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A former corrections officer, Rev. David Tolliver serves as chaplain at Jefferson City Correctional Center. As the pastor of Jamestown Baptist Church, he tries to bring light into what can be a dark place, encouraging those serving time in the medium- to maximum-security prison.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Most churchgoers say the Bible teaches against drunkenness. But that doesn't stop about 4 in 10 from taking a drink now and then, a study released Tuesday (Nov. 27) shows.

While 41 percent of Protestant churchgoers say they consume alcohol, 59 percent say they do not. 

DENVER (RNS) — Najeeba Syeed was all set to speak about Islam and peacemaking, something the associate professor of interreligious education at Claremont School of Theology had done many times before.

Then came the death threat.

As Jim Hill announces his retirement as pastor of administration from First Baptist Church in Jefferson City, Mo., he reflects back on 47 years of ministry. His journey has included the roles of pastor, church planter, language missions director, executive director and advocacy leader.  

WACO, Texas (RNS) —On the Sunday (Nov. 18) before Thanksgiving, poor people riding bicycles and pushing old grocery carts lined up — as they do every week — to eat and worship God underneath Interstate 35 as tractor-trailer rigs roared overhead.

For now, a patch of gravel between Baylor University and businesses such as CVS Pharmacy and In-N-Out Burger serves as the meeting place for Church Under the Bridge, which began with a handful of homeless people studying the Bible with pastor Jimmy Dorrell in 1992.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Linda Johnson says that about a year ago when her friend Linda Jacobson asked her if she was ready to see God do big things, she said yes. She was excited.

"But I've thought a thousand times since then that I never could've imagined what was coming," Johnson said.

(RNS) — As many Americans gather with their loves ones for Thanksgiving, a timely new survey from Pew Research confirms what miles of traffic jams and airport lines suggest: Family is the No. 1 source to which Americans look for meaning, fulfillment and satisfaction in their lives.

ASHKELON, Israel (RNS) — The moment Judy Spanglet heard the words “Color Red" come over Israel’s incoming-rocket alert system, she rushed into her apartment’s concrete-reinforced “safe room" and bolted the heavy door.

Moments later her building shuddered as a Grad rocket landed in a park across the street.

PARADISE, Calif. (BP) -- Members of Paradise Ridge Southern Baptist Church have asked pastor Bob Sorensen if they will continue to have a church but not because their building is gone. They ask because the Camp Fire destroyed much of their community.

(RNS) — “And a lean, silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power there must also come — great responsibility!”

Those words, written by Stan Lee, appear in the momentous final panel of the first story to feature the Amazing Spider-Man, published in 1962’s "Amazing Fantasy #15."