Virtual worshippers often satisfied, but more Americans choose in-person services
United StatesReligion News Service At the height of the pandemic, many Americans who attended in-person worship services turned to their computers and their couches instead for virtual viewing. Now, the Pew Research Center finds a third of Americans regularly attend in-person worship services while a bit more than a quarter regularly watch religious services on […]
My Mission: ‘Healing the healers’ with the restorative wisdom of the Black church
Rev Jennifer Bailey believes Americans’ divisions are experienced as grief and loss, and looks to provide rituals to help us heal. JOSHUA STANTON and BENJAMIN SPRATT report for Religion News Service…
In the US, religious attendance dips slightly after pandemic – study
United StatesRNS In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, religious leaders worried that lockdowns and the move to online services would accelerate already declining church attendance and usher in what some called a “religion recession“. A new study from Pew Research suggests that’s probably overstated. PICTURE: Gabriella Clare Marino/Unsplash The study found that the share of US […]
Essay: COVID-19 sent houses of worship online. Will congregations come back in person?
RYAN BURGE, pastor, author and assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, says – in an article first published on Religion News Service – that religious leaders can find concern and comfort in a survey about attendance at worship early in the pandemic…
Seeking to make a difference: For many US congregations, wiping out medical debt has become a popular calling
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports that while donations from religious groups constitute less than 20 per cent of RIP Medical Debt’s overall revenue, they are becoming an increasingly common way for congregations to do social justice…
New Tim Keller Center for Apologetics hopes to help churches reach a changing country
United StatesRNS Visiting houses of worship in the United States, you can’t help but see empty pews, giving the impression that organized religion in the United States is in trouble. Increasingly, those who study church attendance and related matters are doing the math: In a recent study that projects what faith in America might look like in […]
Church attendance: More Americans stay away as pandemic nears year three
Many Americans already had dropped out of church life before the pandemic. BOB SMIETANA reports that a new survey shows COVID-19 gave them a reason to let go completely…
From monthly to missing: In the US, Sunday school looks different since pandemic’s start
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, reports on the challenges facing Sunday schools after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered churches…
Watch out for the sheep: Live animals bring spectacle and humour to nativity scenes
Though they aren’t mentioned in the Bible Christmas story, live animals have been part of nativity scenes since the 1200s. But, as BOB SMIETANA of Religion News Service, reports, sometimes things go awry, including a recent case of cows on the loose…
Giving to larger churches in the US dropped last year, even as charitable donations rose – report
United StatesRNS An annual report on giving to US evangelical Christian non-profits, including churches and other ministries, found that giving to the United States’ largest churches fell by more than 6.6 per cent in 2021, despite a rise of four per cent last year in charitable giving nationwide. New donors and large donations were especially hard to […]