LONDON (RNS) — It’s not particularly news in Britain that young English people no longer automatically consider themselves Anglican. A government survey released this month was only the latest to confirm that “CoE” — Church of England — was no longer the default response when Englanders were asked their religion or checked a box on a form. What’s new, however, is that the Church of England is not sitting back and accepting decline. The nearly 500-year-old denomination is answering back, via Instagram. The U.K.’s annual British Social Attitudes Survey reported that only 2 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds identify with the Church of England, the established religion of the realm since the Reformation. Overall, in fact, fewer than 1 in 7 of the English say they belong to the Church of England. Between 2002 and 2017, the share of the populace identifying with the church dropped from 31 percent to 14 percent. That was a faster decline than any other Christian denomination in … [Read more...]

CHICAGO (RNS) — Steve Carter was supposed to be in front of his congregation interviewing Ira Glass, the famed NPR journalist and host of “This American Life.” Instead, the lead teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church was throwing up backstage. Carter, 38, had become physically ill that Sunday, Aug. 5, after reading an article published that morning in The New York Times about the church’s founding pastor, Bill Hybels. The newspaper reported allegations from Hybels’ former assistant Pat Baranowski, who said that Hybels had fondled her breasts, rubbed against her and once engaged her in oral sex. For months, the evangelical Christian megachurch in the Chicago suburbs had been rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct against Hybels. Reading Baranowski’s story was “a breaking point,” Carter said. “I felt like my body was shutting down,” Carter told Religion News Service. While church leaders scrambled to respond to the Times report, Carter walked out the … [Read more...]

CHICAGO (RNS) — Jo Anne Lyon, general superintendent emerita of The Wesleyan Church, and Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, will lead a new investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Bill Hybels, the retired founding pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Lyon and Anderson will co-chair the four-person Willow Creek Independent Advisory Group, according to an announcement Tuesday (Sept. 18) from Willow Creek and the Willow Creek Association. The association, a worldwide network of churches, runs the annual Global Leadership Summit hosted by Willow Creek Community Church. The group will consider allegations against Hybels in his former roles both as pastor of the nondenominational evangelical Christian megachurch and chair of the board of directors of the association, according to the announcement. It also will review the organizational culture of the church and the association and make recommendations to both for future … [Read more...]