Nearly 10 hours after the opening gavel, key issues that brought nearly 13,000 members of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans remained unsettled, including the status of reforms meant to address the issue of sexual abuse. (Smietana, Religion News Service)
Read MoreThe ChatGPT chatbot, personified by an avatar of a bearded Black man on a huge screen above the altar, then began preaching to the more than 300 people who had shown up on Friday morning for an experimental Lutheran church service almost entirely generated by AI. (Grieshaber, Associated Press)
Read MoreThe guidance adds to claims that Oxfam is losing sight of its goal to help those most in need. In 2018 the government banned Oxfam from seeking further aid for funding after The Times revealed aid workers in Haiti had hired sex workers for orgies. (Ellery, The Times UK)
Read MoreSome teens mature faster than others and might be equipped to handle social media’s pitfalls before 16. And there are plenty of immature 16-year-olds who probably shouldn’t be on social media (much less behind the wheel of a car). That’s why the nation’s top doctor and lawmakers hesitate to pinpoint a magic age for social-media readiness—but agree 13 isn’t it. (Jargon, The Wall Street Journal)
Read MoreDuring the opening day of the SBC’s annual meeting, which runs June 13-14, thousands of local church delegates, known as messengers, will consider appeals from a pair of congregations that have been expelled for employing women as pastors, which conflicts with the denomination’s statement of faith. (Smietana, Religion News Service)
Read MoreSwiping through TikTok can take one on any number of similar cosmetic journeys, guided by chirpy, young content creators who emerge ever so slightly more tucked, augmented or symmetrical. (Aggeler, The Washington Post)
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