Posts in Read · Watch · Listen
‘I kept putting God in too small of a box’: Five clergy on their unexpected callings

From Religion News Service: Traditionally, clergy operate at their community’s center. But for some, following a call to minister has meant going to the margins — to the digital pastures of TikTok or prison ministry at Rikers Island. From rural chaplains ministering in remote areas to ex-journalists in New York City, these ministers followed their spiritual calling to unexpected ends.

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Amid overseas crisis, Phoenix-area nonprofits expect more Afghan refugees

Amid the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, local nonprofits expect large numbers of Afghan refugees to be coming to the U.S. and to Phoenix. Read and watch the story on AZfamily.com featuring Connie Phillips, president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest.

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Organ experts try to get the music going again after flood

From AP and Religion News Service: David Hufford learned that an extreme storm had flooded a suburban Detroit church with more than 7 feet of water, striking the boiler, electrical system, elevator and more.

But this repairman wasn’t called to fix anything ordinary at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran in Grosse Pointe Farms. Hufford’s mission: get the music flowing again from the church’s 63-year-old pipe organ.

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Some praise, some doubts as Facebook rolls out a prayer tool

From AP and Religion News Service: Facebook already asks for your thoughts. Now it wants your prayers.

The social media giant has rolled out a new prayer request feature, a tool embraced by some religious leaders as a cutting-edge way to engage the faithful online. Others are eyeing it warily as they weigh its usefulness against the privacy and security concerns they have with Facebook.

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The 2020 Census of American Religion

PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public policy. Their 2020 Census of American Religion is a fascinating look at our changing nation.

One interesting takeaway? Navajo County in Arizona is the 4th most religiously diverse county in the nation. Read more on their site.

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Could religion be fueling the gender pay gap?

This Forbes article explores the gender pay gap, a thorny and persistent problem in society.

“In a recent series of studies, Drs. Traci Sitzmann (University of Colorado Denver) and Elizabeth Campbell (University of Minnesota) provide compelling evidence that tenets found in each of the world’s six major religions—Buddhism, Christianity, Folk, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism—can create norms and expectations regarding the roles of men and women that fuel the gender pay gap.”

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Lonely no more: Questioning Christians find belonging on TikTok

Deconstructing the faith of one's childhood can be a lonely undertaking. For many of these church exiles, TikTok has filled the gap. Read more at Religion News Service.

“The TikTokers — known as creators — within this community come from different religious backgrounds and have different beliefs. But together, they are dissecting and rethinking the Christian theology they grew up with — a process many progressive Christians and former evangelicals call ‘deconstruction.’”

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Understanding evangelicalism in America today

A religion scholar explains how evangelicalism in the US is not a monolith. It includes a variety of churches, theologies and practices. Read more in this article from Religion News Service.

“A precipitous decline in the number of Americans identifying as white evangelical was revealed in Public Religion Research Institute’s 2020 Census on American Religion. In 2006, almost a quarter of the American population identified as white evangelical, but only 14.5% the population does so today.”

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