Thursday's News & Ideas - 8/29/2024

Harris-Walz campaign hires the Rev. Jen Butler, longtime activist, to lead faith outreach
Religion News Service: A familiar face among Washington’s faith-based activists, Butler said she brings ‘a broad set of relationships that I think can help, very quickly, pull a broad coalition together’ in a foreshortened Harris campaign.

Texas megachurch faces exodus of worshippers after a sex abuse scandal set off a summer of turmoil
CNN: The church has seen a decrease of 17% to 19% in weekend services attendance, a church spokesperson told CNN.

This state calls itself the ‘most pro-life.’ But moms there keep dying.*
The Washington Post: Giving birth in Arkansas, especially its rural southeast, comes with more risk and less care. The challenges feel acute for someone like doula Hajime White.

Mormon church broadens restrictions for transgender members*
The New York Times: The new guidance prohibits those pursuing gender transition from working with children, and bans baptism for those who have transitioned both medically and socially.

At this church in Portugal, parishioners surf before they worship
Associated Press: Surf Church was established by a Brazilian-born Portuguese surfer and ordained Baptist pastor to spread the Gospel in a once-devoutly Catholic country — and top surfing destination — where about half of young people today say they have no religion.

The Spark

Why many parents and teens think it’s harder being a teen today 
Pew Research Center asked the following question of 1,453 U.S. parents and teens: Compared with 20 years ago, do you think being a teenager today is harder, easier or about the same?

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