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Southern Baptist Convention president faces criticism for new church hire

Since the beginning of 2019, Southern Baptist Convention president J. D. Greear has been among the highest-profile advocates for preventing sexual abuse and protecting victims of abuse in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Now advocates for abuse survivors are criticizing Greear af­ter his church de­cided to hire a teaching pastor who has been accused of mishandling an abuse claim in the past.

Ella Jones elected first black mayor of Ferguson

On June 2, former pastor Ella Jones was elected mayor of Fergu­son, Missouri, with 54 percent of the votes cast. Jones currently serves as the council member for Ferguson Ward 1. She will be the first black mayor of Fer­guson, as well as the first female mayor.

This was the second time Jones ran for mayor in Ferguson. In 2017, she lost to incumbent James Knowles III, who—due to term limits—was unable to run for reelection this year.

Nigerian Catholic bishops donate 425 hospitals for COVID-19 treatment

With the increasing rate of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria, the Catholic community is responding and supporting the government’s efforts to combat the virus.

In May, the Catholic Bishops’ Con­ference of Nigeria donated 425 church-run hospitals, clinics, and health facilities to the government. The hospitals, which will be used as isolation centers for coronavirus patients, were handed over to the presidential task force that coordinates the pandemic response across the country.

UMC musician’s protest hymn goes viral

Many United Methodist clergy gave Pentecost Sunday sermons on the scourge of racism, prompted by the latest high-profile killing of a black man in police custody. But DeAndre Johnson may have outpreached and outreached them all by offering his own protest hymn, “It Is Enough!”

The video of Johnson singing for online worship at Christ Church Sugar Land, in Texas, had about 19,000 Face­book views as of June 2, with hundreds of shares.

Ahead of Trump Bible photo op, police forcibly expel priest from church

In the early evening on June 1, President Donald Trump stood before the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Washington and held aloft a Bible for cameras.

The photo opportunity had an eerie quality: Trump said relatively little, positioned stoically in front of the boarded-up church, which had been damaged the day before in a fire during protests sparked by the death of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis.

The church appeared to be completely abandoned.

Fringe Muslim leader released from prison early due to coronavirus

A Muslim leader who spent the past several years leading a small national following from a federal prison has been released early due to the coronavirus.

Earl Abdulmalik Mohammed claims to be the rightful ideological successor of W. Deen Mo­hammed, the massively influential black Muslim leader who shepherded the Nation of Islam toward orthodox Sunni Islam under a new association, the American Society of Muslims.

International apologist Ravi Zacharias dies at 74

Popular Christian evangelist and apologist Ravi Zacharias died May 19 at age 74, a few months af­ter being diagnosed with cancer.

Zacharias rose to prominence in 1983 when he was invited by Billy Graham to speak at the inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam, according to an obituary published by the ministry Zacha­rias founded.

In his message, he pleaded with Chris­tians not to try to “humiliate” those with different worldviews.

“When you are trying to reach someone, please be sensitive to what he holds valuable,” he said.

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Francis Collins, champion of faith and science, awarded Templeton Prize

Francis Collins, world-renowned ge­neticist and director of the National Institutes of Health, is the 2020 recipient of the Templeton Prize. The award, valued at $1.3 million, honors individuals who use scientific advancements to answer the deepest questions related to humanity’s existence and purpose.

Gun control group launches pre-election interfaith initiative

A leading gun control advocacy group has enlisted more than a dozen religious leaders to boost voter turnout this fall in support of candidates who support measures to prevent gun violence.

Everytown for Gun Safety, which expects to spend $60 million on this year’s elections, is forging its interfaith effort amid ongoing concerns about shootings at houses of worship. The group’s partners include representatives from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh backgrounds, several of them well-known progressive activists.

Renters and landlords face uncertain future during pandemic

Dennis Schvejda, a landlord who owns two apartment buildings with 16 units in Walton, New York, was worried as May began. After expenses—which include maintenance, utilities, and taxes—his taxable apartment income is about $115 a week, he said. With the US facing unprecedented job losses and the steepest economic reversal since the Great Depression, he didn’t know if the May rents would be coming. If not, he said, he would have been forced to sell.