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Boston church stamping Harriet Tubman on its $20 bills
Three years ago, the Treasury Department announced that it would put Harriet Tubman’s face on the front of the $20 bill by 2020. A portrait of the abolitionist, championed by activists, would replace that of President Andrew Jackson, who would be moved to the back of the bill.
Poor People’s Campaign, lawmakers unveil sweeping resolution to tackle poverty
Lawmakers and leaders of the faith-based Poor People’s Campaign unveiled a sweeping new resolution on May 20 designed to eradicate poverty in the United States, with activists touting it as a broad-based legislative framework that hopes to do for poverty what the Green New Deal proposes to do for environmental issues.
As Ramadan nears, prisons urged to accommodate faith needs during pandemic
A coalition of 20 faith groups is pressing prison officials across the country to accommodate all prisoners’ religious needs during the outbreak of the coronavirus, particularly with Ramadan beginning this week.
Presbyterians, Southern Baptists vote to end racism and racist symbols
Religion News Service The nation’s second largest Presbyterian denomination has passed legislation repenting for “past failures to love brothers and sisters from minority cultures” and committing its members to work toward racial reconciliation. The “overture,” or legislation, was approved overwhelmingly Thursday, June 23, at the national meeting of the Presbyterian Church in America. The issue had been deferred from the previous year’s meeting, where there was a lengthy debate on similar legislation.
High-intensity workouts end with prayer
On a Tuesday evening under the roof of a public picnic shelter, a group of women ages 20 to 55 groaned through a series of high-intensity exercises in the 88-degree heat and humidity.
Donnie McClurkin: 'I'm at a time now I sing when I want to'
Two decades ago, gospel singer and pastor Donnie McClurkin stepped on a London stage to record his second album. Now, he’s returning to the United Kingdom for 20th anniversary concerts on Oct. 18 and 19 to reprise the music of his “Live in London and More” CD that featured the songs “That’s What I Believe” and “We Fall Down.”
Chicago churches join growing movement of congregations paying off medical debt
This Thanksgiving, 5,888 families in Cook County, Ill., will receive a card with the names of several congregations belonging to different Protestant Christian denominations throughout the city of Chicago and these words: “Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We want you to know that all your debts have been forgiven.”
Do you see what I see? Planetary alignment to create a ‘Christmas star’
A star, a star will dance in the night on Monday, Dec. 21.
Is it safe to sing at church yet? Depends on who you ask
On Pentecost Sunday, some members of Southwood Lutheran Church in Lincoln, Neb., sang hymns without masks for the first time in more than a year.
Rare ‘Slave Bible’ exhibition offers glimpse of Christianity’s role in slavery
On display on the ground floor of the Museum of the Bible is a lone volume that stands out from the many versions of the Bible shown in the building devoted to the holy book. It’s a small set of Scriptures whose title page reads “Parts of the Holy Bible, selected for the use of the Negro Slaves, in the British West-India Islands.”
Einstein’s ‘God letter’ hits auction block
A handwritten 1954 letter by physicist Albert Einstein in which the Nobel laureate is dismissive of religion in general and Judaism in particular is expected to bring a seven-figure price when auctioned by Christie’s in New York City on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
Most Americans pray for healing
The vast majority of Americans have prayed for the healing of others, and more than one in four have practiced the laying on of hands, a Baylor University expert reports.
Black churches to receive share of $4M for preservation work
Nearly three dozen historic Black religious sites will receive a $4 million infusion of funding to help them with renovations and preservation of their buildings across the country.
Veterans Administration revises policy on religious displays
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision permitting a cross to remain on a public highway, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has revised its policies on religious symbols in displays at VA facilities.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, others encourage U.S. to rebuild refugee resettlement
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota thanked Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service during an online event June 17, in the name of “all the refugees you have settled and the millions around the world who have benefited from your work.”
Court documents show pastor targeted by government for officiating at immigrant weddings
New documents unearthed in an ongoing federal lawsuit indicate the U.S. government surveilled and investigated a New York pastor and immigrant rights activist over allegations that she committed marriage fraud by officiating immigrant weddings along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Liberty president censors student newspaper over critics
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. stifled an effort by the school’s newspaper to report on an event last weekend organized by his critics, said a student editor.
New Zealand shooting hits home for American Muslims
For Muslims, Fridays are special. Mosques come to life with the mandatory Jummah prayer services, where imams deliver sermons and lead rows of worshippers in congregational prayer. Muslims dress in their Friday best and greet one another with “Jummah Mubarak” or “blessed Friday.”
U.S. Catholic bishops to meet amid growing sexual abuse crisis
VATICAN CITY Catholic bishops in the United States announced Tuesday that, at the behest of Pope Francis, they will meet for a weeklong retreat in Chicago in January.
Investigators probing cause of fires at 3 black churches in La.
About 100 investigators are working to find out who is behind a series of church fires that have struck rural areas of Louisiana in recent weeks. The fires, which have prompted calls for prayer by the state’s governor, destroyed three predominantly African-American churches in St. Landry Parish, around Opelousas, in late March and early April and caused minor damage to a mostly white Pentecostal church in Vivian, about 200 miles north in Caddo Parish.
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