Race & Religion
Richard Smallwood, ‘Total Praise’ composer, to receive Juneteeth tribute in D.C.
By Adelle M. Banks — June 18, 2024
(RNS) — ‘It’s music that has brought us over through slavery, through all kinds of hard trials and tribulations,’ said singer/songwriter Richard Smallwood.
Civil rights leader James Lawson, who learned from Gandhi, used nonviolent resistance and the ‘power of love’ to challenge injustice
By Anthony Siracusa — June 13, 2024
‘Fiddler on the Roof’ may be many Americans’ image of Judaism – but American Jews’ heritage is stunningly diverse
By Samira Mehta — June 12, 2024
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The Rev. James Lawson Jr., civil rights leader who preached nonviolent protest, dies at 95
By Travis Loller, Adrian Sainz, and Christopher Weber — June 12, 2024
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Rev. James Lawson Jr., an apostle of nonviolent protest who schooled activists to withstand brutal reactions from white authorities as the Civil Rights Movement gained traction, has died, his family said Monday. He was 95.
How this Maryland pastor ended up leading one of the fastest-growing churches in the nation
By Darren Sands — June 10, 2024
CALVERTON, Md. (AP) — In 2019, the year Kingdom Fellowship AME was founded, the church had about 3,000 members and an average weekly attendance of about 1,800 people, according to the church's figures. Today, membership has swelled to nearly 8,000, and its weekly services draw about 2,500 attendees altogether.
Latino Episcopalians in the spotlight with Gutiérrez presiding bishop nomination
By Aleja Hertzler-McCain — May 31, 2024
HYATTSVILLE, Md. (RNS) — Latino Episcopal clergy say that their congregations are thriving.
Latinos play an important role in environmental movement, Georgetown panel says
By Aleja Hertzler-McCain — May 24, 2024
WASHINGTON (RNS) — 'Latinos are poised to be leaders in their communities and nationally on environmental issues,' said one panelist at this week's Latino Leader Gathering sponsored by Georgetown’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.
A new book argues most white US Christians worship a religion of whiteness
By Yonat Shimron — May 21, 2024
(RNS) — Michael Emerson and Glenn Bracey depict a Christianity that worships a white Jesus and a set of sacred symbols, including the flag, the cross and, increasingly, guns.
He feared coming out. Now this pastor wants to help Black churches become as welcoming as his own
By Darren Sands — May 17, 2024
(AP) – Crowley’s career has flourished, and he has now written a book — “Queering the Black Church” — that he hopes can serve as a guide for other congregations to be “open and affirming” to LGBTQ+ people rather than shunning them.
AME official Jerome V. Harris dies under a cloud of alleged corruption
By Fiona André — May 16, 2024
(RNS) — Harris, an important figure of the AME Church, died suddenly, according to a press release from the Christian Recorder, the church’s official publication.
The Rev. William Lawson, Texas civil rights leader who worked with Martin Luther King Jr, dies at 95
By Associated Press — May 15, 2024
HOUSTON (AP) — Lawson’s longtime church, Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in that Texas city, announced on its website that he had died on Tuesday.
Grace College professor ousted after online commentators flag ‘woke’ social media posts
By Kathryn Post — May 8, 2024
(RNS) — It’s the latest in a string of professor terminations at Christian colleges seemingly tied to clashes over narrowing and often unspoken political and theological criteria.
Baltimore Catholic parish closures a ‘punch in the stomach’ with long-term impact
By Aleja Hertzler-McCain — May 7, 2024
BALTIMORE (RNS) — Parish closures in the nation’s oldest Catholic diocese are part of a nationwide trend of dioceses restructuring in response to falling Mass attendance and priest shortages.
75 Christian leaders urge president, Congress, churches to act on racism, poverty
By Adelle M. Banks — May 1, 2024
(RNS) — ‘Issues related to racism are now being fiercely debated across the country, and many people of color are fearful that racism is getting worse,’ reads their statement.
The Rev. Cecil Williams, who turned San Francisco’s Glide Church into a refuge for many, has died
By Olga R. Rodriguez — April 24, 2024
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Williams and his wife, Janice Marikitami, who passed away in 2021, appeared in Will Smith’s film “The Pursuit of Happyness,” which was based on the life of a homeless father and son who once found help at Glide Memorial Church.
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