(RNS) — Giving to congregations has shifted upward after churches closed their buildings earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a survey shows. The new State of the Plate research finds that close to two-thirds (64%) of churches across the country reported in August that giving is either up (22%) or steady (42%). By contrast, in April, a similar share of churches (65%) said they had seen a drop in giving. “This is encouraging news for churches across America,” said Brian Kluth, a former pastor who is now national spokesperson for the National Association of Evangelicals’ Financial Health initiative. “These new findings show that most churches and their families are figuring out ways to survive and even thrive in the midst of all the challenges that the pandemic has thrown their way.” The findings are based on responses from 1,076 mainline, evangelical and independent Protestant churches. Seven in 10 of them had less than 200 attenders before the pandemic. A … [Read more...]

(RNS) — As racial tensions have risen in recent months, a new report reveals that some Christians are becoming less motivated to act on racial justice, and an increasing share say there is “definitely” not a race problem in the country. “Christians generally, and practicing Christians in particular, have changed their minds on addressing racial injustice, but if anything, they're actually moving away from being motivated,” said David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group. “It's not a majority of Christians, but it is a segment of Christians who say they're unmotivated or not at all motivated to address racial injustice,” he said, adding that the group has “essentially doubled” in the last year. Thirty percent of practicing Christians — people who identify themselves as Christians, have attended worship in the past month and claim to strongly prioritize their faith — say they are not motivated to engage in matters of racial injustice (12% unmotivated, 18% not at all … [Read more...]

LOS ANGELES (RNS) —  In the past few months, volunteers with United Sikhs have logged hundreds of hours, handing out thousands of meals to people without homes during COVID-19 and to others in need. Since the fires began scorching Northern California, those volunteers have prepared about 700 meals to people who have lost their homes or been evacuated. United Sikhs is accepting monetary donations to help those affected by the fires. Amarpreet Singh, who helps coordinate volunteers for United Sikhs, a nonprofit humanitarian relief and development organization, said he is thankful for the opportunity to serve. He considers himself lucky. “Not everyone has the chance to volunteer,” Singh said. “The act of doing service makes you more humble. It gives us more gratitude. It gives us a wider perspective." As wildfires rage across the West Coast, religious groups like United Sikhs and their volunteers are receiving donations, delivering meals and offering sanctuary to … [Read more...]

(RNS) — A religious studies professor at the University of Pennsylvania said thousands of faculty are supporting a “scholar strike” during which they are focusing on racial injustice in or out of their classrooms this week. “I would be down as a professor to follow the NBA and Strike for a few days to protest police violence in America,” said Anthea Butler, who also teaches Africana studies, in an Aug. 26 tweet. Since then, Butler said, more than 5,000 faculty have backed the initiative, which started Tuesday (Sept. 8) and is to continue on Wednesday. In a blog post, Butler and co-organizer Kevin Gannon, a professor of history at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, said the initiative — reminiscent of 1960s teach-ins — is a response to the Aug. 23 shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the killing of two demonstrators days later. “Some of us will, for two days, refrain from our many duties and participate in actions designed to raise … [Read more...]

HOWARD, Pa. (RNS) —  The Sunday worship service began with a prayer thanking God for the chance to meet in a beautiful sanctuary. Then the pastor prayed that the service would encourage members’ hearts and provoke their imaginations — and that “if we get wet, let us have fun.” “If we fall in, we will remember our baptism this morning,” said the Rev. Jes Kast. With that, the people of Faith United Church of Christ said “amen” and launched their boats into the reservoir at Bald Eagle State Park. Welcome to Kayak Church. More than two dozen people joined the brightly colored flotilla for Kayak Church on Sunday (Aug. 30) as Faith, like so many other churches across the country, dips its toes into meeting together in person after months apart during the novel coronavirus pandemic. For some, it was the first time they’d been together for worship in months. “Isn’t it good to see people? It just feels good to be here together,” Kast said. Since the pandemic … [Read more...]

(RNS) — In recent months, Lara Martin’s life has been one disaster after another. Tornadoes in Tennessee. Wildfires in California. A derecho in Iowa. Now, Hurricane Laura. “We’ve been busy,” said Martin, the interim director of U.S. disaster response for the United Methodist Committee on Relief, better known as UMCOR. Martin spends much of her time on the phone, coordinating support for local emergency response teams of trained Methodist volunteers in different parts of the country. UMCOR has also spent the past few months getting supplies such as cleanup kits for flooding, masks, hand sanitizer and other essentials needed to get the job done and keep people safe in the midst of a pandemic. This week, she’s been helping those teams make last-minute preparations for Hurricane Laura, which was expected to cause widespread damage in Louisiana and Texas. On Thursday (Aug. 27), she was awaiting word from trained volunteers doing initial damage assessments. At least … [Read more...]