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(RNS) — As the summer heat waxes and state legislative sessions wane, the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation has scored a few small but significant victories.

Laws passed in six states during 2017 and 2018, mostly sponsored by legislative prayer caucuses in about 30 states, were inspired by the foundation’s 2017 manual known as Project Blitz, a 116-page guide for state legislators listing 20 model bills that sponsors claim will protect religious liberty.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Most churchgoers will put up with a change in music style or a different preacher, according to a LifeWay Research study released in June. But don't mess with a church's beliefs or there may be an exodus.

As about 100 Baptists from around the world prepared for worship Sunday morning at the start of the Baptist World Alliance’s 2018 annual gathering, they left behind the bustling city of Zurich, Switzerland, and hiked up a quiet hillside near the community of Bäretswil about a half-hour drive away. Once up in the cave hidden back in the woods off a dirt path, their words echoed through the chamber — the same words that have bounced off those dark walls for hundreds of years.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (BP) -- With Skype, Facebook, Zoom, websites and QR codes, Sammy Tippit reaches several million people worldwide each month to advance the Gospel.

Nationalistic tendencies contributed to a noticeable increase in government restriction on religious freedom in 2016, according to a Pew Research Center report released on June 21.

(RNS) — A couple of decades ago, when young adults began showing their dissatisfaction with organized religion by voting with their feet, it was fashionable for pundits to say this was happening because those religions weren’t conservative or demanding enough.

But now the “strict churches” theory is crumbling because some strict denominations are themselves charting losses, or at least slower growth.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Egypt's first World Cup in 28 years has captivated the soccer-crazy nation, with intense focus on the squad and the broader game.

Yet it wasn't an entirely unifying experience. For the country's Christians, about 10 percent of the population, the composition of the team and the way the squad was perceived highlighted what they believe is a problem with the sport in Egypt.

SOUTHBURY, Conn. (BP) -- Hundreds of Southern Baptists from 13 states are helping Connecticut residents after tornadoes destroyed 300 homes there in May, disaster relief (DR) leader Tim Buehner told Baptist Press.

WASHINGTON (USA Today) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday dealt a major blow to a California law requiring anti-abortion pregnancy centers to inform women about publicly funded abortion and contraception services.