%1

Episcopal priest backs up whistle blower allegations at ICE facility

An Episcopal priest who volunteers at an Immigration and Customs En­forcement detention center in Georgia has said allegations of medical neglect and a high rate of hysterectomies at the facility are consistent with her interactions with women detained there.

“There were gynecological procedures happening at a rate that seemed higher than the norm, to the point that pretty much everyone going (for any gynecological treatment) seemed to be getting the same thing,” Leeann Cul­breath told Episcopal News Service.

In battleground states Catholics are a pivotal swing vote

For decades, Roman Catholic voters have been a pivotal swing vote in US presidential elections, with a majority backing the winner—whether Republican or Democrat—nearly every time.

How they vote in the battleground states this year could well decide the outcome, and the rival campaigns are targeting them with fervent appeals to vote based on their faith.

Mennonite Central Committee celebrates 100 years of service

Mennonite Central Committee’s centennial didn’t start the way anyone had planned.

Like many nonprofits, the global development organization was hit hard by COVID-19. In May, MCC an­nounced that, due to the travel restrictions and an uncertain financial future related to the pandemic, it would be ending all programming in Vietnam, China, and southern Africa. Additionally, programming in the Middle East, Europe, and Central America would be downsized.

Thirteen staff positions ended with the fiscal year.

Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87

A phrase from the book of Deuter­onomy hangs framed on the wall of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court chamber: “Justice, justice you shall pursue.”

For Ginsburg, who died at home surrounded by her family on September 18 at the age of 87, the phrase summed up perfectly her calling as jurist and a Jew.

In a 2018 interview with Jane Eisner, then editor of the Jewish daily Forward, Ginsburg said that she grew up in the shadow of World War II and the Holocaust and it left a deep and lasting imprint on her.

Baptist leader Charles Stanley steps down from Atlanta church

Influential pastor Charles Stanley is stepping down from his role at First Baptist Church in Atlanta after more than 50 years.

“As much as I love being your pastor, I know in my heart this season has come to an end,” Stanley told his church in a prerecorded message shown at the end of First Baptist’s online service on Sep­tem­ber 13.

In the message, he said he had informed the church’s board earlier this month that he planned to step down as senior pastor.

Keyword tags

High Church Penecostal leader J Delano Ellis II dies at 75

J. Delano Ellis II, a Black church official who started Pentecostal organizations and emphasized ecumenism, died on September 19 following a re­cent hospitalization. He was 75.

Ellis was also among a group of “High-Church Pentecostal” clerics who in the 1990s became known for wearing Roman collars, wearing priestly garments with links to their African heritage, and reciting the Nicene Creed. They were part of a trend that re­shaped a portion of American Black religion.