LOS ANGELES — Before Tsegai fled Eritrea and made the monthslong journey to the United States to seek asylum, his image of this country was colored by what he’d seen on TV.
The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told colleagues Tuesday that President-elect Joe Biden’s policy positions, including support for abortion rights, pose a “difficult and complex situation” for the church.
Beginning the Christian Church's liturgical year, Advent is the season encompassing the four Sundays (and weekdays) leading up to the celebration of Christmas.
Local families are invited to join St. John's Lutheran Church for a family-friendly virtual event that combines baking cookies and hearing the story of the first Christmas.
SPRING LAKE — Due to COVID-19, the Thanksgiving experience will be different for many this year, including for volunteers and recipients of the 27th annual Community Feast based at a local church.
NEW YORK — The messages in Christian houses of worship on the first weekend since the election were as divided as the country’s electorate, with religious leaders mostly calling for peace and unification even as some bemoaned the result and others celebrated.
LOS ANGELES — “There is no pandemic.”
LOS ANGELES — Carl Lentz, a so-called pastor to the stars who baptized singer Justin Bieber in 2014, was fired last week by Hillsong Church for reasons including what the megachurch called “moral failures.”
In popular culture, exorcism often serves as a plot device in chilling films about demonic possession. Last month, two Roman Catholic archbishops showed a different face of exorcism – performing the rite at well-attended outdoor ceremonies to drive out any evil spirits lingering after acrimo…
BALTIMORE — Diabetes, heart disease and other ailments had been disproportionately cutting lives short in the disadvantaged neighborhoods of West Baltimore for decades when the coronavirus pandemic emerged and piled on.
HARTFORD, Conn. — Knights of Columbus founder Michael McGivney was beatified Saturday, as authorized by Pope Francis, making him the first Connecticut resident and one of only a handful of Americans to be recognized as “Blessed.”
ROME — Pope Francis is halting his public general audiences and will limit participation at Christmas and other upcoming Masses amid a surge of coronavirus cases in Italy and the Vatican, officials said Thursday.
HOLLAND — It was going to be a hard day. Keith Mannes prayed he was doing right. He got into his car and drove past harvested cornfields and “Keep America Great!” signs. He parked, walked a few steps and opened the door to his church.
This past Sunday was Reformation Sunday. For Protestant Christians, this is an important day because it marks the beginning of what we call the Reformation. It was on Oct. 31, 1517, that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of church in Wittenberg, Germany.
For the Rev. Jimmy Gates Sr., the 2008 presidential election year was one to remember — and not just because it yielded a historic result as the nation elected its first Black president.
ROME — Pope Francis broke new ground in the Roman Catholic Church acceptance of same-sex civil unions by endorsing some relationships between gay people during an interview for a documentary that premiered this week.
HUDSONVILLE — The Ottawa County Department of Public Health has issued a final cease-and-desist order to a Christian school in Hudsonville, where there is an ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 and state-mandated safety protocols are allegedly not being followed.
MINNEAPOLIS — Bill Moore opened his mailbox last week to find a survey from CatholicVote, a conservative group backing President Donald Trump, which proclaimed, “There is a war on Catholics and faith in God.”
The Visual Arts Committee of Grand Haven’s First Presbyterian Church is inviting the community to visit its prayer wall.
There is a verse in the Bible, Ephesians 5:1 to be exact, which calls us to be “imitators of God.” That is quite a statement!
The coronavirus pandemic has posed daunting challenges for houses of worship across the U.S., often entailing large financial losses and suspension of in-person services. It also has sparked moments of gratitude, wonder and inspiration.
The Southern California megachurch leader who attended the White House Rose Garden ceremony announcing Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett has contracted COVID-19.
HOLLAND — Dr. David Paul Deavel of the University of St. Thomas will present “A Frame for Freedom: Submitting to Truth as Creatures of the Creator” at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12, through a livestreamed event hosted by the Markets & Morality student organization at Hope College.
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President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. Questions have been raised about Barrett’s alleged association with the “People of Praise,” a nondenominational Christian charismatic community, seen by some as being a p…
ROME — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Vatican on Wednesday to join the United States in denouncing violations of religious freedom in China, saying the Catholic Church should be at the forefront in the fight to insist on basic human rights there.
