RNS Morning Report: WCA calls on conservative churches to withhold dues from UMC

Our summer membership campaign has kicked off, and we’re inviting you to participate. As a nonprofit news organization, RNS relies on the support of readers to fuel our reporting all year long. Will you help keep our newsroom strong this season? Yes! I support RNS! Top Stories WCA calls on conservative churches to withhold dues from United Methodist Church (RNS) — Those apportionments, determined by each annual conference, fund bishops’ salaries and support the work of the mainline Protestant denomination around the world.   Interfaith summit dreams of America as a potluck, not a battlefield (RNS) — Hundreds of interfaith campus leaders gathered in Chicago to reimagine America as a potluck, where everyone is welcome — rather than a melting pot.   The Catholic Church hasn’t forgotten the people in Ukraine, prelates say (RNS) — While the Vatican hopes for a diplomatic resolution, Catholic leaders cater to Ukrainian faithful on the ground.   Richard Dujardin, long-time religion reporter, dies in fall at 77 (RNS) — Dujardin was remembered as a friend, mentor, devoted journalist and family man.   Lag in slavery reparations from US Jesuits irks descendants (AP) – In a publicly released letter to the head of the U.S. branch of Jesuits, Jesuit leader Joseph Stewart expressed dissatisfaction with the progress made since last year's pledge to raise $100 million for a reconciliation initiative in partnership with descendants of people once enslaved by the Catholic order.   Long-hidden synagogue mural gets rehabbed, relocated BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — It's a rare representation of a kind of art that graced wooden synagogues in Europe that were largely destroyed during the Holocaust, experts say. RNS Opinion A what-if nightmare for the Catholic Church: Pope in a coma (RNS) — Any procedure for removing an incapacitated pope should not be quick or easy, but it should be public.   Religions have long known that getting away from it all is good for the mind, body and spirit (The Conversation) — Rituals of rest and contemplation are woven into many religious traditions around the world.   What stabbed Salman Rushdie? (RNS) — This was not only an attack on an author. It was an attack on culture and civilization itself. ICYMI In latest ‘gOD-Talk’ discussion, Black millennials discuss hip-hop and faith (RNS) — 'As a very powerful spiritual and musical modality, hip-hop raises serious questions regarding the holy and the profane,' said museum curator Eric Williams.   Report: Catholic clergy’s unquestioned — and uneducated — power spurs abuse (RNS) — The report, 'Beyond Bad Apples,' looks at systemic causes behind the clergy sex abuse scandal of past decades. In Other News Why most Muslims I know are feeling a growing sense of dread Pranksters spot 1 of the weirdest things on Noah’s ark attraction   Talk to Us We want your feedback on the RNS Morning Report — what you think we're doing right and what we should be doing differently. Send us an email at Comments@ReligionNews.com Subscribe to other RNS Newsletters. Forward this email to a friend. View the archive of past newsletters. Religion News Service is free to read, but it's not free to produce. If you value our reporting, please consider making a donation today at religionnews.com/donate. If you prefer to mail a donation, please address to: Religion News Foundation, PO Box 1808, Columbia, MO 65205. Yes, I support the work you're doing! Forward this email to a friend