Prominent Evangelical Church Sues D.C. Over COVID-19 Worship Limits
Capitol Hill Baptist’s complaint says accommodating protests but not outdoor worship violates the First Amendment. Read full piece
The Black Church Is Atlanta’s Original Community Organizer
Long before Raphael Warnock’s Senate run, the biblical call for freedom for the oppressed stirred Atlanta Christians to social action. Read full piece
It’s Time to Break the Chains of Slaveholder Religion
Slaveholder religion is a treacherous theology that has transformed the church, as Frederick Douglass infamously stated, into a religion that is “corrupt … women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical.” Read full piece
American Protestantism’s Commodification of the Middle East’s “Holy Lands”
Middle East Christians were (and are) far from the monolithic representations crafted by the biblical orientalist imagination. Read full piece
In Battleground States, Catholics are a Pivotal Swing Vote
For decades, Catholic voters have been a pivotal swing vote in U.S. presidential elections, with a majority backing the winner nearly every time. How they vote in the battleground states this year could decide the outcome, and the campaigns are targeting them with fervent appeals to
ICE Apprehension on Church Grounds Violated Federal Policy, Say Faith Leaders
Prominent faith leaders are condemning the apprehension of an undocumented immigrant on church grounds by federal officials, arguing the action violates a government policy that discourages agents from raiding “sensitive locations” such as churches, hospitals, and schools.
Pope Says Autistic Kids are Beautiful, Unique Flowers to God
Pope Francis told a group of children with autism and spectrum disorders Monday (Sept. 21) that they are beautiful, unique flowers in the eyes of God. Francis met with members of an Austrian center for autism, Sonnenschein (“Sunshine”), in an audience at the Vatican.
Robert Graetz, White Minister Who Helped Organize Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dies at 92
Robert Graetz was the only white clergyman to support the boycott, and like other participants in the boycott, the reverend and his family persisted in the face of harassment, terrorism, and death threats that extended to their preschool children. Read full piece
Soil Collection Ceremony Remembers Springfield, Mo., Lynching Victims
Community and religious leaders in Springfield, Missouri, gathered downtown Saturday (Sept. 19) for a soil collection ceremony to honor three innocent Black men lynched there in 1906.
Most Church Records Oddly Silent on 1918 Pandemic
The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 was deadly but not altogether noteworthy to many Baptists, historians say. Read full piece