MALIBU, Calif. (RNS) — Two hours before the sun set over the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 8, the Rev. Joyce Stickney, rector of St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Malibu, received word about wildfires that had broken out 30 miles away in the hills above the Simi Valley. Hot, dry Santa Ana winds were howling that day, which meant that a fire that began an hour away could pose a legitimate threat to seaside Malibu, where wildfires are a perennial concern — the 1993 Old Topanga blaze raged for 10 days, destroying more than 350 homes and leaving three people dead. So Stickney headed for St. Aidan’s sanctuary where, from its hillside perch a few hundred yards above the Pacific Coast Highway, with the Santa Monica Mountains in the distance to the east, she prayed for her city of about 13,000 souls. Parish administrator Nathaniel Sherrill, whose home in Newbury Park, Calif., was close enough to the fire’s origin that it already had been evacuated, joined her to recite an evening meditation … [Read more...]

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (RNS) — Early on the morning of Nov. 8, Bonnie Fear awoke at her home in Colorado to a two-word text message from Rich Martin, director of K-9 Ministries for Lutheran Church Charities in Chicago. “Call me.” Something terrible had happened, and Fear knew she was about to be deployed to wherever it was. In no time, Fear was on a plane headed to Los Angeles, along with Cubby, the 4-year-old golden retriever she handles for the Lutheran Comfort Dog Ministry, and their ministry partner Carol Salander. Hours earlier, a mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in suburban Thousand Oaks had claimed the lives of a dozen people, including students from California Lutheran and Pepperdine universities. Cubby and her handlers are part of the Lutheran Comfort Dog Ministry run by Lutheran Church Charities of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. The ministry has more than 130 specially trained golden retrievers in 20 states, most of them owned and cared for by … [Read more...]

NASHVILLE, N.C. (RNS) — Inside a squat cinderblock building on the grounds of Nash Correctional Institution, 24 inmates are hunched over white plastic tables listening to Professor James Dew explain how God is omnipotent and omniscient. More than half of the men listening are serving life sentences for murder, armed robbery and other offenses. The rest have at least 12 years left to serve. But Dew is not preaching  to his audience as he paces the room posing questions about whether God can sin (No) or know people’s emotions (there’s disagreement, but most Christians say yes). He is teaching theology to prospective ministers. The prisoners jotting notes, calling up documents on closed-circuit laptops or asking Dew questions of their own are earning four-year bachelor’s degrees in pastoral ministry from the College at Southeastern, the undergraduate school of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in nearby Wake Forest. Dew’s class is part of a new niche in prison … [Read more...]

(RNS) — Waves of religious groups are mustering passionate get-out-the-vote efforts in the final hours before the heated midterm elections, with clergy pushing the faithful to the polls in ways that stand to aid both Republicans and Democrats. Convincing religious voters to cast ballots on Election Day on Tuesday (Nov. 6) is hardly a new phenomenon in American politics. But this year’s atypically heated midterm contests appear to have sparked unusually robust efforts by faith-based organizations to galvanize supporters and move the political needle in favor of their respective values, if not their preferred candidates. The conservative Christian group Faith and Freedom Coalition has spent the past few months revving up political operations that have existed for years, hoping to help Republicans capitalize on largely unwavering support for Donald Trump among white evangelical Protestants. According to the New York Times, the group is pumping $18 million into this cycle, a … [Read more...]

PITTSBURGH (RNS) — At 9:52 a.m., they stood in silence in the cavernous sanctuary of Congregation Beth Shalom in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood here, less than a mile from the Tree of Life synagogue, where at 9:52 last Saturday (Oct. 27), a gunman had begun shooting. Then they sat down to continue the litany of prayers and Torah readings that Jews have recited for generations. Dressed formally in ties, jackets and dresses, and carrying babies in tow, these Jews wanted to send a message that they are proud of their faith and will not cower in fear in the wake of what has been described as the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States.  Eleven people were killed. Earlier in the week, Robert Bowers, a truck driver from the Baldwin borough of Pittsburgh, pleaded not guilty in a federal courtroom to 44 counts, including hate crimes and using a firearm to commit murder in a crime of violence. The Shabbat service at Beth Shalom was part of a … [Read more...]

TORONTO (RNS) — With its theme of “The Promise of Inclusion, the Power of Love,” and its focus on global understanding, the seventh Parliament of the World’s Religions could hardly have picked a more inclusive spot than Toronto, Canada’s largest city. The more than 8,000 people expected from 80 countries in this weeklong gathering will hardly stand out in the polyglot crowds that coexist in Toronto’s diverse neighborhoods. Karen Hamilton, co-chair of the Parliament’s Toronto hosting committee and former General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, said the event is an opportunity to showcase “the richness of the various faith traditions that are growing in this country.” At the same time, she hopes participants will be encouraged by how people of different faiths cooperate in Canada, taking “lessons learned and relationships formed back home, transferring them to different contexts.” But, she added, the Nov. 1-7 parliament will not be a big “pat on the back” for … [Read more...]