“Even the most right-leaning isolationists” are coming forward to help those fleeing Afghanistan, a Phoenix pastor said. A mass mobilization is underway, as reported in this New York Times article featuring Arizona and Minnesota.
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From Religion News Service: With Rosh Hashana commencing Monday evening (Sept. 6), and Yom Kippur following 10 days later, the global Jewish community finds itself in the heart of two seasons — giving season and receiving season.
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From Religion News Service: 'We believe it's a gift not only to our Native people, (but) from our Native people to the dominant culture,' said Terry Wildman, the lead translator and project manager of the First Nations Version.
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From Religion News Service: Traditionally, clergy operate at their community’s center. But for some, following a call to minister has meant going to the margins — to the digital pastures of TikTok or prison ministry at Rikers Island. From rural chaplains ministering in remote areas to ex-journalists in New York City, these ministers followed their spiritual calling to unexpected ends.
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From ProPublica: One of the country’s most important sources of fresh water is in peril, the latest victim of the accelerating climate crisis.
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From AP and Religion News Service: “It was the millennials, not the boomers, who walked away from church. I think it’s entirely fair to say that Generation X represents the last generation raised with traditional American religion.”
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From AP and Religion News Service: 'It seems a little strange, but (pet ministry) is mission, it's evangelism, it's education, it's hunger relief, it's pastoral care. All those things are part of the church.'
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Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. View the slideshow here.
This week’s photo selection includes the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, the Hindu Brahmin community and more.
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Amid the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, local nonprofits expect large numbers of Afghan refugees to be coming to the U.S. and to Phoenix. Read and watch the story on AZfamily.com featuring Connie Phillips, president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest.
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From AP and Religion News Service: David Hufford learned that an extreme storm had flooded a suburban Detroit church with more than 7 feet of water, striking the boiler, electrical system, elevator and more.
But this repairman wasn’t called to fix anything ordinary at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran in Grosse Pointe Farms. Hufford’s mission: get the music flowing again from the church’s 63-year-old pipe organ.
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From AP and Religion News Service: Facebook already asks for your thoughts. Now it wants your prayers.
The social media giant has rolled out a new prayer request feature, a tool embraced by some religious leaders as a cutting-edge way to engage the faithful online. Others are eyeing it warily as they weigh its usefulness against the privacy and security concerns they have with Facebook.
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Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. View the slideshow here.
This week’s photo selection includes pheasant hunting, Hindu wrestlers, Italy's heatwave, and more.
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PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public policy. Their 2020 Census of American Religion is a fascinating look at our changing nation.
One interesting takeaway? Navajo County in Arizona is the 4th most religiously diverse county in the nation. Read more on their site.
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This Forbes article explores the gender pay gap, a thorny and persistent problem in society.
“In a recent series of studies, Drs. Traci Sitzmann (University of Colorado Denver) and Elizabeth Campbell (University of Minnesota) provide compelling evidence that tenets found in each of the world’s six major religions—Buddhism, Christianity, Folk, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism—can create norms and expectations regarding the roles of men and women that fuel the gender pay gap.”
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Deconstructing the faith of one's childhood can be a lonely undertaking. For many of these church exiles, TikTok has filled the gap. Read more at Religion News Service.
“The TikTokers — known as creators — within this community come from different religious backgrounds and have different beliefs. But together, they are dissecting and rethinking the Christian theology they grew up with — a process many progressive Christians and former evangelicals call ‘deconstruction.’”
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The company is intensifying formal partnerships with faith groups across the United States and shaping the future of religious experience. Read more in the New York Times.
“Months before the megachurch Hillsong opened its new outpost in Atlanta, its pastor sought advice on how to build a church in a pandemic.
From Facebook.”
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A religion scholar explains how evangelicalism in the US is not a monolith. It includes a variety of churches, theologies and practices. Read more in this article from Religion News Service.
“A precipitous decline in the number of Americans identifying as white evangelical was revealed in Public Religion Research Institute’s 2020 Census on American Religion. In 2006, almost a quarter of the American population identified as white evangelical, but only 14.5% the population does so today.”
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“Living with people who have lots of problems helped me see my own dark side,” said the Rev. Tom Lumpkin, who spent 40 years serving Detroit’s homeless. Read the article from Religion News Service.
“My claim to fame is that I’m the only diocesan priest in the world who has as his diocesan assignment the Catholic Worker Movement,” said Lumpkin, who was assigned to a Catholic Worker house by his bishop.
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Collin Hansen, editor in chief of The Gospel Coalition and co-author of Rediscover Church: Why the Body of Christ Is Essential, writes in this essay:
“Christians need to hear the babies crying in church. They need to see the reddened eyes of a friend across the aisle. They need to chat with the recovering drug addict who shows up early but still sits in the back row. They need to taste the bread and wine.” Read more at New York Times.
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Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. View the slideshow here.
This week’s photo selection includes the first anniversary of a deadly blast in Beirut, Lebanon, Olympic moments and more.
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