California Congregations Vow To Help Neighbors Even As Their Buildings Are Lost to Fires
A synagogue, a mosque, a Catholic parish, and at least 7 Protestant churches are among the buildings destroyed by the wildfires raging in California.
Rev. Amos Brown, Vice Chair of California’s Reparations Task Force, Calls for Action
Rev. Amos C. Brown is a civil rights veteran and onetime student of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Now, the 82-year-old senior pastor of San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church is vice chair of California’s Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.
New Saddleback Pastor Sees Women clergy in Church’s Future
Andy Wood outlined his grand vision to build on Warren’s legacy and take Saddleback to the biggest cities in the U.S. and the world. He said he’ll encourage men and women to preach — an approach at odds with the male-leadership policies of the Southern Baptist
Bringing the Culture War to the Pulpit
In this issue of A Public Witness, we introduce you to the man behind the microphone of the Todd Starnes Show before listening to his sermon Sunday. Then we offer a warning about risking the Church’s witness by elevating partisan voices like Starnes in pulpits.
Authorities: Hate Against Taiwanese Led to Church Attack
A gunman motivated by political hatred against Taiwan chained shut the doors of a California church and hid firebombs inside before shooting at a gathering of mostly elderly Taiwanese parishioners, killing a man who tackled him and possibly saved dozens of lives, authorities said Monday.
Marymount California University, a Half-Century-Old Catholic School, to Shut Down
Marymount California University, a 54-year-old Catholic private institution in the coastal Los Angeles County city of Rancho Palos Verdes, will permanently close this summer, after years of financial struggle.
A (re)call from God?
In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at today’s special California election and the troubling campaign tactic of churches turning over their pulpits on Sundays for campaign speeches. We also offer a reminder that the IRS rule banning such partisan sermons has not been
Northern California County Sees COVID-19 Spike Linked to Church
Humboldt County in rural Northern California is seeing a spike in COVID-19 infections that health officials say is linked to superspreader events, including one linked to a Pentecostal church.
High Court Creates New Religious Exemption to COVID Rules in California
In an unsigned order from the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” late Friday (April 9), five justices on the high court ordered California to lift restrictions on religious gatherings in homes — even as the same restrictions remain on any other gatherings in homes.
Suspect Arrested in Fatal Stabbings at Baptist Church
A suspect has been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbings of two people and the wounding of three others at a church in California’s Silicon Valley that was being used as a homeless shelter, police said Monday (Nov. 23).