DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) — On top of all the state and federal disaster relief groups readying for Hurricane Florence as it barrels toward North and South Carolina are a group of expert helpers: the faith teams. The biggest of these, North Carolina Baptists on Mission and the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, have made a name for themselves during previous hurricanes and other natural disasters, feeding people, clearing debris, gutting uninhabitable homes and rebuilding them from stud to kitchen cabinet. On Wednesday (Sept. 12), they were back at it — not yet delivering help, but strategizing over how best to deploy their volunteer armies and equipment. Florence is likely to produce catastrophic flooding in the eastern Carolinas when it makes landfall Friday. Damaging winds and near-certain flooding from the massive rainfall will worsen the misery. “God’s opened a lot of doors and given us a lot of opportunity,” said Richard Brunson, executive director of … [Read more...]

(RNS) — With a decision looming on how many refugees to admit into the country, and rumors swirling that the number could drop dramatically from this year’s historic low, people of faith are coming together to ask the Trump administration to instead allow tens of thousands more to enter the United States. Representatives of some of the largest Protestant denominations in the country — including the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Episcopal Church — were planning to gather outside the White House on Wednesday (Sept. 12) to press President Trump to raise the number of refugees admitted in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 to 75,000 people. And the Evangelical Immigration Table — a coalition that includes the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s single largest Protestant denomination — hosted a call demanding the same. “I … [Read more...]

(RNS) — Not long ago, the future looked grim for Temple Beth El in Hackensack, N.J. The building needed a new roof. The heating and cooling systems were failing. And the congregation had dwindled to fewer than 50 people who could not afford to make repairs and keep their building open. Congregation members feared the synagogue would be closed and sold off, like many other aging houses of worship. Instead, members of Beth El decided their synagogue needed a new start. The congregation partnered with Chabad-Lubavitch, an Orthodox Jewish organization, to repair the building and give the synagogue a shot at new life. At a time when many decommissioned houses of worship are converted into nightclubs, restaurants, and even condominiums, there’s a different kind of transformation in places like Hackensack. Dwindling congregations are being “replanted” with new ones. In Kansas City’s Brookside neighborhood, the Wornall Road Baptist Church had a sanctuary that could seat 610 … [Read more...]

BEIJING (AP) — China’s government is ratcheting up a crackdown on Christian congregations in Beijing and several provinces, destroying crosses, burning Bibles, shutting churches and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith, according to pastors and a group that monitors religion in China. The campaign corresponds with a drive to “Sinicize” religion by demanding loyalty to the officially atheist Communist Party and eliminating any challenge to its power over people’s lives. Bob Fu of the U.S.-based group China Aid said over the weekend that the closure of churches in central Henan province and a prominent house church in Beijing in recent weeks represents a “significant escalation” of the crackdown. “The international community should be alarmed and outraged for this blatant violation of freedom of religion and belief,” he wrote in an email. Under President Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, religious believers are seeing their … [Read more...]

(RNS) — Last month, after Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro unveiled a bombshell 1,300-page grand jury report detailing the alleged sexual abuse of more than 1,000 children in his state by hundreds of Catholic priests, American Catholics called for more investigations into church documents. Some even demanded the federal government step in. Now law enforcement officials in at least seven states — New York, New Jersey, Nebraska, New Mexico, Florida, Missouri and Illinois — appear to be launching their own inquiries or reviews of Catholic dioceses, often focusing on what Shapiro called secret church files thought to contain decades of allegations of child sex abuse by priests. On Thursday (Sept. 6), The Associated Press reported that New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood has subpoenaed all eight Roman Catholic dioceses in the state to investigate the church’s handling of sex abuse allegations. New York Archdiocese spokesperson Joseph Zwilling later confirmed to … [Read more...]

(RNS) — The months ahead of midterm elections, often a time of lower turnout among African-Americans and others, have become a focus of passionate activity by black Christian leaders. “The attacks on the Voting Rights Act and other setbacks in civil rights have alerted the faith community that we need to take action,” said the Rev. Barbara Williams-Skinner, co-chair of the National African American Clergy Network. “We need to be proactive and not reactive.” It’s been five years since the Supreme Court invalidated a key provision of the VRA, and voters in almost two dozen states face stricter rules. In response, black denominations and networks focused on people of color and the poor are gearing up in hopes of getting more people to the ballot box in November: This week, leaders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church plan to continue their “AME Righteous Vote” initiative with mobilization briefings, Capitol Hill meetings and a “Call to Conscience” vigil at Lafayette Square … [Read more...]