Friday's News & Ideas - 8/30/2024

AME Church delegates name six new bishops while retaining same-sex marriage ban
Religion News Service: In a joint address, AME bishops called for the creation of “accountability measures for every elected and appointed leader within our church.”

Many around the globe say it’s important their leader stands up for people’s religious beliefs
Pew Research Center: People around the world are generally much more likely to say it is important to have someone who stands up for people with their religious beliefs than to say the leader needs to have strong religious beliefs of their own or to have the same beliefs as they do.

Retirement doesn’t just raise financial concerns — it can also mean feeling unmoored and irrelevant
The Conversation: Money might not be the biggest problem that potential retirees face. The deeper issues of meaning, relevance and identity that retirement can bring to the fore are more significant to some workers.

Rwanda explains why it closed thousands of churches. Again.*
Christianity Today: The Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), which oversees the country’s places of worship, found that thousands of churches — many of them rural, Pentecostal congregations — failed to meet legal requirements around theological education, building codes, and sanitation regulations.

Pennsylvania pastor who had gun pulled on him during sermon hosts church security event
CBS News: Speakers shared how faith leaders need to create action plans and security teams and make their own rules.

The Spark

Sainsbury Wing contractors find 1990 letter from donor anticipating their demolition of false columns
Renovation work on the foyer of London’s National Gallery revealed John Sainsbury’s note* buried in a column, The Art Newspaper says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers