[ad_1] (RNS) — Earlier this month, Vladimir Putin visited North Korea in search of friends and influence. The visit set off alarm bells around the world, particularly in South Korea and Japan, where the danger of deepening military ties between Russia and North Korea is most acutely felt. The visit was a reminder that Putin’s […]

[ad_1] (RNS) — I’m guessing Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters has not been in the best of moods lately. This week, Oklahoma’s Supreme Court declared his pride and joy — what would have been the nation’s first religious charter school — in violation of both the state and federal constitutions. And last week, […]

[ad_1] (RNS) — On one particular day of this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, Saba walked 42,000 steps in performing the rites of that day and going from one location to the other in the relentless heat with temperatures surpassing 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It was brutally hot, the kind of heat that brings on extreme sickness and […]

[ad_1] (RNS) — Amy Low thought she’d caught a stomach bug. Back from a long work trip in 2019, Low, a managing director for the Emerson Collective, was feeling achy and tired and unable to keep up. A fever and a “funky gut” warranted a trip to her doctor, which led to a prescription for […]

[ad_1] Well-known tech and ministry leaders join the hackathon advisory group to collaborate with participants and help shape the future of AI in ministry BOULDER, Colo. — Gloo, the leading technology platform dedicated to connecting the faith ecosystem and releasing its collective might, announced its second annual AI & the Church Hackathon this September 13-15, 2024, […]

[ad_1] (RNS) — Two recent polls of Jewish Americans show President Biden continues to draw on broad support, with each suggesting that more than 60% of U.S. Jews will likely vote for the Democratic incumbent over former President Donald Trump. The poll from the Jewish Electoral Institute of 800 Jewish Americans taken in April but […]

[ad_1] (RNS) — On Election Day in November 2022, Pastor Charlie Berthoud of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin, sat at a table outside the church’s polling place and handed out treats and encouragement. “Anyone want a nonpartisan cookie?” he recalls asking neighbors who came by to vote. “We want to thank people for taking […]

[ad_1] (RNS) — Less than two weeks after many U.S. bishops made a strong show of support for the conference’s domestic anti-poverty initiative, staff members from that initiative and others were laid off on Monday (June 24) as part of a restructuring of the wing of the conference that supports Catholic social teaching. Chieko Noguchi, […]

[ad_1] (Sightings) — Seventy years ago, the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag was baptized. For its first six decades, the Pledge was “godless,” going straight from “one nation” to “indivisible.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower changed that on Flag Day, June 14, in 1954, as he signed congressional legislation to add “under God” to […]

[ad_1] (RNS) — At their annual General Assembly, Unitarian Universalists voted for a new statement of values and affirmed their commitment to issues around climate change; to the inclusion of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people; to addressing the affects of COVID-19; and to solidarity with Palestinians, as well as Israeli hostages. The new statement of values, […]