The grants, which range from $50,00 to $500,00, are part of a $8.5 million program announced Monday and the Action Fund’s third round of awards for historic Black churches. The funds come as faith leaders, activists and historians push back against efforts to restrict the teaching of Black history and pull back support for preservation of some historic sites. (Berry, USA Today)
Read MoreThe float, which was unveiled Tuesday, shows an altar boy in front of a confessional with an arm sticking out and an outstretched hand luring the boy inside. On the side of the confessional, bold letters read “Jesus loves you.” The Cologne archdiocese condemned the float as “tasteless.” (Grieshaber, AP News)
Read MoreReligious groups challenging President Donald Trump won a pair of legal victories this week, blocking the administration’s efforts to dismantle the refugee program and reinstating sensitive-location protections from immigration enforcement in some houses of worship. (Hertzler-McCain & Jenkins, Religion News Service)
Read MoreAfter years of decline, the Christian population in the United States has been stable for several years, a shift fueled in part by young adults, according to a major new survey from the Pew Research Center. And the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans, which had grown steadily for years, has also leveled off. (Graham, The New York Times)
Read MoreA federal judge on Monday blocked immigration agents from conducting enforcement operations in houses of worship for Quakers and a handful of other religious groups. U.S. District Judge Theodore Chang found that the Trump administration policy could violate their religious freedom and should be blocked while a lawsuit challenging it plays out. (Kunzelman & Whitehurst, AP News)
Read MoreAllied Democratic Forces (ADF).
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)] is accused of approaching homes in Mayba, in the Lumbero territory, beginning Feb. 12 and capturing as many as 100 Christians through Feb. 15, marching them to a Protestant church in Kasanga affiliated with the Evangelical Community in Central Africa 20 (CECA 20), binding and beheading them, reported advocates including Open Doors, International Christian Concern (ICC) and Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). (Chandler, Baptist Press)
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