People
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.
Nelson Chamisa, former pastor, continues to contest election of Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa
Religious leaders have called for peace. Some wish they were calling for a new vote.
Mirza Masroor Ahmad, leader of Muslim minority group, visits faithful in U.S.
Globally, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community includes 10 to 20 million people with a message of “love for all, hatred for none.”
Asia Bibi, Pakistani woman charged with blasphemy, freed
“She appears to be a person, in the words of Shakespeare’s King Lear, ‘more sinned against than sinning,’” the Supreme Court wrote in its ruling.
Thomas Keating, who developed centering prayer, dies at age 95
Keating was also known for his engagement in interreligious dialogue.
David Boase, Episcopal priest, fights deporation order
Boase, who is English, mistakenly voted once after a driver’s licensing employee offered him a registration form.
Richard Green serves as interim president of United Lutheran Seminary
“My leadership style is inclusive,” said Green, a lifelong Lutheran.