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Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, has blasted Raphael Warnock’s rhetoric and proposals as “radical,” socialist, and out of step with Georgia residents. But for the Black Baptist preacher, he is continuing the tradition of his church.

A Biden transition team official refused to say which church Biden might attend in the nation’s capital or whether he might return to Delaware for services, at least to start. Washington’s COVID-19 measures restrict large indoor services, and many churches have moved services online.

After a weekend of Christmas services earlier this month at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina, at least 75 people contracted COVID-19. The church’s pastor, Steve Scoggins, just finished his tenure as president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.

Like most Holy Land Christians, Hagop Karakashian’s ceramic shop in the Old City here has always relied heavily on the presence of Christian pilgrims, especially in December. But the narrow alleyways of his shop’s ancient neighborhood are painfully empty this year.

With Joe Biden replacing Donald Trump as president, and with vaccines eventually expected to ease the threat of COVID-19, the challenges for faith leaders in 2021 will shift. Here’s a look at some important storylines to keep an eye on in the coming year for religion in the country.

A six-week war in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region in the South Caucasus, ended on Nov. 9. But the rich architectural heritage of the region is still at risk as historic Armenian churches, monasteries, and tombstones may face damage or destruction now that they are out of Armenian hands.

The Palestinian prime minister on Thursday (Dec. 17) announced a two-week lockdown in the West Bank that appears certain to curtail Christmas celebrations in the town of Jesus’s birth. 

Ralph West, founder of the Church Without Walls, is the latest to criticize six Southern Baptist seminary presidents who said Critical Race Theory was incompatible with their faith.

The Trump administration on Monday moved to loosen restrictions on religious organizations that receive federal money to provide social services. The administration said it was clearing barriers that it claimed make it difficult for religious groups to participate in federal programs.

The Supreme Court has yet to set clear parameters about how religious holidays can be celebrated in public schools and whether granting access to all faith traditions is either constitutionally necessary or acceptable.