January 5, 2023 By Bob Smietana (RNS) — At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly every congregation in the United States shut down, at least for a while. For some Americans, that was the push they needed to never come back to church. A new report, which looked at in-person worship attendance patterns before the
December 12, 2022 By Bob Smietana (RNS) — When Andre Audette first arrived at Notre Dame for grad school, he got a brochure about living in South Bend, Indiana. That brochure included a section on churches and advice on which Catholic parish to attend if you were conservative and which to attend if you were
October 6, 2022 By Ryan Burge (RNS) — About a decade ago, the conservative commentator and radio show host Glenn Beck told listeners to “look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can.” In essence, Beck was telling his followers to reject a
August 18, 2022 By Yonat Shimron (RNS) — For years, spiritual practices such as yoga and meditation have been criticized as therapeutic self-help regimens that draw people inward and away from any kind of social, civic or political action. But two new academic studies are challenging that view. The studies analyze data from a 2020 survey of
By Ryan Burge (RNS) — One of the most important and difficult questions among those who study religion and politics is just how important a pastor, rabbi, imam or other religious leader is when it comes to shaping the worldviews of their congregation. These figures get a weekly chance to dominate the attention of the
July 11, 2022 By Bob Smietana (RNS) — With Roe v. Wade overturned, white evangelicals support restricting abortion, including through so-called heartbeat laws that ban abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, according to a new survey. Almost all want to see abortion banned after 15 weeks. More than half said providing an
People arrive at the Anaheim Convention Center for the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, June 14, 2022, in Anaheim, California. Photo by Justin L. Stewart/Religion News Service June 16, 2022 By Ryan Burge (RNS) — On Tuesday (June 14), thousands of messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Anaheim, California, cast their ballots
May 9, 2022 By Bob Smietana (RNS) — For the last 50 years, abortion has been one of the most contentious issues in American political life, fueling mass protests, political machinations and even the rise of Donald Trump, who promised to deliver Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. But as Roe’s future
April 13, 2022 By Ryan Burge (RNS) — Possibly the most oft-repeated statistic in American religion is the rise of the religiously unaffiliated from just 5% of the population in the early 1970s to about 30% of adults in 2022. In a field where shifts typically move at a glacial pace, that demographic factoid may represent the
February 15, 2022 By Ryan Burge (RNS) — One of the most consequential legal terms in the 21st century may be “religious freedom.” As my colleague University of Cincinnati political scientist Andrew Lewis discusses in his most recent book, “The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics,” religious conservatives have begun centering their legal strategy on
