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Melvin E. Banks, founder of Urban Ministries, Inc., died on February 13. He was 86.

In 1970, UMI—the largest, indepen­dent, Black-owned Christian publishing company in the country—pioneered the practice of creating contextualized images of Black people in the Bible.

“So many people have been introduced to the life-changing message of Jesus because of Dr. Banks’ ground-breaking initiatives,” said Terri Hannett, UMI’s vice president in a statement.

Roy Speckhardt announced on February 5 that he is stepping down from his position as executive director of the American Humanist Association.

Speckhardt said that after 15 years at the top of the organization, it was time for him to “step down and make room for new leadership,” noting that the most pro­m­inent organizations representing atheists and freethinkers have never had non-White leadership.

He was not a household name, but in the sometimes arcane world of biblical archaeology, Hershel Shanks was a star—and often a rabble-rouser.

Shanks, the founder and longtime editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, died February 5 at the age of 90.

Last year, the Alliance of Baptists was the victim of a $20,000 theft. It chose to turn the other cheek.

The Baptist network’s executive committee released a statement on social media on February 9 explaining that an employee at a mail-handling firm had stolen the funds. After learning more about the situation, Alliance leaders determined to seek restitution and redemption rather than vengeance.

For two days in February, an openly queer Christian artist had the top Christian album on iTunes.

Preacher’s Kid by Grace Baldridge, who records under the name Semler, hit no. 1 on February 9 in Apple’s iTunes store, dethroning Lauren Daigle’s 2018 album Look Up, Child.

“It’s unbelievable. I keep trying to pinch myself,” Baldridge, 30, said in an interview. “I actually got a tattoo last night to try and pinch myself to see if this was real.”

But don’t expect to hear the eight-song album on Christian radio anytime soon.

As people across England huddled in­doors amid freezing temperatures and a national lockdown, nearly 300 elderly adults from the Haredi Jewish community, often called the ultra-Orthodox, lined up outside a health center in north­east London to be vaccinated against COVID-19 on February 13.

For many US couples yearning to be married, the pandemic has wreaked havoc on their wedding plans while bolstering their teamwork and re­silience. For couples al­ready married, it has posed a host of new tests, bringing some closer and pulling others apart.

Activists rallied on February 14 in Paris to demand that the French government abandon a bill aimed at rooting out Islamist extremism that the protesters say could trample on religious freedom and make all Muslims into potential suspects.

The legislative debate comes amid lingering fears of extremist violence after recent attacks, including one in which an Islamic radical killed a history teacher.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on February 14 re­launching a White House office aimed at fostering cooperation between the federal government and faith-based and secular community organizations.

Patrick Matsikenyiri, a United Meth­odist hymn writer and teacher, died on January 15 from complications related to COVID-19. He was 83.

Born in Zimbab­we, Matsikenyiri was known around the world for his song leading and his teach­ing on African music. He gained international recognition in the 1980s through his work planning the worship music for World Council of Churches events. He was an early advocate of including indigenous music in congregational singing.