Addressing a crowd of around three dozen largely evangelical Christians assembled at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church on Tuesday morning (March 11) for a “Prayer Vigil for Foreign Aid,” the Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of the group Bread for the World, denounced the “broad, un-targeted cuts” recently implemented at the U.S. Agency for International Development as an assault on vulnerable populations all over the globe. (Jenkins, Religion News)
Read More“Each year Southern Baptist congregations share a few statistics about their church,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Some fear this will be used to judge their church, but the reality is real value lies in what we learn from churches together. Looking at combinations of those responses and looking across time reveals how the context of ministry varies across the country and how churches of different types have different challenges.” (Earls, Baptist Press)
Read MoreIt's now been half a decade since the COVID-19 pandemic altered reality for the entire globe. Though ripples of the pandemic continue to affect us all, one day continues to stand out as monumental. On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic, the NBA suspended its 2019-2020 season, Tom Hanks shared that he had tested positive for the virus and President Donald Trump announced a travel ban in the United States. (Cross, USA Today)
Read MoreThe deadliest phase of the street fentanyl crisis appears to have ended, as drug deaths continue to drop at an unprecedented pace. For the first time, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have now seen at least some recovery. A new analysis of U.S. overdose data conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also found that the decline in deaths began much earlier than once understood, suggesting improvements may be sustainable. (Mann, NPR)
Read MoreThe conservative-led court is taking up the case amid actions by President Donald Trump targeting transgender people, including a ban on military service and an end to federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The justices also have heard arguments in a Tennessee case over whether state bans on treating transgender minors violate the Constitution. (Sherman, AP News)
Read MoreHe [Ross Markham] was born into the Plymouth Brethren, Britain’s most secretive Christian group, but left briefly, aged 17. This Prodigal Son only made it as far as Woking, but he was, he says, living in debauchery. He was “like the son in Luke 15… I was disillusioned. I didn’t feel the Church was fulfilling enough. But I was probably just ungrateful.” Within a year, he was back. (Buchanan, The Telegraph)
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