Religion News Service

Why Christians need the church: An interview with Lillian Daniel

Young people are disillusioned, disenchanted, and in some cases, downright disgusted with organized religion. So while they still want to follow Jesus,..

Partisan fighting spells trouble for church insurance under Obamacare

(RNS) An effort to tweak President Obama’s health care reform bill to fill a gap for church health insurance plans could fail..

COMMENTARY: After Hurricane Katrina, two congregations take a chance

(RNS) When Marguerite La Joy Washington, a freshman at Dillard University, was gunned down in New Orleans, it had all the appearance..

African chief evangelizes about adult circumcision

LUSAKA, Zambia (RNS) African Chief Jonathan Eshiloni Mumena will eagerly tell you about his ivory Star of David ring and the Texas..

Pope to Brazilians: Don’t ignore the periphery

RIO DE JANEIRO (RNS) It’s not every day that the pope drops in for a visit to your home. But Maria da..

Prominent American Jews embrace Kerry peace talks

NEW YORK (RNS) More than 100 prominent Jewish Americans with varying religious and political viewpoints have thrown their support behind the Israeli..

Nuns on the Bus push Congress to pass immigration reform

WASHINGTON (RNS) The “Nuns on the Bus” are back from their 6,800-mile trek across the U.S., but their hardest job may be..

Shariah 101: What is it and why do states want to ban it?

(RNS) North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday (July 24) approved a bill to prohibit judges from considering “foreign laws” in their decisions, but nearly everyone..

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly Video: Hispanic Protestants

Most Hispanics in the U.S. still call themselves Catholic, but more and more are joining Protestant churches, especially the younger generation. The..

COMMENTARY: Naming rites link parents to God’s creative work

(RNS) Naming rites and rituals are seldom in the news — except, of course, when the person in question will be the..

Malaysian Muslims ask Vatican to recall envoy over use of “Allah”

BANGKOK, Thailand (RNS) The Vatican’s first envoy to Muslim-majority Malaysia should quit and go back to Rome, angry Malaysian Islamists said after..

What one businessman learned about success from Trappist monks

(RNS) Driving through the Spanish moss-draped gates of the Mepkin Abbey Trappist monastery in Moncks Corner, S.C., businessman August Turak felt as if he..

Christians in Sudan face increased hostility

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) Despite a promise by the Sudanese government to grant its minority Christian population religious freedom, church leaders there said..

How Christians should respond to the Zimmerman verdict: An interview with Leroy Barber

Reactions to the George Zimmerman “not guilty” verdict from American Christians have been as diverse as the community itself. Some Christian pastors used their pulpits on..

Baseball’s Darryl Strawberry buries his past in new career as a pastor

Conservatives say religious freedom is ‘under attack’ in military

Church of England to draft new legislation on women bishops

Joel Hunter pays a price for political activism

Is the growth of the nonreligious good or bad? Americans are divided

African religious leaders reject Obama’s call to decriminalize homosexuality

Pope Francis proclaims John Paul II, John XXIII as new saints

When firefighters fall, chaplains stand

San Diego judge says public school’s yoga instruction not religious

My country ’tis of thee: Evangelicals score highest on patriotism

WASHINGTON (RNS) When it comes to God and country, white evangelicals report the most intense patriotic feelings in a new poll, with..

After high court rulings, what will religious conservatives do?