Women in Mosques Platform, a Turkish group set up in 2017, is campaigning for Muslim women’s equal access to mosques in a country that has traditionally encouraged women to worship at home. On the website of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (September 10), Sevilay Nur Saraçlar writes that, while there are spaces for […]
Throughout August and September, the Berkley Center for Religion and World Affairs at Georgetown University, through its Berkley Forum, has issued a series of reports and reflections on Covid-19 and the Russian Orthodox Church that provide an important resource for understanding changes taking place in church-state relations in Russia. Several writers note how the pandemic […]
Maverick City Music, a charismatic Christian singing group and record label, has in a relatively short time gained wide influence in the Christian music industry through its emphasis on worship. Although the Atlanta-based group was founded only three years ago, many of its songs can already be found on church worship setlists worldwide. Even in […]
While Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Nashville, Tennessee, have been viewed as evangelical bastions and bellwethers since the 1990s, the changing fortunes of evangelicalism in much of the U.S. have also been reflected in the changing religious makeup of these cities. But in two separate articles profiling the cities, Christianity Today magazine (July/August) notes how evangelicals’ […]
The persistent blind spot regarding the role of religion in Afghanistan is continuing after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country for much of the political, media, and academic worlds, according to one analysis. On his blog NYC Religion (August 16), Tony Carnes argues that the media and political leaders both neglect the diversity […]
Known for its strong physical engagement and social interaction in worship—from holy hugs to high-fives—and its more traditional choir stands and fellowship halls, the Black church has had to make significant adaptations to the reality of Covid-19. Writing in the Washington Post (August 25), Mark Moore, Jr., a pastor and marketing consultant, notes that “[i]n […]
With women starting to be called to important positions at the Vatican, Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, an economist and Salesian nun, was appointed interim secretary of the Roman Curia’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in August, making her the highest-ranking woman ever at the curia. She has also become one of the three leaders of […]
According to a survey, more than 60 percent of born-again Christians in the United States between the ages of 18 and 39 are inclined to believe that Buddha, Muhammad and Jesus all offer valid paths to Go. In Ecumenical News (Sept. 1), Peter Kenny summarizes some of the data collected last year in the survey by […]
1) The prediction of Christ’s return in 2011, known as the May 2nd movement, gained considerable traction among evangelicals, although now it only exists as a remnant of end-times believers. Harold Camping, a Bible teacher and president of the evangelical Family Radio Network, initially made his prediction of Christ’s return for 1994 based on an […]
Both Catholicism and evangelical Protestantism have been seen as the more stable segments of Christianity in the U.S., but political pressures, such as the growth of populism, and the loss of Christian influence in the country are leading to new divisions and even fragmentation among these Christians, according to two reports.
