News

Astronomers have floated the idea that a conjunction of planets could be a scientific explanation for the star of Bethlehem in the Christmas story. One such conjunction will occur on Dec. 21.

In one of the most conservative cities in North Carolina, a United Methodist pastor gingerly approaches racial issues without alienating his flock. Being a Black pastor in a predominantly White church in the age of Trump has been a challenge.

A holiday tradition since the 1930s, Singing Christmas Trees draw in thousands of visitors who might never otherwise come to church and bring joy and a sense of community to cast and congregation members alike. But this year, COVID restrictions make such events nearly impossible to pull off.

Two Republican lawmakers put up a Christmas tree in the Wisconsin Capitol rotunda despite being told they weren’t allowed to do so — a show of defiance after Gov. Tony Evers opted not to display a holiday tree there this year because the building is closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For 23 years, Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, has held a service on the second Sunday of Advent with a cross on its lawn for each person killed that year by homicide in the community. This year saw more crosses than ever for its service on Dec. 6,

The pastor of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris’s Baptist church praises her as “human decency and dignity at its best.” Amos C. Brown, a longtime civil rights activist who has pastored Third Baptist Church of San Francisco since 1976, made the comments in a Word&Way interview.

Pope Francis says the Christmas season provides reason for hope amid the difficulties of the coronavirus pandemic. During his Sunday blessing, Francis noted that the Vatican’s Christmas tree had gone up last week in St. Peter’s Square, and that work is underway to build the life-size Nativity scene next to it.

Against the backdrop of a pandemic’s blight and wounds from an acrimonious election, a group of acclaimed actors on Sunday will stage an online reading of a religious text with remarkable relevance to the current moment: the Book of Job.

Only a few dozen people attended the lighting of the Christmas tree in the biblical city of Bethlehem on Saturday (Dec. 5), as coronavirus restrictions scaled back the annual event that is normally attended by thousands.

An early morning fire Saturday in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood has destroyed the 128-year-old sanctuary of Middle Collegiate Church, one of the oldest congregations in the city.