People
James Kenneth Echols, first African American Lutheran seminary president, dies at age 67
Richard J. Perry Jr., a professor emeritus at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, called Echols “a giant in the world of theological education.”
Popular Christian authors Beth Moore and Max Lucado talk about surviving sexual abuse
Moore and Lucado were featured speakers at a conference at Wheaton College on sexual abuse and the church.
Martha C. Nussbaum wins $1 million Berggruen Prize
The Berggruen Institute called her “one of the world’s leading public philosophers.”
Robert Jones, religion researcher, wins a Grawemeyer award
Jones received the honor for his book The End of White Christian America.
Mark Jobe to become president of Moody Bible Institute
Jobe comes to the school a year after all three top leaders resigned amid tensions around the school’s theological standards, finances, and treatment of students of color.
Nelson Chamisa, former pastor, continues to contest election of Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa
Religious leaders have called for peace. Some wish they were calling for a new vote.
Mirza Masroor Ahmad, leader of Muslim minority group, visits faithful in U.S.
Globally, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community includes 10 to 20 million people with a message of “love for all, hatred for none.”
Asia Bibi, Pakistani woman charged with blasphemy, freed
“She appears to be a person, in the words of Shakespeare’s King Lear, ‘more sinned against than sinning,’” the Supreme Court wrote in its ruling.
Thomas Keating, who developed centering prayer, dies at age 95
Keating was also known for his engagement in interreligious dialogue.
David Boase, Episcopal priest, fights deporation order
Boase, who is English, mistakenly voted once after a driver’s licensing employee offered him a registration form.
Richard Green serves as interim president of United Lutheran Seminary
“My leadership style is inclusive,” said Green, a lifelong Lutheran.
Eugene Peterson, author of The Message and pastor to pastors, dies at age 85
“I’ve loved being a pastor, almost every minute of it,” Peterson once told the Century.
William J. Barber II awarded MacArthur “genius” grant
The Moral Mondays and Poor People’s Campaign leader looks at public policy through the lens of moral values.
Robert Wood Lynn, leader in religion scholarship, dies at age 93
In 15 years at the Lilly Endowment, he went beyond merely giving grants, fostering study of core issues in American religious life.
Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, advocates for women harmed by war, win Nobel Peace Prize
The Congolese Christian surgeon and Yazidi activist have seen each of their homelands devastated by violence.
Óscar Romero and Paul VI now Catholic saints
The Salvadoran archbishop and Vatican II–era pope were among the most prominent and controversial figures of the Catholic Church in the 20th century.
Metropolitan Bishoy, Orthodox and ecumenical leader, dies at age 76
The Egyptian bishop was influential locally and globally.
Syrian migrants build bridges with Swiss church
Anna Shammas and Rami Ziadeh are founders and pastors of an Arabic-speaking United Methodist congregation that reaches out to other migrants—and to the German-speakers in the church.
New Testament and preaching scholar Gail O’Day dies at age 63
O’Day was known for her integrity in biblical interpretation.
Terry Brensinger demoted as a seminary president, Greg Boyd let go as a visiting scholar
Fresno Pacific University announced it was taking Brensinger and Boyd out of their respective roles. The cause—and any connection between the two actions—is unclear.