Bob Smietana

Defenders of the Johnson Amendment hope to block a proposed legal settlement that would allow churches to make partisan statements during worship services.

For the past five years, the decline of religion in America has stalled, after years of decline.

Rumors and viral reports about potential ICE raids have immigrant church leaders worried about their congregations. DHS says it doesn’t have plans to raid churches — but won't rule it out.

America has become less religious because white Americans are less religious. Most recent immigrants are religious, and many are Christians.

Disaster relief groups have moved supplies into place, mobilized volunteers and started raising funds to respond to Hurricane Melissa, which has killed more than 20 people and flooded out thousands in the Caribbean.

A new study found that about a third of Americans say religion's influence in society is growing — up more than 10 percentage points from a year earlier.

Organizers say it's a sign Christian music is experiencing a revival.

A report, dated June 6 but made public this week, from the task force now alleges that there was a "consistent and systematic pattern of discrimination against Christians during the Biden Administration."

Faith groups have long received government grants to feed the hungry, respond to disasters and assist those in need, but recent comments from Trump administration officials have cast such grants in a bad light.

Using a clause in the food bank's bylaws, Archbishop Gregory Aymond fired the longtime executive director, Natalie Jayroe, and several board members of Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana last week, including the board chair, and installed the archdiocese's chief financial officer as the interim CEO.

But Trump also won the Christian vote overall: 58% of all Catholics voted for him and 63% of Protestants, according to the early exit polls. If the early exit poll numbers hold steady, that will prove to be a jump in Catholic support for Trump compared with 2020, when 50% of Catholics voted for him. Some of that may have to do with an increase in Trump support among Hispanic voters. 

Activists who have been protesting at the Democratic National Convention over the war in Gaza took time out to mourn and draw strength from their varying faiths.

The rise in popularity of music from churches like Elevation, Hillsong and Bethel has helped launch a new kind of ecumenical movement.

Earlier this week, after months of protest by Philly Bike Action, a local association of cyclists, Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church decided to give up a city permit that allowed congregants to park on the street outside the building. Those temporary parking spots, which were valid on Sunday mornings, were located in what is otherwise a bike lane.

The same factors that have caused a crisis in the homeowner's insurance market are also affecting churches, who have to choose between paying for insurance or running programs.

MAGA evangelicals grab all the headlines. But it's swing state faith voters — Catholics, mainliners and Black Protestants — who will likely decide the election.

Through the power of friendship, prayer and cheerful determination, Richard Parks and his neighbors faced down a major oil company to shutter a nearly 60-year-old drill site in the middle of the neighborhood. Now they hope to build a community park and affordable housing in its place.

Dealing with the climate crisis will require developing renewable forms of energy such as solar and wind power, decreasing greenhouse gases and creating more sustainable lifestyles. It also requires a change of heart.

A new report looking at in-person worship attendance patterns found that a third of those surveyed never attend worship services, up from 25% before the start of the pandemic.

A "biblical backstager," the new audio drama "Almelem" features "a small group of con artists and true disciples fumbling toward the greatest story ever told."