Mark A. Kellner is a correspondent for Religion News Service.
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In a Historic Vote, Lutherans Elect Two African-American Women Bishops
Photo via SEPAsynod video
First, delegates chose the Rev. Patricia A. Davenport for the office of bishop in Southeastern Pennsylvania, a synod that includes Philadelphia. Then on Sunday, delegates voted for the Rev. Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld, a pastor in Beloit, Wis., to become bishop-elect for the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin.
State Department to Keep Anti-Semitism Envoy but Scrap Many Others
From left, national security adviser H.R. McMaster, White House chief of staff John Kelly, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Vice President Mike Pence, Aug. 28, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The State Department will retain its special envoy on anti-Semitism, a position some Jewish groups feared the Trump administration would eliminate. The envoy handling HIV/AIDS will also be retained, but many others will not survive cuts at the department, which plans to scrap 30 of the 66 current “special envoy” positions, including one that handles climate change issues.
Why Mormon Leaders Are ‘Deeply Troubled’ by Oregon Militiamen
Militiamen stand on a road at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore., on Jan. 4, 2016. Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which prides itself on being law-abiding, is seeking to distance itself from self-styled militiamen who last weekend seized a federal wildlife reserve in southeastern Oregon.
In a statement released Monday, the LDS church condemned the armed seizure of the facility and said it was “deeply troubled” by reports that the militiamen are doing so based on scriptural principles.
Why Some Young Evangelicals Still Find Inspiration in Former Nixon Aide Chuck Colson
Image via Prison Fellowship/RNS.
Even among young evangelicals, more contemporary religious thinkers — Karen Swallow Prior or Rachel Held Evans — might be viewed as more accessible. But Colson’s intense activism, which supporters contend advocated issues and not political parties, seems to appeal to some in a generation seeking a course correction from the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. That activism found its first expression in the ministry that became Prison Fellowship. Though Colson’s time in jail was relatively brief, he was moved by the experience and by those of the men he met behind bars.