Thursday's News & Ideas - 3/7/2024
- No charges for federal inquiry into SBC
- Inside a Global Methodist church
- AI in the pulpit
- How MI organizers got ‘uncommitted’ votes
- NY Latino leaders call for ceasefire
- Survey sites
Justice Department inquiry into abuse within the SBC ends with no charges
The Tennessean: Federal investigators closed the books on a year-and-a-half-long investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention's top administrative body that sought to determine whether leaders were criminally responsible for mishandling an abuse crisis in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.
Global Methodists run toward renewal*
Christianity Today: On the other side of disaffiliation, traditionalist congregations speak of prayer, revival, and revitalization.
AI In the pulpit: Should pastors seek help from AI?
Religion Unplugged: Only 1 in 10 pastors (12%) are comfortable using AI to write sermons — though 2 in 5 (43%) see its benefits in sermon preparation and research.
How Michigan organizers got 100,000 ‘uncommitted’ votes
HuffPost: Michigan organizers got 100,000 people to vote “uncommitted” and send a message to President Joe Biden about his policy in Gaza. Their effort likely won’t be the last.
‘We can no longer be silent’: New York’s Latino faith leaders call for cease-fire in Gaza
Religion News Service: The community has avoided taking stances on the Israel-Hamas war for fear of altering the group’s strong relationship with the city’s Jewish community.
The Spark
Researchers use online opt-in surveys all the time. Should they?
Survey sites recruit respondents with the promise of a reward, which may lead to bogus answers. That doesn’t mean the data is unusable, Vox says.
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