(RNS) — Where humans go, faith seems to follow. It’s no less true of NASA’s first manned mission to land on the moon, when astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins made their way farther into the heavens than anyone had gone before. Here are five faith facts about the moon landing, which half a century later still inspires awe and wonder in people of all faiths and no faith. 1. Aldrin took Communion aboard the Eagle lunar lander. When Aldrin first floated the idea of celebrating Communion during the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, NASA administrators responded with skepticism. The agency had already fended off a lawsuit filed after astronauts broadcast themselves reading from the Book of Genesis during the Apollo 8 mission, which atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair derided as a violation of the separation of church and state. (Her case was ultimately dismissed.) But Aldrin, who would later describe the mission as “part of God’s eternal plan for … [Read more...]

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (RNS) — The Dominican sisters sat in silence, eyes closed, palms upturned, couches and chairs pushed together into a circle in the room at the Dominican Center at Marywood in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their reading that evening came not from Scripture, but from poet Mary Oliver: “Though I play at the edges of knowing, / truly I know / our part is not knowing, / but looking, and touching, and loving.” And the candle flickering in their midst didn’t invoke a saint, but author and activist James Baldwin. Joining the Catholic women religious in contemplation was a group of young women who aren’t sure they’d describe themselves as religious in any sense. The Sunday night (July 7) meeting, known as Sisters & Seekers, is one of about a dozen gatherings across the country affiliated with Nuns & Nones, a growing alliance connecting Catholic women religious, most of whom are over 60, with 20- and 30-something millennials, many of whom identify as … [Read more...]

DETROIT (AP) — Timothy Buchanan says he never consults clergy about important decisions, but it’s not for lack of faith: He regularly attends a nondenominational Christian church near his home. Buchanan, 41, is not alone. A large majority of Americans make important decisions without calling on religious leaders for advice, according to a new survey released Monday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll finds three-quarters of American adults rarely or never consult a clergy member or religious leader, while only about a quarter do so at least some of the time. “The church we go to is quite large, and we’re relatively new there,” said Buchanan, who lives with his wife in Bolivia, North Carolina. “We really haven’t established a relationship with a minister there. Going to larger churches, it’s nearly impossible now to get a relationship with a clergyman or woman.” The lack of personal connection with ministers even includes people who … [Read more...]

(RNS) — The first female pastor to lead The Riverside Church in New York City is leaving the historic, progressive Christian church. After five years at Riverside, the Rev. Amy Butler will not renew her contract as senior minister, according to an update from Butler and the Riverside Church Council posted on the church’s website. “It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to have spent five years leading the Riverside congregation,” Butler said in the update. “I love that beautiful, beloved congregation and I believe that when we love each other, we can change the world.” Neither the pastor nor the church council gave a reason for Butler’s departure in the update or indicated what she might do next. The update noted, “both she and our congregational leadership have been prayerfully discerning how best to fulfill the work of God in the world to which they are called.” Butler was named pastor at Riverside in 2014. She previously served as senior pastor … [Read more...]

(RNS) — Four months after March Madness, hymn lovers are awaiting the outcome of a different kind of tournament that will answer this question: “What’s the greatest hymn of all time?” Will it be “Holy, Holy, Holy!”? Or how about “How Great Thou Art”? Or one of six others in the Elite Eight that were announced on Tuesday (July 2)? The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada decided to use the tournament as a way to draw attention to the music that fills church sanctuaries every weekend. Its contest, where enthusiasts have voted since May on its website and on Facebook, was inspired by a Catholic podcast, “Open Your Hymnal,” which had a spring tournament focused specifically on hymn tunes. This contest focuses on both the texts and the tunes of beloved hymns. Brian Hehn, director of the hymn society’s Center for Congregational Song, said the tournament has been a kind of “teaching moment” that allowed the society’s members to have some fun and helped the … [Read more...]

(RNS) — About a dozen people taking refuge in sanctuary churches across the country received a letter from Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this week, informing them they owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in civil penalties for disobeying orders to leave the country. Among those was Rosa del Carmen Ortez Cruz, a 38-year-old mother of four living at a Presbyterian church in Chapel Hill, N.C., who was told she owes more than $300,000 for overstaying her deportation order. Her lawyers at McKinney Immigration Law in Greensboro, N.C., received a similar letter. Ortez Cruz fled Honduras for the United States in 2002, after her domestic partner, the father of her son, stabbed her multiple times. The Church of Reconciliation and the Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship offered her refuge from immediate deportation last year because she is afraid of returning to Honduras, where her ex-partner lives. “This goes along with the extremely cruel and unusual tactics to create … [Read more...]