Every Easter Sunday for almost 250 years, residents of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, have been awakened by small groups of musicians playing the hymn "Sleepers, Wake," before the Home Moravian church's sunrise service. Not this year.
In times of distress and uncertainty, faith-based and community leaders continue to be valuable resources of comfort, support and, perhaps most importantly, studies show, credible sources of information for their members and communities.
As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the world, numerous governments responded by shutting down borders and ending international flights to prevent infected persons from arriving. For a Cuban Baptist pastor, this meant his quest to overcome international political squabbles left him and his wife stranded
If we listen to experts, we can see disaster looming. We know that the sooner we act, the smaller our losses. Yet the lure of wanting things to return to normal after the pandemic is strong.
Tens of thousands have clicked to pray for salvation since the outbreak. Is the increase temporary or a harbinger of greater gospel witness online?
Smaller churches located in the U.S. and other countries are concerned about "after" the coronavirus, with lower receipts and the ripple effects upon staff, ministry, and mission support. Initiatives launched in the United States and by the Baptist World Alliance are offering relief and inviting
The Churches Helping Churches Initiative has set up a relief fund, and started an application process for $3,000 grants. This initiative is targeted toward congregations between 25 to 150 members in size, in low-income communities, and in urban areas disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Inspired by a family in Georgia, a Christian movement to erect crosses decorated with Christmas lights during the pandemic has taken off nationally as a symbol of positivity and prayer. But the lit crosses have also drawn comparisons to the Klu Klux Klan’s burning crosses.
As people are dying from coronavirus — as well as from other causes that would’ve still occurred without the pandemic — pastors and grieving families face new struggles in how to plan funerals in a time when people are supposed to practice social distancing.
As states issue stay-at-home orders and bar gatherings, some evangelical Christians — those who believe they are a persecuted minority — have become convinced that religious freedom is under attack. The war on Christmas is now the war on Easter.