News & Ideas

Tuesday's News & Ideas - 10/5/2021

  • 216,000 victims of French clergy
  • NIH head resigns
  • Hillsong founder to plead not guilty
  • Black churches hesitant to reopen
  • Pauli Murray’s legacy
  • Facebook’s weaknesses

French Church abuse: 216,000 children were victims of clergy
BBC: Some 216,000 children – mostly boys – have been sexually abused by clergy in the French Catholic Church since 1950, a damning new inquiry has found.
The Washington Post: Catholic clergy in France likely abused more than 200,000 minors, independent commission estimates*
CNN: More than 200,000 children sexually abused by French Catholic clergy, damning report finds

Francis Collins, the longest-serving head of NIH, is stepping down
NPR: Collins, a researcher-physician who speaks openly about his Christian faith, plus his love of motorcycles and playing the guitar, is a scientific superstar who has served longer than any other NIH director since the position became a presidentially appointed one in 1971.

Hillsong founder Brian Houston to plead not guilty to concealing sexual abuse charge
The Guardian: The Hillsong founder Brian Houston will plead not guilty to charges alleging he concealed child sexual abuse by his late father in the 1970s.

‘COVID has been harder on us’: Some Black churches remain hesitant to reopen
Religion News Service: Black churches reflect a cautious approach on the part of ministers, reopening task forces and the average people currently not in the pews.

Pauli Murray – priest, lawyer, organizer – refused to be diminutive
Sojourners: What does a trailblazing Episcopal priest, a lawyer whose work helped to shape the Brown v. Board of Education case, a founding member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and a close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt all have in common? They are all the same person.

The Spark

Facebook is weaker than we knew
A trove of leaked documents, published by The Wall Street Journal, hints* at a company whose best days are behind it, says The New York Times.

*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.

Most recent News & Ideas

Thursday's News & Ideas - 4/18/2024

  • Haynes resigns from PUSH
  • Columbia president and Congress
  • Faith and politics survey
  • New Episcopal Church nonprofit
  • Ukrainian-language Haggadah
  • Guaranteed income program

Wednesday's News & Ideas - 4/17/2024

  • UMC post-split data
  • Abyssinian Baptist pastor search
  • Undocumented immigrant labor
  • USC cancels speech
  • Sacred and just coffee
  • Running with shelter dogs

Tuesday's News & Ideas - 4/16/2024

  • Terrorist attack in Australia
  • Latino churches provide services
  • Pastors leaving over conflict
  • Detroit seminarians to unplug
  • Democrats and Black churches
  • Saving a pastry and community
Lilly Endowment logo

Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative

A new grant is available to support endeavors that help children come to know and love God and grow in faith.

The Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative aims to support programs that help congregations strengthen worship and prayer practices that respect how children experience God and express their faith, include children with disabilities, draw upon the arts, create opportunities for Bible storytelling, and connect worship to the daily lives of children and families.

Proposals are due by 5 p.m. (ET) on May 6, 2024.

Learn More