People
Xavier Arbex, priest in Peru, advocates for victims of gold mining
Peru is among the world's top sources of precious metals. Mining is poisoning people and turning forests into wasteland.
Two leaders of faith-based immigrant rights group charge ICE with violating their rights
Kaji Douša and Ravi Ragbir of the New Sanctuary Coalition point to recent reports as evidence that they are being targeted for being outspoken advocates for immigrants.
Dean Peerman, a Century editor for 60 years, dies at age 87
In March 1965, he and fellow editor Martin E. Marty participated in the second civil rights march in Selma, Alabama.
Mary Hinkle Shore becomes rector and dean of ELCA seminary in Southeast
Shore will deepen relationships with congregations and other ministries served by students of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Robina Winbush, ecumenical and interfaith leader, dies at age 61
Winbush worked for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and with global organizations, “envisioning together how justice can be lived and reflected in the life of the church,” one colleague said.
Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan poet–priest, restored in Catholic Church
Cardenal was suspended for his role in the 1980s Sandinista government—considered a partisan public office prohibited for clergy.
John Paul Lederach to receive Niwano Peace Prize
Lederach is being honored for his four-decade-long peacebuilding career.
Conflict between brothers splits Uganda’s thriving Abayudaya Jewish community
Gershom Sizomu is rabbi of the community of 2,000 people that belongs to the Conservative movement, while his brother has led a splinter group seeking to convert to Orthodox Judaism.
Yechiel Eckstein, rabbi who befriended evangelicals, dies at age 67
Through the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews that Eckstein founded, evangelicals have contributed more than $1 billion to Jewish causes.
Rena Weller Karefa-Smart, international ecumenical leader, dies at age 97
She was the first black woman to graduate from Yale Divinity School, to receive a doctorate in theology from Harvard Divinity School, and to receive tenure at Howard Divinity School.
Byron and Beth Borger, independent Christian bookstore owners, face uncertain times
“There are very few self-defined Christian bookstores like Hearts and Minds,” said author John Fea.
Mary Oliver, much-honored and often-quoted poet, dies at age 83
Her poetry about the natural world evokes the harmony of creation in Genesis 1, one scholar wrote.
Lamin Sanneh, scholar of Christian missions, dies at age 76
Sanneh challenged the idea that Christianity was merely a tool of colonialism.
Challenges continue after war ends, says Syrian priest and peacemaker Alexi Chehadeh
Chehadeh leads the largest local NGO in Syria, serving 2.5 million people a year.
Nancy Pittman becomes president of Phillips Theological Seminary
The search committee chair praised Pittman’s “vision for the future of theological education.”
James Kenneth Echols, first African American Lutheran seminary president, dies at age 67
Richard J. Perry Jr., a professor emeritus at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, called Echols “a giant in the world of theological education.”
Popular Christian authors Beth Moore and Max Lucado talk about surviving sexual abuse
Moore and Lucado were featured speakers at a conference at Wheaton College on sexual abuse and the church.
Martha C. Nussbaum wins $1 million Berggruen Prize
The Berggruen Institute called her “one of the world’s leading public philosophers.”
Robert Jones, religion researcher, wins a Grawemeyer award
Jones received the honor for his book The End of White Christian America.
Mark Jobe to become president of Moody Bible Institute
Jobe comes to the school a year after all three top leaders resigned amid tensions around the school’s theological standards, finances, and treatment of students of color.