News

(RNS) — Every week, millions of American go to houses of worship to hear a message from a spiritual leader. Most of those congregations are small. And few sermons ever make their way beyond the four walls of a given congregation.

Publisher David Murray — a connoisseur of the spoken word — wants to change that with a new website, VitalSermons.com.

HARRISONVILLE, Mo. (BP) -- Xavier Cunningham, 10, was climbing into a treehouse when he encountered a massive wasp nestand then, falling to the ground face-first, impaled his head on a foot-long meat skewer.

The next two days brought brushes with death and a survival story one neurosurgeon called "miraculous."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP) -- Hopefulness for the future of the Southern Baptist Convention in a season of denominational transition was voiced by Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, in a discussion Sept. 19 with Jason Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Long before accusations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was involved in a sexual assault as a Catholic prep school student, American faith leaders were divided over whether he should join the highest court. 

Now officials in a range of religion-related roles are no less divided, but their concerns have shifted, encompassing their thoughts about the #MeToo movement and the credibility of Kavanaugh, who has "categorically and unequivocally" denied the allegations.

Rev. Dr. C. Jeff Woods will serve as Acting General Secretary of American Baptist Churches USA while Lee Spitzer recovers from heart surgery at home.

LONDON (RNS) — It’s not particularly news in Britain that young English people no longer automatically consider themselves Anglican. 

What’s new, however, is that the Church of England is not sitting back and accepting decline. The nearly 500-year-old denomination is answering back, via Instagram.

GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico (BP) -- "Before Maria and after Maria" is the word on the streets of Puerto Rico. "That's how life changed," native Puerto Rican and Southern Baptist minister Jonathan Santiago told Baptist Press a year after the hurricane.

KAMPALA, Uganda (RNS) – Thousands of faithful in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are staying home from church services to avoid contracting or spreading Ebola.

By some estimates, the increased standard deduction in 2018 may mean that as many as 95 percent of Americans will claim the standard deduction rather than itemize when they file their federal income taxes.

What will be the effects of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in December 2017 on charitable giving? There is uncertainty about its impact.