AME Church clergy could recover $44M more in retirement scandal settlement (RNS) — ‘We still have defendants who are fighting, and we have more work to do, but this is a major step forward in this litigation,’ said lawyers involved in the case.

“This settlement, if approved, would bring the total recovery to almost $106 million, which should return most of the money that the AME Church pastors were told that they had in their accounts in June 2021,” said lawyers representing them.
My @rns.org story:
religionnews.com/2026/04/22/a...

Church-state separation is a ‘lie,’ says Trump's Religious Liberty Commission chair (RNS) — ‘Church-state separation ensures we are all free to live as ourselves and believe as we choose, as long as we don’t harm others,’ a church-state separationist countered.

Countering Religious Liberty Commission chair who called church-state separation a “lie,” church-state separationist Rachel Laser said: “It is an American original, something we should be proud of, fight for, and cherish.”
My @rns.org story:
religionnews.com/2026/04/14/c...

Had a visit with Beth Moore — about her journey after leaving the SBC and why she still loves teaching the Bible
religionnews.com/2026/04/10/b...

“The removal of Major General William Green Jr. raises serious and troubling questions that deserve transparency and accountability,” said the president of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc.

My @rns.org story: religionnews.com/2026/04/09/a...

Black church leaders revive civil rights playbook to mobilize voters for midterms (RNS) — Their bridge building and organizing, they say, looks back to the Civil Rights Movement and ahead to November and beyond.

“It’s impossible, from the Black prophetic tradition, to say, ‘Oh, we’re not going to respond to the pain of our immigrant loved ones,’ whether they be from Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean,” said Pastor Mike McBride. My @rns.org story: religionnews.com/2026/04/08/b...

Six of the seven active Black women bishops of the United Methodist Church preached at a Good Friday service in Maryland and one, Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi, spoke via video after emergency surgery. Here’s my advance @rns.org story: religionnews.com/2026/04/02/s...

For the first time, Black women bishops in the UMC share Good Friday pulpit (RNS) — ‘Just as Christ’s work on the cross was countercultural, this service is a counternarrative,’ said Bishop LaTrelle Easterling, who leads the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Episcop...

Rev. Twanda King, who chairs a regional Black clergywomen group, on Good Friday service featuring Black women bishops of the United Methodist Church: “It’s not just a historic moment. This is a sacred moment.”

My @rns.org story:
religionnews.com/2026/04/02/s...

‘The baton is being passed’: Evangelist Anne Graham Lotz on writing, working with her daughter (RNS) — After the daughter and granddaughter of the late evangelist Billy Graham faced medical ailments, they wrote a book about a biblical character’s relatable life.

“I present the gospel and will give an invitation, but I feel like Rachel-Ruth has more of a gift of evangelism than I do," Anne Graham Lotz said of her daughter and co-author Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright in @rns.org interview:
religionnews.com/2026/03/24/a...

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Tomorrow, join NPR religion correspondent @derosejason.bsky.social and RNS reporters @jackjenkins.me and @yonat.bsky.social to unpack this pivotal moment in clergy-led resistance. Last chance to register! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7Gzm...

Progressive faith leaders found new power in protesting ICE. Can their movement survive success? (RNS) — Not since the Civil Rights Era has the religious left so publicly and collaboratively protested in the name of a social question they regard as a spiritual one.

(RNS) — Not since the Civil Rights Era has the religious left so publicly and collaboratively protested in the name of a social question they regard as a spiritual one.

Former SBC president Steve Gaines dies at 68 (RNS)— Gaines, known for his commitment to evangelism, led one of the SBC's largest churches for nearly two decades.

religionnews.com/2026/03/21/f... @bmietana.bsky.social

From Bush to Obama to Trump, White House faith office persists at 25 years (RNS) — ‘It’s unusual for a president to continue a signature White House office of his predecessor of a different political party,’ said Melissa Rogers, twice director of the White House faith-based ...

“Government can hand out money, but it cannot put hope in a person’s heart or a sense of purpose in a person’s life,” became President George W. Bush’s mantra as he started the first White House faith-based office. 25 years later, it endures.
My @rns.org story:
religionnews.com/2026/03/19/w...

John Perkins, civil rights leader, influential Bible teacher, dies at 95 'John Perkins is probably one of the true unsung heroes in America — not in Black America, not in the church community, but in America,' said the Rev. Barbara Williams-Skinner, co-founder of the Skinn...

“We hear of Dr. King, we hear of others like John Lewis, but he lived the gospel of loving your neighbor as yourself,” said Rev. Barbara Williams-Skinner of civil rights veteran John Perkins, who died March 13.

My @rns.org story: religionnews.com/2026/03/13/j...

An interfaith group’s 1950s MLK comic book remains a prominent nonviolence teaching tool ‘You have done a marvelous job of grasping the underlying truth and philosophy of the movement,’ the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to the creator of a comic book about civil rights.

And on the 28th and last day of #BlackHistoryMonth, read my @rns.org story about how the 1950s comic book “Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story” continues to be a teaching tool and an influential historical account used in the U.S. and abroad.
religionnews.com/2025/05/29/i...

Black church leaders use new books to share history and hope Released during or close to Black History Month, the books provide a faith-oriented look at African American history and analyses of women in ministry and changing demographics and technology.

Three new books by prominent Black denominational leaders examine the role of the Black church and the work of its clergy and lay people — all historical analyses pegged to #BlackHistoryMonth.

My @rns.org story:
religionnews.com/2026/02/27/b...

