News & Ideas

Tuesday's News & Ideas - 6/15/2021

  • How SBC evolved
  • Health & heart care
  • Suspend the filibuster
  • SBC meeting is litmus test
  • Plowshares continue
  • Pandemic redefined ambition

From abortion and porn to women and race: How Southern Baptist Convention resolutions have evolved
The Conversation: All eyes will be on the resolutions that are debated and subsequently passed at the annual meeting, the belief being they will give tremendous insight into the trajectory of the SBC and more generally American evangelicalism, of which Southern Baptists are the largest group.

The grace of holding my dying father’s hand during the pandemic*
Christian Century: The nursing home where Debra Dean Murphy’s father was a patient suspended the ban on visitors for her for those last hours -- a dubious decision, perhaps, given the strict protocols, but as compassionate an act of health care as she has ever received.

The moral case for suspending the filibuster
Sojourners: Investigating how and why the filibuster was used in the 20th century is deeply relevant to the current debate around voting rights

Southern Baptist Convention 2021 offers a Trump and critical race theory litmus test
MSNBC: The Republican “culture wars” playbook will be front and center at this high-profile meeting of America’s largest Protestant denomination.

Kings Bay Plowshares activists keep focus on continuing witness for peace
National Catholic Reporter: The action at the naval base was the most recent under the plowshares banner that began in 1980. The protests are rooted in the Book of Isaiah’s call to “beat their swords into plowshares.”

The Spark

How the COVID pandemic redefined ambition
The pandemic forced re-assessment, Mashable says. It seemed impossible to climb the ladder at work while everything was upturned.

*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.



Sign up to receive religion news every weekday in the free News & Ideas newsletter

Signup options

Most recent News & Ideas

Thursday’s News & Ideas - 5/7/2026

  • SBC member numbers decline
  • Trust in health influencers
  • Pope Leo’s first year
  • Women take Orthodox exam
  • Death penalty abolition
  • Living like Costco people

Wednesday’s News & Ideas - 5/6/2026

  • Vatican criticizes conversion therapy
  • PCA church lawsuit on gender bias
  • Jewish seminary shuts campus
  • Poll on religion messages by Trump
  • Questioning religion
  • David Attenborough’s voice

Tuesday’s News & Ideas - 5/5/2026

  • MLK agnostic as a teen
  • Nashville pastor exits church
  • CA pastor runs for governor
  • Founding vs Christian nationalism
  • Salisbury Cathedral windows
  • Twins with different dads
data

Generate a religion demographics report for your ZIP code

This tool from the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) assists church and community leaders in accessing free online information about their communities. The initial map shows the location of other churches in your area and the Community Profile Builder provides you with social, economic and religious information on the community or neighborhoods you select.

Learn More