Lauren Markoe
Congress creates envoy for religious minorities persecuted in Asia
As Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria send religious minorities fleeing for their lives, Congress has created a new job at the State Department: Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of ...
Single women pastors choose motherhood
When St. Paul Baptist Church in Philadelphia hired Leslie Callahan as its first female pastor in 2009, she was nearing her 40th birthday and her biological clock was getting hard to ignore.
...Civil rights groups to feds: Purge anti-Muslim training materials
c. 2014 Religion News Service
...Pastors who are single women choose motherhood
When Philadelphia’s St. Paul Baptist Church hired the Rev....
First non-Christian tapped to serve as U.S. ambassador for religious freedom
c. 2014 Religion News Service
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Faith communities divest from holdings in fossil fuel industry
Worried about global warming, a growing number of churches and other faith groups are divesting their holdings in fossil fuel companies that release large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenh...
PCUSA votes to divest funds, to marry gays where legal
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has decided to divest church funds from three American companies.
...PCUSA cuts controversial booklet from its website
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has removed from its website a booklet that many Jewish groups have criticized as hostile to Israel and denigrating to Judaism.
...Five takeaways from the Supreme Court decision
1. Corporations can’t pray, but they do have religious rights.
...Supreme Court rules for Hobby Lobby
The Supreme Court has sided with the evangelical owners of Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., ruling 5-4 on June 30 that the arts-and-crafts chain does not have to offer insurance for four types of emergency...
Presbyterians narrowly vote to divest from 3 companies involved in Israeli/Palestinian conflict
c. 2014 Religion News Service
...Charitable giving to religious groups is down even as philanthropy improves from the Great Recession
c. 2014 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON (RNS) Americans are slowly pulling themselves out of a charitable slump—except when it comes to religious groups.
...Evangelicals see 8-point drop in support for immigration reform
c. 2014 Religion News Service
...Embroiled over Israel, Presbyterians invite a rabbi to the pulpit
c. 2014 Religion News Service
...House passes bill to make cemetery desecration a religious freedom crime
c. 2014 Religion News Service
...Atheists lose latest legal fight over 'In God We Trust'
c. 2014 Religion News Service
(RNS) Atheists lost their case against the “In God We Trust” motto on the nation’s currency Wednesday (May 28).
...Religious rights watchdog pushes to add Pakistan, Syria to list of worst offenders
c. 2014 Religion News Service
...Justices bless prayer at civic meetings
The Supreme Court has declared that the Constitution not only allows for prayer at government meetings, but allows sectarian prayer.
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