News
Immigrants reinvigorate Methodist churches in Britain, home of tradition's founders
Congregations that might've closed their doors received an influx of Methodists from West Africa and elsewhere.
Black liberation theologian James Cone dies at 79
In portraying Christ’s blackness, he upended the assumptions of a field dominated by white theologians and helped spawn other theories of liberation.
Despite being targets of violence, Congolese priests and aid workers continue to confront crisis
Several priests and aid workers have been kidnapped, and earlier this month a priest was murdered. Conflict in several regions has left millions in need.
U.S. Assemblies of God elects first woman executive in more than a century
Donna L. Barrett is stepping into a top leadership role in the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination.
Francis admits misjudgment in Chile sex abuse case
The pope said he lacked full information about a bishop, but other Chilean bishops said they told him the truth. He summoned them all for a rare emergency meeting.
Church of England goes cashless for worshipers’ contributions
With fewer people carrying cash, churches plan to use special card readers for collecting fees and the offering.
Christians were key bloc in Egypt’s election
Many Copts fear a resurgence of militant power more than the autocratic tendencies of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Bob Ricks, FBI's main spokesman in Waco standoff, looks back to 25 years ago
“Probably the best description of him is a master manipulator,” Ricks said of David Koresh, who died in a fire in 1993 along with dozens of his Branch Davidian followers.
Red Letter Revival seeks to give voice to those on evangelical margins
A group of progressive Christians gathered near Jerry Falwell Jr.'s Liberty University, both critiquing Falwell's theology and asking to pray with him.
NCC draws faith groups to antiracism event
The ecumenical National Council of Churches has also launched a Truth and Racial Justice Initiative, “a nationwide accounting of how churches and their leaders have been complicit in, and have perpetuated, racism in America.”
Settlement will prevent illegal NYPD surveillance of Muslims
Police spied on ordinary people at mosques, restaurants, and schools starting in 2002.
Indian state recognizes 800-year-old tradition as a separate religion
Lingayat Dharma “started as a revolt and protest against Hindu orthodoxy,” said a leader in the movement advocating status as a minority faith.
Southern California mosques welcome rising number of Latino Muslims
Groups are meeting growing interest through efforts such as Friday prayers in Spanish and #TacoTrucksatEveryMosque events to break Ramadan fasting.
Linda Brown Thompson, school desegregation pioneer, dies at age 75
The lifelong AME Church member was at the center of the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.
Cleophus Smith, a Memphis sanitation worker and minister, keeps up fight for rights
Smith is one of the surviving workers whose strike brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Tennessee in 1968.
Survey: Protestant pastors see increased church diversity
Pastors are more likely to say their churches are made up of multiple racial and ethnic groups than they were four years ago.
Turkey displays a new level of religious nationalism in Syria campaign
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has likened Turkey's army to Ottoman troops in WWI, calling them martyrs fighting for their religion.
Megachurch founder Bill Hybels denies reports of sexual misconduct
Church elders and an outside firm investigated and cleared Hybels. But recently several former employees went public with their accounts—and doubts about the investigations.
Glen Guyton first person of color to be Mennonite Church USA's top executive
He was an air force captain who became a conscientious objector. Now he'll lead a historic peace church.