A proposed constitutional amendment to bar any Southern Baptist Convention church from giving a woman the title “pastor” gained steam — and opposition — this week with publication of a list of 170 SBC churches said to have women serving as “pastors.”

A group of U.S. Catholic bishops has issued a statement discouraging Catholic health care groups from performing various gender-affirming medical procedures, suggesting they are “injurious” and do not respect the “intrinsic unity of body and soul.”

The 13-page document, officially known as a “doctrinal note,” was produced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on...

Catholic leaders are pushing back against efforts to alter state laws that exempt clergy from reporting child abuse they hear about during the sacrament of confession, arguing the changes will force priests to choose between the law and their faith.

Advocates for abuse survivors insist the changes are necessary, noting instances where abuse by a parishioner or even a cleric continued despite a priest learning about it during confession.

“It’s almost as though it is a pass for priests,” said Michael McDonnell, spokesperson for Survivors Network of those Abused by...

Observers both inside and outside The United Methodist Church these days puzzle over a question: Why is it so hard for local churches to take their property with them if they leave the 12-million-member worldwide denomination?

A March 4 special session of the North Texas Annual Conference to decide the fate of 41 local churches — among them a controversial megachurch — provided a case study in the hurdles faced by disaffiliating congregations. About 300 churches comprise the North Texas Conference, which stretches from Paris on the east to Antelope in the northwest, from...

A group of conservative Colorado Catholics has spent millions of dollars to buy mobile app tracking data that identified priests who used gay dating and hookup apps and then shared it with bishops around the country.

The secretive effort was the work of a Denver nonprofit called Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, whose trustees are philanthropists Mark Bauman, John Martin and Tim Reichert, according to public records, an audio recording of the nonprofit’s president discussing its mission and other documents. The use of data is emblematic of a new surveillance...

On a recent Sunday morning at Elmbrook Church, a nondenominational evangelical megachurch in Brookfield, Wis., Jerry Wilson considered the far-off matter of his vote in 2024.

“It’s going to be a Republican,” he said, “but I don’t know who.”

In 2016 and 2020 he had voted for Donald J. Trump. “He did accomplish a lot for Christians, for evangelicals,” Mr. Wilson, 64, said. But “he’s got a lot of negative attributes, and they make you pause and think, you know? I’d like to see what the other candidates have to offer.”

Source:...

The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty is acquiring the Center for Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation in a move its leaders say will help them broaden efforts to support a more universal range of religious freedoms in the country.

The 87-year-old coalition of 15 Baptist denominations, including both predominantly Black and white Baptist organizations, is adding the fledgling center as part of its Project for Race and Religious Freedom that it began in 2021.

“This opportunity for BJC to acquire the center and to continue this incredible work of reimagining...

The Nebraska Legislature opened debate Monday on a proposal for tax-credit funded scholarships to help children attend private or religious schools.

Monday’s debate centered on Sen. Lou Ann Linehan’s latest attempt to authorize what her legislation calls “Opportunity Scholarships.” Linehan said public schools do a good job for many students, but some need a different approach. And she said giving more students the chance to attend private or religious schools would improve public schools, through competition.

“Think if you get up in the morning and you only had one...

A group consisting of nearly 10,000 federal employees has launched a new lawsuit against the Biden administration for its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying the currently paused requirement violates multiple laws that protect religious freedom. 

Feds for Medical Freedom brought the complaint against the State Department in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia, with more than a dozen employees there signed on as plaintiffs. State has violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by delaying religious accommodations and allowing discrimination to take place, the...

The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear arguments in a dispute between officials in a central Florida city who encouraged residents to attend a prayer vigil and two atheists who...

When members of First Presbyterian Church decided to launch a capital campaign to expand and renovate their imposing Gothic Revival edifice, they also wanted to take on a service project to help the poor.

The congregation settled on raising $50,000 to eliminate medical debt for people living below the poverty line.

Helping ease medical debt, especially for people of color, is an increasingly popular social justice project among liberal Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations. Over the past few years some 800 U.S. congregations have partnered with ...

Some New Bedford residents were surprised to see a quirky new addition to the city’s holiday display in Clasky Common Park the morning of Dec. 11.

Where once stood a Frosty the Snowman ice fishing shack, a colorful Baphomet — a gnostic deity recognized by pagans and occultists — was painted on plywood looking over the wooden snowmen skating in front of it. The Baphomet was removed by the end of the day. According to the City of New Bedford, city workers took it down.

“During the past week, an unknown person or persons breached protective fencing installed around a...

The Rev. Megan Rohrer, who was elected as the first openly transgender bishop of one of the largest Christian denominations in the country in May 2021, has filed a lawsuit alleging that he was forced out from his post after enduring several months of discrimination and harassment.

The denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, declined comment, according to an email from spokesperson Candice Buchbinder.

Rohrer, of San Francisco, ...

Boston University began as a Methodist seminary, the Newbury Biblical Institute, in Newbury, Vt., in 1839. And since its beginnings in Boston in 1869 as Boston University, it has been open to people of all sexes and all religions, many who carve out time from their daily studies and work to find moments to pray, meditate, and reflect. 

BU photographer Cydney Scott has long wanted to capture the many ways members of the BU community express their faith. ...

The woman pastor at the center of the Southern Baptist Convention’s decision to oust Saddleback Church — the California megachurch founded by pastor and best-selling author ...