Cardinal George Pell was expected to return to the Vatican this week for the first time in three years after an Australian judge overturned his conviction on five counts of child sexual abuse in April.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The story of how the First Unitarian Church of Louisville flung open its doors to protesters who marched for justice for Breonna Taylor began years before the helicopters swirled overhead, before police in riot gear began marching up the alley.
HARRISBURG, Pa. — President Donald Trump’s homestretch push to repeat his razor thin victory in Pennsylvania four years ago won’t happen without white evangelicals, and there are signs that critical component of his coalition hasn’t lost the faith.
For decades, Roman Catholic voters have been a pivotal swing vote in U.S. presidential elections, with a majority backing the winner – whether Republican or Democrat – nearly every time.
One of the most important things I learned during the COVID-19 pandemic I witnessed just the other day at Pottawattomie Park in Grand Haven Township.
PHOENIX, Ariz. (Christian Newswire) — Approximately 7,000 abandoned mothers and children remain in Colorado City, Arizona, after the leader of their polygamous sect, Warren Jeffs, was sentenced to life plus 20 years in 2007 for his child bride sexual abuse with some victims as young as 12.
JERUSALEM — Eating apples dipped in honey on Rosh Hashana is a Jewish tradition to symbolize a sweet start of the New Year. But in Israel, bitterness prevails for the holiday as the country faces a second nationwide lockdown to stem a raging coronavirus outbreak.
The Rev. John Kenny, pastor of First Reformed Church in Grand Haven, says there are a couple of unexpected blessings that have turned up since restrictions went into place for the pandemic in March.
Working to help others is actually turning out as a means to help some people get through the pandemic and feel good about themselves.
I have been troubled recently. Really troubled. And I’ve be saddened, disappointed and upset. I asked my wife recently, “What country is this anyway? Are we living in America yet?” I hardly recognize it sometimes. It does not seem like the country I grew up in.
LOS ANGELES — The FedEx envelopes landed at dawn on the doorsteps of some of Orange County’s most influential Catholic philanthropists – real estate developers, attorneys, CEOs and other church stalwarts who had raised tens of millions of dollars over the years for the local diocese.
One of the greatest gifts to me during this pandemic, as a priest, has been the kindness and support of my parishioners.
DALLAS — I’ve discovered a contemporary rendition of the New Testament’s “five loaves and two fishes” story taking place at a Dallas church as it works daily miracles in one of the Texas city’s poorest communities.
DEARBORN (AP) — The validity of some parishioners’ sacraments like marriage and confession are under question after after a Dearborn priest learned his baptism was invalid earlier this month.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a well-known missionary doctor to Africa. He could have had a medical practice anywhere in the world, but he chose to work among the poorest of the poor in Lambarene and Gabon. He was a theologian as well as a musician. He worked as a missionary until he was in his …
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Rev. John Stowe has long been critical of President Donald Trump, and the Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Lexington (Kentucky) did not hold back in recent comments about what it means to be pro-life.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — In all his years walking into homes with a little white bottle of holy water, the Rev. Kristopher Cowles had never received a request like the recent one when a parishioner led him to a basement and pointed to a bed near a poster of the Virgin Mary and a carton of Clorox wipes.
LANSING — Parishioners of St. Casimir Catholic Church lined Lansing’s Sparrow Avenue on Aug. 2 getting one last sight of the parish many called home for decades.
AUSTIN, Texas — Aliyah Marandiz, who grew up a member of the Baha’i faith, said that her religion influences her actions, her perspective and how she treats other people, much the same way any religion would.
DETROIT — For more than 45 years, Dignity Detroit has been a haven for LGBTQ Catholics looking to practice their faith in a respectful space for those with different sexual orientations.
SPRING LAKE TWP. — The community is invited to a special program of organ music by Joanne Jansen, organist and parish musician at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23.
I recently read a short piece about the importance of smiling.
SPRING LAKE TWP. — The congregation of St. Matthew Lutheran Church celebrated the installation of a new pastor on July 5.
Things sound different in a lockdown. The silence of usually bustling streets, the two-tone whirr of ambulance sirens and the sudden awareness of birdsong, all formed an aural backdrop to the coronavirus pandemic.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The lights dimmed. Guitars thrummed. And a nine-piece band kicked off what amounted to a rock concert inside an amphitheater of a church. “Shout for joy to the Lord,” one musician called out, quoting Scripture.
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