Essay: Why Christian women are key to ending the criminalisation of Black girls in schools
EMILY JONES, executive for racial justice at United Women in Faith in the US, says, historically, Christian women have been particularly vocal advocates in educational spaces…
Essay: At the end of a mixed political year – Love, hope and faith abide
As she leaves her role, DIANE RANDALL, general secretary of the US-based Quaker lobby group Friends Committee on National Legislation, looks, in an article published by Religion News Service, at the past year and the ways political life in America has changed in the past decade…
Stories of racism permeate ‘Let’s Talk’ evangelical reconciliation kickoff event in the US
Washington DC, US RNS Hundreds of evangelical Christians gathered in person at the Museum of the Bible and online across the country on Wednesday to listen to stories of racism, as clergy urged participation in a new initiative for racial unity. Bishop Kenneth Ulmer of California recalled how just a couple of years ago, when he […]
Raphael Warnock honoured with Four Freedoms award in ‘extra step’ for racial justice
RNS Senator Raphael Warnock, who continues to pastor his historic Atlanta church while serving as Georgia’s first Black US senator, has received the Roosevelt Institute’s Freedom of Worship Award in a ceremony focused on racial justice. “I really felt that the strength of his pastoral voice was unique,” Anne Roosevelt, grand-daughter of President Franklin Delano […]
In the US, as United Church of Christ takes on race and LGBTQ issues, consensus reigns
RNS When the United Church of Christ kicks off its General Synod on Sunday, Rev Traci Blackmon isn’t worried about fractious votes, conservative insurgencies or to-do’s over high-level resignations – or calls for the same. The UCC, in short, is no Southern Baptist Convention, which endured all of the above at its annual meeting last […]
A racial reckoning: One year after George Floyd’s murder, US religious leaders continue the call to address injustices
Correspondents for Religion News Service report on how faith leaders have responded to the past year’s racial justice protests – and how they’re marking the anniversary of George Floyd’s death…
In the US, National Day of Prayer to be marked with petitions for racial justice
RNS In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted many observances of the annual National Day of Prayer to go virtual, with a focus on praying for those who were sickened or died. A year later, as the 70th observance occurs on Thursday, pandemic prayers continue and, in some cases, are being coupled with petitions for racial […]
Despite multi-racial congregation boom in the US, some Black congregants report prejudice
RNS Most practicing Christians believe the church can enhance race relations in this country by welcoming people of all races and ethnicities, new research finds. But 29 per cent of Black practicing Christians say they have experienced racial prejudice in multi-racial congregations, compared to about a tenth who report such an experience in mono-racial Black […]
“A ministry of listening”: In the US, Minnesota churches caught in standoffs between protesters and police
JACK JENKINS, of Religion News Service, speaks with the leaders of two congregations in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center which have found themselves at the centre of standoffs between police and racial justice demonstrators over the past week…
Essay: Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict might be an exodus for America
CHARLIE DATES, senior pastor at Chicago’s Progressive Baptist Church and an affiliate professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, reflects on what the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin might mean…