Nation

Liberty University, a Baptist school in Lynchburg, Virginia, is opening an independent investigation into Jerry Falwell Jr.’s tenure as president, a wide-ranging inquiry that will include financial, real estate and legal matters, the evangelical school’s board announced Monday (Aug. 31).

Some Vermont religious leaders are asking the state to confront its role as a location where Black people were once held as slaves and remember those individuals — like Lavinia and Francis Parker, a mother and son enslaved by Ethan Allen’s daughter Lucy Caroline Allen Hitchcock.

Once Hurricane Laura passes and assessments are in, faith-based disaster-relief groups will be among the first to respond. Already, teams have been watching the storm and making plans all week.

While millions of Americans watch the Republican National Convention, a smaller group of Republicans, former Republicans, and independents is tuning in to a counter-convention — one they hope might put the United States on what they consider a more principled path. 

Over the years, throngs of protesters — many of them people of faith — have assembled to remember the March on Washington. This year, the gatherings will both resemble and differ from the first one on Aug. 28, 1963.

Muslim and Christian leaders are decrying the police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as authorities begin an investigation into the incident and the governor calls for a special session of the legislature to address police accountability.

Jerry Falwell Jr., the embattled president of Liberty University and one of the biggest champions of President Donald Trump, has resigned within hours of the publication of a news story that alleged he and his wife Becki had a years-long sexual relationship with a business associate. 

A northern Virginia congressman is pursuing legislation to remove Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s name from the official designation at the historic mansion where he lived before the Civil War. The home, overlooks the nation’s capital and is surrounded by Arlington National Cemetery.

When Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware speaks to the Democratic National Convention on Thursday (Aug. 20), his remarks will focus on faith — attesting in highly personal fashion to Joe Biden’s belief in God.

Davidson College issued a public apology Wednesday for its support of slavery during the school’s first 30 years and unveiled plans to address a variety of problems ranging from building names to relations with Black people in the local community.