News & Ideas

Monday's News & Ideas - 6/5/2023

  • Tree of Life survivors
  • Pride flag on The Chosen set
  • UT school district bans Bible
  • Church in Antarctica
  • Pope on apparitions
  • Residents take 911 calls

‘Felt like a year’: Worshipper describes fear during gunman’s deadly attack on Pittsburgh synagogue
Associated Press: Robert Bowers, a truck driver from the Pittsburgh suburbs, could face the death penalty if he’s convicted of some of the 63 counts he faces in the Oct. 27, 2018, attack, which claimed the lives of worshippers from three congregations using the city’s Tree of Life synagogue.

Pride flag glimpsed on ‘The Chosen’ set prompts call for boycott
Religion News Service: “I don’t believe personal workspaces on set are relevant to the content of The Chosen,” the show’s creator told Religion News Service.

A Utah school district has removed the Bible from some schools’ shelves
NPR: Frustrated with book challenges and bans in their school district, a parent in Utah decided to submit a complaint of their own — about the Bible.

The church at the end of the world – photo essay
The Guardian: Perched atop a scree hill north of the village, a Russian Orthodox church keeps watch over the Antarctic outpost Villa Las Estrellas.

Virgin Mary apparitions ‘not always real,’ says Pope after statue row
The Guardian: Pontiff appears to reference a woman who drew pilgrims to a statue near Rome she claimed shed tears of blood.

The Spark

What happened when a Brooklyn neighborhood policed itself for five days
On a two-block stretch of Brownsville in April, the police stepped aside and let residents respond to 911 calls. It was a bold experiment* that some believe could redefine law enforcement in New York City, The New York Times says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers



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

  • Gallup poll on spiritual & religious
  • Evangelical colleges’ enrollment up
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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
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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