Survey: Most Americans not comfortable going back to church
WASHINGTON (AP/RNS) -- A new study examining Americans' response to COVID-19 shows that with the exception of white evangelicals, a majority of Americans are not comfortable returning to in-person religious services. The results of the survey suggest that despite political pressure to reopen houses of worship -- from President Donald Trump as well as leading conservative Christians and religious liberty advocates -- Americans aren't quite ready to take a seat in a sanctuary.
Religious conservatives look to the next Supreme Court rulings on religious liberty
WASHINGTON (AP/RNS) -- Religious conservatives lost a culture war battle over gay and transgender rights in the workplace this week. In a 6-3 ruling Monday (June 15), the Supreme Court said the rights of gay and transgender people are protected from workplace discrimination. The ruling was a defeat to religious conservatives who wish to hold on to traditional definitions of sexuality.
As coronavirus restrictions loosen, congregations grapple with including older adults
THE VILLAGES, Fla. (AP/RNS) -- Each Sunday, Larry Little and his wife, Mary, get ready for church. They dress casually, fill two tumblers with water, climb into their golf cart and drive two miles to The Grove, a grassy field next to their church. There they find a parking place, turn off the engine and settle in for a live service in front of a Jumbotron and a stage.
Trained in disaster relief, N.C. Baptists now distribute food boxes
CARY, N.C. (AP/RNS) -- They're best known for their post-hurricane disaster relief efforts -- ripping up homes damaged by floodwaters and rehabilitating them from the studs. But in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Baptists on Mission, an auxiliary of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is remaking itself as a food distribution network, delivering boxes of produce to people struggling to get by in a state where more than 1 million people have filed for unemployment benefits.
