News & Ideas

Friday's News & Ideas - 6/9/2023

  • US pastors & armed security
  • ACNA in power struggle
  • Rick Warren’s campaign
  • Maternal health in Bible belt
  • Religious Americans on gender
  • Golf’s civil war

Most US pastors use armed congregants as church security
Christianity Today: With shootings on the rise, more churches are dropping no-firearms policies and turning to gun-carriers in their flock, survey finds.

Anglican denomination erupts into power struggle after Bishop Stewart Ruch’s return
Religion News Service: The struggle broke into the open Wednesday when ACNA’s archbishop accused his denomination’s highest court of attempting to stop an investigation into charges against Ruch.

Rick Warren is leading a one-man campaign against the very SBC leaders who once admired him
Baptist News Global: From his perspective, he’s simply leading a one-man crusade to return to basic Baptist principles. From the perspective of his former friends and endorsers, he’s become someone who’s stirring the pot of dissension unnecessarily.

New moms die more often in the Bible belt. Pastors want to fix that
Sojourners: For 30 years before she was ordained, Rev. Morgan Gordy was a nurse in Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. She saw the link between poverty and death firsthand, and it often came down to lack of access to affordable health care.

Most religious Americans believe there are only two genders
Religion News Service: Americans’ views of trans people have hardened over the past two years, a new PRRI survey shows.

The Spark

‘I still hate LIV’: Golf’s civil war is over, but how will pro golfers move on?
“Players on the PGA Tour are furious,” after standing on principles and refusing to accept Saudi money, Brendan Porath, co-host of The Shotgun Start golf podcast, told NPR this week.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers



Want to get News & Ideas in your inbox every weekday?
Subscribe to our 
News & Ideas newsletter or receive our RSS feed in your RSS reader.

Most recent News & Ideas

Friday's News & Ideas - 9/22/2023

  • Gallup poll on spiritual & religious
  • Evangelical colleges’ enrollment up
  • When your boss has Bible study
  • Baptist leader steps down over fund use
  • Community of murdered Sikh activist
  • AI-assisted writing

Thursday's News & Ideas - 9/21/2023

  • SBC expels church where pastor did blackface
  • Falwell’s legal battle with Liberty
  • Theology of Sojourner Truth
  • Religious objections to DEI
  • Survey on Catholics & marriage
  • Bob Ross painting sold

Wednesday's News & Ideas - 9/20/2023

  • Suspended UMC bishop trial
  • Why don’t men sing in worship?
  • Hamline University lawsuit
  • Temple’s president dies after event
  • Legal battle over confessional
  • Kathmandu’s kung fu nuns
blown glass detail

Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants

The Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants Program at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship is designed to foster, strengthen and sustain well-grounded worship in congregations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Two streams of grants are offered: to teacher-scholars and to worshiping communities.

Grant proposal due date options include October 15, 2023, or February 15 or June 15, 2024.

Learn More