Gay Methodist pastor a step closer to church trial
KANSAS CITY (RNS) A United Methodist pastor who recently came out as gay may be a step closer to a church trial, just weeks before..
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Episcopal church fires two top executives for workplace misconduct
(RNS) Episcopal Church presiding bishop Michael Curry has fired two top executives for failing “to live up to the church’s standards of personal conduct..
Pope Francis denounces modern-day ‘Judases’ behind terror attacks
VATICAN CITY (RNS) As the death toll from the Brussels terror attacks rose, Pope Francis began three days of solemn observances leading..
Men and women divide on religion
(RNS) Few men show up in U.S. churches, and women are markedly more likely to pray and to hold up religion as important...
Belgian religious groups condemn Brussels attacks
(RNS) Belgian Muslim and Catholic organizations are condemning the terrorist bombings in Brussels. A statement issued by the Belgian Muslim Executive (EMB)..
Exit poll religion questions confuse and mislead, critics say
(RNS) Evangelicals vote for Donald Trump. No, Ted Cruz. Wait. Aren’t some Christians voting for Hillary Clinton, a Methodist, and Bernie Sanders, a Jew?..
Pope Francis tries to clean up costly saint-making process
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis has approved new rules to tighten financial oversight of the canonization process after leaked documents revealed abuses..
African bishops to boycott meeting of Anglican council over Episcopal Church attendance
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) The Anglican Church in Kenya has become the latest province to announce it will boycott the Anglican Consultative Council meeting..
Pope Francis changes remarriage rules (For heads of state)
(RNS) There is intense anticipation in the Catholic Church — and no small amount of anxiety for traditionalists — over what Pope..
Vatican gives two thumbs up to Oscar winner ‘Spotlight’
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Just hours after the movie “Spotlight” picked up the best picture prize at the Academy Awards, the Vatican newspaper..
Southern Baptist foreign missionaries drop by nearly 1,000
(RNS) One out of five Southern Baptist missionaries overseas — or nearly 1,000 total — have volunteered to leave their posts to help..
Archaeologists dig up fabrics dating back to kings David and Solomon
JERUSALEM (RNS) Israeli archaeologists have discovered fragments of “remarkably preserved” 3,000-year-old fabrics, leather and seeds dating to the era of the biblical..
Charleston shooting survivor Jennifer Pinckney: ‘I want to carry on (Clementa’s) work’
DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) The first lady of Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church offered two enduring images: her late husband’s smiling face lying..
Episcopal church leader calls Anglican censure ‘fair’
WASHINGTON (RNS) Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is describing the recent censure of his church over allowing clergy to perform same-sex marriages as..
Wheaton provost apologizes to Larycia Hawkins; she’s leaving
(RNS) Wheaton College professor Larycia Hawkins, who faced termination from her tenured post at the evangelical school for publicly saying Christians and..
Poet Wendell Berry bequeaths farming legacy to small Catholic college
ST. CATHARINE, Ky. (RNS) The tobacco farms, hay fields and rolling knobs of central Kentucky mark the landscape that inspires much of..
U.S. Jewish groups hail mixed-gender Western Wall space as victory for pluralism
JERUSALEM (RNS) American Jews are celebrating an Israeli government decision to greatly expand — and fund — a pluralistic egalitarian prayer section..
London bishop urges vicars to grow beards as way of reaching Muslims
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) A senior bishop in the Church of England has blessed the idea that its vicars, or parish priests, should..
Religious groups focus on Flint’s water woes
(RNS) Catholic Charities is giving out water and food. The Flint Jewish Federation is collecting water and water filters. And the Michigan Muslim Community Council has..
Pope Francis opens foot-washing rite to women in gesture of inclusion
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis has changed the rules so that a priest may wash the feet of women and others in..
Still fighting the death penalty, Sister Prejean gets pope’s blessing
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Two decades after her anti-death penalty work was transformed into an Oscar-winning movie, “Dead Man Walking,” Sister Helen Prejean’s..
Two Lutheran seminaries to close and reopen as new school
(RNS) Two Lutheran seminaries in Pennsylvania are planning to close and launch together a new school of theology in 2017 with hopes..
Anglican leaders downplay censure of U.S. Episcopal Church
CANTERBURY, England (RNS) The Anglican Communion’s worldwide leaders, finishing up four days of heated discussions, sought to project a sense of unity..
Episcopal Church suspended from full participation in Anglican Communion
(RNS) The Anglican Communion voted to censure its American branch, the Episcopal Church, during a meeting in Canterbury, England, called to reflect on the future..
Michelle Higgins: Black people are sacred to God
(RNS) Michelle Higgins has been making waves lately. A leader in the #BlackLivesMatter movement, she recently addressed a gathering of 16,000 evangelical..