Stan McKenzie, the husband of African Methodist Episcopal Church bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, died on July 21 in Dallas after a brief illness. He was 76.
Less than two weeks before, McKenzie’s wife—the first woman bishop in the denomination’s 205-year history—praised her spouse at the retirement service for bishops during the AME Church’s General Conference.
In a June 21 blog post, Farhana Khera, cofounder and executive director of the civil rights group Muslim Advocates, said she had been forced out of her role due to gender and religious discrimination.
At least four advisory council members have since resigned in protest, and the organization is now investigating Khera’s complaints.
Idit Harel Segal was turning 50, and she had chosen a gift: she was going to give one of her own kidneys to a stranger.
The kindergarten teacher from northern Israel, a proud Israeli, hoped her choice would set an example of generosity in a land of perpetual conflict. She was spurred by memories of her late grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, who told her to live meaningfully and by Jewish tradition, which holds that there’s no higher duty than saving a life.
In recent months, rappers Lil Nas X, Bad Bunny, and Princess Nokia have all helped to spread a craze for Mary, mother of Jesus, by wearing designer Brenda Equihua’s splashy coats that commonly feature the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Of Mexican American heritage, Equihua equates the Virgin of Guadalupe with home. But there’s something deeper than simple nostalgia going on in her designs. “Wearing Mary in a fashion piece is unexpected,” she explained. “I think what’s cool is taking something out of context.”
Vickie White Nelson, 49, has deep roots in southern Maryland. Her ancestor, Regis Gough—her mother’s great-great-grandfather—was enslaved on a plantation there owned by Jesuits and is listed among the Georgetown University 272, a list of enslaved persons the Jesuits sold to Louisiana plantations.
Despite the economic upheaval of a global pandemic, generous donors showed their compassion for people in need around the world by contributing $109.8 million to the US office of Mennonite Central Committee’s centennial fundraising campaign.
The funds support the current and future ministry of MCC—providing humanitarian relief in times of crisis, supporting sustainable development, and strengthening peacebuilding initiatives. MCC works in 47 countries, including Canada and the United States.
A cardinal who allegedly induced an underling to lie to prosecutors. Brokers and lawyers who pulled a fast one over the Vatican’s no. 2 to get him to approve a disastrous real estate deal. A self-styled intelligence analyst who bought Prada and Louis Vuitton items with the Vatican money that she was supposed to send to rebels holding a Catholic nun hostage.