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African-American millennials more likely to skip church than white counterparts
African-American young adults are more likely than their Caucasian counterparts to drop out of Protestant churches during their early adult years, new research shows. But equal percentages of black and white young adults say they currently attend services regularly.
Nativity scene shows Holy Family separated in cages
The Nativity scene at Claremont United Methodist Church is striking. Mannequins of Jesus, Mary and Joseph are separated in individual cages topped with barbed wire. A baby Jesus is wrapped in what resembles a Mylar blanket, similar to the sheets migrants have been given in holding cells.
Muslims respond to Trump with #MuslimsReportStuff
During the second presidential debate last Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump encouraged Muslims to report suspicious behavior when they see it happening.
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.
Who are the Black Hebrew Israelites?
On Dec. 10, two individuals opened fire on a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, N.J. The violent attack — which occurred shortly after the assailants allegedly killed a police officer in a nearby cemetery — ultimately left three bystanders dead and three people wounded, including two police officers.
Black Jesus version of Michelangelo’s Pieta divides Catholics on race and politics
An interpretation of Michel- angelo’s iconic Pietà featuring a Black Jesus has unexpectedly caused a debate about Black Lives Matter, the sanctity of art and the evangelization of Africa after the Pontifical Academy of Life, an official Vatican think tank, tweeted out a photo of the reimagined statue on Sept. 12.
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.
Rev. Raphael Warnock, now U.S. senator, said he heard ‘echoes of the spirit’ in swearing-in
On the first Sunday after he became a U.S. senator from Georgia, the Rev. Raphael Warnock described his election and the changing scene at the U.S. Capitol — from insurrection to inauguration — as forms of divine messaging.
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.
Christian coalition protests Trump’s planned budget cuts
With ashes on their foreheads, sackcloth draped around their necks and the U.S. Capitol as a backdrop, Christian leaders used the words “evil” and “immoral” to describe the federal budget cuts President Trump has proposed and many Republican lawmakers favor.
Pope Francis preaches message of peace, care of the sick and environmentalism during 3-nation visit to Africa
Pope Francis greeted packed stadiums full of celebrating locals and spoke to crowds numbering up to 1 million people in Madagascar, the second stop on his weeklong, three-nation trip to Africa.
Baltimore cemetery offers Easter sunrise dramatization of the resurrection
Just before he started practicing his exit from a replica of Jesus’ tomb, Andre Roberson admitted that, at first, playing the key role in a cemetery’s dramatization of the resurrection was just “something to do.”
5-time Grammy nominee Bishop Rance Allen, known for blending rock, south and R&B with traditional gospel music, dies at 71
Gospel legend Bishop Rance Allen, a Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee perhaps best known for his gospel hit “Something About the Name Jesus,” has died at 71.
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.
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.
Faith groups sue Trump administration over refugee resettlement order
Three faith-based groups that assist with refugee resettlement are suing the federal government, arguing a recent executive order granting state and local officials the authority to block refugee resettlement violates federal law and inhibits their ability to practice their faith.
New D.C. archbishop poised to become first African-American cardinal
Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta has been tapped to head the influential Archdiocese of Washington, filling a slot left vacant in October after its previous archbishop, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, was accused of mishandling cases of sexual abuse by priests during his time in Pittsburgh.
Dean of nation’s black preachers dies
Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, widely considered the dean of the nation’s black preachers and “the poet laureate of American Protestantism,” died Sunday, April 5, 2015, after a ministerial career that spanned more than six decades. He was 96. “Dr. Taylor was a theological giant who will be greatly missed,” the Rev. Carroll Baltimore, past president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, said of the minister who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.
