On the dining room table in our house, a bundle of sage sits next to the Advent wreath.

Every night we read from our children’s Advent book, and then from Keepers of the Earth a book of Native American stories written by Michael Caduto and Joseph Bruchac.

I turn the Pandora station from Frank Sinatra Holiday Music to Powwow Dance in the middle of the day while I’m doing dishes, because this is what an Indigenous Advent is like.

This is the way of walking two worlds with one spirit, one spirit...

(RNS) — At the Nativity display outside Faith Church of Lafayette, Indiana, the baby will be laid in a manger this year, surrounded by friendly beasts — except for the donkeys. They bite. In the past, the camels have been known to kick.

The church’s Lafayette Living Nativity, which Faith has hosted since 1991, may be one of the few Christmas traditions that go off in usual fashion in a pandemic year.

“We’ve been practicing for this moment for the last 30 years...

For Christians who celebrated on the first day of Advent Sunday, a holiday that is all about waiting has taken on stronger meaning as the pandemic stretches on.

For many, the challenge is to convert the anxiety of awaiting a COVID-19 vaccine that could be months away into “joyful anticipation” during the days leading up to Christmas.

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During his first press conference following the Thanksgiving weekend, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday that he has no plans to implement additional restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19.

But with more holidays on the horizon, Baker cautioned residents about in-person religious gatherings, which state officials have linked to hundreds of coronavirus cases.

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A St. Louis Park congregation devoted two years to exploring white supremacy, and now it is raising $1 million for a child care center for low-income families.

In Bemidji, some faith leaders are participating in “listening posts” often led by Native Americans who share experiences of discrimination.

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A federal appeals court has upheld Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's order halting in-person classes at public and private, religious-based schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ruling Sunday overturns a U.S. District judge's temporary injunction that would have allowed religious schools to continue having students meet in classrooms.

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On All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1, religious leaders from multiple denominations gathered in a sugar cane field in St. James Parish where evidence suggests enslaved African Americans were buried. In 2018, archaeological consultants for Formosa, a company that plans to build a giant plastics manufacturing facility on the site, discovered unmarked gravesites.

Bishop Michael Duca of...

NEW YORK -- Black clergy leaders are joining forces with the United Way of New York City for a new initiative designed to combat the coronavirus’ outsized toll on African Americans through ramped-up testing, contact tracing and treatment management.

Source: Black clergy, United Way to launch anti-coronavirus effort - ABC News

Following several racist and anti-Semitic incidents in Ithaca, local faith leaders are doubling down on ongoing anti-racist programming. While their approaches vary, they have a common message: Hate has no home in Ithaca.

In recent months, local religious leaders have invited speakers on anti-racism, organized anti-racist reading groups and have sought to...

Rehoboth Beach commissioners and Mayor Stan Mills voted Thursday to continue their formal ban on "private holiday displays" for the third year, a clear indication the city won't allow Nativity scenes or other religious displays on public property this holiday season.

However, this year officials authorized funds that will go toward creating a "holiday display that celebrates the cultural diversity of our great City," according to a Rehoboth Beach press release. 

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As the first polls began to close Tuesday (Nov. 3), the Rev. Cara Tanis logged off.

Instead of obsessing over election returns as they trickled in throughout the night, she went for a walk.

Tanis was joined by 50 to 70 people who attended “Walking for the Common Good” around Seattle’s Green Lake, carrying battery-operated votive candles and praying that every vote cast in the 2020 presidential election would be counted.

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Lord Ganesha greets visitors to the home of Jagdish and Shobha Patel in Holland.

A figurine of the deity is positioned prominently in an altar set into a wall just off the kitchen, depicted as is traditional with the body of a man and the head of an elephant. One of several such depictions that the couple displays in their home, this one in porcelain and in the characteristic style of Lladró, it serves a purpose both spiritual and artistic.

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The Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter, pastor of the historic Congregational Church of Patchogue, New York, had been trying to come up with the most appropriate way to mark All Saints’ Day this year as the country copes with the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

A couple of weeks ago, he woke up in the middle of the night and thought, “Oh, my God, we have a bell,” thinking of his church’s 19th-century sandstone, five-story bell tower. 

“It was like, ‘Ring the bell once for each life lost in America.’”

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The Rev. Kim Jackson ministers to the homeless in downtown Atlanta, and a hot topic of discussion among them — as it is among others around the country — is the upcoming election.

Usually, voting is low on the list of priorities for homeless Americans, says the Rev. Jackson. First and foremost, they’re “hustling to get food” and to find a place to sleep. But this year, her homeless congregants are fired up about going to the polls — and they’re encouraging other members of their community to do the same.

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At a time when the nation feels more divided than ever, one unlikely group in Omaha, Nebraska, is trying to bring people together.

The Tri-Faith Initiative is a unique experiment in unity, sprawling across 38 acres on the edge of the city, almost smack in the center of America. There's a synagogue, a mosque and a church — and on Saturday, Tri-Faith introduced a new interfaith center, the final piece of a plan that was years in the making...