churches
Shuttered houses of worship get a reboot, find new life
By Mark A. Kellner — September 10, 2018
(RNS) — At a time when decommissioned houses of worship are converted into nightclubs, restaurants, or condominiums, a different kind of transformation is preserving churches and synagogues as sacred spaces.
Tap and pray: Churches using card readers for donations
By James Brooks — August 7, 2018
LONDON (AP) — 'God is creative and produces new technologies and so should we,' said Graham Hunter, vicar for St. John's church in London.
What the church can do to help opioid addicts: A Q&A with Raymond Barfield
By Yonat Shimron — May 18, 2018
(RNS) — A conference on opioid addiction will bring together clinicians, clergy and educators to the tip of southern Appalachia to begin a yearlong conversation on ways churches can help heal and support those caught in the epidemic’s grip.
Remembering King’s last sermon with renewed hope
By Adelle M. Banks — March 28, 2018
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (RNS) — One of the two surviving sanitation workers who went on strike in 1968 and who remain on the job today recalled King's last sermon and his continuing legacy.
Johnson Amendment remains intact in latest omnibus spending bill
By Jack Jenkins — March 22, 2018
(RNS) — The failure to gut the law was celebrated by faith leaders and nonprofit groups who say it protects them from political coercion.
Jerusalem tax spat pits heaven against earth
By Jerome Socolovsky — March 12, 2018
JERUSALEM (RNS) — An ethereal city graced with sunlight so bright it turns the white stone skyline gold at sunset, Jerusalem is also an earthbound city whose teachers must be paid and whose garbage must be collected.
Rwanda closes hundreds of churches and arrests pastors
By Lauren Markoe — March 7, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — The move, allegedly for building safety, hygiene and noise violations, is prompting allegations that the government of President Paul Kagame is trampling on religious freedom in the tiny East African nation.
Hurricane-damaged houses of worship can receive FEMA aid
By Adelle M. Banks — January 3, 2018
WASHINGTON (RNS) — President Trump tweeted last year that Texas churches should be 'entitled to reimbursement from FEMA' for aiding Hurricane Harvey victims. State officials followed up and asked him to change the policy.
The glue that kept Sutherland Springs together before and after the shootings
By Yonat Shimron — November 10, 2017
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (RNS) — Within 24 hours of the mass shooting, another church in town sprang into action, as the coordinating center for the emergency response.
Holy spirits: Closed churches find second life as breweries
By Yonat Shimron — October 9, 2017
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — The trend started after the 2007 recession as churches merged or closed because of dwindling membership.
Nigerian clergy demand compensation for churches destroyed by Boko Haram
By Lauren Markoe — August 30, 2017
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — 'Churches that have been destroyed should be rebuilt by the state governments,' said the Rev. Felix Omobude, the national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria.
Houses of worship do some soul-searching as their neighborhoods change
By Holly Meyer — July 23, 2017
NASHVILLE — Buildings that once held worship services have been repurposed or bulldozed and redeveloped into bars, restaurants and other secular spaces.
Can Facebook replace church?
By Andrea Syverson — July 5, 2017
(RNS) Mark Zuckerberg is right about one thing: Christians are leaving their traditional, brick-and-mortar churches – in droves. (COMMENTARY)
What will future houses of worship look like?
By Michael J. Crosbie — June 14, 2017
(RNS) Architecture students, reflecting on millennial spirituality, come up with new conceptions for a house of worship.
Wonderfully made: How churches are seizing on gallery spaces for art
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald — March 27, 2017
(RNS) Churches now see an opportunity to leverage their spaces and use art to stimulate dialogue with groups they wouldn’t otherwise reach.