Joseph Smith portrait at Morehouse sparks debate over slavery, polygamy and Black history On Feb. 1, the Smith portrait was unveiled at the chapel named for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at a vespers service attended by descendants of the Smith family.

Leaders of Morehouse College’s chapel assistants have questioned the chapel’s unveiling of a portrait of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith.

My @rns.org story: religionnews.com/2026/02/27/j...

Five years after George Floyd’s murder, church leaders say race relations face retrenchment ‘We are honest about the conditions that we're facing, but we are not hopeless about what we're facing,' said Bishop W. Darin Moore of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

On the 27th day of #BlackHistoryMonth, check out my ’25 @rns.org story about clergy noticing the emphasis shifting away from race relations that occurred in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
religionnews.com/2025/05/22/5...

Religious ties shape how Black Americans define family, Pew study finds Black Christians are more likely than religiously unaffiliated to consider nonrelatives a part of their families. 

Black Christians are more likely than religiously unaffiliated to consider nonrelatives a part of their families.

More than a massacre: How an outsider captured Mother Emanuel's legacy In 'Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church,' journalist Kevin Sack offers perspective on the historic Black church, beyond the 2015 murder of nine ...

On the 26th day of #BlackHistoryMonth, here’s my @rns.org story based on an interview with Kevin Sack, author of “Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church.”
religionnews.com/2025/06/17/m...

Lawns light up for Ramadan as Muslim families give holy month the Christmas treatment Outdoor displays once reserved almost exclusively for Christmas are now lighting up lawns during the Islamic month of fasting.

Outdoor displays once reserved almost exclusively for Christmas are now lighting up lawns during the Islamic month of fasting.

‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,' the unofficial Black national anthem, celebrates 125 years ‘It is featured in over 40 different Christian hymnals and sung in churches all across America, not just during Black History Month or Juneteenth,’ said musician Theodore Thorpe III.

On the 25th day of #BlackHistoryMonth, read my @rns.org story about the 125th anniversary of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which one expert said is “featured in over 40 different Christian hymnals and sung in churches all across America.”
religionnews.com/2025/06/18/l...

33 historically Black churches receive $8.5 million in preservation grants Grants were awarded, ranging from $50,000 to $500,000, for capital projects, programming and interpretation, or project planning.

"This grant addresses persistent inequities in preservation funding that have left many Black churches under-resourced despite their outsized cultural and historical importance,” said a leader of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church.
My @rns.org story:
religionnews.com/2026/02/24/3...

The Rev. James Forbes Jr. discusses ministry, family and overcoming adversity in poetry-filled book ‘My sense is that these poems might pick up someone’s spirit, they might deposit a resolution regarding some values,’ Forbes said in the preface of his new book.

On the 24th day of #BlackHistoryMonth, check out my @rns.org story about the Rev. James A. Forbes Jr., former senior minister of NYC’s Riverside Church, and his book “Veracity and Verse: A Preacher’s Reflections and Poems on Faith and Truth.” religionnews.com/2025/07/02/r...

Progressive National Baptists pan ‘big ugly bill,’ strategize to help communities At sessions focused on social justice, PNBC leaders and guest speakers urged greater response and a unified front to address impacts of the new federal budget.

On the 23rd day of #BlackHistoryMonth, here’s my @rns.org story about annual session of Progressive National Baptist Convention, where speakers condemned how the “big beautiful” budget bill, signed into law 7/4, is expected to hurt poor people.
religionnews.com/2025/07/24/p...

Basketball shoe with Bible verse from NBA’s Jonathan Isaac lands at Museum of the Bible The pair of shoes, signed by Isaac, refer to Proverbs 28:1, a verse the player said he has turned to in times when he has struggled with anxiety.

On the 22nd day of #BlackHistoryMonth, read my @rns.org story about Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac donating a sneaker featuring a Bible verse to the Museum of the Bible: religionnews.com/2025/08/25/b...

National Baptists feature first woman preacher at evening service in annual meeting The Rev. Tracey L. Brown of New Jersey became the first woman ever to preach at a worship service during the annual meeting, NBCUSA leaders said.

On the 21st day of #BlackHistoryMonth, check out my @rns.org story about the first woman to preach at the annual session of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc.: religionnews.com/2025/09/10/n...

Predominantly white church dedicates memorial to the enslaved who worked on its land ‘‘Forever in the Path’ calls us to renew our covenant to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God,’ said the church’s pastor.

On the 20th day of #BlackHistoryMonth, here’s my @rns.org story about a predominantly white church in Washington that created a stained-glass memorial to the enslaved people who worked on its land: religionnews.com/2025/09/16/p...

AME Church clergy, staff near retirement fund payout as appeal window closes The settlement agreement also calls for the closure of the AME Church’s Department of Retirement Services by July 31, 2028.

On the 19th day of #BlackHistoryMonth, read my September @rns.org story about continuing process for African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy to reap possible payout from court approval of partial settlements over missing retirement funds.
religionnews.com/2025/09/17/w...

Former @rns.org Editor David E. Anderson, who died Feb. 14, said he covered “too many” church conventions, along with seven presidents and three popes. My, @bmietana.bsky.social story: religionnews.com/2026/02/18/d...

Texas Christian university receives largest-ever gift to a private HBCU Huston-Tillotson University, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ, received its first donation from the Moody Foundation in 1968.

On the 18th day of #BlackHistoryMonth, check out my @rns.org story about Huston-Tillotson University, a Christian school in Texas, receiving the largest-ever single donation to a private historically Black college or university.
religionnews.com/2025/09/18/t...