Thursday’s News & Ideas - 8/21/2025
- Effectiveness of virtual services
- Reluctant church volunteer
- James Dobson dies
- Ten Commandments law blocked
- Psychedelics priest removed
- Israel moves to take Gaza City
Study suggests online religious services may be less effective than in person
Religion News Service: On average, people attending church in person had a higher heart rate during the service and experienced more transcendence, according to a recent study.
Confessions of a reluctant church volunteer*
Christianity Today: “The poor you will always have with you,” Jesus told us. But will there ever be enough volunteers?
James Dobson, evangelical leader behind Focus on the Family, dies at 89*
The Washington Post: Beginning in the late 1970s, he helped fuel the rise of the religious right, denouncing abortion and same-sex marriage through his radio show and nonprofit.
Texas can’t require public schools to display Ten Commandments in class, judge rules
The Guardian: The law was temporarily blocked after a group sought preliminary injunction, saying it violated first amendment protections.
Episcopal Church removes priest who founded Christian psychedelic society
Religion News Service: Hunt Priest was removed from ministry nearly a decade after participating in a controversial study on clergy and psychedelics.
The Spark
With moves on West Bank and Gaza City, Israel defies global outcry
Israel approved new settlements* in the occupied West Bank, while its troops have reached the outskirts of Gaza City, The New York Times says.
*access is limited for nonsubscribers
