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Mike Pence replaces Jesus with patriotic imagery in RNC speech

Speaking before a crowd at Fort McHenry National Monument in Balti­more on August 26, Vice President Mike Pence, a self-described “born-again, evangelical Catholic,” sprinkled his address to the Republican National Convention with references to God and prayer.

But Pence, who accepted his party’s nomination for vice president during the speech, sparked outcry in some Christian circles when he closed out his remarks. He combined at least two Bible verses—and replaced references to Jesus with patriotic imagery.

Christian missionaries gain access to Amazon’s Indigenous peoples, despite pandemic

When the first COVID-19 cases hit Brazil in March, the government agency in charge of protecting the country’s Indi­genous peoples, the National Indian Foundation, ordered all civilians to leave the Indigenous reservations. Only essential workers, such as health-care personnel and those involved in food distribution, could remain.

But a new law signed by President Jair Bolsonaro on July 7 has made an exception for one group: Christian missionaries. A simple form from a doctor vouching for a faith worker’s health is enough to allow the person to stay as an essential worker.

Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns from Liberty University

The board of Liberty Univer­sity has accepted the resignation of its president, Jerry Falwell Jr., after a roller-coaster day in which Falwell resigned, then withdrew his resignation, then resigned again late at night on August 24.

“I am so encouraged by the unity of Christ that I saw exemplified by our Board today,” acting board chairman Allen McFarland said in a written statement. “Liberty University’s future is very bright and in capable hands of leaders who are committed to being good stewards of what the Lord has entrusted!”

Deaf ministries flourish with virtual worship

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the array of worship services offered by Lovers Lane United Methodist Church included one in American Sign Lan­guage. About two dozen people came on a typical Sunday.

On March 22, when the Dallas church could no longer safely meet in person due to the fast-spreading coronavirus, the sign language service moved online.

It came together quickly—and a bit primitively. For want of a tripod, a cell phone with a video camera was propped up by hymnals on an upright piano.

Faith-based disaster relief groups get ready for Hurricane Laura

In recent months, Lara Martin’s life has been one disaster after another.

Tornadoes in Tennessee. Wildfires in California. A derecho in Iowa.

Now, Hurricane Laura.

“We’ve been busy,” said Martin, the in­terim director of US disaster response for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

New Zealand mosque shooter sentenced to life without parole

On August 27, the White supremacist who slaughtered 51 worshipers at two New Zealand mosques was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the first time the maximum available sentence has been imposed in the country since the death penalty for murder was abolished in 1961.

Judge Cameron Mander said the crimes committed by 29-year-old Australian Bren­ton Harrison Tarrant were so wicked that a lifetime in jail could not begin to atone for them. He said they had caused enormous loss and hurt and stemmed from a warped and malignant ideology.

Majority of White Christians see no pattern in killings

Two days before Rusten Sheskey, a White police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, fired seven shots into the back of Jacob Blake, a Black man, at close range while three of Blake’s young children watched, the Public Religion Research Institute published its latest report on racism and police brutality.

During a summer punctuated by White police officers gunning down Black body after Black body, PRRI found that most White Christians—across denominations—continued to see such shootings as isolated incidents.