Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Embodying Hospitality - Have you considered becoming a Church Patron?

Has Your Congregation Considered Becoming a Church Patron?


As we near the end of the year, we are taking some time in each of our newsletters to talk about and demonstrate how Montreat Conference Center’s ministry is supported by gifts from individuals, families, churches, and other organizations. When a congregation decides to make a gift of $500 or more to the Montreat Fund annually, we honor their commitment to our mission by recognizing them as a Church Patron. This special giving tier unites churches as they help to ensure that Montreat remains a place of spiritual transformation and renewal for generations to come…

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Start Planning Your Next Event

Montreat hosts a variety of groups for retreats and other events from mid-August through mid-May. Are you interested in being one of them? Visit our new “Retreat at Montreat” webpage to learn more about what we offer or to reach out to a member of our team.

One of Montreat Conference Center’s core values, “embodying hospitality” refers to our belief that our witness is grounded in welcome and belonging and that all people are created in the image of God and possess great capacity for growth and transformation. You can learn more about Montreat’s mission and values by clicking here.

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RNS Weekly Digest: Are you a Christmas-only Catholic? What you need to know before going back to church.

Are you a Christmas-only Catholic? What you need to know before going back to church.

If you’re one of 60& of Catholics who go to church rarely — or maybe never — but find yourself at Christmas Mass this year for family reasons or simply as an excuse to dress up and hear carols, rest assured that the familiar Nativity scene, Advent wreath with candles ablaze and priests in snow-white vestments will all be there, just as you remember them.

But if it’s been a while since you’ve occupied a pew, stay alert, as some of what’s happening in the pews may be unexpected.

Some Catholics have adopted a posture known as the Orans while saying the Our Father, raising their hands like the priest at the altar. A half-century after the U.S. bishops allowed Catholics to receive the Eucharist from the priest in their hand, some parishes have reinstalled Communion rails so the congregants can kneel together and take Communion directly on the tongue. You might also see your neighbor briefly bowing at every mention of Jesus’ name.

 Religion & Politics

Christians wearing Santa Claus costumes participate in a Christmas parade in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
In Opinion

At the New York City yoga studios she frequented in the 2010s, Rosana Rodriguez sometimes found herself the only Latina in the room. “I felt really intimidated,” said the 58-year-old native New Yorker. Predominantly white studios and expensive monthly fees gave her and others in her community the impression that wellness spaces “weren’t for them.”

But the practice of yoga itself, Rodriguez said, saved her life. It was a consistent stress-reduction technique after an abusive relationship and losing her job.

During yoga nidra — or guided meditation in the Savasana posture, often at the end of class — Rodriguez caught herself translating what her teacher said into Spanish, sparking a “revelation.” “I wanted to bring this level of healing to my community,” she said.

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RNS Morning Report - 'There is no Christmas for separated families': Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis

RNS Morning Report Desktop

Top Stories

‘There is no Christmas for separated families’: Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis

‘There is no Christmas for separated families’: Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis

LOS ANGELES (RNS) — As Los Angeles pastors lead congregations and preach about the meaning of Christmas, they’re facing the emotional devastation of families struggling to cling to hope.
‘There is no Christmas for separated families’: Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis

Yoga, meditation classes taught in Spanish offer healing to stressed communities

(RNS) — ‘Our community is definitely experiencing heightened levels of stress, insecurity, uncertainty, anxiety and fear,’ said Xiomara Arauz, a Denver-based yoga and meditation teacher. ‘If the class is in Spanish and everybody speaks Spanish, people feel more safe being in that environment, feeling like they’re understood or they're accepted here.’
‘There is no Christmas for separated families’: Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis

An American mathematician wants to work with the Vatican on AI

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Po-Shen Loh never expected the pope to be part of the debate over artificial intelligence. But when Pope Leo XIV began urging AI developers to prioritize moral discernment — and was seemingly mocked online by a Silicon Valley investor — the Carnegie Mellon mathematician took notice.
‘There is no Christmas for separated families’: Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis

Can evangelical faith in Israel survive MAGA and the Gaza war? Israel is betting millions on it

(RNS) — Conservatives have long seen supporting Israel as an act of faith. Now, critics such as Tucker Carlson say Christian Zionism is a heresy, while more progressive Christian voices denounce Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

Opinion

‘There is no Christmas for separated families’: Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis

Why the news leak about New York’s change in archbishops should trouble Catholics

(RNS) — We must end the sense among Catholics that one ‘side’ is winning or losing.
‘There is no Christmas for separated families’: Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis

AI comes with a built-in worldview. Christians need to understand it.

(RNS) — Christians must engage to remain a cultural force for good in our technology-infused world.

ICYMI

‘There is no Christmas for separated families’: Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis

Are you a Christmas-only Catholic? What you need to know before going back to church.

(RNS) — 'The important thing,' said a Dominican friar, 'is to let your heart be engaged and let God love you sacramentally.'
‘There is no Christmas for separated families’: Pastors tend to immigrant families in crisis

Santa Claus or the ‘red rabbi’? How Christmas lost its taboo for some Jews in Israel.

JERUSALEM (RNS) — Being Jewish in the Diaspora at Christmastime is very different from being Jewish in Israel.

In Other News

Support Our Work

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