News

(RNS) — As the Southern Baptist Convention faces a rare leadership vacuum at the top of agencies and seminaries — and has just installed a new mission board president — questions have arisen about whether its statements committing to diversity will be reflected in hiring decisions.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Religious leaders and people of faith offered mixed reactions to President Trump’s Statue of the Union address Tuesday evening (Feb. 5), which was billed as a unifying message but which some say maintains a polarized status quo in Washington.

Amid protests and political unrest in Venezuela, global Baptists are calling on government authorities to release Gregory José Pérez, executive director of the Unión Nacional Bautista de Jovenes (National Baptist Youth Union) in Venezuela, arrested on Jan. 23.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) -- The Western Recorder -- Kentucky's statewide Baptist newspaper for 190 years -- announced it will combine operations with the Kentucky Baptist Convention's (KBC) Communications Department as well as transition to a monthly magazine.

If you’re in a spiritual crisis, you go to your minister or rabbi. If you have psychological concerns, you might seek out a therapist. But what to do if you don’t quite know where you fit into this world and you’re tired of carrying that burden alone?

JERUSALEM (RNS) — When pieces of ancient pottery and never-before-seen scroll fragments began making their way to the antiquities black market a few years ago, archaeologists suspected that looters had found a new cache of Dead Sea Scrolls.

Albania, once declared an atheist state, today is very ripe spiritually yet poverty-stricken. The Baptist Union of Albania is one of the smallest in Europe, but very missions minded, as existing churches are being multiplied.

When Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth about the three great virtues — faith, hope and love — the great shaper of doctrines chose love as the greatest.

Over the past two years, the nation's refugee resettlement system has been slowly dismantled. That dismantling has led to layoffs and office closings for resettlement groups. And it has left refugees like Khadra Abdo with little hope that their families will be reunited.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — One North Korean defector in Seoul describes her family back home quietly singing Christian hymns every Sunday while someone stood watch for informers. A second cowered under a blanket or in the toilet when praying in the North.