US to pay $US88 million to families, victims of Charleston church massacre
Washington DC, USAP Families of nine victims killed in a racist attack at a Black South Carolina church have reached a settlement with the Justice Department over a faulty background check that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase the gun he used in the 2015 massacre. The Justice Department will pay $US88 million, which includes $US63 million for the families of the nine […]
Peer education: A new Anne Frank Center aims to reshape racism through Holocaust understanding
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports from Columbia in South Carolina on the opening of North America’s first permanent Anne Frank Center…
In the US, three church coalitions in the Deep South partner to urge racial reconciliation — and justice
RNS Leaders of multiracial coalitions of churches in three Southern cities have confessed to being too “comfortable” and committed anew to “work for justice to right past wrongs” and seek racial unity. “As a group of racially, ethnically, and politically diverse church leaders in the Deep South areas of Charleston, South Carolina, Montgomery, Alabama, and […]
Charleston church massacre looms over hate crime debate in US state of South Carolina
Columbia, South CarolinaAP South Carolina can both honor nine Black worshippers killed five years ago in a racist attack and send a message that it loves and protects all its neighbors by becoming the 48th state to pass a law with more severe penalties for hate crimes, supporters said Wednesday. A small group of House […]
With record 69 COVID-19 deaths, US city of Charleston asks for prayer
Columbia, South Carolina, USAP On the same day South Carolina reported a record 69 COVID-19 deaths, the mayor of Charleston asked for spiritual help for people who died in the pandemic, people fighting the virus and their families. Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg declared Thursday a day of prayer and remembrance in what for centuries has been nicknamed […]
Fund set up to benefit family of US megachurch pastor and author Darrin Patrick
RNS A fund has been set up to benefit the family of the late Darrin Patrick, a megachurch pastor and author who died on Thursday, 7th May. Patrick, 49, left behind his wife, Amie, and four children. Pastor Darrin Patrick speaks in a recent video. PICTURE: Video screengrab A link to the fund can be found on the website […]
THE INTERVIEW: REV DAVID KENNEDY, SOUTH CAROLINA MINISTER WHO FOUGHT KLAN SHOP AND PREACHES LOVE NOW DEPICTED IN MOVIE
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, speaks to Rev David Kennedy, the real-life person behind a main character in the new movie ‘Burden’…
ESSAY: COMMUNION SHOULD BE PERSONAL, NOT POLITICAL
US Catholic commentator JOHN GEHRING, in an article first published on Religion News Service, disgrees with the decision of a Catholic priest last Sunday to deny former US Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden Communion on the basis of his position on abortion…
Death toll rising in eastern US state in wake of Florence; call for prayer
The death toll after Hurricane Florence struck eastern US states late last week has risen to at least 25 as flooding continues amid warnings it will do for some days yet to come. The BBC reports that 19 of the deaths to date have occurred in North Carolina with Governor Roy Cooper saying at a […]
Supreme Court denies breakaway Episcopal group control of its churches
RNS The Episcopal Church in South Carolina is preparing to reclaim control of more than two dozen properties worth an estimated $US500 million after the US Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal brought by a breakaway group of conservative Anglican congregations. “We are grateful for the clarity that this decision offers, and hopeful […]