary to St. Juan Diego, an Indigenous man, on a hill of Tepeyac in Mexico in 1531. The brown-skinned Virgin, patron saint of Mexico, is honored during this time with Masses and other celebrations outside the church.
HBO’s ‘Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo’ centers victims in ‘cult’ sex abuse scandal
By Alejandra Molina — December 6, 2022
(RNS) — The new three-part series delves into the history and growth of La Luz del Mundo and focuses on the former members coping with the trauma of the church.
14 Northern California clergy, religious linked for first time to Catholic sex abuse scandal
By Alejandra Molina — December 1, 2022
(RNS) — A window for filing new lawsuits under a 2019 California law for decades-old abuse will close Dec. 31.
Across the US, Native Americans are fighting to preserve sacred land
By Alejandra Molina and Emily McFarlan Miller — November 29, 2022
(RNS) — ‘It’s important that we unify, and we work together, and share the teachings to protect our sacred areas because once God, once our sacred and holy places are gone, we will no longer exist. Our religion will be gone forever,’ said one Native American activist.
‘After School Satan Club’ at California elementary school stirs controversy
By Alejandra Molina — November 22, 2022
(RNS) — After School Satan Clubs are sponsored by The Satanic Temple, a nontheistic religious organization based in Salem, Massachusetts, that pushes for the separation of church and state.
Californians overwhelmingly support abortion rights over Catholic bishops’ objections
By Alejandra Molina — November 9, 2022
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — California will codify the right to abortion in the state’s constitution after voters on Tuesday (Nov. 8) overwhelmingly approved a measure that Catholic bishops and other Christian leaders rallied against.
In run-up to midterms, Muslim groups, mosques push for voter engagement
By Alejandra Molina — November 5, 2022
(RNS) — 'The local work is allowing us to expand voting rights so more people can vote for our candidates,' said Nada Al-Hanooti, executive director of Emgage’s Michigan chapter.
As the religiously unaffiliated rise, a new atheist podcast network launches in Los Angeles
By Alejandra Molina — September 19, 2022
LOS ANGELES (RNS) — A new podcast platform hopes to tap into a rapidly expanding audience of young, secular millennials.
La Luz del Mundo leader, Naasón Joaquín García, faces new lawsuit in Los Angeles
By Alejandra Molina — September 12, 2022
(RNS) — From the time they were young children, the plaintiffs 'were routinely coerced' to believe García’s 'wishes and desires were direct orders from God,' according to the complaint.
Nearly 200 religious colleges deemed ‘unsafe’ for LGBTQ students by Campus Pride
By Alejandra Molina — September 8, 2022
(RNS) — 'Campus Pride envisions campuses and a society free of anti-LGBTQ+ prejudice, bigotry, and hate,' said Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer.
California congressman demands more transparency from health care sharing ministries
By Alejandra Molina — September 6, 2022
(RNS) — ‘These are businesses … masquerading as health plans that somehow follow biblical principles,’ said U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman.
Cómo una congregación latina en California se encontró en el centro del ajuste de cuentas racial de la ELCA
By Alejandra Molina — August 12, 2022
Los líderes de la denominación, que es 96% blanca, dicen que se esfuerzan por "convertirse en una iglesia multiétnica y multicultural" mientras lidian con las acusaciones de racismo.
How a Latino congregation in California found itself at the center of ELCA’s racial reckoning
By Alejandra Molina — August 10, 2022
(RNS) — Leaders of the denomination, which is 96% white, say they’re striving toward ‘becoming a multiethnic and multicultural church’ as they grapple with accusations of racism.