Christianity

Griswold, Eliza (c) Seamus Murphy (Circle of Hope).jpg

How culture wars divided one small progressive church in Philadelphia

12:19pm October 28, 2024

Journalist Eliza Griswold says complaints about homophobia, white privilege and diversity are splintering progressive organizations — including one particular church. Her book is Circle of Hope.

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His work was used to exclude LGBTQ people from the church. Now he argues the opposite

6:48pm September 15, 2024

by Scott Detrow

Prominent Christian theologian Richard B. Hays' work was often cited as a reason for not allowing same-sex relationships in Christian churches. In a new book, The Widening of God's Mercy, co-written with his son Chris Hays, he reverses course, and cites Biblical support for allowing LGBTQ relationships in Christianity.

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Pope Francis and Indonesia’s top imam make a joint call for religious harmony

8:35am September 05, 2024

The pope’s meeting with the Muslim leader in Jakarta comes during the first leg of an intense 11-day, four-nation tour in Asia and Oceania.

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Not your parents' VBS: How vacation Bible schools are changing to meet new needs

8:00am August 04, 2024

by Jason DeRose

Vacation Bible schools have been a staple of summer for thousands of churches. There are fewer of them these days, and those still around have evolved to meet the needs of changing communities.

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Religion

The good and bad of religion- Kenneth Pettigrew

2:07pm July 10, 2024

by Juneau Anderson

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Christian writer's new book reminds kids what makes them different makes them special

10:20am June 26, 2024

by Jason DeRose

Christian writer Jonathan Merritt's new book My Guncle and Me tells the story of a gay uncle who helps his nephew embrace being different.

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Then-President Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., during a controversial 2020 photo-op.

Cash-strapped Trump is now selling $60 Bibles, U.S. Constitution included

3:18pm March 27, 2024

by Rachel Treisman

The "God Bless The USA" Bible is inspired by the Lee Greenwood anthem and includes copies of the nation's founding documents. Trump launched it ahead of Easter as his financial woes mount.

Pastor Douglas Theobald, who has been at Struthers United Methodist Church for more than a decade, poses for a portrait on Sunday at the church in Struthers, Ohio.

The faithful see both crisis and opportunity as churches close across the country

5:00am May 17, 2023

by Scott Neuman

The sharp uptick in the number of younger Americans with no religious affiliation is driving a seismic shift that is leaving sometimes shattered congregations in its wake.

Clergy sex abuse survivor and victim's advocate Juan Carlos Cruz first met Pope Francis in 2018 when a group of survivors of abuse was invited to the Vatican.

Religion

Pope Francis' LGBTQ comments are not surprising but sincere, gay Vatican adviser says

3:52pm January 26, 2023

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Juan Carlos Cruz, a gay Chilean man who is a survivor of clergy sex abuse, about remarks by Pope Francis that criminalizing homosexuality is "unjust."

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Priests omitted a Moscow bishop's name during services at the Church of St. George in Lviv, Ukraine, on Sunday. Theologians say the move marks a significant shift in the Orthodox Christian world.

Some of Ukraine's Orthodox churches want to break away from their Russian patriarch

7:14pm March 08, 2022

by Lauren Frayer

At church, Ukrainians pray for an end to war. But a rift is forming: The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has defended Moscow's invasion. Some in Ukraine want to break away from his leadership.

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