Wednesday's News & Ideas - 7/5/2023

UCC elects first woman — and first woman of African descent — to lead denomination
Religion News Service: Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson is the first woman to lead the denomination may be surprising given the denomination’s progressive stances on women’s rights and many other issues.

The ‘Shrinking Baptist Convention’ is doubling down on the culture wars
Politico: The challenges facing the nation’s largest Protestant denomination mirror those facing the GOP — and both would rather stick to their guns than shift course.

Divided Church of England to debate blessings for same-sex unions
Reuters: The Church of England’s governing body will deliberate on how priests could carry out blessings for same-sex couples when it gathers in the cathedral city of York for a five-day meeting on Friday.

Pro-choice Catholics fight to seize the narrative from the religious right
The Guardian: For one organization, the belief in individual reproductive rights comes as a result of the Catholic faith, not in spite of.

As a rabbi, I’ve had a privileged view of the human condition*
The New York Times: “For over a quarter century now, I have listened to people’s stories, sat by their bedsides as life slipped away, buried their parents, spouses and sometimes their children. Marriages have ended in my office, as have engagements.”

The Spark

What a landmark new study on homelessness tells us
The study explores how homeless people in California lost their homes, and how they cope, says Vox.

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