As U.S. Christians celebrate a second Easter under pandemic rules — their own or those imposed by government or denominational guidelines — churches are reckoning with new ways of volunteering, stewardship and, above all, worshipping.
Throughout the history of Christianity, representations of Pilate’s handwashing have often been used to shift blame for Jesus’s death to Jews, and have been part of a toxic legacy of Christian and western antisemitism.
Christians in the Holy Land are marking Good Friday this year amid signs the coronavirus crisis is winding down, with religious sites open to limited numbers of faithful but none of the mass pilgrimages usually seen in the Holy Week leading up to Easter.
Columnist Greg Mamula reflects on the crowd waving at Jesus during Holy Week and asks what kind of king did they think they were waving at. And he wonders how we might answer that same question today.
Although more churches are using sign language interpreters, they’re still few and far between. This all contributes to the surprising fact that until only a few months ago, millions of American churchgoers have been without access to a fully translated version of the Bible in
As Holy Week began this year, a Gallup Poll found that church membership in the United States had declined to less than half of the population for the first time. But it’s not the whole story, and there are realities behind Gallup’s numbers that deserve
Editor Brian Kaylor tells the Good Friday story as if set this year in Richmond, Virginia. As the Bible tells the story, Barabbas and the two men crucified along with Jesus are insurrectionists (not thieves).
For Christians across the United States, Easter services on Sunday will reflect an extra measure of joy as the nation experiences rising optimism after a year of pandemic. Even if still observing restrictions, many churches may draw the largest numbers of in-person worshippers in months.
Thomas Reese writes that like the news today, Holy Week is filled with bad news. But in the midst of all this evil, there are flashes of goodness, and what gets us through Holy Week is that we know that the resurrection is coming.
Faith leaders in Georgia are fighting back against a new law that bans offering food and water to people waiting in line to vote, with many voicing opposition or planning protests against a statute they say targets people of color.