The Love Power Jesus mural is a well-known landmark in Minneapolis. Image courtesy of Google Maps November 8, 2021 By Bob Smietana (RNS) — When the Rev. Janet Gullickson heard that churches would be eligible for Paycheck Protection Program loans at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, she sprang into action. Gullickson, pastor of Love

A new study from the Lake Institute on faith and giving found that congregations’ giving was holding up during the pandemic, but barely half had met in person.

Low pay. Great expectations and scrutiny. And a job where a knack for effective begging comes in handy. So who would want to be an editor of an academic journal on religion? Some who do this work say there needs to be a larger conversation about how journal editors are supported and compensated, and how these issues matter to their mission of disseminating excellent scholarship on religion from throughout the world.

Just a couple of generations removed from widespread pressure to stay at home, evangelical working moms are now being welcomed into congregations, new research indicates. Conservative Protestant women, a category mostly made up of evangelicals, also were less likely to face work-family conflicts than women from other traditions.

Women ministers are making dramatic strides in achieving equal pay with male clergy. The gender pay gap shrunk from women clergy making 60 cents on the dollar compared to men in 1976 to 93 cents on the dollar in 2016, a new study finds. But women clergy still face significant obstacles to equal pay.

Two new studies reveal there are multiple ways religion can help deter gambling even as the ever-expanding industry gains increasing legitimacy from local governments searching for new forms of tax revenue. But varying approaches may be most effective in confronting different forms of gambling from lotteries to on-line betting.

A new study analyzing data from 733 U.S. counties encompassing more than 80 percent of the black population revealed that homicide, robbery, burglary and larceny rates all decreased the more people in the county were active in black Protestant churches. And where it can do the most good, in areas with high rates of poverty and unemployment, the black church is doing the most good, the study found.

The majority of congregations are at a crossroad today: They must adapt to a culture where churchgoing is increasingly more of a choice than an obligation, or face a future of sustained decline. Yet many congregations have been reluctant to embrace any major changes in outreach to attract new members or retain younger generations. Instead, they appear to be cutting back, research indicates.

More than a few New Year’s resolutions for 2017 will involve reducing alcohol use or stopping drinking altogether. A lot of people will not succeed. What may give them a better chance, however, is having a strong faith, research suggests. A new wave of studies provides insights into the myriad ways religion appears to protect against alcohol abuse.

It is not just Western Christians in this Advent period who are tempted to ignore their faith’s warnings to focus on spiritual rather than material goods. New studies are revealing the ways members of different global faiths may transcend – or fall prey to – consumer cultures willing to co-opt even their most sacred festivals to move merchandise.