Megachurch Has Nearly 1,000 People Tested for Coronavirus in Two Days
On Sunday (March 15) , Alabama’s largest church stopped its in-person worship services. By Tuesday, it started hosting drive-through coronavirus tests in one of its parking lots.
Charity Can’t Replace Social Safety Nets
Individual and communal acts of charity in these times are certainly necessary and good. But I’m not so sure that imagining our society’s economic and health care needs as one massive GoFundMe campaign is how we will get through this
Close the Churches: Shutdown Orders Shouldn’t Exempt Religious Gatherings
What is a church to do in the time of the coronavirus pandemic? For many religious traditions, gathering for worship is not just a friendly suggestion.
Progress on Gender Inequality Remains Uneven, UN Says
Twenty-five years after a hopeful vision for addressing gender inequities around the world was adopted, progress has been made, but impacts have been uneven, and persistent inequalities and human rights abuses remain.
Remembering Fanny Crosby, Queen of Gospel Song Writers
All of you old-timers like me who grew up in Baptist, Methodist, or other “evangelical” churches know the name Fanny Crosby, the blind woman who wrote more gospel songs/hymns than anyone else in history. She was born 200 years ago this month.
UMC Church Group Stranded in Guatemala After COVID-19 Shuts Down Borders
A group from a Kansas City United Methodist Church left on a mission trip to Guatemala, not knowing their biggest mission would be finding a way back home. Fourteen students ages 14 through 17 and five adults are stuck in Guatemala.
Christmas in March? Some People Are Turning on Their Lights to Brighten a Dark Time
Bekah Stoneking isn’t the only one who thinks the world might need a little Christmas now. And several people have shared similar epiphanies (pun intended) on Twitter.
Earthquake Heightens Utah Ministry During COVID-19 Pandemic
Rev. Bryan Catherman's neighbors were crying Wednesday, afraid the 5.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Salt Lake City, Utah, a few hours earlier signaled the end of the world.
Baptists Condemn Racist Rhetoric on Coronavirus
As countries around the world deal with the growing coronavirus pandemic, some U.S. leaders have used rhetoric denounced by Baptists and others as racist. The rhetoric continues despite the World Health Organization recommending against names for illnesses that include a geographic or ethnic reference because
Hispanic Catholics Asked to Skip Healing Sites Amid Outbreak
With the outbreak of COVID-19, many historic Hispanic Catholic sites are limiting access — or outright closing — to pilgrims seeking a last hope prayer. The cancellations come even as Catholics seek divine protection — in the form of healing sand, holy water or a