The Progressive National Baptist Convention plans to use a new $1 million grant to fund a five-year training program for ministers of the historically Black denomination as they adapt their preaching in an age changed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly every congregation in the United States shut down, at least for a while. For some Americans, that was the push they needed to never come back to church.
The ongoing decline of organized religion in America has led to an existential crisis for tens of thousands of congregations. Over the past two decades, the median size of a congregation has dropped from 137 people to 65 people. Rather than owning a building that
When the pandemic hit, many Americans lost the habit of churchgoing after almost every church in the country closed their in-person services and shifted online. But did some of them give up on God? In a new study, sociologists raise questions about the rapid decline
Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell offers her thoughts on how the church's model of the larger group tending to the few in need was swept away during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our pastors were like skippers left on ships trying to throw out as many lifelines as
On this anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Christina Ray Stanton reflects on how traumatic reactions can be a normal part of the grieving process and what this means for how we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. As we approach anniversaries of traumatic events or dates
As the COVID-19 pandemic stretched from that first spring into summer, researcher Eileen Campbell-Reed said, she realized its impact on ministry wasn’t going to be short-lived.
Faith leaders from a range of religions are teaming up with WHO officials to help prevent monkeypox as outbreaks of the disease occur across the globe. Religions for Peace Secretary-General Azza Karam said “theologies of compassion” that developed in response to HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and COVID-19
It is a scene that stirs hope — and relief — for Muslims around the world. One million pilgrims from across the globe amassed on Thursday in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to perform the initial rites of the hajj, marking the
The inflation that has loomed over the economy and restricted many Americans’ purchasing power of late has doubly affected low-income people who already struggle to get by. A recent survey by Feeding America has shown that increased demand has affected nearly 80% of U.S. food