United Church of Christ
Full-time ministry drains too many clergy and church budgets. Part-time pastors can help.
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald — March 14, 2024
(RNS) — The happier, healthier future of ministry is in part-time clergy.
UCC elects first woman — and first woman of African descent — to lead denomination
By Emily McFarlan Miller — July 3, 2023
(RNS) — That Thompson is the first woman to lead the denomination may be surprising given the denomination’s progressive stances on women’s rights and many other issues.
Church-state separationist Barry Lynn recounts his legal arguments in new memoirs
By Adelle M. Banks — April 3, 2023
(RNS) — 'It is people who are hurting, people who are outcasts, that appealed to me,' Lynn said.
US Hispanic Protestant churches are young, growing and largely new to the country
By Alejandra Molina — January 30, 2023
(RNS) — 'We see more and more English-speaking churches either planting a Hispanic church or adding a service in Spanish to their current congregation,' said Giancarlo Montemayor with Lifeway Recursos.
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.
Chicago church preaches ‘The Gospel according to Dolly Parton’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 30, 2022
(RNS) — For the past five weeks, each Sunday’s sermon at Church of the Three Crosses has focused on a different song by Parton.
Religious beliefs give strength to the anti-abortion movement – but not all religions agree
By Steven K. Green — May 11, 2022
(The Conversation) — A scholar of constitutional law and American religious history explains how the abortion issue has been historically rooted in religious beliefs, giving a moral certainty that law cannot provide.
As Afghan refugees celebrate Islam’s holy month, church gives Ramadan lessons
By Emily McFarlan Miller — April 1, 2022
(RNS) — Somewhere between 75 and 100 UCC churches are actively sponsoring Afghan families — about 800 individuals — who have recently arrived in the US.
Andrew Young, at 90, views his civic, political roles ‘as a pastorate’
By Adelle M. Banks — March 4, 2022
(RNS) — ‘My model for almost every job I've had has been the model of a pastor servicing a congregation,’ said the former mayor and civil rights leader.
Methodists, Mormons back latest Scouting bankruptcy plan to fund survivor claims
By Adelle M. Banks — March 1, 2022
(RNS) — Other religious groups have not taken a position on the plan announced by the BSA on Feb. 10.
‘Pray for Ukraine’: Religious leaders call for peace and God’s protection
By Bob Smietana — February 24, 2022
(RNS) — In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, religious leaders prayed for peace and asked God to watch over civilians.
In two years, this mainline denomination has paid off $100 million in medical debt
By Emily McFarlan Miller — February 14, 2022
(RNS) — The United Church of Christ announced Monday (Feb. 14) that it used $200,000 from one of its annual Giving Tuesday campaigns to purchase and pay off $33 million in medical debt for residents of Ohio, where the mainline Protestant denomination is based.
Resisting hate, as people of faith, includes readiness for self-defense
By Dwight Lee Wolter — January 24, 2022
(RNS) — We are not helpless in our new reality.
Bishop Spong: Theology without limit or bound
By John C. Dorhauer — September 14, 2021
(RNS) — Here was a bishop putting into words answers to the questions I had asked all my life.
UMC edges toward historic split over LGBTQ inclusion. This church showed the way.
By Emily McFarlan Miller — July 22, 2021
(RNS) — Community of Hope was founded in 1993 as an outreach to ‘people on the margin,’ including LGBTQ people and people living with HIV/AIDS, according to its former pastor.
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