Faith & Culture

At 28, Amy Downs was an unhappily married college dropout. She'd lost her faith. She weighed 355 pounds. Surviving the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was the perfect opportunity for a fresh start. 

Across the country, black clergy say the coronavirus is touching — and sometimes taking — the faithful who until a month ago were accustomed to meeting weekly in their pews. Some are mourning losses in the highest echelons of their denomination. Others are counting the dead, sick and unemployed.

A student at Liberty University has filed a class-action lawsuit against the school alleging that students were put at “severe physical risk” when the campus reopened in March despite the pandemic and accusing administrators of profiting from the health crisis by refusing to fully refund students.

Christianity in the U.S. is seeing a continued decline in many expressions of faith, according to a Barna Group report published March 3. After rising from 45% in 2000 to 50% in 2009, there was a sharp drop to 31% by 2012.

As the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus continues to threaten the U.S., governors of states and districts across the country have issued sweeping stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders in an effort to slow the spread of the disease. Should religious groups be included in the bans on large gatherings?

At least a handful of churches across the country — including three Southern Baptist ones — have intentionally decided not to worship online on recent Sundays as some political and health officials said coronavirus-related social distancing applied to religious gatherings.

In times of distress and uncertainty, faith-based and community leaders continue to be valuable resources of comfort, support and, perhaps most importantly, studies show, credible sources of information for their members and communities.

Almost 9 in 10 pastors see at least some current events matching those Jesus said would occur shortly before he returns to Earth, according to a new survey focused on Christian eschatology, or the study of end times.

The Churches Helping Churches Initiative has set up a relief fund, and started an application process for $3,000 grants. This initiative is targeted toward congregations between 25 to 150 members in size, in low-income communities, and in urban areas disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Inspired by a family in Georgia, a Christian movement to erect crosses decorated with Christmas lights during the pandemic has taken off nationally as a symbol of positivity and prayer. But the lit crosses have also drawn comparisons to the Klu Klux Klan’s burning crosses.