Excavation of graves begins at site of colonial Black church in US
United StatesAP Archaeologists in the US state of Virginia began excavating three suspected graves at the original site of one of the nation’s oldest Black churches on Monday, commencing a monthslong effort to learn who was buried there and how they lived. The First Baptist Church was formed in 1776 by free and enslaved Black […]
The Interview: Shooting survivor Taylor Schumann shares why Christians need to offer more than thoughts and prayers
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER speaks with Taylor Schumann, author of ‘When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough’ in the wake of this week’s mass shooting in which 19 children and two adults were killed at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas…
Postcards: Solar power projects see the light on former Appalachian coal land
CAREY L BIRON, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how a former coal field is being transformed into a solar energy hub in the US…
Essay: Removal of Robert E Lee leaves Arthur Ashe as Richmond’s remaining witness
ROBERT P JONES, CEO and founder of Public Religion Research Institute and the author of ‘White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity’, writes about how a statue of the tennis great has outlasted the Confederate generals on Monument Avenue…
In the US, faith groups celebrate Virginia’s death penalty ban
RNS Faith groups are celebrating Virginia’s decision to ban the death penalty, a move considered to be a victory for religious opposition to capital punishment. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed the ban – the first of any Southern state and the 23rd overall – into law on Wednesday, declaring it “the moral thing to do.” […]
Essay: A former Confederate state just voted to abolish its death penalty. Here’s why that’s a big deal
SHANE CLAIBORNE, activist, author and co-director of Red Letter Christians, writes – in an article first published on Religion News Service – about why the US state of Virginia’s decision to abolish its death penalty is significant…
In the US, Virginians about evenly divided on Confederate statues – poll
Falls Church, VirginiaAP In a state where Confederate monuments have stood for more than a century and have recently become a flashpoint in the national debate over racial injustice, Virginians remain about evenly divided on whether the statues should stay or go, according to a new poll. The poll conducted this month by Hampton University […]
Liberty U’s Falwell takes leave after social media uproar
Richmond, Virginia, USAP Jerry Falwell, Jr, agreed Friday to take an indefinite leave of absence as the leader of Liberty University, one of the nation’s top evangelical Christian colleges, days after apologising for a social media post that caused an uproar even among fellow conservatives. The private university in Lynchburg, Virginia, gave no reason for […]
In the US, Liberty University’s Falwell throws support behind ‘Vexit’
RNS Jerry Falwell Jr, president of Liberty University, has voiced his support for efforts to allow counties in Virginia unhappy with the state’s Democrat-controlled Legislature to join West Virginia. Standing alongside West Virginia’s Governor Jim Justice in a roomful of whirring robotic factory machinery at Blue Ridge Community and Technical College in Martinsburg, Falwell told […]
Slavery history still affects blacks, half of practicing Christians say in survey
RNS Fifty per cent of practicing Christians say the history of American slavery continues to significantly affect the African American community today, a Barna study shows. A slightly smaller percentage of the general population of US adults surveyed (46 per cent) agrees that, almost 400 years after slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, there remains […]