News & Ideas

Thursday's News & Ideas - 7/23/2020

  • Bible reading drops
  • Biden & white evangelicals
  • Sweden’s female priests underpaid
  • Revisiting Galileo vs. the church
  • House votes to end travel ban
  • How to give children joy

State of the Bible: Left unread during the coronavirus pandemic
Religion News Service: The number of American adults the American Bible Society considers “Scripture engaged” based on how frequently they read Scripture and its impact on their relationships and choices dropped significantly from 28% to 22.7% between January and June.

Should Biden reach out to white evangelicals?
Religion Dispatches: The thing about the debate over white evangelical Protestants is that Trump can’t lose any of them. He’s alienated too many other voters.

Church of Sweden’s female priests outnumber men -- but are paid less
The Guardian: Pay gap in largest Lutheran denomination in Europe was attributed to men occupying more senior positions.

Galileo: Science vs. religion or truth vs. fiction?
Deseret News: The intellectual situation surrounding Galileo’s case was rife with politics, and the battle lines were by no means clear cut.

House Democrats vote to end Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban
HuffPost: The bill, which amassed 233 votes for and 183 against, will now move on to the Republican-controlled Senate, where it is unlikely to pass.

The Spark

How to give children joy, even during a pandemic
The coronavirus forces parents to weigh their kids’ safety* against the need for freedom -- a tension Black parents have been contending with for generations, The New York Times says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers

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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