Monday's News & Ideas - 5/3/2021

The beloved church coffee hour may soon return as COVID-19 fades
Religion News Service: The first time coffee showed up in church, things did not go well. Now it's a staple that many churches have missed during the pandemic.

Religious festival stampede in Israel kills 45, hurts dozens
Associated Press: A stampede at a religious festival attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in northern Israel killed at least 45 people and injured about 150 early Friday, medical officials said. It was one of the country’s deadliest civilian disasters.

Americans return to in-person church with emotion -- and uncertainty about the future of worship*
The Washington Post: The wave of vaccinations in recent weeks is bringing some back to experience fellowship after the pandemic upended their spiritual life.

Muslims in Germany: Religion not a good gauge of integration
DW: A study shows that the number of Muslims in Germany has significantly risen compared to 2015 and many still face challenges in employment and education. But religion may only be a minor cause of these challenges.

Former altar boy buys old Christ the King Catholic Church in Akron*
Akron Beacon Journal: Joe Breiding and a business partner recently purchased the 9½-acre site from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland for an undisclosed price. The property includes the church, rectory, school building and two ballfields.

The Spark

Let’s use bold, beautiful hearing aids to celebrate deafness
Modern hearing aids, it seems, can be glamorous, but they are nevertheless still required to be inconspicuous, Psyche says.

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