Nation

A group of evangelical leaders has issued and signed a letter calling for believers to be peacemakers, elevating their identities in Christ above societal divisions. A network known as The Matthew 5:9 Fellowship initiated the letter.

Several groups are encouraging clergy to serve as chaplains at polling places. Clergy can be on hand to pass out snacks to voters waiting in long lines, maybe a poncho if it starts to rain. They could also play a role amid the rancorous tenor of national politics and concerns about voter intimidation and even violence.

Jerry Falwell Jr. has sued Liberty University, alleging the evangelical school founded by his late pastor father damaged his reputation after he resigned as president and chancellor in August amid a series of scandals.

Both President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden count endorsements from well-known faith leaders. But for clergy members who try to tackle thorny moral matters without overtly backing a candidate, the campaign has tested their ability to reconcile religious values and politics.

More than 1,000 clergy members, religious scholars, and other faith-based advocates have signed onto a unique statement that supports a comprehensive path to “a free and fair election” and urges leaders to heed the verdict of “legitimate election results” regardless of who wins in November.

Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden’s 500 initial signatories included retired congregational pastors, professors, authors, and parachurch leaders but few with current pulpit ministries. The founding announcement ignited a firestorm among evangelical Trump supporters.

About a dozen Rohingya refugees voted for the first time Tuesday (Oct. 20) at an early voting site in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood. It wasn’t just the first time they voted as United States citizens. It was the first time they’d ever voted, period.

Early on Tuesday (Oct. 20), workers in the capital of Missouri removed the city’s lone Confederate monument after months of advocacy by community leaders that included Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor.

As they head to the polls, nearly all religious Americans say the coronavirus is the most critical issue facing the country, a new study by PRRI shows. But there’s one notable exception: White evangelicals.

Statues of Junipero Serra, the 18th-century Franciscan missionary who symbolizes to many an imperial conquest that enslaved Native Americans, were toppled in multiple California cities earlier this year. Now, many Indigenous leaders, artists, and activists across the state are contemplating what comes next.