(RNS) — A historic New York City church has decided to devote $200,000 — about a tenth of its budget — to provide housing assistance and youth anti-racism training. The Rev. Jacqueline Lewis, the African American leader of the multiethnic Middle Collegiate Church, said the initiative is a way for her church to make amends. She noted that the church began after Dutch Reformed settlers bought the land that eventually became Manhattan from the Lenape, a Native American nation, in an unfair transaction. Its early clergy also included slaveholders. “We are doing reparations,” she said of the plans for a portion of the church's $2.3 million budget for the fiscal year that started July 1. Half of the $200,000 is aimed at addressing the needs of New Yorkers whose CARES Act unemployment benefits may have been lost as of July 31, “so they don’t lose their housing,” she said. Many have lost jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and can no longer afford rent and mortgages. The other … [Read more...]

(RNS) — Remote learning will be the rule for schoolchildren in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for at least nine weeks this fall as the city tries to stem a surging coronavirus caseload. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll all be staying home. Some could be in church instead. That’s the vision at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, one of several churches in Winston-Salem hoping to host remote-learning sites for small groups of socially distanced kids. If the bishop approves the idea, as many as 30 students would gather daily — spread across three buildings at St. Timothy’s campus — in the mornings. Church volunteers would enforce health protocols, tutor and lead prayers to begin and end the day. “We know in our faith that it’s not good for us to be alone,” said St. Timothy's Rector, the Rev. Steven Rice, in a reference to the Bible’s Book of Genesis. “Some socialization among people of their own age will be a great benefit (to the students). And if both parents have … [Read more...]

(RNS) — Amid the ongoing demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, where officers from various federal agencies have clashed nightly with protesters, several groups of observers can be spotted by their distinctive colors: Members of the American Civil Liberties Union in blue. Members of the National Lawyers Guild donning neon green hats. The Wall of Moms, clad in yellow. And a group of clergy walking around in purple vests. Chief among them is Rabbi Ariel Stone, who has convened a group of 100 clergy, outraged by the use of force by the Portland police as well as the federal troops called in by President Donald Trump. On one occasion she also arrived with her shofar, or ram’s horn. The group she’s convened, the Portland Interfaith Clergy Resistance, makes sure at least one of its members is downtown each night and able to report back on what he or she sees — whether it’s the use of tear gas, or the arrests of protesters pulled into unmarked SUVs. “We stand in that … [Read more...]

(RNS) — People may be reading the news and “doomscrolling” through social media during the coronavirus pandemic. But what they don’t appear to be reading is the Bible. That’s according to the 10th annual State of the Bible survey released Wednesday (July 22) by the American Bible Society. Nearly 31% of American adults said in June that “realistically” they never use the Bible, according to the survey, conducted with Barna Group, a Christian research firm. That number jumped up 2 percentage points between January and June. The American Bible Society, along with other Christian organizations, had declared 2020 the Year of the Bible and was initially “heartened” to measure an uptick in Bible engagement in January, said John Plake, director of ministry intelligence at American Bible Society. But, Plake said, “What we saw between January and June was that 13 million people in America, who were previously really engaging meaningfully with Scripture, no longer were, and that … [Read more...]

(RNS) — When Austen Hartke arrived at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, he knew it was the only Lutheran seminary that didn't participate in his denomination's LGBTQ+ welcoming program. But as his awareness grew that he was transgender, so did his conviction that Luther was the right place for him. Hartke, who had come out as bisexual years before applying to seminary, had specifically picked the school, he said in a recent interview, so he would learn to navigate his identity and ministry while being exposed to “the Midwestern attitudes I lived with every day.” Still, said Hartke, who today runs the Transmission Ministry Collective, a community that supports transgender and other nonbinary Christians, “I didn’t come out as trans until I was holding my diploma, because I didn’t know what would happen.” Hartke is one of a growing number of openly transgender students graduating from mainline and non-denominational Christian seminaries, many of which have made strides over … [Read more...]

CHICAGO (RNS) — Not long into the coronavirus pandemic, the Rev. Sandra Maria Van Opstal, a pastor at Grace and Peace Church on the West Side of Chicago, began to hear from congregants who lost their jobs and were struggling financially as the city closed nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the virus. Some congregants were essential workers who were anxious about their exposure to the coronavirus and staying apart from family members so they didn’t risk bringing the virus to them. Some had lost loved ones to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Others were unable to celebrate births or graduations. And all that was before the nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd, a reminder of the systemic racism that exists in the United States and the trauma that it has caused communities of color. “I don't think we can ever underestimate the level of trauma we're all experiencing,” Van Opstal said. As Americans deal with the impacts of … [Read more...]