Tuesday's News & Ideas - 4/19/2022

Holy days converging in April spark interfaith celebrations
Associated Press: In addition to Passover, Easter and Ramadan, holy days occurring in April this year include the Sikhs’ and Hindus’ Vaisakhi, the Jains’ Mahavir Jayanti, the Baha’i festival of Ridvan, and the Theravada Buddhist New Year.

These Easter eggs have a story to tell. Six pysanky artists write a message of hope to Ukraine
The Toronto Star: As war rages in their homeland, these Ukrainian Canadians are expressing their hopes and fears for Ukraine through a centuries-old tradition.

Josh and Leona Kimes, who accused Carl Lentz of abuse, resign from Hillsong Boston
Religion News Service: In May of last year, Leona Kimes accused former lead pastor of Hillsong NYC, Carl Lentz, of sexually abusing her while she was working as a nanny for Lentz’s children.

How the right is bringing Christian prayer back into public schools*
Slate: Conservative judges and lawmakers have recast religious neutrality as anti-Christian bigotry.

How money from dying churches could breathe new life into communities*
The Washington Post: As developers gobbled up churches in downtown Washington in 2013, the Rev. Amy Butler had a realization. Institutional Christianity, she believed, was unlikely to revive itself after decades of declining membership.

The Spark

The final pandemic betrayal

Millions of people are still mourning loved ones lost* to COVID, their grief intensified, prolonged, and even denied by the politics of the pandemic, The Atlantic says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers