Many pastors around the U.S. and the world are wondering how and when church life can transition back into real-life gatherings, with church members weaned off the safety and convenience of online church. ReligionUnplugged.com spoke to a dozen pastors from Africa to America to hear about the challenges of digital church post pandemic.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in covers the gang kidnapping of 17 American and Canadian missionaries in Haiti. Plus, as always, catch up on all the best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read MoreThe number of quality apps for Christian worship, practice and intellectual formation are proliferating. Here are some of the apps our team members have found to enjoy with our own families.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in features a fact check on an important religion angle related to Haiti’s presidential assassination. Plus, catch up on all the week’s best reads and top headlines in the world of faith.
Read More(OPINION) The Census Bureau reports the “unprecedented environment” during the COVID-19 pandemic fueled a boom in “pandemic pods” as well as parents considering virtual schools and home-school organizations beyond the neighborhood public school. The Census Bureau reported home-schooling among Black or African Americans increased by five times to 16.1% of households last fall.
Read MoreEnsign Peak Advisors, the investment firm connected to the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints, started filing a quarterly 13F form on Feb. 14, 2010, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates publicly traded companies and other financial firms. Its initial filing revealed EPA had $38 billion in stocks and mutual funds at the end of 2019, including $1.5 billion in Apple and Microsoft. The firm had nearly $1 billion worth of shares in Amazon and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, as well.
Read MoreJB isn’t alone. Americans from the ideological left, right and middle – and every stop in between – are increasingly trying and buying guns. Their fear is multi-fold: a Coronavirus pandemic, an uptick in unemployment and violent crimes in major cities, public unrest related to racial injustice, ideology-driven street battles between ideological foes and a presidential election that already has tones of conspiracy theories, recounts and allegations of fraud. What’s the evidence that this trend is true, beyond JB’s interest?
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in explores whether religious supporters of President Donald Trump care what he says about them behind closed doors. Plus, our roundup of the top religion headlines and best reads of the last week.
Read MoreThis week’s Weekend Plug-in highlights the news of prominent Trump supporter and evangelical talk-show host Eric Metaxas punching a protester, featuring a scoop by Religion Unplugged. Plus, catch up on all the top reads and headlines in the world of faith.
Read MoreAfter Jerry Falwell Jr’s resignation this week, Liberty University alums say removing the university’s president is only a partial victory and that the board must allow independent investigators to reform the largest evangelical university in the U.S. Religion Unplugged’s sources also indicate that another major revelation is expected to come from Liberty this week.
Read MoreJohn Miller’s film with David Bernabo, titled “Moundsville,” is a biography of a small town along the Ohio River — from its beginnings with a 2,200-year-old Native American burial mound, its economic boom and bust times as dozens of factories arrived and disappeared, to the current age of Walmart, shale gas and new generations hoping to figure out a future for the small town. The documentary is currently streaming on PBS.
Read More(OPINION) Was this the equivalent of hearing Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville’s impressions of America in the 19th century, except we are hearing from a Nigerian man about his impressions in 21st-century America? And does it offer any lessons for retaining rule of law and good governance even as we rethink policing and racial inequality in America?
Read MoreLocked and loaded parishioners acting like John Wayne of the church pews may be a new chapter in church history. Historically, Christians were hesitant to deploy violence for self-protection. While the Bible and church history illustrate tension around violence, armed resistance isn’t completely foreign to Christendom.
Read More(OPINION) As our lives are forced to slow down and spend more time with our children working from home and conducting school online this spring, it’s an opportunity to embrace our own children, strengthen our own families and deepen our faith. And perhaps Fred Rogers is a perfect guide in that process for adults and children.
Read More(OPINION) The billionaire’s funeral raised the question of his personal legacy as well as his spiritual life. Based on interviews over the years, Welch, who grew up Catholic but did not practice for years, began to privately cultivate a Christian faith later in life with his wife Suzy, a Baptist.
Read MoreThe whistleblower distanced himself from the public exposure of the case by his twin brother. After pointing reporters to its frequently asked questions about finances on Monday, The LDS Church published a statement on Tuesday and then posted three short videos to YouTube on Friday. And past and present members of the LDS Church discussed the allegations widely online as the story spread through traditional and social media.
Read More“The weird thing here, as you point out, is that it's a nonprofit, a supporting organization or an integrated auxiliary that is the investment fund. The problem with that, and the weird thing about that is that, generally speaking, to be tax exempt, you have to primarily pursue some particular tax-exempt purpose.”
Read MoreThe 74-page document filed with the IRS and obtained by Religion Unplugged shows that Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc. saw owned assets under management grow to more than $100 billion from $10 billion in the past 22 years, fueled by a mix of investment strategy and tithe money from church members. The complaint may be the most important look at LDS finances in decades, a window into one of the wealthiest religious organizations in the United States and world.
Read More(OPINION) After several clicks and searches, we did find full-length versions of the video provided by Fox News and the Dallas Morning News. It makes us wonder why some media felt the need to excise Brandt’s words, which were so incredible.
Read MorePaying for prayers, bishops with ties to the Kremlin and communist structures built around ancient churches — the society ruled by the Byzantines, then the Ottomans and then the Soviets is now reckoning with finding faith on its own.
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