Here's what's happening on the church and culture front today...
About 100 million Christians in 88 countries—around a fifth of the global church—can’t freely read their own copy of the Bible in their own language without challenges, according to the Bible Access Initiative’s first report. (Fowler, Christianity Today)
An Associated Press investigation found that the wave of legislation has cropped up in most states, pushed by people with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The effort would strip away protections that have been built over a century and are integral to American lives and society. (Smith & Ungar, AP News)
On a Friday morning in early October, musicians, industry executives, and politicians packed into the open-air café at the brand new Museum of Christian and Gospel Music — the first museum in the U.S. designed to celebrate the breadth of Christian music. (Hight, NPR)
Recent data from the evangelical Christian polling firm Barna Group has been widely cited to support revival claims. While most data about religion and young people shows that Gen Zers are the least likely to attend services, Barna’s model found that among those already attending church, Gen Zers attend more regularly than other generations of churchgoers. (Post, Religion News Service)
About 100 million Christians in 88 countries—around a fifth of the global church—can’t freely read their own copy of the Bible in their own language without challenges, according to the Bible Access Initiative’s first report. (Fowler, Christianity Today)
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An Associated Press investigation found that the wave of legislation has cropped up in most states, pushed by people with close ties to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The effort would strip away protections that have been built over a century and are integral to American lives and society. (Smith & Ungar, AP News)
Read more>>
On a Friday morning in early October, musicians, industry executives, and politicians packed into the open-air café at the brand new Museum of Christian and Gospel Music — the first museum in the U.S. designed to celebrate the breadth of Christian music. (Hight, NPR)
Read more>>
Recent data from the evangelical Christian polling firm Barna Group has been widely cited to support revival claims. While most data about religion and young people shows that Gen Zers are the least likely to attend services, Barna’s model found that among those already attending church, Gen Zers attend more regularly than other generations of churchgoers. (Post, Religion News Service)
Read more>>
Divorce is an important aspect of family life in the United States that shapes living arrangements, financial well-being and parenting. In 2023, over 1.8 million Americans divorced. Additionally, a third of Americans who have ever been married have also experienced divorce. (Hays, Pew Research)
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What makes taboo words fascinating is that unlike most other parts of our vocabularies, they can be used positively or negatively…. They hold extraordinary power, say researchers, who say they can be wielded to inflict harm or rattle power structures or, in turn, relieve stress and elicit humour. (Kassam, The Guardian)
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From February 2024 to February 2025, there was a sharp rise in the share of U.S. adults who say religion is gaining influence in American life. While this remains a minority view, it is increasingly held by adults across several demographic groups – with gains of at least 10 percentage points among Democrats and Republicans, adults in every age category and in most large religious groups. (Rotolo, Pew Research Center)
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Bible sales have surged by more than a third following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, data shows. Around 2.4 million copies of the Bible were sold in September, a 36 per cent increase from the same month in 2024, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. (Henderson, The Telegraph)
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The Catholic Church and Church of England, divided for centuries over issues that now include the ordination of female priests, will take a historic step on the path to unity next week when Britain’s King Charles III and Pope Leo XIV pray together in the Sistine Chapel, officials said Friday. (Winfield, AP News)
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Weeks after the appointment of the Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullally as the leader of the Anglican Communion, conservative Anglican prelates in Africa have rejected the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury and have proclaimed their own network of conservative churches the official voice of Anglicanism. (Nzwili, Religion News Service)
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Millennial and GenZ influencers, some paid by telehealth companies, evangelize antidepressants on TikTok and Instagram using such hashtags as #livelaughlexapro, #lexaprogirly, #lexaho and #zoloftgang, recasting the medications as pop-culture touchstones. (McKay et al., The Wall Street Journal)
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In 1972, HBO launched with a bold pitch: producing television without ads or censorship. Over the next five decades, it reshaped the industry—introducing premium programming, supporting creator-driven storytelling, and setting the stage for today’s subscription-based streaming model. Here’s how HBO became one of the most influential networks in TV history. (1440)
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We are now seeing what the lost decade in American education has wrought. By some measures, American students have regressed to a level not seen in 25 years or more. (Kahloon, The Atlantic)
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Whether they’re knocking at your door trick or treating, or hung as decorations in shop windows, witches are rife at this time of year. They’re easy to recognise, wearing tall, pointed hats, carrying broomsticks, or peering into a cauldron – but where did these stereotypes associated with witches come from? (Dunning, The Conversation)
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A university is teaching students that JRR Tolkien demonises “people of colour” in the Lord of the Rings books. A history module called Decolonising Tolkien et al, taught at the University of Nottingham, uses a text that says orcs and other dark-skinned characters in the trilogy are the victims of “ethnic chauvinism”. (Simpson, The Telegraph)
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Oklahoma’s new public schools superintendent announced Wednesday he is rescinding a mandate from his predecessor that forced schools to place Bibles in classrooms and incorporate the book into lesson plans for students. (Murphy, AP News)
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Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults think the Bible is “just another book of teachings written by people,” the American Bible Society (ABS) said in its latest release from the 2025 State of the Bible. (Chandler, Baptist Press)
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Bishops will halt plans to allow gay couples to have dedicated blessing services in church and the ban on priests marrying same-sex partners will be extended. The Times understands that, after years of deliberation, bishops have reached long-awaited decisions on two key unresolved problems involving gay rights in the Church of England. (Burgess, The Times)
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OpenAI will soon allow “erotica” for ChatGPT users who verify their age on the platform. In an X post on Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company will add support for mature conversations when it launches age-gating in December. (Roth, The Verge)
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Instagram said Tuesday that it would overhaul its approach to teenagers’ accounts and try to crack down on their access to objectionable content after a firestorm of bad publicity over how teens use the social media app. (Ingram, NBC News)
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