The head of the United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops said the election of its first openly lesbian bishop last week “raises significant concerns and questions of church polity and unity.”
Bishop Bruce Ough, president of the Council of Bishops, said the executive committee of the bishops’ council “is monitoring this situation very closely.” The bishops are gathering July 19-20 in Chicago as part of the commission on sexuality called for by the General Conference.
One of the original film’s strengths was its distinct, fully-formed personalities of its characters, as was getting to watch those personalities bounce off each other. And that was what made the idea of an all-female remake so intriguing, particularly since McCarthy, Wiig, Jones and McKinnon are all superb comedians
Pope Francis has telephoned leaders of the terror-stricken French city of Nice, asking them what he could do to help in the wake of last week’s gruesome truck attack and promising to meet with the families of the victims as soon as possible.
The pontiff made his call out of the blue on July 17, reaching the former mayor of Nice and leader of the region, Christian Estrosi, through the head of a national association of Italians who live in France.
Evangelical Christians converged on the nation’s capital for a prayer rally on one of the hottest days of the summer.
With the nation reeling from recent shootings and shocked by news of a terrorist attack in France and an attempted coup in Turkey, speakers at “Together 2016” cited the global events from the stage and spoke of the challenges facing Americans.
New research from Pew suggests that Americans have become less likely to believe that religious institutions can play an important role in confronting social problems.
And while some of the decline in trust in religious congregations likely originates in the “rise of the nones,” or the religiously unaffiliated, that alone does not explain this crisis of confidence. This is not really a story about secularization. After all, between 2008 and 2016, both Protestants and Catholics showed double digit declines in percentage of people who believe houses of worship contribute to social reform. The percentage decline was only slightly higher among the religiously unaffiliated.
Judge Barry G. Williams, the same judge presided over the acquittals of Officers Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson, cleared Rice of involuntary manslaugher, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office.
The U.S.' two major political party conventions kick off this week with the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 18-21. Who attends conventions, and what are their priorities for the party in the 2016 elections and beyond? Sojourners Web and Multimedia Associate JP Keenan takes us behind the scenes and through the crowds on the first day of the convention.
The ambush came on the heels of the Dallas shooting, when five officers were killed during a protest against police violence. Baton Rouge was the city where police killed Alton Sterling on July 5.
White people need to do a lot of listening right now to their friends and neighbors and co-workers and fellow citizens and believers of color. And it’s also time to start talking where we can have our own influence — starting with our own children, and our local law enforcement. They need to know that we are watching, and that we — and our children — will be expecting changes.
Seven years ago, on a cold day in December 2009, I entered Elizabeth Detention Center in Elizabeth, N.J. — a minimum-security prison on a pilgrimage organized by the Interfaith Center of New York and Human Rights First. This one-day journey ushered me into the story of immigrants in the New York and New Jersey area, and changed my life.