News & Ideas

Thursday's News & Ideas - 6/4/2020

  • Clergy divide on police reform
  • Two pastors in Minneapolis
  • Father Bryan Massingale
  • Black alums rebuke Falwell
  • Clergy teargassed at St. John’s
  • You should feel miserable

In LA, a rally highlights a divide between clergy on how to bring about police reform
Religion News Service: Some religious leaders have stood with police in news conferences to try to dissolve protests that resulted in looting and vandalism, while other clergy have gotten pepper-sprayed in confrontations with officers in protests nationwide.

Being church while the neighborhood burns
Christian Century: An interview with two pastors at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis.

Meet Father Bryan Massingale: A black, gay, Catholic priest fighting for an inclusive church
The Revealer: A profile of a progressive leader in the Catholic Church working for racial and LGBTQ justice.

Black Liberty U. alums rebuke Falwell after blackface tweet
Associated Press: Nearly three dozen black alumni of Liberty University denounced school President Jerry Falwell Jr. on Monday, suggesting he step down after he mocked Virginia’s mask-wearing requirement by invoking the blackface scandal that engulfed the state’s governor last year.

‘They turned holy ground into a battleground’: Clergy teargassed by Washington police
The Guardian: Episcopal clergy linked to St John’s church in Washington DC were among the peaceful protesters violently swept out of the way by police so that Donald Trump could pose in front of the building on Monday evening.

The Spark

You should be feeling miserable
Miserable* is exactly how white people should be feeling right now, The Atlantic says. And then they should sit with that misery until something breaks in their brain, the narrative changes in their psyche, and the legacy of emotional paralysis lifts entirely.

*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.



Sign up to receive religion news every weekday in the free News & Ideas newsletter

Signup options

Most recent News & Ideas

Thursday’s News & Ideas - 7/3/2025

  • Religion in higher ed
  • Fast for Gaza crisis
  • Divided opinion on evolution
  • Ultra-Orthodox Jews
  • Dalai Lama succession plan
  • Black Pheonix

Wednesday’s News & Ideas - 7/2/2025

  • Clergy struggle to visit detainees
  • Jimmy Swaggart dies
  • Ethics of brain-dead pregnancy
  • Gun laws after Charleston
  • Ultra-Orthodox Jews & politics
  • What makes someone cool?

News & Ideas - 7/1/2025

  • Religious attacks surge
  • Officials address religious conference
  • SCOTUS decision hurts pluralism
  • Dalai Lama turns 90
  • Church roof tells story
  • Woman frees mom from prison
Reading the lectionary

New lectionary search tool 

Easily find scripture passages and resources for any lectionary week with Zeteo’s new search feature. You can even filter by your preferred lectionary version: Revised Common, Catholic or Narrative.

Learn More