A computer at the Science Museum by Robert Brook (CC BY 1.0). Imagine a member of a congregation who wakes on Sunday morning too ill to attend church. She is particularly reluctant to miss the sermon. Fortunately, a local service is being broadcast live on television. She follows it from the opening hymn to the…
Chapel dedication at Porter-Gaud School. Courtesy of Porter-Gaud School, used with permission. Recently, a private school in Charleston, South Carolina, dedicated its new chapel. The school has long had an Anglican/Episcopal connection, and its board of directors includes both the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and the bishop of the Anglican Diocese…
The St. Ignatius Cathedral in Shanghai in Shanghai, China (National Cathedral Church of China) by 钉钉 (CC-BY-SA4.0) In September 2018, the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China signed a historic, but largely secret Provisional Agreement on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China. Provisional treaties made by the Holy See are signed, but…
Why So Many Churches Are Turning To Bankruptcy to Reorganizeby Pamela Foohey The following is an introductory essay to Pamela Foohey’s forthcoming book, Forgive Us Our Debts: How Black Churches Use Bankruptcy to Survive (University of Chicago Press, 2026). Foohey’s book will be published on September 21, 2026. I never meant to write a book…
Sanctuary in America: How Activists Defied the Government and Defended Immigrants–and Why It Still MattersLloyd D. Barba and Sergio M. González This article includes excerpts from Sanctuary in America: How Activists Defied the Government and Defended Immigrants—And Why It Still Matters by Lloyd D. Barba and Sergio M. González and published by Oxford University Press in…
The Expulsion of Adam and Eve by After Domenichino, Italian, 1581-1641 (US-PD-Art). The Religious Right was a consortium of mostly evangelical pastors and public activists who saw modern American culture as godless and degenerate, and sought the regulation of many social issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and pornography. Over time however, the Religious Right…
The Religious Left: What It Does and How It Can Do BetterRobert Wuthnow Material excerpted from The Religious Left: What It Does and How It Can Do Better by Robert Wuthnow © 2026 by New York University Press. Excerpted with permission from the publisher. Generations of readers have been amply informed about the Religious Right.…
Secular-Christian Social Justice: Climate, Race, and Gender in the 21st CenturyNoa Ben-Asher Material excerpted from Secular-Christian Social Justice: Climate, Race, and Gender in the 21st Century by Noa Ben-Asher © 2026 by New York University Press. Excerpted with permission from the publisher. In the opening decades of the twenty-first century, a distinctive vocabulary has emerged…
Colonial-era Church in the Granada, Nicaragua by Monge Najera (CC BY-SA3.0) Freedom of religion or belief is formally recognized in Nicaragua’s legal framework. The former Constitution of Nicaragua established that the State had no official religion and guaranteed the right to profess or not profess a religion. However, constitutional reforms adopted since 2019 and further…
An SB 10 compliant Poster. Photo by author. The Ten Commandments are almost certainly headed back to the Supreme Court. Over the past couple of years, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas have all passed statutes requiring the Decalogue to be posted in public school classrooms, and the federal courts are reassessing whether such a display is…